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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The golden verses of Pythagoras</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Antoine Fabre d'Olivet</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Nayán Louise Redfield</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 17, 2022 [eBook #69174]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Carol Brown, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS ***</div> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><strong><i>By Fabre d’Olivet</i></strong></p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center"><strong>Hermeneutic Interpretation</strong></p> - -<p class="center"><strong>The Golden Verses of Pythagoras</strong></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" - width="80%" - alt="Illustration: FABRE D’OLIVET" - /> - <p class="caption">FABRE D’OLIVET<br />After a miniature by Augustin<br />1799</p> -</div> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<div class="chapter"> - -<h1 class="h1head">The Golden Verses of<br /> -<span class="larger ls">Pythagoras</span></h1> - -<h3 class="h2head">Explained and Translated into French and<br /> -Preceded by a Discourse upon the<br /> -Essence and Form of Poetry<br /> -Among the Principal<br /> -Peoples of the Earth</h3> - -<p class="p4 center"><strong>By</strong></p> -<h2 class="h2head">Fabre d’Olivet</h2> - -<p class="p4 center"><strong>Done into English by</strong></p> -<p class="center"><strong>Nayán Louise Redfield</strong></p> - -<p class="p4 center larger">Μηδὲν ἄγαν kαὶ γνῶθι σεαυτόν</p> - -<p class="p4 center"><strong>G. P. Putnam’s Sons<br /> -New York and London<br /> -The Knickerbocker Press<br /> -1917</strong></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><span class="sc">Copyright, 1917</span></p> -<p class="center"><span class="sc">BY</span></p> -<p class="center">NAYÁN LOUISE REDFIELD</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="tall"><strong><i>To the Travellers who have turned -their Faces to the Dawn and their Steps -toward the Eternal Hills is offered this -rich Fruit of Wisdom, that, through it, -they may achieve the Understanding of -Knowledge.</i></strong></p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD</h3> - -<p class="p2 dropcap negindent">IN this twentieth century, the sacred books of the ancients -are undoubtedly better understood than they were -even by their contemporaries, for their authors, by the -greatness of their genius, are as much nearer to us, as they -were distant from them. At the close of the eighteenth -century, the light which came from the illimitable mind of -Fabre d’Olivet shone with solitary splendour and was destined -to be seen by only a few devoted followers. But -history shows that a great inspirer always appears at the -beginning of every great epoch, and however small the number -of his disciples, these disciples with their pupils form -the magnetic chain which, according to Plato, carries his -thought out into the world.</p> - -<p>Fabre d’Olivet, born at Ganges, Bas-Languedoc, Dec. 8, -1768, was distinguished even in his own day not only for -the extent of his learning but for the rectitude of his judgment -and the sublimity of his conceptions. If one can infer -from the all too scarce records available since the calamitous -fire which destroyed so many of his valued manuscripts, he -evidently suffered keenly from the fetters of mortality, and -sought with unfailing fervour what Porphyry so aptly called -the “Olympia of the Soul.”</p> - -<p>Saint Yves d’Alveydre, writing of him in <cite>La France vraie</cite>, -says, that it was in 1790, while in Germany, he received -his Pythagorean initiation, the profound imprint of which -marked all his later productions. After returning to Paris -he applied himself to philological and philosophical studies -undisturbed by the terrible revolutionary storm. In obscure -seclusion he amassed, to quote Sédir, “a disconcerting -erudition.” He became familiar with all the Semitic -tongues and dialects, the Aryan languages, and even penetrated -the secrets of the Chinese hieroglyphics.</p> - -<p>It was during these ten years of retirement that he wrote -his <cite>Examinations of the Golden Verses</cite> which were not -published until 1813, with its dedication to the Section of -Literature of the Imperial Institute of France. It is known -that the <cite>Golden Verses of Pythagoras</cite> were originally transcribed -by Lysis and that it is to Hierocles we owe the version -which has come down to us. Fabre d’Olivet has -translated them into French verse, the style of which he -calls <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(eumolpique)</i>, that is, subject to measure and harmonious -cadence but free from rhyme, with alternate masculine -and feminine terminations. In the <cite>Essence and Form of -Poetry</cite> which precedes the Golden Verses, he illustrates this -melodious style, in applying it to the opening lines of some -of the well-known classics, and to others not so well-known.</p> - -<p>These Golden Verses, so remarkable for their moral -elevation, present the most beautiful monument of antiquity -raised in honour of Wisdom. They formed the <i>credo</i> of the -adepts and initiates. In his recondite Examinations, -Fabre d’Olivet has drawn the metaphysical correlation of -Providence, Destiny, and the Will of Man, in which combined -action Destiny reigns over the past, the Will of Man -over the future, and Providence over the present, which, -always existing, may be called Eternal. One will find this -given at greater length in his <cite>Hermeneutic Interpretation of -the Origin of the Social State of Man and the Destiny of the -Adamic Race</cite>: admirable work of this little known theosophist, -“to give him the name he loved best to hold,” says -Pierre Leroux in <cite>De l’Humanité</cite>.</p> - -<p>The inequality of human conditions, upon which depend -the social and political questions, forms one of the vital -subjects of these esoteric teachings. He has also endeavoured -to explain the true opinion of Pythagoras concerning -metempsychosis which was his sacred dogma, and said that -the dogma of transmigration of souls, received by all peoples -and revealed in the ancient mysteries, has been absolutely -disfigured in what the moderns have called metempsychosis.</p> - -<p>His strange death, which occurred March 25, 1825, is -mentioned by des Essarts in <cite>Les Hiérophantes</cite>, and other -authorities including Pierre Leroux, have asserted that he -died at the foot of his altar.</p> - -<p class="sigright"><span class="sc">Nayán Louise Redfield.</span></p> - -<p><span class="sc">Hartford, Conn.</span>, October, 1916.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">The Golden Verses of Pythagoras</h3> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">DISCOURSE UPON THE ESSENCE AND FORM OF -POETRY</h3> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">DISCOURSE UPON THE ESSENCE AND FORM OF -POETRY<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_1" id="fnanchor_1"></a><a href="#footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 unindent"><i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>:</p> - -<p>Before publishing the translation of the <cite>Golden Verses -of Pythagoras</cite>, such as I have made it, in French verse which -I have designated by the -expression <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(eumolpique)</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_2" id="fnanchor_2"></a><a href="#footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></span> -I would -have liked to be able to submit it to you and thus be enlightened -by your counsels or sustained by your approbation; -but academic laws and usages, whose justice I have felt, -have prevented my enjoying this advantage. The innovation, -however, which I have endeavoured to make in -French poetry and the new explanation which I have tried -to give of one of the most celebrated pieces of Greek -poetry, have seemed to me to hold too closely to your labours -and to enter too deeply into your literary provinces, for -me to believe myself able to dispense with calling your -attention to them. I crave your indulgence, if in the -demonstration of a just deference to your judgment I -involuntarily neglect certain formalities; and I beg you to -judge the purity of my intentions.</p> - -<p>I claim not to be a poet; I had even long ago renounced -the art of verse, but notwithstanding that, I am now presenting -myself in the poetic career to solicit the hazardous -success of an innovation! Is it the love of glory which -inspires in me this temerity, which dazzles me today as -my autumn advances, whereas it was unable to move me -when the effervescence of my springtime ought to have -doubled its strength? No: however flattering the wreaths -that you award to talent, they would not concern me; and -if an interest, as new as powerful, had not induced me to -address you, I would keep silent. This interest, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, -is that which science itself inspires in me, and the desire, -perhaps inconsiderate but commendable, of co-operating with -my limited ability for the development of a language whose -literary and moral influence, emerging from the bourns of -Europe and the present century, ought to invade the world -and become universal like the renown of the hero who -extends his conquests with those of the empire whose -foundations he has laid.</p> - -<p>I feel, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, that I should explain my thought. -My assertion, well founded as it may be, appears none the -less extraordinary, and I am bound to admit this. The -disfavour which is attached to all new ideas, to all innovations, -the just defiance that they inspire, the element of -ridicule that springs from their downfall, would have arrested -my audacity, if I had had audacity alone, and if the -worthy ambition of effecting a general good had not raised -me above a particular evil which might have resulted for me. -Besides I have counted upon the judicious good-will of the -two illustrious Academies to which I am addressing myself: -I have thought that they would distinguish in the verse -which I am presenting for their examination, both as a -means of execution in French poetry and as a means of -translation in ancient and foreign poetry, the real utility -that they can offer, of the fortuitous beauty which they -lack, and which a more capable hand would have been able -to give them; I flatter myself, at length, that they would -grant to the end, without prejudice, the attention which is -necessary, and that if they refused an entire approbation to -my efforts, they would at least render justice to my zeal and -commend the motives which have made me attempt them. -<!--Page 020--></p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section One">§ I</abbr></p> - -<p>When, after the revival of letters in Europe, Chancellor -Bacon, legislator of thought, sketched with bold strokes the -tree of human knowledge, and brought back each branch -of science to that of the moral faculties upon which it depends, -he did not fail to observe sagaciously that it was -necessary to distinguish in poetry two things, its essence -and its form<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_3" id="fnanchor_3"></a><a href="#footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></span>: -its essence as pertaining wholly to the imagination, -and composing by itself alone one of the principal -branches of science<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_4" id="fnanchor_4"></a><a href="#footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></span>; -its form, as making part of the grammar, -and entering thus into the domain of philosophy and -into the rational faculty of the -understanding.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_5" id="fnanchor_5"></a><a href="#footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></span> -This -celebrated man had borrowed this idea from a man much -older and more celebrated than himself, Plato. According -to this admirable philosopher, poetry is either a simple -talent, an art which one uses to give to his own ideas a -particular form, or it is a divine inspiration by means of -which one clothes in the human language and transmits -to men the ideas of the -gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_6" id="fnanchor_6"></a><a href="#footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></span> -It is because, never having -felt sufficiently this important distinction and having confused -two ideas that ought to be separated, the essence and -the form of poetry, which are as the soul and body of this -science, that so many men among the modern nations proclaimed -themselves poets, whereas they were, in strict truth, -only clever versifiers. For it does not suffice, as Plato -again said, to have poetic talent, it does not suffice to make -verse and even good verse, to be called a -poet<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_7" id="fnanchor_7"></a><a href="#footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></span>; -it is necessary -to possess that divine enthusiasm, that inspiration -which elevates the soul, enlightens it, transports it, as it -were, to intellectual regions and causes it to draw from its -source the very essence of this science.</p> - -<p>How they delude themselves, those who, habitually -deceived, foolishly imagine that the lofty fame of Orpheus, -Homer, Pindar, Æschylus, or Sophocles and the immortality -which they enjoy, belongs only to the plan of their works, -to the harmony of their verse, and to the happy use of their -talent! These flattering appearances which constitute the -form of their poetry would have disappeared long ago, they -would have become broken, like fragile vases, upon the torrent -of centuries, if the intelligence which animated them -had not eternalized their duration. But this secret intelligence -does not reside, as certain other superficial readers -persuade themselves, being still deceived, in the simple -interest that the characters <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(mise en scène)</i> inspire; this interest, -which results from their contrast and from the shock -of the passions, is another sort of form, more hidden, and -less frail, than the former, it is true, but as variable generally -and subject to the great revolution of customs, laws, and -usages. True poetry does not depend upon that; it depends -upon the primordial ideas which the genius of the poet in -his exaltation has seized in the intellectual nature, and -which his talent has shown afterwards in the elementary -nature, thus adapting the simulacra of physical things to -the movement inspired by the soul, instead of adapting -this movement to those same simulacra, as those who -write history. This is what Bacon, the modern philosopher -whom I have already cited, has felt so -perfectly.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_8" id="fnanchor_8"></a><a href="#footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></span> -He says:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">As the sentient world is inferior to the human soul, it is for -poetry to give to this nature what reality has refused it, lending -to it the faculties of the intellectual world; and as the acts and -events which make the subject of true history have not that -grandeur and that sublimity for which the human soul seeks, -it is necessary that poetry create acts and events greater and -more heroic. All must be increased and embellished by its -voice and receive from it a new existence; it is necessary even -that virtue shine with an <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(éclat)</i> more pure; that the veil which -covers truth be lifted from its eyes and that the course of Providence, -better discerned, be allowed to penetrate into the most -secret causes of events.</p> - -<p class="p2">The philosopher who expressed thus his thought regarding -the essence of poetry, was far from believing, as the vulgar -have always believed, and as certain modern writers -have wished to convince the -savants,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_9" id="fnanchor_9"></a><a href="#footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></span> -that, of the two parts -of poetry, the positive form might be the only genuine; -that is to say, that they do not by any means consider that -the human characters put upon the stage by the poets -whom I have just named, were historic characters. Bacon -understood well that Achilles, Agamemnon, Ulysses, Castor -and Pollux, Helen, Iphigenia, Œdipus, Phædra, etc., are -somewhat more than they appear to be, and that their -virtues or their vices, their heroic actions, even their crimes, -celebrated by poetry, contain a profound meaning wherein -lie buried the mysteries of religion and the secrets of -philosophy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_10" id="fnanchor_10"></a><a href="#footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></span></p> - -<p>It belongs only to the men to whom poetry is known by -its exterior forms alone and who have never penetrated as -far as its essence, to imagine that a small city of Asia, unknown -to all Asia, around which the King of kings of Greece -waited in vain for ten years to avenge the honour of his -brother betrayed by his wife, should be able during three -thousand years to occupy the greatest minds of Europe, -on account of a quarrel which was raised in the tenth year -of the siege, between this King of kings and a petty prince -of his army, angry and sulky, named Achilles. It is only -permitted to the phlegmatic chronologists, whom the muses -have never visited in their studies, to seek seriously to fix -the year and the day when this quarrel took place. A man, -strongly imbued with the spirit of Homer or of Sophocles, -would never see in Ulysses a real man, a king who, returning -to his isle after long wanderings, kills in cold blood a -crowd of lovers of his wife and rests confident of the conjugal -fidelity of that spouse abandoned for twenty years, -and whom he had won in the -course,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_11" id="fnanchor_11"></a><a href="#footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></span> -although, according -to the most common reports, she was delivered of a son in -his absence<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_12" id="fnanchor_12"></a><a href="#footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></span>; -nor in Œdipus, another king, who, without -knowing it, without wishing it, always innocent, kills his -father, espouses his mother and, driven to parricide and -incest by an irresistible destiny, tears out his eyes and condemns -himself to wander over the earth, to be a frightful -example of celestial wrath. The platitudes and ridicule -of the deed related by Homer, and the horror which resulted -from that presented on the stage by Sophocles, are sufficient -evidence against their reality. If the poem of the one and -the tragedy of the other do not conceal, under the coarse -exterior which covers them, a secret fire which acts unknown -to the reader, never would a sane man tolerate a presentation, -on the one side, of vice changed into virtue, and on the -other, virtue changed into vice, and the gods operating this -strange metamorphosis against all the laws of natural -justice. He would throw aside the book with disgust, or, -agreeing with the judicious reflection of an ancient Greek -writer, exclaim with -him<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_13" id="fnanchor_13"></a><a href="#footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></span>: -</p> - -<p class="blockquote">If Homer had merely thought with respect to the gods what -he said, he would have been an impious, sacrilegious man, a -veritable Salmoneus, a second Tantalus; but let us guard against -doing him this wrong, or taking for guides those who, misunderstanding -the allegorical genius of this great poet, and hesitating -before the outer court of his mysterious poetry, have never succeeded -in understanding the sublime philosophy which is enclosed -therein.</p> - -<p class="p2">You are not, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, of those designated by Heraclides -in the words I have just quoted. Members of these celebrated -Academies where Homer and Sophocles have found -so many admirers, defenders, and illustrious disciples, you -can easily admit that I see in these great men more than -ordinary poets, that I place their glory elsewhere than in -their talent, and that I say, particularly of Homer, that -his most just claims to immortality are less in the form than -in the essence of his poetry, because a form, however admirable -it may be, passes and yields to time which destroys it, -whereas the essence or the spirit which animates it, immutable -as the Divinity from which it emanates by inspiration, -resists all vicissitudes and seems to increase in vigour and -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(éclat)</i>, in proportion as the centuries passing away reveal its -force and serve as evidence of its celestial origin. I flatter -myself that my sentiments in this regard are not foreign -to yours and that the successors of Corneille, Racine, and -Boileau hear with pleasure these eulogies given to the creator -of epopœia, to the founders of dramatic art, and agree with -me in regarding them as particular organs of the Divinity, -the instruments chosen for the instruction and civilization -of men.</p> - -<p>If you deign, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, to follow the development of -my ideas with as much attention as indulgence, you already -know that what I call the essence or spirit of poetry, and -which, following upon the steps of the founder of the -Academy and of the regenerator of the sciences of Europe, I -distinguish from its form, is no other thing than the allegorical -genius, immediate production of the inspiration; you -also understand that I mean by inspiration, the infusion -of this same genius into the soul which, having power only -in the intellectual nature, is manifested in action by passing -into the elementary nature by means of the inner labour of -the poet who invests it with a sentient form according to -his talent; you perceive finally, how, following this simple -theory, I explain the words of Plato, and how I conceive -that the inspired poet transmits to men the ideas of the gods. -I have no need I think of telling you that I make an enormous -difference between this divine inspiration which exalts -the soul and fills it with a real enthusiasm, and that sort -of inner movement or disorder which the vulgar also call -inspiration, which in its greatest perfection is only passion excited -by the love of glory, united with a habit of verse making, -which constitutes the talent, and in its imperfection is only -a disordered passion called by Boileau, an ardour for rhyming. -These two kinds of inspiration in no wise resemble -each other; their effects are as different as their causes, -their productions as different as their sources. The one, -issuing from the intellectual nature, has its immutability: -it is the same in all time, among all peoples, and in the heart -of all men who receive it; it alone produces genius: its first -manifestation is very rare, but its second manifestation is -less so, as I will show later on. The other inspiration, inherent -in sentient nature, born of passion, varies with the -whim of men and things, and takes on the hue of the customs -and the times; it can bring forth talent or at least modify -it, and when it is seconded by a great facility, can go to the -extent of feigning genius but never farther: its real domain -is the mind. Its possession is not very rare even in its -perfection. One can sometimes find it united with the true -inspiration, first as in Homer, or second as in Vergil; and -then the form which it unceasingly works over, joining its -sentient beauties to the intellectual beauties of genius, -creates the monuments of science.</p> - -<p>It may be that the development which I have just given -of my ideas on the essence of poetry will appear new, although -I must acknowledge that in reality they are not. -I am addressing men who are too enlightened to ignore what -the ancients have said in this respect. Heraclides, whom -I have already cited, is not the only one who has given this -impression. Strabo assures positively that ancient poetry -was only the language of allegory,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_14" id="fnanchor_14"></a><a href="#footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></span> -and he refutes Eratosthenes -who pretended that the aim of Homer was only to -amuse and please. In this he is in accord with Denys of -Halicarnassus who avows that the mysteries of nature and -the most sublime conceptions of morals have been covered -with the veil of -allegory.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_15" id="fnanchor_15"></a><a href="#footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></span> -Phurnutus goes farther: he -declares that the allegories used by Hesiod and by Homer -do not differ from those which other foreign poets have used -before them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_16" id="fnanchor_16"></a><a href="#footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></span> -Damascius said as much of the poems of -Orpheus,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_17" id="fnanchor_17"></a><a href="#footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></span> -and Plutarch confirms it in a passage which has -been preserved to us by Eusebius.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_18" id="fnanchor_18"></a><a href="#footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the first ages of Greece, poetry, consecrated to the -service of the altars, left the enclosures of the temples only -for the instruction of the people: it was as a sacred language -in which the priests, entrusted with presiding at the mysteries -of religion, interpreted the will of the gods. The -oracles, dogmas, moral precepts, religious and civil laws, -teachings of all sorts concerning the labours of the body, the -operations of the mind, in fact all that which was regarded -as an emanation, an order, or a favour from the Divinity, -all was written in verse. To this sacred language was -given the name <i>Poetry</i>, that is to say, the Language of the -Gods: a symbolic name which accords with it perfectly, -since it expressed at the same time its origin and -its usage.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_19" id="fnanchor_19"></a><a href="#footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></span> - -It was said to have come from -Thrace,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_20" id="fnanchor_20"></a><a href="#footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></span> -and the one who had -invented it and caused its first accents to be heard was -called Olen.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_21" id="fnanchor_21"></a><a href="#footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></span> -Now these are again two symbolic names -perfectly adapted to the idea that one had of this divine -science: it was descended from <i>Thrace</i>, that is to say, from -the Ethereal Space; it was <i>Olen</i> who had invented it, that -is to say, the Universal -Being.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_22" id="fnanchor_22"></a><a href="#footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></span> -To understand these three -etymologies which can be regarded as the fundamental -points of the history of poetry, it is necessary to remember, -first, that the Phœnicians, at the epoch when they covered -not only Greece but the coasts of the rest of Europe with -their colonies, brought there their language, and gave their -names to the countries of which they had taken possession; -secondly, that these names drawn almost always from objects -symbolic of their cult, constituted for these countries -a sort of sacred geography, which Greece above all others, -was faithful in -preserving.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_23" id="fnanchor_23"></a><a href="#footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></span> -It was thus (for there is nothing -under the sun which cannot find either its model or its copy) -when the Europeans took possession of America and colonized -it, and carried to those regions their diverse dialects -and covered it with names drawn from the mysteries of -Christianity. One ought therefore, when one wishes to understand -the ancient names of the countries of Greece, those of -their heroic personages, those of the mysterious subjects of -their cult, to have recourse to the Phœnician dialect which -although lost to us can easily be restored with the aid of -Hebrew, Aramaic, Chaldean, Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic.</p> - -<p>I do not intend, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, to fatigue you with proofs of -these etymologies which are not in reality the subject of -my discourse. I am content to place them on the margin -for the satisfaction of the curious. Thus I shall make use -of them later, when occasion demands. But to return to -Thrace, this country was always considered by the Greeks -as the place peculiar to their gods and the centre of their -cult; the divine country, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">par excellence</i>. All the names that -it has borne in different dialects and which in the course -of time have become concentrated in particular regions, -have been synonyms of theirs. Thus, Getæ, Mœsia, Dacia, -all signify the country of the -gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_24" id="fnanchor_24"></a><a href="#footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></span> -Strabo, in speaking -of the Getæ, said that these peoples recognized a sovereign -pontiff to whom they gave the title of God, the dignity of -which existed still in his -time.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_25" id="fnanchor_25"></a><a href="#footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></span> -This sovereign pontiff -resided upon a mountain that d’Anville believes he has -recognized, between Moldavia and Transylvania. The -Thracians had also a sovereign pontiff instituted in the -same manner as that of the Getæ, and residing likewise -upon a sacred -mountain.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_26" id="fnanchor_26"></a><a href="#footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></span> -It was, no doubt, from the -heights of these mountains that the divine oracles, the laws -and teachings which the great pontiffs had composed in -verse, were at first spread throughout Greece; so that it -might be said, literally as well as figuratively, that poetry, -revered as the language of the gods, production of an Eternal -Being, descended from the ethereal abode and was propagated -upon earth for the instruction and delight of mortals. -It appears to me very certain that the temple of Delphi, -erected upon the famous mountain of Parnassus, differed -not essentially at first from those of Thrace; and what -confirms me in this idea is that, according to an ancient -tradition, it was Olen who, coming out from Lycia, that is -to say from the light, caused all Greece to recognize the -cult of Apollo and Diana; composed the hymns which were -chanted at Delos in honour of these two divinities and established -the temple of Delphi of which he was the first pontiff.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_27" id="fnanchor_27"></a><a href="#footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></span> - -Thus the temple of Delphi rivalled those of Thrace. Its -foundation, doubtless due to some innovator priest, was -attributed by a poetic metaphor to the divinity which had -inspired it. At that time a schism arose and two cults -were formed, that of the Thracians consecrated to Bacchus -and Ceres, or Dionysus the divine spirit, and Demeter the -earth-mother<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_28" id="fnanchor_28"></a><a href="#footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></span>; -and that of the Greeks, properly speaking, -consecrated to the sun and the moon, adored under the -names of Apollo and Diana. It is to this schism that one -should ascribe the famous dispute which was raised, it is -said, between Bacchus and Apollo concerning the possession -of the tripod of -Delphi.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_29" id="fnanchor_29"></a><a href="#footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></span> -The poetic fable woven from this -subject was made to preserve the remembrance of the -moral incident and not of the physical event; for at this -remote epoch, when verse only was written, history, ever -allegorical, treated only of moral and providential matters, -disdaining all physical details deemed little worthy of -occupying the memory of men.</p> - -<p>However that may be, it appears certain, notwithstanding -this schism, that the cult of the Thracians dominated Greece -for a long time. The new source of poetry opened at Delphi -and on Mount Parnassus, destined in time to become so -celebrated, remained at first somewhat unknown. It is -worthy of observation that Hesiod, born in the village of -Ascra, a short distance from Delphi, makes no mention -either of the oracle or of the temple of Apollo. All that he -said of this city, which he named Pytho, has reference to -the stone which Saturn had swallowed, believing to devour -his son.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_30" id="fnanchor_30"></a><a href="#footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></span> -Homer does not mention this Pytho in the <cite>Iliad</cite>; -he mentions in the <cite>Odyssey</cite> an oracle delivered by Apollo -upon Parnassus. For a long time, the peoples of Greece, -accustomed to receive from the ancient mountains of Thrace -both their oracles and their instructions, turned toward -that country and neglected the new sacred mount. This -is why the most ancient traditions place in Thrace, -with the supremacy of cult and sacerdotalism, the cradle -of the most famous poets and that of the Muses who -had inspired them: Orpheus, Musæus, Thamyris, and -Eumolpus were Thracians. Pieria, where the Muses -were born, was a mountain of Thrace; and when, at -length, it was a question of rendering to the gods a severe -and orthodox cult, it was said that it was necessary to -imitate the Thracians, or, as one would say in French, -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">thraciser</i>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_31" id="fnanchor_31"></a><a href="#footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></span></p> - -<p>Besides it must be observed, that at the epoch when -the temple of Delphi was founded, the new cult, presented -to the Greeks under the name of the universal Olen, tended -to unite Apollo and Diana, or the sun and the moon, under -the same symbolic figure, and to make of it only one -and the same object of adoration, under the name of <cite>Œtolinos</cite>, -that is to say, -<i>Sun-moon</i>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_32" id="fnanchor_32"></a><a href="#footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></span> -It was proclaimed that -the middle of the earth, its paternal and maternal umbilicus, -was found placed exactly on the spot where the new sacred -city was built, which was called for this mystical reason -Delphi.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_33" id="fnanchor_33"></a><a href="#footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></span> -But it seems that the universality of this Œtolinos -was never well understood by the Greeks, who, in their -minds, united only with difficulty that which custom and -their senses had taught them to separate. Moreover one -can well conjecture that, as in all religious schisms, a host -of difficulties and contradictory opinions were raised. If -I can believe the sacerdotal traditions of India, that I encounter, -the greatest difficulty was, not knowing which -sex dominated in this mysterious being whose essence was -composed of the sun and moon and whose hermaphroditic -umbilicus was possessed in Delphi. This insoluble question -had more than once divided mankind and stained the earth -with blood. But here is not the place to touch upon one of -the most important and most singular facts of the history -of man. I have already deviated too much from my subject, -and I return to it asking pardon of my judges for this -necessary digression.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="section Two">§ II</abbr></p> - -<p>Poetry, transported with the seat of religion from the -mountains of Thrace to those of Phocis, lost there, as -did religion, its primitive unity. Not only did each sovereign -pontiff use it to spread his dogmas, but the opposed -sects born of the rending of the cult, vying with each other, -took possession of it. These sects, quite numerous, personified -by the allegorical genius which presided over poetry, -and which, as I have said, constituted its essence, were -confused with the mind which animated them and were -considered as a particular being. Thence, so many of the -demi-gods, and the celebrated heroes, from whom the Greek -tribes pretended to have descended; thence, so many of -the famous poets to whom were attributed a mass of works -that emanated from the same sanctuary, or were composed -for the support of the same doctrine. For it is well to -remember that the allegorical history of these remote times, -written in a different spirit from the positive history which -has succeeded it, resembled it in no way, and that it is in -having confused them that so many grave errors have arisen. -It is a very important observation that I again make here. -This history, confided to the memory of men or preserved -among the sacerdotal archives of the temples in detached -fragments of poetry, considered things only from the moral -side, was never occupied with individuals, but saw only the -masses; that is to say, peoples, corporations, sects, doctrines, -even arts and sciences, as so many particular beings that -it designated by a generic name. It is not that these masses -were unable to have a chief to direct their movements, but -this chief, regarded as the instrument of a certain mind, -was neglected by history which attached itself to the mind -only. One chief succeeded another without allegorical -history making the least mention of it. The adventures -of all were accumulated upon the head of one alone. It -was the moral thing whose course was examined, whose -birth, progress, or downfall was described. The succession -of things replaced that of individuals. Positive history, -which ours has become, follows a method entirely different. -The individuals are everything for it: it notes with scrupulous -exactitude dates and facts which the other scorns. -I do not pronounce upon their common merit. The moderns -would mock that allegorical manner of the ancients, if they -could believe it possible, as I am persuaded the ancients -would have mocked the method of the moderns, had they -been able to foresee its possibility in the future. How -approve of what is unknown? Man approves of only what -he likes; he always believes he knows all that he ought to -like.</p> - -<p>I can say, after having repeated this observation, that -the poet Linus, who is regarded as the author of all the -melancholy chants of the ancient world, represents nothing -less than lunar poetry detached from the doctrine of Œtolinos, -of which I have spoken, and considered as schismatic -by the Thracians; I can also say, that the poet Amphion, -whose chants were, on the contrary, so powerful and so -virile, typifies the orthodox solar poetry, opposed by these -same Thracians; whereas the prophet Thamyris, who, it is -said, celebrated in such stately verse the creation of the -world and the war of the -Titans,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_34" id="fnanchor_34"></a><a href="#footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></span> -represents quite plainly -the universal doctrine of Olen, re-established by his followers. -The name of Amphion signifies the orthodox or -national voice of Greece; that of Thamyris, the twin lights -of the gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_35" id="fnanchor_35"></a><a href="#footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></span> -One feels, accordingly, that the evils which -came to Linus and to Thamyris, one of whom was killed by -Hercules,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_36" id="fnanchor_36"></a><a href="#footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></span> -and the other deprived of sight by the -Muses,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_37" id="fnanchor_37"></a><a href="#footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></span> - -are, in reality, only some sort of criticism or unfortunate -incident sustained by the doctrines which they represented, -on account of the opposition of the Thracians. What I -have said concerning Linus, Amphion, and Thamyris, can -be applied to the greater part of the poets who preceded -Homer, and Fabricius names seventy of -these<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_38" id="fnanchor_38"></a><a href="#footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></span>; -one could -also extend it to Orpheus, but only on a certain side; for -although it may be very true, that no positive detail is -possessed regarding the character of the celebrated man, -founder or propagator of the doctrine which has borne this -name; although it may be very true, that all that concerns -his birth, his life, and his death is completely unknown, it -is none the less certain that this man has existed, that he has -been actually the head of a very extended sect, and that the -allegorical fables which remain to us on this subject depict, -more particularly than they have done with any -other, the course of his thoughts and the success of his -institutions.</p> - -<p>Orpheus belongs, on the one side, to anterior times, and -on the other, to times merely ancient. The epoch when he -appeared is the line of demarcation between pure allegory -and mixed allegory, the intelligible and the sentient. He -taught how to ally the rational faculty with the imaginative -faculty. The science which was a long time after -called <i>philosophy</i>, originated with him. He laid its first -basis.</p> - -<p>One should guard against believing, following in the -footsteps of certain historians deceived by the meaning of -allegorical fables, that when Orpheus appeared, Greece, -still barbarous, offered only the traces of a civilization hardly -outlined, or that the ferocious animals, tamed by the charm -of his poetry, should represent, in effect, the inhabitants of -this beautiful country. Men capable of receiving a cult -so brilliant as that of Orpheus, a doctrine so pure, and -mysteries so profound; men who possessed a language so -formed, so noble, so harmonious as that which served that -inspired man to compose his hymns, were far from being -ignorant and savage to this degree. It is not true, as has -been said and repeated without examination, that poetry -had its birth in the forests, in regions rough and wild, nor -above all, that it may be the concomitant of the infancy -of the nations and the first stammerings of the human mind. -Poetry, on the contrary, having attained its perfection, indicates -always a long existence among the peoples, a civilization -very advanced and all the splendour of a virile age. -The sanctuary of the temple is its true cradle. Glance -over the savage world and see if the Iroquois or the Samoyeds -have a poetry. Have the peoples who were found in their -infancy in the isles of the Pacific shown you hymns like -those of Orpheus, epic monuments like the poems of Homer? -Is it not known that the Tartars who have subjugated -Asia, those proud Manchus who today reign over China, -have never been able to derive from their language, rebellious -to all kinds of melody and rhythm, a single -verse,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_39" id="fnanchor_39"></a><a href="#footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></span> - -although since their conquests they have felt and appreciated -the charms of this -art?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_40" id="fnanchor_40"></a><a href="#footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></span></p> - -<p>Bears and lions, tamed and brought nearer together by -Orphic poetry, have no reference to men, but to things: -they are the symbols of rival sects which, imbibing their -hatred at the very foot of the altars, diffused it over all -that surrounded them and filled Greece with troubles.</p> - -<p>For a long time this country was a prey to the double -scourge of religious and political anarchy. In detaching -herself from the cult of the metropolis, she also detached -herself from its government. Once a colony of the Phœnicians, -she had thrown off their yoke, not however spontaneously -and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(en masse)</i>, but gradually, over and over again; -so that there were twenty rival temples, twenty rival cities, -twenty petty peoples divided by rite, by civil interest, and -by the ambition of the priests and princes who governed -them. The Thracians, remaining faithful to the ancient -laws, were styled superstitious or enslaved, whereas the -innovators and the insurgents were considered, by the -Thracians and often by themselves, schismatics and rebels. -Phœnicia had vainly wished to oppose this general desertion. -Asia came to experience the most terrible shocks. -India, which had long held the sceptre there, was buried -for fifteen hundred years in her <i>Kali-youg</i>, or her age of -darkness, and offered only the shadow of her ancient -splendour.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_41" id="fnanchor_41"></a><a href="#footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></span> - -For fifteen centuries she had lost her unity by the -extinction of her imperial dynasties. Many rival kingdoms -were formed,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_42" id="fnanchor_42"></a><a href="#footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></span> -whose constant quarrels had left them -neither the leisure nor the possibility of watching over and -supporting their colonies from afar. The gradual lowering -of the Mediterranean, and the alluvial deposit of the shores -of Egypt raising the Isthmus of -Suez,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_43" id="fnanchor_43"></a><a href="#footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></span> -had cut off all communication -between this sea and the Red Sea, and, by barriers -difficult to surmount, separated the primitive Phœnicians, -established upon the shores of the Indian Ocean, from those -of Palestine.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_44" id="fnanchor_44"></a><a href="#footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></span> -The meridional Arabs were separated from -the septentrional, and both had broken with the Indians -to whom they had formerly -belonged.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_45" id="fnanchor_45"></a><a href="#footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></span> -Tibet had adopted -a particular cult and form of -government.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_46" id="fnanchor_46"></a><a href="#footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></span> -Persia had -been subject to the empire of the -Assyrians.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_47" id="fnanchor_47"></a><a href="#footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></span> -At last the -political ties which united all these states, and which once -formed only a vast group under the domination of the -Indian monarchs, had become relaxed or broken on all -sides. Egypt, long subject to the Philistines, known under -the name of Shepherds, came at length to drive them out, -and emerging from her lethargy prepared herself to seize -the influence which Asia had allowed to -escape.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_48" id="fnanchor_48"></a><a href="#footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></span> -Already -the most warlike of her kings, Sethos, had extended his -empire over both Libya and Arabia; Phœnicia and Assyria -had been subjugated; he had entered triumphant into -Babylon and was seated upon the throne of -Belus.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_49" id="fnanchor_49"></a><a href="#footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></span> -He -would not have hesitated to attempt the conquest of Greece, -if he had been able as easily to lead his army there; but it -was difficult for him to create a marine force, and above -all to overcome the invincible repugnance that the Egyptians -had for the sea.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_50" id="fnanchor_50"></a><a href="#footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></span> -Obliged to employ the Phœnicians, -his ancient enemies, he was able to draw from them only -mediocre service. In spite of these obstacles and the stubborn -resistance of the Greeks, he succeeded nevertheless -in making some conquests and forming some partial settlements. -Athens, so celebrated later, was one of the principal -ones.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_51" id="fnanchor_51"></a><a href="#footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></span></p> - -<p>These events, these revolutions, calamitous in appearance, -were in reality to produce great benefits. Greece, already -impregnated with the learning of the Phœnicians, -which she had obtained and elaborated, afterward received -that of the Egyptians and elaborated it still further. A man -born in the heart of Thrace, but carried in his childhood -into Egypt through the desire for -knowledge,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_52" id="fnanchor_52"></a><a href="#footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></span> -returned to -his country with one of the Egyptian colonies, to kindle -there the new light. He was initiated into all the mysteries -of religion and science: he surpassed, said Pausanias, all -those who had preceded him, by the beauty of his verse, -the sublimity of his chants, and the profoundness of his -knowledge in the art of healing and of appeasing the -gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_53" id="fnanchor_53"></a><a href="#footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></span> - -This was Orpheus: he took this name from that of his -doctrine<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_54" id="fnanchor_54"></a><a href="#footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></span> - -which aimed to cure and to save by knowledge.</p> - -<p>I should greatly overstep the limits that I have prescribed -for this discourse if I should recall in detail all that -Greece owed to this celebrated man. The mythological -tradition has consecrated in a brilliant allegory the efforts -which he made to restore to men the truth which they -had lost. His love for Eurydice, so much sung by the -poets, is but the symbol of the divine science for which he -longed.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_55" id="fnanchor_55"></a><a href="#footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></span> -The name of this mysterious spouse, whom he -vainly wished to return to the light, signified only the doctrine -of the true science, the teaching of what is beautiful -and veritable, by which he tried to enrich the earth. But -man cannot look upon the face of truth before attaining the -intellectual light, without losing it; if he dare to contemplate -it in the darkness of his reason, it vanishes. This is -what the fable, which everyone knows, of Eurydice, found -and lost, signifies.</p> - -<p>Orpheus, who felt by his own experience, perhaps, the -great disadvantage that he had here, of presenting the -truth to men before they might be in condition to receive -it, instituted the divine mysteries; an admirable school -where the initiate, conducted from one degree to another, -slowly prepared and tried, received the share of light in -proportion to the strength of his intelligence, and gently -enlightened, without risk of being dazzled, attained to -virtue, wisdom, and truth. There has been but one opinion -in antiquity concerning the utility of the mysteries, -before dissolution had stained its precincts and corrupted -its aim. All the sages, even Socrates, have praised this -institution,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_56" id="fnanchor_56"></a><a href="#footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></span> -the honour of which has been constantly attributed -to Orpheus.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_57" id="fnanchor_57"></a><a href="#footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></span> -It is not improbable that this sage -had found the model in Egypt and that he himself had been -initiated, as -Moses<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_58" id="fnanchor_58"></a><a href="#footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></span> -and Pythagoras<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_59" id="fnanchor_59"></a><a href="#footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></span> -had been before and -after him; but in this case an imitation was equivalent to -a creation.</p> - -<p>I have said that after the appearance of Orpheus, poetry -had lost its unity: as divided as the cult, it had sustained -its vicissitudes. Entirely theosophical in its principle, and -calm as the Divinity which inspired it, it had taken in the -midst of the opposed sects a passionate character which -it had not had previously. The priests, who used it to -uphold their opinions, had found, instead of the real inspiration, -that sort of physical exaltation which results from the -fire of passions, whose movement and fleeting splendour -entrance the vulgar. Vying with each other they had -brought forth a mass of theological systems, had multiplied -the allegorical fables concerning the universe, and had -drowned, as it were, the unity of the Divinity in the vain -and minute distinction of its infinite faculties; and as each -composed in his own dialect and in pursuance of his own -caprice, each devised unceasingly new names for the same -beings, according as they believed they caught a glimpse of -a certain new virtue in these beings that another had not -expressed, it came to pass that not only were the gods multiplied -by the distinction of their faculties, but still more by -the diversity of names employed in expressing them. Very -soon there was not a city nor a town in Greece, that did not -have, or at least believed that it had, its own particular -god. If one had carefully examined this prodigious number -of divinities, one would have clearly seen that they -could be reduced, by elimination, to a small number and -would finally end by being mingled in a sole Universal -Being; but that was very difficult for people, flattered, moreover, -by a system which compared the condition of the gods -with theirs, and offered them thus, protectors and patrons -so much the more accessible as they were less occupied -and less powerful.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_60" id="fnanchor_60"></a><a href="#footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></span> -Vainly, therefore, the Egyptian colony -established at Athens presented to the adoration of this -people imbued with the prejudice of polytheism, the sovereign -of the gods under the title of the -Most-High<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_61" id="fnanchor_61"></a><a href="#footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></span>; -the -veneration of this people was turned wholly towards Minerva, -who became its patron under the name of -Athena,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_62" id="fnanchor_62"></a><a href="#footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></span> - -as Juno was that of Argos,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_63" id="fnanchor_63"></a><a href="#footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></span> -Ceres, that of Eleusis, Phigalia, -Methydrium,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_64" id="fnanchor_64"></a><a href="#footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></span> -etc.</p> - -<p>Orpheus, instructed as was Moses, in the sanctuaries of -Egypt, had the same ideas as the legislator of the Hebrews -upon the unity of God, but the different circumstances in -which he found himself placed did not permit him to divulge -this dogma; he reserved this for making it the basis of his -mysteries, and continued, in the meantime, to personify in -his poetry the attributes of the Divinity. His institutions, -drawn from the same source, founded upon the same truths, -received the imprint of his character and that of the people -to whom he had destined them. As those of Moses were -severe and, if one must admit, harsh in form, enemies of the -sciences and arts, so those of Orpheus were brilliant, fitted -to seduce the minds, favourable to all the developments -of the imagination. It was beneath the allurements of -pleasure, of joy, and of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(fêtes)</i>, that he concealed the utility -of his lessons and the depth of his doctrine. Nothing was -more full of pomp than the celebration of its mysteries. -Whatever majesty, force, and grace, poetry, music, and -painting had, was used to excite the enthusiasm of the -initiate.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_65" id="fnanchor_65"></a><a href="#footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></span> -He found no pretext advantageous enough, no -form beautiful enough, no charm powerful enough to interest -the hearts and attract them toward the sublime truths -which he proclaimed. These truths, whose force the early -Christians have recognized,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_66" id="fnanchor_66"></a><a href="#footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></span> -went much further than those -of which Moses had been the interpreter; they seemed to -anticipate the times. Not only did he teach of the unity -of God,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_67" id="fnanchor_67"></a><a href="#footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></span> -and give the most sublime ideas of this unfathomable -Being<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_68" id="fnanchor_68"></a><a href="#footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></span>; -not only did he explain the birth of the Universe -and the origin of things<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_69" id="fnanchor_69"></a><a href="#footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></span>; -but he represented this unique -God under the emblem of a mysterious Trinity endowed -with three names<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_70" id="fnanchor_70"></a><a href="#footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a></span>; -he spoke of the dogma which Plato -announced a long time after concerning the Logos, or the -Divine Word; and, according to Macrobius, taught even its -incarnation or its union with matter, its death or its division -in the world of sense, its resurrection or its transfiguration, -and finally its return to the original -Unity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_71" id="fnanchor_71"></a><a href="#footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></span></p> - -<p>This inspired man, by exalting in Man the imagination, -that admirable faculty which makes the charm of life, fettered -the passions which trouble its serenity. Through -him his disciples enjoyed the enthusiasm of the fine arts -and he insisted that their customs should be pure and -simple.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_72" id="fnanchor_72"></a><a href="#footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></span> - -The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(régime)</i> that he prescribed for them was that which -Pythagoras introduced -later<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_73" id="fnanchor_73"></a><a href="#footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></span>. One of the most pleasing -rewards which he offered to their endeavours, the very aim -of their initiation into his mysteries, was, putting themselves -in communion with the gods<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_74" id="fnanchor_74"></a><a href="#footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></span>; -freeing themselves -from the cycle of generations, purifying their soul, and rendering -it worthy of projecting itself, after the downfall of its -corporal covering toward its primal abode, to the realms -of light and happiness.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_75" id="fnanchor_75"></a><a href="#footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></span></p> - -<p>Despite my resolution to be brief, I cannot resist the -pleasure of speaking at greater length of Orpheus, and of -recalling, as is my custom, things which, appearing today -wholly foreign to my subject, nevertheless, when examined -from my viewpoint, belong to it. Poetry was not at all in -its origin what it became later, a simple accomplishment, -regarded by those who profess to be savants as even rather -frivolous<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_76" id="fnanchor_76"></a><a href="#footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></span>; -it was the language of the gods, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(par excellence)</i>, -that of the prophets, the ministers of the altars, the preceptors -and the legislators of the world. I rejoice to repeat -this truth, after rendering homage to Orpheus, to this -admirable man, to whom Europe owes the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(éclat)</i> with which -she has shone and with which she will shine a long time. -Orpheus has been the real creator of poetry and of -music,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_77" id="fnanchor_77"></a><a href="#footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></span> -the father of mythology, of morals, and of philosophy: it is -he who has served as model for Hesiod and Homer, who has -illumined the footsteps of Pythagoras and Plato.</p> - -<p>After having wisely accommodated the outward ceremonies -to the minds of the people whom he wished to instruct, -Orpheus divided his doctrine into two parts, the one -vulgar, and the other mysterious and secret, following in -this the method of the Egyptians, whose disciple he had -been<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_78" id="fnanchor_78"></a><a href="#footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></span>; -then, turning his attention to poetry, and seeing -into what chaos this science had fallen and the confusion -that had been made of divine and profane things, he judiciously -separated it into two principal branches, which he -assigned, the one to theology, the other to natural philosophy. -It can be said that he gave in each the precept -and the example. As sublime a theosophist as he was -profound as a philosopher, he composed an immense quantity -of theosophical and philosophical verses upon all sorts -of subjects. Time has destroyed nearly all of them; but -their memory has been perpetuated. Among the works -of Orpheus that were cited by the ancients and whose loss -must be deplored, were found, on the subject of theosophy, -<cite>The Holy Word</cite> or <cite>The Sacred -Logos</cite>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_79" id="fnanchor_79"></a><a href="#footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></span> -by which Pythagoras -and Plato profited much; the <cite>Theogony</cite>, which preceded that -of Hesiod more than five centuries; <cite>The Initiations to the -Mysteries of the Mother of the -Gods</cite>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_80" id="fnanchor_80"></a><a href="#footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></span> -and <cite>The Ritual of the -Sacrifices</cite>, wherein he had recorded, undoubtedly, the divers -parts of his doctrine<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_81" id="fnanchor_81"></a><a href="#footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></span>: -on the subject of philosophy, a celebrated -cosmogony was found,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_82" id="fnanchor_82"></a><a href="#footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></span> -in which an astronomical -system was developed that would be an honour to our -century, touching the plurality of the worlds, the station of -the sun at the centre of the universe, and the habitation of -the stars.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_83" id="fnanchor_83"></a><a href="#footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></span> -These extraordinary works emanated from the -same genius who had written in verse upon grammar, music, -natural history, upon the antiquities of the many isles of -Greece, upon the interpretation of signs and prodigies, and -a mass of other subjects, the details of which one can see -in the commencement of the Argonautica of Onomacritus, -which is attributed to him.</p> - -<p>But at the same time that Orpheus opened thus to his -successor two very distinct careers, theosophical and philosophical, -he did not entirely neglect the other parts of this -science: his hymns and his odes assigned him to a distinguished -rank among the lyric poets; his <cite>Démétréïde</cite> presaged -the beauties of Epopœia, and the representations full of -pomp, that he introduced into his mysteries, gave birth to -Greek Melopœia whence sprang dramatic art. He can -therefore be regarded, not only as the precursor of Hesiod -and Epimenides, but even as that of Homer, Æschylus, and -Pindar. I do not pretend, in saying this, to take away -anything from the glory of these celebrated men: the one -who indicates a course, yields to the one who executes it: -now this, especially, is what Homer did.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Three">§ III</abbr></p> - -<p>Homer was not the first epic poet in the order of time, -but in the order of things. Before him many poets -were skilled in Epopœia; but no one had known the nature -of this kind of poetry<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_84" id="fnanchor_84"></a><a href="#footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></span>; -no one had united the opposed qualities -which were necessary. There existed at this epoch a -multitude of allegorical fables which had emanated at -divers times from different sanctuaries. These fables, -committed at first to memory, had been collected in several -sets of works which were called -cycles.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_85" id="fnanchor_85"></a><a href="#footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></span> -There were allegorical, -mythological, and epic -cycles.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_86" id="fnanchor_86"></a><a href="#footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></span> -We know from -certain precious texts of the ancients, that these sorts of -collections opened generally with the description of Chaos, -with the marriage of Heaven and Earth; contained the -genealogy of the Gods and the combats of the Giants; -included the expedition of the Argonauts, the famous wars -of Thebes and of Troy; extended as far as the arrival of -Ulysses at Ithaca, and terminated with the death of this -hero, caused by his son -Telegonus.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_87" id="fnanchor_87"></a><a href="#footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a></span> -The poets who, before -Homer, had drawn from these cycles the subject of their -works, not having penetrated as far as the allegorical sense, -lacking inspiration, or being found incapable of rendering -it, lacking talent, had produced only cold inanimate copies, -deprived of movement and grace. They had not, however, -omitted any of the exploits of Hercules or of Theseus, nor -any of the incidents of the sieges of Thebes or Troy; and -their muse, quite lifeless, fatigued the readers without -interesting or instructing -them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_88" id="fnanchor_88"></a><a href="#footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></span> -Homer came. He, in -his turn, glanced over this pile of sacerdotal traditions, -and raising himself by the force of his genius alone to the -intellectual principle which had conceived them, he grasped -the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(ensemble)</i>, and felt all its possibilities. The faculties of -his soul and the precious gifts which he had received from -nature had made him one of those rare men who present -themselves, at long intervals, upon the scene of the world -to enlighten it, shining in the depths of centuries and serving -as torches for mankind. In whatever clime, in whatever -career destiny had placed him, he would have been the -foremost. Ever the same, whether under the thatched roof -or upon the throne, as great in Egypt as in Greece, in the -Occident as in the Orient of Asia, everywhere he had commanded -admiration. Some centuries earlier this same attribute -might have been seen in Krishna or in Orpheus, some -centuries later, in Pythagoras or in Cyrus. Great men are -always great by their own greatness. Incidents which -depend upon chance can only modify. Homer was destined -to poetry by favourable circumstances. Born upon the -borders of the river Meles, of an indigent mother, without -shelter and without kindred, he owed, to a schoolmaster of -Smyrna who adopted him, his early existence and his early -instructions. He was at first called Melesigenes, from the -place of his -birth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_89" id="fnanchor_89"></a><a href="#footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></span> -Pupil of Phemius, he received from -his benevolent preceptor, simple but pure ideas, which the -activity of his soul developed, which his genius increased, -universalized, and brought to their perfection. His education, -begun with an assiduous and sedentary study, was -perfected through observation. He undertook long journeys -for the sole purpose of instructing himself. The political -conditions, contrary to every other project, favoured -him.</p> - -<p>Greece, after having shaken off the yoke of the Phœnicians -and having become the friend of Egypt rather than -her subject, commenced to reap the fruits of the beautiful -institutions that she had received from Orpheus. Powerful -metropolises arose in the heart of this country, long regarded -as a simple colony of Asia, and her native strength being -progressively augmented by the habit of liberty, she had -need of extending herself -abroad.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_90" id="fnanchor_90"></a><a href="#footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></span> -Rich with the increase -of population, she had reacted upon her ancient metropolis, -had taken possession of a great number of cities on the -opposite shores of Asia, and had colonized -them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_91" id="fnanchor_91"></a><a href="#footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a></span> -Phœnicia -humiliated, torn by internal dissensions,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_92" id="fnanchor_92"></a><a href="#footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></span> -tossed between -the power of the Assyrians and that of the -Egyptians,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_93" id="fnanchor_93"></a><a href="#footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></span> -saw -this same Greece that she had civilized and to whom she -had given her gods, her laws, and even the letters of her -alphabet, ignore, deny her -benefits,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_94" id="fnanchor_94"></a><a href="#footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></span> -take up arms against -her, carry away her colonies from the shores of Italy and of -Sicily, and becoming mistress of the islands of the Archipelago, -tear from her her sole remaining hope, the empire of -the sea.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_95" id="fnanchor_95"></a><a href="#footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></span> -The people of Rhodes were overpowered.</p> - -<p>Homer, of Greek nationality although born in Asia, -profited by these advantages. He set sail in a vessel, whose -patron, Mentes of Leucas, was his friend, wandered over -all the possessions of Greece, visited -Egypt,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_96" id="fnanchor_96"></a><a href="#footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></span> -and came to -settle at Tyre. This was the ancient metropolis of Greece, -the source and sacred repository of her mythological traditions. -It was there, in this same temple of the Master of -the Universe,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_97" id="fnanchor_97"></a><a href="#footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></span> -where twelve centuries before Sanchoniathon -had come to study the antiquities of the -world,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_98" id="fnanchor_98"></a><a href="#footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></span> -that Homer -was able to go back to the origin of Greek cult and fathom -the most hidden meanings of its -mysteries<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_99" id="fnanchor_99"></a><a href="#footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></span>; -it was there -that he chose the first and noblest subject of his chants, -that which constitutes the fable of the -<cite>Iliad</cite>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_100" id="fnanchor_100"></a><a href="#footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></span> -If one must -believe in the very singular accounts which time has preserved -to us, thanks to the blind zeal of certain Christians -who have treated them as heresies, this Helen, whose name -applied to the moon signifies the resplendent, this woman -whom Paris carried away from her spouse Menelaus, is -nothing else than the symbol of the human -soul,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_101" id="fnanchor_101"></a><a href="#footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a></span> -torn by -the principle of generation from that of thought, on account -of which the moral and physical passions declare war. But -it would be taking me too far away from my subject, examining -in detail what might be the meaning of the allegories -of Homer. My plan has not been to investigate this meaning -in particular, but to show that it exists in general. -Upon this point I have not only the rational proof which -results from the concatenation of my ideas, but also proof -of the fact, which is furnished to me by the testimonials of -the ancients. These testimonials are recognized at every -step, in the works of the philosophers and chiefly in those -of the Stoics. Only a very superficial erudition is necessary -to be convinced of -this.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_102" id="fnanchor_102"></a><a href="#footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></span> -But I ought to make an observation, -and this observation will be somewhat novel: it is -that, the poetic inspiration being once received by the poet -and his soul finding itself transported into the intelligible -world, all the ideas which then come to him are universal -and in consequence allegorical. So that nothing true may -exist outside of unity, and as everything that is true is one -and homogeneous, it is found that, although the poet gives -to his ideas a form determined in the sentient world, this -form agrees with a multitude of things which, being distinct -in their species, are not so in their genus. This is why -Homer has been the man of all men, the type of all types, -the faithful mirror,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_103" id="fnanchor_103"></a><a href="#footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></span> -wherein all ideas becoming reflected -have appeared to be created. Lycurgus read his works, -and saw there a model of his -legislation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_104" id="fnanchor_104"></a><a href="#footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></span> -Pericles and Alcibiades -had need of his counsels; they had recourse to him -as a model of statesmen.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_105" id="fnanchor_105"></a><a href="#footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></span> -He was for Plato the first of the -philosophers, and for Alexander the greatest of kings; and -what is more extraordinary still, even the sectarians, divided -among themselves, were united in him. The Stoics spoke -only of this great poet as a rigid follower of the -Porch<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_106" id="fnanchor_106"></a><a href="#footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></span>; -at the Academy he was considered as the creator of dialectics; -at the Lyceum, the disciples of Aristotle cited him as -a zealous dogmatist<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_107" id="fnanchor_107"></a><a href="#footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a></span>; -finally, the Epicureans saw in him -only a man calm and pure, who, satisfied with that tranquil -life where one is wholly possessed by it, seeks nothing -more.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_108" id="fnanchor_108"></a><a href="#footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></span> -The temples, which devout enthusiasm consecrated to him, -were the rendezvous for mankind.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_109" id="fnanchor_109"></a><a href="#footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></span> -Such is the appanage -of universal ideas: they are as the Divinity which inspires -them, all in all, and all in the least parts.</p> - -<p>If, at the distance where I am placed, I should dare, -traversing the torrent of ages and opinions, draw near to -Homer and read the soul of this immortal man, I would say, -after having grasped in its entirety the allegorical genius -which makes the essence of poetry, in seeking to give to his -universal ideas a particular form, that his intention was to -personify and paint the passions, and that it was from this -that epopœia had birth. I have not sufficient documents -to attest positively that the word by which one characterizes -this kind of poetry after Homer, did not exist before -him; but I have sufficient to repeat that no one had as yet -recognized its real -nature.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_110" id="fnanchor_110"></a><a href="#footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></span> -The poems of Corinna, of -Dares, or of Dictys, were only simple extracts from the -mythological cycles, rude copies from certain theosophical -fragments denuded of life; Homer was the first who caused -the <cite>Voice of Impulse</cite>, that is to say Epopœia, to be -understood<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_111" id="fnanchor_111"></a><a href="#footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></span>: -that kind of poetry which results from intellectual -inspiration united to the enthusiasm of the passions.</p> - -<p>In order to attain to the perfection of this kind of poetry, -it is necessary to unite to the imaginative faculty which -feeds the genius, the reason which regulates the impulse, -and the enthusiasm which inflames the mind and supplies -the talent. Homer united them in the most eminent -degree. Thus he possessed the first inspiration and the -complete science, as much in its essence as in its form; for -the poetic form is always dependent upon talent.</p> - -<p>This form was then highly favourable to genius. The -Greek verse, measured by musical rhythm and filled with a -happy blending of long and short syllables, had long since -shaken off the servile yoke of rhyme. Now, by rhythm -was understood the number and respective duration of the -time of which a verse was -composed.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_112" id="fnanchor_112"></a><a href="#footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a></span> -A long syllable was -equal to a time divided in two instants, and equivalent to -two short syllables. A foot was what we name today a -measure. The foot contained two times, made up of two -long, or of one long and two short syllables. The verse -most commonly used was the hexameter, that is, that in -which the extent was measured by six rhythmic feet and -of which the whole duration was twelve times. Thus poetry -received only the laws of rhythm; it was a kind of music -whose particular harmony, free in its course, was subject -only to measure.</p> - -<p>I have never found any authentic evidence that the -Greeks had ever used the rhyme in their verse. It is stated, -however, that they have not differed from other nations -in this respect. Voltaire said so but without -proof.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_113" id="fnanchor_113"></a><a href="#footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></span> -What -is most certain is that, taking the -word <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(epos)</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_114" id="fnanchor_114"></a><a href="#footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a></span> -a verse, in -its most restricted acceptance, expressing a turn, a turning -around again, the early poets constructed their verse in -form of furrows, going from right to left and returning from -left to right.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_115" id="fnanchor_115"></a><a href="#footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a></span> -Happily this <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(bizarrerie)</i> did not last long. -If the Greek verses had thus turned one upon another, or -if the rhyme had forced them to proceed in couplets bent -beneath a servile yoke, Homer would not have created the -Epopœia, or these frivolous obstacles would have vanished -before him. His genius, incapable of enduring chains, would -have refused to clothe itself in a form capable of stifling it. -But this celebrated man would no doubt have changed it; -one can judge by the energetic manner with which he attacked -that which he found in use. The Greek language, -which preserved still in his time something of the Phœnician -stiffness and the Celtic roughness, obliged to adapt -itself to all the movements of his imagination, became the -most flexible and the most harmonious dialect of the earth. -One is astonished, in reading his works, at the boldness of -his composition.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_116" id="fnanchor_116"></a><a href="#footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></span> -One sees him without the least effort, -bending words at his pleasure, lengthening them, shortening -them to produce something new, reviving those no longer -in use, uniting them, separating them, disposing of them in -an unaccustomed order, forcing them to adapt themselves -everywhere to the harmony that he wishes to depict, to -sentiments of elevation, of pleasure or terror, that he -wishes to inspire.</p> - -<p>Thus genius, dominating form, creates master-pieces; -form, on the contrary, commanding genius, produces only -works of the mind. I must say finally and no longer veil -from the attention of my judges, the aim of this discourse: -whenever rhyme exists in the poetic form, it renders the -form inflexible, it brings upon it only the effort of talent -and renders that of intellectual inspiration useless. Never -will the people who rhyme their verses attain to the height -of poetic perfection; never will real epopœia flourish in their -breasts. They will hear neither the accents inspired by -Orpheus, nor the stirring and impassioned harmonies of -Homer. Far from drawing the allegorical genius at its -source and receiving the first inspiration, it will not even -recognize the second one. Its poets will polish painfully -certain impassioned or descriptive verses, and will call -beautiful the works which will only be well done. A rapid -glance over the poetic condition of the earth will prove what -I have advanced. But I ought to explain beforehand what -I understand by first and second inspiration; the moment -has arrived for holding to the promise that I made at the -beginning of this discourse.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Four">§ IV</abbr></p> - -<p>You recall, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, that wishing, with Chancellor -Bacon, to distinguish the essence and the form of -Poetry, I have taken my text from the works of Plato. It -is again from this man, justly called divine even by his -rivals, from the founder of the Academy, that I have borrowed -the germ of my idea. This philosopher compares -the effect which the real poets have upon those who hear -them, with the magnetic stone which not only attracts -rings of iron, but communicates to them also the virtue of -attracting other -rings.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_117" id="fnanchor_117"></a><a href="#footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></span></p> - -<p>In order to appreciate well the force of this thought, and -to follow all the inferences, it is necessary to state a truth -<i>de facto</i>: namely, that the men destined by Providence to -regenerate the world, in whatever manner it may be, to -open any sort of a career, are extremely rare. Nature, -docile to the impulse which she has received of bringing all -to perfection by means of time, elaborates slowly the elements -of their genius, places them at great distances upon -the earth, and makes them appear at epochs very far removed -one from the other. It is necessary that these -events, which determine these men toward an end, should -be brought about in advance; that the physical conditions -in which they are born coincide with the inspiration which -attends them; and therefore everything prepares, everything -protects, everything serves the providential design. -These men, thus scattered over the earth, come among -nations to form them, to give them laws, to enlighten and -to instruct them. They are the beacon-lights of mankind; -these are those to whom I attribute the first inspiration. -This inspiration is immediate; it emanates from the first -principle of all intelligence, in the same manner, to use the -comparison of Plato, that the magnetic force which animates -the loadstone, emanates from its cause. It is profoundly -hidden from our eyes: it is this which fires the genius of a -theosophist such as Thoth, Orpheus, and Zoroaster; the -genius of a theocrat, such as Krishna, Moses, or Mohammed; -the genius of a philosopher, such as Kong-Tse, Pythagoras, -or Socrates; the genius of a poet, such as Homer or Valmiki; -and of a triumphant hero, such as Cyrus, Alexander, or -Napoleon.</p> - -<p>Those who follow in the footprints of these primordial -men, who allow themselves to be impressed by their genius, -receive what I call the second inspiration. They can still -be great men; for those who assist them are very great; -they can also communicate the inspiration, for it acts in -them with an exuberant force. Let us confine ourselves -to the poetic inspiration and listen to the voice of Plato:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The Muse inspires the poets directly, and these, communicating -to others their enthusiasm, form a chain of inspired men. It -is by means of this chain that the Divinity attracts the souls -of men, and moves them at his pleasure, causing his virtue to -pass from link to link, from the first inspired poet to the last -of his readers or his -rhapsodists.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_118" id="fnanchor_118"></a><a href="#footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is by means of this magnetic chain that one can, in -another sphere of movement, explain this truth so well -known, that great kings make great men; it is also in this -manner that one can understand how a monarch, called to -found a vast empire, makes his will penetrate all hearts, -take possession of all souls, and propagating his valour more -and more, electrify his army and fill it with a multitude of -heroes.</p> - -<p>Homer received therefore a first inspiration; he was -created to become the poetic motive of Europe, the principle -of a magnetized chain which, appropriating unceasingly new -links, was to cover Europe with its numberless extensions. -His first conquests were in Greece. His verses, carried from -city to city by actors known under the name of -rhapsodists,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_119" id="fnanchor_119"></a><a href="#footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></span> - -excited the keenest enthusiasm; they passed soon from -mouth to mouth, fixed the attention of legislators, were the -ornament of the most brilliant -fêtes,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_120" id="fnanchor_120"></a><a href="#footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a></span> -and became everywhere -the basis of public -instruction.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_121" id="fnanchor_121"></a><a href="#footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></span> -The secret flame which -they concealed, becoming developed in young souls, warmed -there the particular germ which they possessed, and according -to their divers specie and the fertility of the soil, -brought forth many talents.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_122" id="fnanchor_122"></a><a href="#footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></span> -The poets who were found -endowed with a genius vast enough to receive the second -inspiration in its entirety, imitated their model and raised -themselves to epopœia. Antimachus and Dicæogenes are -noticeable, the one for his Thebaïs, and the other for his -cyprien verses.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_123" id="fnanchor_123"></a><a href="#footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></span> -Those to whom nature had given passions -more gentle than violent, more touching than vehement, -inclinations more rustic than bellicose, whose souls contained -more sensitiveness than elevation, were led to copy certain -isolated groups of this vast tableau, and placing them, -following their tastes, in the palace or in the thatched cottage, -caused accents of joy or of sorrow, the plaints of heroes or -the sports of shepherds to be heard, and thus created elegy, -eclogue, or idyl.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_124" id="fnanchor_124"></a><a href="#footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a></span> -Others, on the contrary, whose too vehement -enthusiasm shortened the duration of it, whose keen -fiery passions had left little empire for reason, who allowed -themselves to be drawn easily toward the object of which -they were momentarily captive, created the ode, dithyramb, -or song, according to the nature of their genius and the object -of their passion. These were more numerous than all the -others together, and the women who were here distinguished, -rivalled and even surpassed the men; Corinna and Myrtis -did not yield either to -Stesićhorus,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_125" id="fnanchor_125"></a><a href="#footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a></span> -or to Pindar; Sappho -and Telesilla effaced Alcæus and -Anacreon.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_126" id="fnanchor_126"></a><a href="#footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is said that the art with which Homer had put into -action gods and men, had opposed heaven and earth, and -depicted the combats of the passions; this art, being joined -to the manner in which the rhapsodists declaimed his -poems<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_127" id="fnanchor_127"></a><a href="#footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a></span> -by alternately relieving one another, and covering themselves -with garments of different colours adapted to the situation, -had insensibly given rise to dramatic style and to theatrical -representation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_128" id="fnanchor_128"></a><a href="#footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a></span> -This, true in a sense, has need of a distinction: -it will serve at the same time to throw light upon -what I am about to say.</p> - -<p>One should remember that the intellectual and rational -poetry, or theosophical and philosophical, illustrated by -Orpheus and which Homer had united with the enthusiasm -of the passions in order to constitute epopœia, although -separated from the latter, existed none the less. Whereas -the disciples of Homer, or the -Homeridæ,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_129" id="fnanchor_129"></a><a href="#footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></span> -spread themselves -abroad and took possession of the laic or profane world, -the religious and learned world was always occupied by the -disciples of Orpheus, called -Eumolpidæ.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_130" id="fnanchor_130"></a><a href="#footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a></span> -The hierophants -and philosophers continued to write as formerly upon theology -and natural philosophy. There appeared from time -to time theogonies and cosmological -systems,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_131" id="fnanchor_131"></a><a href="#footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></span> -dionysiacs, -heraclides,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_132" id="fnanchor_132"></a><a href="#footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a></span> -oracles, treatises on nature and moral apologues, -which bore no relation to epopœia. The hymns or pæans -which had emanated from the sanctuaries in honour of the -Divinity, had in no wise resembled either the odes or the -dithyrambs of the lyric -poets<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_133" id="fnanchor_133"></a><a href="#footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></span>: -as much as the former were -vehement and passionate, so much the latter affected to be -calm and majestic. There existed therefore, at this epoch, -two kinds of poetry, equally beautiful when they had attained -their respective perfection: Eumolpique Poetry and -Epic Poetry: the first, intellectual and rational; the other, -intellectual and passionate.</p> - -<p>However, the divine mysteries, hidden from the profane, -manifested to the initiates in the ceremonies and symbolic -fables, had not as yet issued from the sanctuaries: it had -been nearly a thousand years since they had been instituted -by Orpheus<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_134" id="fnanchor_134"></a><a href="#footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></span> -when suddenly one saw for the first time -certain of these fables and these ceremonies ridiculously -travestied, transpiring among the people and serving them -for amusement. The fêtes of Dionysus, celebrated in the -times of vintage, gave place to this sort of profanation. -The grape-gatherers, besmeared with lees, giving way in the -intoxication of wine to an indiscreet enthusiasm, began to -utter aloud from their wagons the allegories that they had -learned in their rural initiations. These allegories, which -neither the actors nor the spectators had comprehended in -reality, appeared, nevertheless, piquant to both through the -malicious interpretations which they gave -them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_135" id="fnanchor_135"></a><a href="#footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a></span> -Such -were the feeble beginnings of dramatic art in -Greece<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_136" id="fnanchor_136"></a><a href="#footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a></span>; -there -was born the profanation of the Orphic mysteries, in the -same manner that one sees it reborn among us, by the profanation -of the Christian -mysteries.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_137" id="fnanchor_137"></a><a href="#footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a></span> -But this art was already -old in Asia when it sprang up in Europe. I have -already said that there was in the secret celebration of the -mysteries, veritable dramatic representations. These mystic -ceremonies, copied from those which had taken place -in the celebration of the Egyptian mysteries, had been -brought into Egypt by the Indian priests at a very remote -epoch when the empire of Hindustan had extended over -this country. This communication, which was made from -one people to another, has been demonstrated to the point -of evidence by the learned researches of the academicians -of Calcutta, Jones, Wilford, and -Wilkin,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_138" id="fnanchor_138"></a><a href="#footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></span> -who have proved -what Bacon had previously said in speaking of the Greek -traditions, “that it was only a very light air which, passing -by means of an ancient people into the flutes of Greece, had -been modulated by them into sounds more sweet, more -harmonious, and more conformable to the climate and to -their brilliant imagination.”</p> - -<p>A singular coincidence, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, which will not escape -your sagacity, is that dramatic art, whose origin is lost in -India in the night of time, has likewise had its birth in the -mysteries of religion. It is during the <i>Ram-Jatra</i>, a fête -celebrated annually in honour of Rama, the same as Dionysus -of the Greeks, or Bacchus of the Latins, that one still -sees theatrical representations which have served as models -for the more regular works that have been made in the -course of time.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_139" id="fnanchor_139"></a><a href="#footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></span> -These representations, which run through -nearly all the exploits of Rama and through the victory -that this beneficent god gained over Rawhan, the principle -of evil, are mingled with chants and recitations exactly as -were those of the ancient Greeks. You understand, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, -that the first efforts of tragedy were to celebrate the -conquests of Bacchus and his triumph, of which that of -Apollo over the serpent Python, celebrated by the Pythian -games, was the emblem.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_140" id="fnanchor_140"></a><a href="#footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></span> -Those of the Indians who appear -to have preserved the most ancient traditions, since the -sacred books were written in the Pali language, considered -as anterior to the Sanskrit by some savants, the Burmans, -have from time immemorial recorded the mysteries of Rama -in scenic dramas which are still performed in public on the -fête day of this god.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_141" id="fnanchor_141"></a><a href="#footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></span> -I do not consider it amiss to mention -here that the name of Rama, which in Sanskrit signifies -that which is dazzling and beautiful, that which is sublime -and protective, has had the same signification in -Phœnician,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_142" id="fnanchor_142"></a><a href="#footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></span> -and that it is from this same name to which is joined -a demonstrative article common to Aramaic, Chaldean, and -Syriac, that the word drama<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_143" id="fnanchor_143"></a><a href="#footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></span> -is formed, and which being -adopted by the Greek tongue, has passed afterwards into -the Latin tongue and into ours. This word has expressed -an action, because, in truth, it depicts one in the mysteries -and besides its primitive root refers to regular movement -in general.</p> - -<p>But as my purpose is not to follow at present dramatic -art in all its ramifications and as it suffices me to have indicated -clearly the origin, I return to Greece.</p> - -<p>The spectacle of which I have spoken, effect of a Bacchic -enthusiasm, and at first abandoned to the caprice of certain -rustic grape-gatherers whose indiscretions did not appear -formidable, struck so forcibly by its novelty and produced -such a marvellous effect upon the people, that it was not -long before certain men of most cultivated minds were seen -desirous of taking part either from liking or from interest. -Thespis and Susarion appeared at the same time and each -seized, according to his character, one the noble and serious -side and the other the ridiculous and amusing side of the -mythological fables; dividing thus from its birth, dramatic -art and distinguishing it by two kinds, tragedy and comedy: -that is, the lofty and austere chant, and the joyous and -lascivious chant.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_144" id="fnanchor_144"></a><a href="#footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a></span> -<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_145" id="fnanchor_145"></a><a href="#footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the meantime, the governments, until then quite -indifferent to these rustic amusements, warned that certain -liberties permitted by Thespis were becoming too flagrant, -began to see the profanations which had resulted, and of -which the Eumolpidæ had no doubt pointed out the -consequences.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_146" id="fnanchor_146"></a><a href="#footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a></span> -They tried to prevent them, and Solon even -made a law regarding this -subject<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_147" id="fnanchor_147"></a><a href="#footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></span>; -but it was too late: -the people attracted in crowds to these representations, all -informal as they were, rendered useless the foresight of the -legislator. It was necessary to yield to the torrent and, -being unable to arrest it, to strive at least to restrain it -within just limits. A clear field was left open for the -good that it was able to do, in fertilizing the new ideas, -and severe rules were opposed to check whatever dangers -its invasions might have for religion and for customs. The -dramatic writers were permitted to draw the subject of -their pieces from the source of the mysteries, but it was -forbidden them, under penalty of death, to divulge the -sense. Æschylus, first of the dramatic poets, having involuntarily -violated this law, ran the risk of losing his -life.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_148" id="fnanchor_148"></a><a href="#footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></span> -Discriminating judges were established to pronounce upon -the excellency of the works offered in the competition, and -one was very careful not to abandon oneself at first to the -passionate acclamations of the people, and the approbations -or disapprobations of the maxims which were therein -contained.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_149" id="fnanchor_149"></a><a href="#footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></span> -These judges, proficient in the knowledge of -music and of poetry, had to listen in silence until the end, -and maintain all in order and decency. Plato attributes to -the desuetude into which this law fell, and to the absolute -dominion which the people assumed over the theatre, the -first decadence of the art and its entire corruption.</p> - -<p>Æschylus, whom I have just named, was the true creator -of dramatic art. Strong with the inspiration which he had -received from Homer,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_150" id="fnanchor_150"></a><a href="#footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></span> -he transported into tragedy the style -of epopœia, and animated it with a music grave and simple.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_151" id="fnanchor_151"></a><a href="#footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a></span> - -Not content with the moral beauties with which his genius -embellished it, he wished that music, painting, and dancing -might lend their aid and contribute to the illusion of the -senses. He caused a theatre to be built where the most -ingenious devices, the most magnificent decorations displayed -their magic effects.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_152" id="fnanchor_152"></a><a href="#footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a></span> -One saw in the tragedy of -Prometheus, the earth trembling, clouds of dust rising in -the air; one heard the whistling of wind, the crash of thunder; -one was dazzled by the lightnings.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_153" id="fnanchor_153"></a><a href="#footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></span> -Old Ocean appeared -upon the waves, and Mercury came from the heights of -heaven to announce the commands of Jupiter. In the -tragedy of the Eumenides, these infernal divinities appeared -upon the scene to the number of fifty, clothed in black robes; -blood-stained, the head bristling with serpents, holding in -one hand a torch and in the other a -lash.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_154" id="fnanchor_154"></a><a href="#footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></span> -They replied to -the shade of Clytemnestra, who invoked them, by a choir -of music so frightful, that a general terror having struck -the assembly, certain of the women experienced premature -pains of confinement.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_155" id="fnanchor_155"></a><a href="#footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></span></p> - -<p>One feels, after this, that Greek tragedy had in its theatrical -forms, much in common with our modern operas; -but what eminently distinguishes it is that, having come -forth complete from the depths of the sanctuaries, it possessed -a moral sense which the initiates understood. This -is what put it above anything that we might be able to -conceive today; what gave it an inestimable price. Whereas -the vulgar, dazzled only by the pomp of the spectacle, -allured by the beauty of the verse and the music, enjoyed -merely a fleeting gratification, the wise tasted a pleasure -more pure and more durable, by receiving the truth in their -hearts even from the deceitful delusions of the senses. This -pleasure was as much greater as the inspiration of the poet -had been more perfect, and as he had succeeded better in -making the allegorical spirit felt, without betraying the veil -which covered it.</p> - -<p>Æschylus went further in comprehension of the subject -than any of his successors. His plans were of an extreme -simplicity. He deviated little from the mythological -tradition.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_156" id="fnanchor_156"></a><a href="#footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a></span> -All his efforts tended only to give light to their -teachings, to penetrate into their hidden beauties. The -characters of his heroes, strongly drawn, sustained them -at heights where Homer had placed them. He caused -terror to pass before them that they might be -frightened.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_157" id="fnanchor_157"></a><a href="#footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></span> -His aim was to lead them to virtue by terror, and to inspire -the soul with a force capable of resisting alike the intoxications -of prosperity and the discouragements of poverty.</p> - -<p>Sophocles and Euripides followed closely Æschylus and -surpassed him in certain portions of the art; the first, even -triumphed over him in the eyes of the -multitude<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_158" id="fnanchor_158"></a><a href="#footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></span>; -but the -small number of sages, faithful to the true principles, regarded -him always as the father of -tragedy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_159" id="fnanchor_159"></a><a href="#footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></span> -One can -admit that Sophocles was more perfect in the conduct of -his plans, in the regularity of his -style<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_160" id="fnanchor_160"></a><a href="#footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></span>; -that Euripides was -more natural and more tender, more skilful in arousing -interest, in stirring the -passions<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_161" id="fnanchor_161"></a><a href="#footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></span>; -but these perfections, -resulting from the form, had not been acquired without -the very essence of drama being altered; that is to say, -without the allegorical genius which had presided at the -composition of the fables that the poets had always drawn -from the religious mysteries, suffering many deviations, -which rendered it often unrecognizable through the foreign -adornments with which it was burdened. Sophocles and -above all Euripides, by devoting themselves to perfecting -the form, really harmed therefore the principle of the art -and hastened its corruption. If the laws which had at first -been promulgated against those who in treating of the -tragic subjects vilified the mysterious sense had been executed, -Euripides would not have been allowed to depict -so many heroes degraded by adversity, so many princesses -led astray by love, so many scenes of shame, of scandal, and -of crime<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_162" id="fnanchor_162"></a><a href="#footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></span>; -but the people, already degraded and bordering -upon corruption, allowed themselves to be drawn along by -these dangerous tableaux and hastened half-way to meet -the poisoned cup which was offered to them.</p> - -<p>It must candidly be admitted, that it is to the very charm -of these tableaux, to the talent with which Euripides understood -how to colour them, that the decadence of Athenian -manners and the first harm done to the purity of religion -must be attributed. The theatre, having become the -school of the passions, and offering to the soul no spiritual -nourishment, opened a door through which doubt, contempt, -and derision for the mysteries, the most sacrilegious audacity, -and utter forgetfulness of the Divinity, insinuated -themselves even unto the sanctuaries. Æschylus had represented -in his heroes, supernatural -personages<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_163" id="fnanchor_163"></a><a href="#footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a></span>; -Sophocles -painted simple heroes, and Euripides, characters often less -than men.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_164" id="fnanchor_164"></a><a href="#footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a></span> -Now these personages were, in the eyes of the -people, either children of the gods, or the gods themselves. -What idea could be formed then of their weaknesses, of -their crimes, of their odious or ridiculous conduct, particularly -when these weaknesses or these crimes were no longer -represented as allegories from which it was necessary to -seek the meaning, but as historical events or frivolous plays -of the imagination? The people, according to the degree of -their intelligence, became either impious or superstitious; -the savants professed to doubt all, and the influential men, -by feigning to believe all, regarded all parties with an equal -indifference. This is exactly what happened. The mysteries -became corrupt because one was accustomed to regard -them as corrupt; and the people became intolerant and -fanatical, each one cringing with fear, lest he be judged what -he really was, namely, impious.</p> - -<p>Such was the effect of dramatic art in Greece. This -effect, at first imperceptible, became manifest to the eyes -of the sages, when the people became the dictators of the -theatre and ignored the judges named to pronounce upon -the works of the poets; When the poets, jealous of obtaining -the approval of the multitude, consulted its taste rather -than truth, its versatile passions rather than reason, and -sacrificed to its caprices the laws of honesty and -excellence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_165" id="fnanchor_165"></a><a href="#footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a></span></p> - -<p>As soon as tragedy, disparaging the mysteries of the -fables had transformed them into historical facts, it needed -only a step to raise historical facts to the rank of subjects -of tragedy. Phrynichus was, it is said, the first who had -this audacity. He produced in the theatre, the <cite>Conquest -of Miletus</cite>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_166" id="fnanchor_166"></a><a href="#footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a></span> -The people of Athens, with a whimsicality -which is characteristic of them, condemned the poet to a -very heavy fine, for having disobeyed the law and crowned -him because of the tears which they shed at the representation -of his work. But this was not enough, confounding -thus reality and allegory; soon, sacred and profane things -were mingled by forging without any kind of moral aim, -subjects wholly false and fantastic. The poet Agathon, -who was the author of this new profanation had been the -friend of Euripides.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_167" id="fnanchor_167"></a><a href="#footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a></span> -He proved thus that he knew nothing -of the essence of dramatic poetry and makes it doubtful -whether Euripides knew it any better.</p> - -<p>Thus, in the space of less than two centuries, tragedy, -borne upon the car of Thespis, elevated by Æschylus to a -nobler theatre, carried to the highest degree of splendour -by Sophocles, had already become weakened in the hands -of Euripides, had lost the memory of its celestial origin -with Agathon, and abandoned to the caprices of a populace -as imperious as ignorant, inclined toward a rapid -degeneration.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_168" id="fnanchor_168"></a><a href="#footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></span> -Comedy less reserved did not have a happier destiny. -After having hurled its first darts upon the heroes and demi-gods -of Greece, having taken possession of certain very -unguarded allegories, to turn even the gods to -ridicule<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_169" id="fnanchor_169"></a><a href="#footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></span>; -after having derided Prometheus and Triptolemus, Bacchus -and the Bacchantes, after having made sport of heaven -and earth, of the golden age and the seasons<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_170" id="fnanchor_170"></a><a href="#footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></span>; -it attacked -men in general and in particular, ridiculed their absurdities, -pursued their vices, real or imaginary, and delivered them -both unsparingly, without pity, to derision and -contempt.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_171" id="fnanchor_171"></a><a href="#footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></span> -Epicharmus, who gave certain rules to the indecent farces -of Susarion, was followed by Magnes, Cratinus, Eupolis, -and a crowd of other comic poets, until Aristophanes whose -bitter satires no longer finding sufficient influence in certain -obscure ridicules, applied themselves to disparaging science -and virtue, and twenty years beforehand, prepared and -envenomed the hemlock by which Socrates was poisoned. -It is true that some time after, Menander tried to reform -this terrible abuse and gave to comedy a form less revolting; -but he was only able to do so by detaching it completely -from its origin, that is to say, by severing it from all that -it had preserved, intellectually and allegorically, and reducing -it to the representation of certain tableaux and certain -events of the social life.</p> - -<p>In going back, as I have just done, to the origin of poetic -science in order to distinguish first, its essence from its form -and afterwards, to follow its diverse developments, in genus -and in kind, I have related many things and cited a great -number of subjects with which you are familiar; but you -will no doubt excuse, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, these numerous reminiscences -and citations, in reflecting that although but little -necessary for you, they were infinitely so for me, since -presenting myself in the lists and wishing to give an added -form to this science which belongs to you, I must prove -to you that I have at least studied it profoundly.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Five">§ V</abbr></p> - -<p>Now, summing up what I have said, it will be found -that poetry, entirely intellectual in its origin and destined -only to be the language of the gods, owed its first -developments in Greece to Orpheus, its second to Homer, -and its last to Æschylus. These three creative men, seizing -the different germs of this science still shrouded in their -formless rudiments, warmed them with the fire of their -genius and according to the particular inspiration of each, -led them to the perfection of which they were susceptible. -All three of them were the object of a first inspiration, -although influenced one by the other, and were able to -communicate the magnetic power to new disciples. Orpheus -possessor of intellectual and rational poetry, constituted -that which I call <i>Eumolpœia</i>, which, being divided into -theosophy and philosophy, produces all the works which -treat of the Divinity, of the Universe, of Nature, and of -Man in general.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_172" id="fnanchor_172"></a><a href="#footnote_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a></span> -Homer, in joining to this spiritual poetry -the enthusiasm of the passions, created Epopœia, whose -magnificent genus envelops a multitude of specie, where -the intellectual faculty and passion dominate with more or -less energy under the influence of imagination. Homer -rendered sentient that which was intelligible and particularized -that which Orpheus had left universal: Æschylus, -trying to bring into action what these two divine men had -left with potentiality, formed the idea of dramatic or active -poetry, in which he claimed to include whatever Eumolpœia -and Epopœia had in common, that was moral, allegorical, -and passionate. He would have succeeded, perhaps, and -then would have produced the most perfect work of thought, -passion, and action possible for men, conceived by genius -and executed by talent; but Greece, exhausted by the abundant -harvest obtained by Orpheus and Homer, lacked the -sap to give nourishment to this new plant. Corrupted in -its germ, this plant degenerated rapidly, deteriorated, and -put forth only a vain show of branches without elevation -and without virtue. The heroes of Thermopylæ succumbed -under the burden of their laurels. Given over to a foolish -arrogance, they covered with an unjust contempt their -preceptors and their fathers; they persecuted, they assassinated -their defenders and their sages and, base tyrants of -the theatre, they prepared themselves to bow the head -beneath the yoke of the king of Macedonia.</p> - -<p>This king, victor at Chæronea, became arbiter of Greece, -and his son, providential instrument of the ascendancy -which Europe was to have over Asia, crossing the Hellespont -at the head of an army that his genius alone rendered -formidable, overthrew the empire of Cyrus and stood for -a moment upon its débris: I say for a moment, because it -was not here that the new empire was to be established: -Europe had still obeyed; she was one day to command. -Rome was already, in the thought of the future, the culminating -point of the earth. A few centuries sufficed for this -city, then unknown,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_173" id="fnanchor_173"></a><a href="#footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a></span> -to attain to the height of glory. -Emerging from her obscurity, conquering Pyrrhus, dominating -Italy, combating and overthrowing Carthage, conquering -Greece, and trampling under foot twenty diadems -borne by the successors of Alexander, was for this ambitious -Republic the work of a few centuries. But it is not true, -although certain men whose virtue was not enlightened by -the torch of experience may have been able to say it; it is -not true that a republic, already perplexed in governing -itself, can govern the world. It requires an empire, and -this empire is created.</p> - -<p>Cæsar laid its foundation, Augustus strengthened it. -The sciences and arts, brought to Rome from the heart of -Greece, came out then from their lethargy and flourished -with a new <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(éclat)</i>. Poetry, especially, found numberless -admirers. Vergil, strongly attracted by the magnetic -flame of Homer, dared to tread in his light, overthrew all -the obstacles that time had raised, and drawing near to -this divine model, received from him the second inspiration -without intermediary and without rival. Ovid, less determined, -hovering between Orpheus and Homer, succeeded, -however, in uniting the second inspiration of the one to -the third inspiration of the other, and left in his book of -<cite>Metamorphoses</cite> a monument not less brilliant and more -inimitable than the <cite>Æneid</cite>. Horace, little satisfied with -succeeding Pindar, sought and found the means of uniting -to the enthusiasm of the passions the calm of rational -poetry, and, establishing himself a legislator of Parnassus, -dictated laws to the poets, or jeered at the absurdities of -men.</p> - -<p>This poetry of reason had long since fallen into desuetude. -The false movement that dramatic poetry had -taken in Greece, the contempt that it had come to inspire -for gods and men, had reacted upon it. The philosophers, -disdaining a science which, by its own admission, was -founded upon falsehood, had driven it from their writings. -As much as they searched for it, when they believed it an -emanation of the Divinity, so much had they fled from it -since they had come to see in it only the vain production of -an insensate delirium. Here is an observation, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, -somewhat new, with which I may engage your attention: -the first comedies appeared five hundred and eighty years -before our era, which was about twenty years after Pherecydes -wrote the first work in -prose.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_174" id="fnanchor_174"></a><a href="#footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></span> -This philosopher -doubtless, did not believe that a language prostituted to the -burlesque parodies of Susarion should be useful further to -the meditations of the sages. It is not, however, that at -long intervals certain philosophers such as Empedocles, -Parmenides, and many others of their disciples, have not -written in verse<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_175" id="fnanchor_175"></a><a href="#footnote_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a></span>; -but the remains of the ancient usage soon -gave way, especially when Plato had embellished prose with -the charm of his captivating eloquence. Before this philosopher, -Herodotus had read in the assembly of the Olympic -games an history of Greece connected with that of the -greater part of the neighbouring -nations.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_176" id="fnanchor_176"></a><a href="#footnote_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a></span> -This work, -written in a fluent style, clear and persuasive, had so enchanted -the Greeks, that they had given to the nine books -which he composed, the names of the nine Muses. Nevertheless, -an observation which will not be wholly foreign here, -is, that the admission of prose in philosophy, instead of -rational poetry, produced a style of work hitherto unknown, -and of which the moderns made much; I am speaking of positive -history. Before this epoch, history written in verse was, -as I have said, allegorical and figurative, and was occupied -only with the masses without respect to individuals. Thus -the evil which resulted on the one side, from the degradation -experienced by poetry in one of its branches, was balanced -by the good which was promised on the other, from the -purification of prose for the advancement of exact knowledge.</p> - -<p>But returning to what I said just now on the subject of -rational poetry, joined by the Romans to the passionate -part of that science, I will say that this union created a -new style, of which Horace was the originator: this was the -didactic style. This style ought not to be confused with -rational poetry, of which Hesiod has made use in his poem -of <cite>Works and Days</cite>, and which pertains to Eumolpœia; -nor with pure rational poetry, such as one finds in the writings -of Parmenides and Empedocles: it is a sort of poetry -which, attaching itself to form alone, depends much upon -dramatic art. The didactic, satirical, or simply descriptive -poet is similar to an actor on the stage declaiming a long -monologue. Rational poetry was welcomed at Rome, and -drawn from the long oblivion into which it had fallen, by -Lucretius who, being inspired by the works of Leucippus -and of Epicurus<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_177" id="fnanchor_177"></a><a href="#footnote_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a></span> -wrote a book upon the nature of things, -which has never been as yet well comprehended or well -translated, the language not being understood.</p> - -<p>Comedy, reformed by Menander, was again improved -by Plautus and by Terence who acquired much reputation -in this style; as to dramatic art in itself, it remained in its -inertia. The Romans having the same gods and nearly -the same mythology as the Greeks, were neither sufficiently -elevated in intelligence to reinstate this art and make of -it the masterpiece of the human mind; nor sufficiently -advanced in exact knowledge to change wholly its forms and -make of it, as we have, a new art, whence allegory and the -moral part of Eumolpœia have been completely banished. -But what the Romans were unable to do for dramatic art, -they unfortunately were able to do for Epopœia. Certain -writers, able versifiers, but absolutely deprived of intellectual -inspiration, incapable of distinguishing in poetry the -essence from the form, following what the degenerated -theatre and the inspired declamations of -Euhemerus<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_178" id="fnanchor_178"></a><a href="#footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a></span> -had -taught them, imagined foolishly that the gods and heroes -of antiquity having been only men stronger and more powerful -than the others, mythology was only a crude collection -of historic facts disfigured, and Epopœia only an emphatic -discourse upon these same -facts.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_179" id="fnanchor_179"></a><a href="#footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></span> -Thereupon they believed -that it was only a question of taking any historic -subject whatever, and relating it in verse with certain embellishments, -to create an epic poem. Lucan and Silius -Italicus, in choosing, the one the misfortunes of Pompey, -and the other the victories of Hannibal, considered themselves -superior to Homer or Vergil, as much as they supposed -Rome or Carthage superior to Ilium. But a just posterity, -notwithstanding the prejudices of their panegyrists, has -put them in their place. It has considered them merely -the inventors of a kind of bastard poetry, which might be -called historic poetry. This poetry, entirely separated -from Eumolpœia, whose moral essence it is unable to realize, -preserves only the material and physical forms of true -Epopœia. It is a body without soul, which is moved by a -mechanical mainspring applied by a skilful workman.</p> - -<p>As to the poetic form in itself, its only point of variance -with the Greeks and Romans was that of elegance. The -verses written in the same manner, depended likewise upon a -fixed number of time or of feet regulated by musical rhythm. -If rhyme had been admitted there in the first ages, it had -been excluded early enough so that there remained no longer -the least trace of it. The Latin tongue, very far from the -Greek in flexibility, variety, and harmony, for a long time -treated with contempt by the Greeks who, regarding it as -a barbarous dialect, only learned it with -repugnance<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_180" id="fnanchor_180"></a><a href="#footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></span>; - -the Latin tongue, I say, unpleasing, obscure, not even supporting -the mediocrity of ordinary elocution, became, -through the laborious efforts of its writers, a tongue which -in the works of Vergil, for example, attained such a perfection, -that it came to be doubted, owing to the grace, the -justice, and the force of its expression, whether the author -of the <cite>Æneid</cite> did not surpass the author of the <cite>Iliad</cite>. Such -is the empire of forms. They alone make problematical -that which, in its essence, should not be subject to the least -discussion.</p> - -<p>But at last the Roman Eagle, after having soared some -time in the universe and covered with his extended wings -the most beautiful countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa, -fatigued by its own triumphs, sank down again, allowed its -power to be divided, and from the summit of this same Capitol, -whence it had for such a long time hurled its thunderbolts, -saw the vultures of the North divide among them its -spoils. The mythological religion, misunderstood in its -principles, attacked in its forms, given over to the corruption -of things and men, had disappeared to give place to a -new religion, which born in obscurity, was raised imperceptibly -from the ranks of the humblest citizens to the imperial -throne. Constantine, who in embracing the Christian -cult had consolidated that religious revolution, believed -himself able to bring about another in politics, by transferring -the seat of his empire to the Bosphorus. Historians -have often blamed this last movement; but they have not -seen that Providence, in inspiring this division of the empire, -foresaw that the darkness of ignorance rolling with the waves -of the barbarians was about to extend as far as Rome, and -that it would be necessary to concentrate at one point a part -of the learning, in order to save it from the general ruin. -Whereas the Empire of the Occident, assailed on all sides -by the hordes from the North, was overthrown, torn, divided -into numberless small sovereignties whose extent was often -limited to the donjon where the sovereign resided; the Empire -of the Orient sustained the weight of the hordes from the -South, nourished continually in its midst certain men, guardians -of the sacred fire of science, and did not fall until more -than nine centuries later; and learning, commencing its -revival in the Occident, put minds in condition there, to -appreciate the models which were about to be presented -to them and rendered them capable of receiving their -inspiration.</p> - -<p>It was a very remarkable epoch, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, which saw -grouped about it in the space of less than a half century -and coincident with the downfall of the Empire of the Orient, -the use of gunpowder, of the compass, of the telescope in -the Occident; the invention of engraving upon copper, that -of movable characters for printing, the extension of commerce -and navigation by the passage around the cape of Storms, -and finally the discovery of America. It was a very extraordinary -century, in which were born Mohammed II. and -Lorenzo de’ Medici, Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus, -Theodoros Gaza and Pico della Mirandola, Leonardo -da Vinci and Bojardo, Leo X. and Luther. After the invasion -of the barbarians, Christian Europe had lost its political -unity: it was as a great republic whose divided members, -struggling continuously one against the other, tearing by -turn a shadow of supremacy, were the realms, the pontifical -or laic principalities, the republics, the free and commercial -cities. The two chiefs of this gigantic and badly organized -body, the German Emperor and the Pope, bishop of Rome, -were vested only with a grandeur of opinion; their real power -was void: they were nothing more, in fact, than that which -they appeared in form. Since Charlemagne, who, in a -century of darkness enlightened with his own genius, had -had the force to grasp the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(débris)</i> of the empire, uniting them -in his hand and giving them a momentary existence, it had -not had an emperor. The vain efforts of Hildebrand and -of Charles V. had served only at different times and under -different conditions to demonstrate their impotence. It -was reserved for a much greater man to dominate Europe -regenerated by violent shocks, and to show to the universe -the legitimate successor of Augustus wreathed with the -imperial crown.</p> - -<p>But without in any way anticipating time, without even -leaving our subject which is poetry, let us continue to follow -the developments of this science.</p> - -<p>The original poets of Greece and Rome, brought into -Italy by the savants whom the taking of Constantinople -forced to go back towards the Occident of Europe, brought -there an unexpected brilliancy, which, with the ancient -germs deeply buried in its midst, soon awakened certain -new germs that the peculiar circumstances had also brought -there. In explaining what these germs were, I am giving -occasion for thinkers to make certain reflections, and critics -to form certain singular conjectures upon works hitherto -badly judged.</p> - -<p>It is necessary at first, that I repeat a truth which I -have already said: that intellectual nature is always one -and the same, whereas physical nature varies, changes -unceasingly with time and place, and is modified in a -thousand ways according to circumstances. Now, it is -this latter nature which gives the form, that is to say, -which renders sentient and particular that which the -former gives to it as universal and intelligible; so that -its aptitude more or less great, in receiving and in -working upon the intelligence, can make the things which -are more homogeneous in their principle appear more -dissimilar in their effect. I will give a proof. Whilst -the most profound obscurity covered Europe, whilst -ignorance spread on all sides its baleful veils, there were -found, however, at long intervals, certain privileged men, -who, raising themselves above these thick vapours, came to -grasp certain faint glimmerings of the light shining always -above them. These men possessors of such rare gifts, -would have indeed wished to communicate them to their -contemporaries, but if they imprudently opened their -mouths, the blind and fanatic horde which surrounded them -cried out forthwith against the heretic, the magician, the -sorcerer, and conducted them to torture as the price of their -lessons.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_181" id="fnanchor_181"></a><a href="#footnote_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a></span> -After several sorry examples, these men, having -become prudent, assumed the part of silence by retiring -into monasteries or hermitages, studying Nature there in -quietude, and profiting alone by their discoveries. If certain -ones still dared to speak, it was by borrowing the style of -religion, or history, diverting from the ordinary sense certain -ideas received, explaining themselves by enigmas, or by -figures, which, when necessary, they were able to explain -as they wished.</p> - -<p>Among this number was a man of strong imagination -and of a genius really poetic, who, having grasped certain -truths of nature, and judging it proper not to divulge them, -took the expedient of enclosing them in a book which he -entitled: <cite>Les Faits et Gestes de Charles-Magne</cite>. This extraordinary -man who has, in these modern times, obtained an -ascendancy greater than one could ever have imagined, -since he is the vital source whence have come all the orders, -all the institutions of chivalry with which Europe has been -inundated; this man, I say, was a monk of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(Saint-André de -Vienne)</i>, living from the tenth to the eleventh century and -perhaps a little -before.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_182" id="fnanchor_182"></a><a href="#footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a></span> -The book that he composed had a -success as much the more prodigious as it was misunderstood, -and such was the ignorance not only of the people, but even -of the clergy, that the most palpable fictions were taken for -realities. There are historians even who pretend that -the council of Rheims, celebrated in 1119, declared this -work authentic<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_183" id="fnanchor_183"></a><a href="#footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a></span>; -and thence came the habit of attributing -it to Archbishop Turpin. However that may be, it is to -the allegorical history of Charlemagne, to that of his twelve -paladins, called peers of France, to that of the four sons of -Aymon and of Chevalier Bayard, to that of Renaud, Roland, -Richard, and the other heroes of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(bibliothèque bleue)</i>, for -a long time our only <i>bibliotheca</i>, that we owe a new style of -poetry, called Romanesque, on account of the Romance -tongue in which it had -birth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_184" id="fnanchor_184"></a><a href="#footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a></span> -This style is to the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(eumolpique)</i> -style, as a wild offshoot, growing laboriously in an arid and -bramble-covered land, is to a cultivated tree which rises -majestically in the heart of a fertile country.</p> - -<p>It was with the chivalrous ideas, inspired by the book -of the monk of Saint André, that the first poetic ideas were -brought forth in France. The Oscan troubadours seizing -these first glimmerings of genius, threw themselves with -enthusiasm into a career which offered at the same time -pleasures, glory, and the gifts of -fortune.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_185" id="fnanchor_185"></a><a href="#footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a></span> -They sang of the -fair, of gallants and of kings; but their verses, monotonous -enough when a real passion did not animate them, hardly -reached above eulogy or satire. But little capable of feeling -the moral beauties of poetry, they stopped at form. -The rhyme for them was everything. For them the supreme -talent was only rhyming much and with difficulty. One -could not imagine to what lengths they went in this style. -Not content with restricting themselves to follow the same -rhyme throughout the entire course of the poem, they sometimes -doubled it at the end of each verse, rhyming by echo, -or else they made an initial rhyme.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_186" id="fnanchor_186"></a><a href="#footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a></span> -These obstacles becoming -multiplied stifled their muse in its cradle. All that -art owed to these first modern poets was limited to a sort -of song, gay and sprightly, ordinarily a parody upon a -more serious subject, and which, because it was quite frequently -sung with an air of the dance accompanied by the -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(vielle)</i> or <i>hurdy-gurdy</i>, their favourite instrument, was called -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(vau-de-vielle)</i>, or as is pronounced today, vaudeville.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_187" id="fnanchor_187"></a><a href="#footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Italians and Spaniards, who received from the -Oscan troubadours their first impulse toward poetry, would -have been perhaps as limited as they, to composing amorous -sonnets, madrigals or, at the most, certain vehement -<i>sylves</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_188" id="fnanchor_188"></a><a href="#footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></span> -if the Greeks, driven from their country by the conquests of -Mohammed II., had not brought them the works of the -ancients as I have already said. These works, explained -in the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(chaire publique)</i>, due to the munificence of the Medicis, -struck particularly the Italians: not however by exciting -their poets to take them as models; the turn of their mind -and the form of their poetry, similar in everything to that -of the troubadours, were opposed too obviously here; but -by giving them that sort of emulation which, without copying -the others, makes one strive to equal them. At this -epoch the book of the monk of St. André, attributed as I -have said to Archbishop Turpin, already more than four -centuries old, was known by all Europe, whether by itself, -or whether by the numberless imitations of which it had -been the subject. Not only France, Spain, Italy, but also -England and Germany were inundated with a mass of romances -and ballads, wherein were pictured the knights of the -court of Charlemagne and those of the Round -Table.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_189" id="fnanchor_189"></a><a href="#footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></span> -All -these works were written in verse, and the greater part, -particularly those composed by the troubadours or their -disciples, intended to be sung, were cut into strophes. Those -of the imitator poets, who had had the force to go back to -the allegorical sense of their model, had only developed and -enriched it with their own knowledge; the others, following -their various methods of considering it, had chosen subjects -real and historical, or indeed had followed ingenuously -without aim or plan, the impulse of their vagabond imagination. -In France could be seen represented by the side of -the stories of Tristan, of Lancelot, of the Grail, and of Ogier-le-Danois, -that of Alexander the Great and of the Bible, -that of the Seven Sages and of Judas Maccabeus, that of -the History of the Normands and the Bretons, and finally -that of the Rose, the most famous of all. A certain Guilhaume -had published a philosophical romance upon the -nature of beasts.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_190" id="fnanchor_190"></a><a href="#footnote_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a></span></p> - -<p>Already the Italian poets, after having received from -the troubadours the form of their verses and that of their -works, had surpassed their masters and had caused them to -be forgotten. Petrarch in the sonnet and Dante in the -<i>sirvente</i> assumed all the glory of their models, and left not -any for the successors<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_191" id="fnanchor_191"></a><a href="#footnote_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a></span>; -already even Bojardo and some -others had attempted, with the example of Homer, to bring -back to the unity of epopœia, the incongruous and fantastic -scenes of the romance, when Ariosto appeared. This man, -gifted with a keen and brilliant imagination, and possessor -of a matchless talent, executed what no one else had been -able to do before him; he was neither inspired by Homer, -nor by Vergil; he copied no one. He learned from them -only to raise himself to the poetic source, to see it where it -was and to draw from it his genius. Then he received a -first inspiration and became the creator of a particular -style of poetry which may be called romantic. Undoubtedly -this style is greatly inferior to epopœia; but after all it is -original: its beauties as well as its faults belong to him.</p> - -<p>Almost the same moment when Ariosto enriched Europe -with his new poetry, Camoëns wished to naturalize it in -Portugal; but the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(mélange)</i> of Vergil and Lucan that he -essayed to make, betrayed his lack of understanding and -he did not succeed. I mention it only that you may observe, -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, that the form adopted by the Portuguese -poet is exactly the same as the one which Ariosto, his predecessors -and his successors, have followed in Italy: it is -that of the troubadours. The poems of each are long ballads, -intersected by strophes of eight lines of alternate rhymes -which, succeeding one another with the same measure, can -be sung from one end to the other, with an appropriate air, -and which in fact, as J. J. Rousseau has very well remarked, -were sung frequently. In these poems, the essence is in -accord with the form, and it is this that makes their regularity. -It is not the epopœia of Homer drawn from the -Orphic source, it is the romantic poetry of Ariosto, an issue -of the fictions attributed to Archbishop Turpin, which is -associated with the verses of the troubadours. These -verses subjected to rhyme are incapable in any tongue of -attaining the sublime heights of Eumolpœia or of Epopœia.</p> - -<p>The French poets soon proved it, when coming to understand -the works of Homer and Vergil, they thought themselves -able to imitate them by making use of the same poetic -forms by which the authors of <cite>Perceval</cite> or <cite>Berthe-au-grand-pied</cite> -had profited. It was all to no purpose that they worked -these forms, striking them upon the anvil, polishing them, -they remained inflexible. Ronsard was the first who made -the fatal experiment; and after him a crowd of careless -persons came to run aground upon the same reef. These -forms always called up the spirit with which they were born; -the melancholy and unceasing sound, sonorous with their -rhymes in couplets or alternate, had something soporific -which caused the soul to dream and which allured it in spite -of itself, not into the sublime regions of allegory where -the genius of Eumolpœia was nourished, but into vague -spaces of fictions, where, under a thousand whimsical forms -the romantic mind evaporates. Doubtless one would have -been able, in France, to limit the Italian poets, as had been -done in Spain and Portugal; but besides, as it would have -been necessary to confine itself to the second inspiration in -a style already secondary, the spirit of the nation, sufficiently -well represented by that of Ronsard, foreseeing from afar -its high destinies, wished to command the summit of -Parnassus, before having discovered the first paths.</p> - -<p>The disasters of the first epic poets did not discourage -their successors; vying with each other they sought to make -amends; but instead of seeing the obstacle where it really -was, that is to say, in the incompatible alliance of the essence -of Epopœia with the form of romance, they imagined -that lack of talent alone had been prejudicial to the success -of their predecessors. Consequently they devoted themselves -to work with an indefatigable ardour, polishing -and repolishing the rhyme, tearing to pieces and revising -twenty times their works, and finally bringing the form to -the highest perfection that they were able to attain. The -century of Louis XIV., so fertile in able versifiers, in profound -rhymers, saw, however, the dawn of Epic poems only -as a signal of their failure. Chapelain had, nevertheless, -shown talent before his catastrophe; wishing to interest -the French nation, he had chosen in its history the sole epic -subject which he found there. Why had he not succeeded? -This point was considered, and the truth still lacking, they -went on to imagine that the fault was inherent in the French -tongue, and that it was no longer capable of rising to the -heights of Epopœia: deplorable error, which for a long time -has been harmful to the development of a tongue destined -to become universal and to carry to future centuries the -discoveries of past ones.</p> - -<p>Ronsard had felt the difficulty most. Accustomed as -he was to read Greek and Latin works in the original, he -had seen clearly that what prevented the French tongue from -following their poetic movement was particularly the restraint -of the rhyme; he had even sought to free it from this -servitude, endeavouring to make the French verses scan -according to the ancient rhythm; but, in another way he -had not appreciated the genius of that tongue which refused -to follow this rhythm. Jodelle, Baïf, Passerat, Desportes, -Henri-Etienne, and certain other savants, have made at -different times the same attempt, and always without -results.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_192" id="fnanchor_192"></a><a href="#footnote_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a></span> -Each tongue has its own character which it is -necessary to know; ours has not at all the musical prosody -of the Greek and Latin; its syllables are not determined, -long and short, by the simple duration of time, but by the -different accentuation and inflection of the voice. Among -our writers the one who has best understood the nature of -this prosody is certainly the abbé d’Olivet: he declared firstly -that he did not believe it possible to make French verses -measured by rhythm; and secondly, that even in the case -where this might be possible, he did not see how this rhythm -could be conformable to that of the Greeks and -Latins.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_193" id="fnanchor_193"></a><a href="#footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a></span></p> - -<p>I am absolutely of his opinion on these two points; I -am furthermore, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(en partie)</i>, on what he says of the rhyme. -I know as he, that it is not an invention of the barbarous -ages; I know even more, that it is the luxurious production -of a very enlightened age; I must say that it has brought -forth thousands of beautiful verses, that it is often to the -poet like a strange genius which comes to the assistance of -his own.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_194" id="fnanchor_194"></a><a href="#footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a></span> -God forbid that I pretend to separate it from -French verse of which it is a charm. Rhyme is necessary, -even indispensable, to romantic poetry and to all that is -derived from it; and songs, ballads, vaudevilles, sylves of -whatever sort they may be, whatever form, whatever length -they may have, cannot pass away. It adds an infinite -grace to all that is sung or recited with the chivalrous sentiment. -Even the lyric style receives from it a romantic -harmony which accords with it. All the secondary styles -admit of this. It can, up to a certain point, embellish descriptive -verse, soften didactic verse, add to the melancholy -of the elegy, to the grace of the idyl; it can at last become the -ornament of dramatic art such as we possess—​that is to say, -chivalrous and impassioned; but as to real Eumolpœia and -Epopœia—​that is to say, as to what concerns intellectual -and rational poetry, pure or mingled with the enthusiasm -of the passions; prophetic verses or hymns, emanated from -the Divinity or destined to be raised to it; philosophical -verse adapted to the nature of things and developing the -diverse moral and physical systems; epic verses uniting -talent to allegorical genius and joining together the intelligible -world to the sentient world; with all these, rhyme is -incompatible. As much as it delights in works of the mind -just so much is it rejected by genius. Fiction harmonizes -with it, allegory is opposed to it. It is chivalrous and not -heroic; agreeable, brilliant, clever, melancholy, sentimental, -but it could never be either profound or sublime.</p> - -<p>Let us clear this up with the light of experience, and -now that we can do it to good purpose, let us make a rapid -survey of the poetic condition of the principal nations of -the earth.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Six">§ VI</abbr></p> - -<p>The Greeks and the Romans, as guilty of ingratitude -as of injustice, have styled Asia barbarous, without -thinking that they thus outraged their Mother, the one -from whom both had their origin and their first instructions. -Europe, more impartial today, begins to feel as she should -toward this ancient and noble country, and rendering to her -venerable scars a filial respect, does not judge her according -to her present weakness, but according to the vigour that -she possessed in the age of her strength, and of which her -magnificent productions still bear the imprint. A philosophical -observer, academician of Calcutta, turning an -investigating eye upon that part of the terrestrial continent, -has recognized there five principal nations, among which -that of the Indians holds the first rank; the others are those -of the Chinese, Tartars, Persians, and -Arabs.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_195" id="fnanchor_195"></a><a href="#footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></span> -According to -this able writer, primitive India should be considered as a -sort of luminous focus which, concentrating at a very remote -epoch the learning acquired by an earlier people, has reflected -it, and has dispersed the rays upon the neighbouring -nations.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_196" id="fnanchor_196"></a><a href="#footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></span> -She has been the source of Egyptian, Greek, and -Latin theogony; she has furnished the philosophical dogmas -with which the first poets of Thrace and Ionia have adorned -the beauties of Eumolpœia and Epopœia; it is she who has -polished the Persians, Chaldeans, Arabs, and Ethiopians; -and who by her numerous colonies has entertained relations -with the Chinese, Japanese, Scandinavians, Celts, Etruscans, -and even with the Peruvians of the other -hemisphere.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_197" id="fnanchor_197"></a><a href="#footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></span></p> - -<p>If one listens to the discourse of those who have been -much inclined to study the savant language of the Indians, -Sanskrit, he will be persuaded that it is the most perfect -language that man has ever spoken. Nothing, according -to them, can surpass its riches, its fertility, its admirable -structure; it is the source of the most poetic conceptions -and the mother of all the dialects which are in use from the -Persian Gulf to the waters of -China.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_198" id="fnanchor_198"></a><a href="#footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a></span> -It is certain that if -anything can prove to the eyes of savants the maternal -rights that this tongue claims over all the others, it is the -astonishing variety of its poetry: what other peoples possess -in detail, it possesses <i>in toto</i>. It is there that Eumolpœia, -Epopœia, and Dramatic Art shine with native <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(éclat)</i>: it is -there that poetry divine and rational, poetry allegorical and -passionate, poetry stirring and even romantic, find their -cradle. There, all forms are admitted, all kinds of verse -received. The <cite>Vedas</cite>, pre-eminently sacred books, are, -like the Koran of Mohammed, written in cadenced -prose.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_199" id="fnanchor_199"></a><a href="#footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a></span> -The <cite>Pouranas</cite>, which contain the theosophy and philosophy -of the Brahmans, their system concerning Nature, their -ideas upon morals and upon natural philosophy, are composed -in philosophical verse not rhymed; they are attributed -to Vyasa, the Orpheus of the Indians. Valmiki, who is their -Homer, has displayed in the <cite>Ramayana</cite> an epopœia magnificent -and sublime to the highest degree; the dramas, which -they call Nataks, are, according to their style, rhymed and -not rhymed: Bheret is considered as their inventor; Kalidasa -as their perfecter.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_200" id="fnanchor_200"></a><a href="#footnote_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a></span> -The other kinds of poetry are all -rhymed; their number is immense; their variety infinite. -Nothing equals the industry and delicacy of the Indian -rhymers in this style. The Arabs all skilful as they were, -the Oscan troubadours whose rhyme was their sole merit, -have never approached their -models.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_201" id="fnanchor_201"></a><a href="#footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a></span> -Thus, not only does -one find among the Indians the measured verse of the -Greeks and Romans, not only does one see there rhythms -unknown to these two peoples, but one recognizes also -there our rhyme with combinations of which we have -no idea.</p> - -<p>I ought to make an important observation here: it is, -that whereas India, mistress of Asia, held the sceptre of the -earth, she still recognized only the eumolpœia of the <cite>Vedas</cite> -and the <cite>Pouranas</cite>, only the epopœia of <cite>Maha-Bharata</cite> and -the <cite>Ramayana</cite>; her poetry was the language of the gods -and she gave herself the name of <cite>Ponya-Rhoumi</cite>, Land of -Virtues. It was only when a long prosperity had enervated -her, that the love for novelty, the caprice of fashion and -perhaps, as it happened in Greece, the deviation of the -theatre, caused her to seek for beauties foreign to veritable -poetry. It is not a rare thing to pass the point of perfection -when one has attained it. The astonishing flexibility of -Sanskrit, the abundance of its final consonants opens a -double means for corruption. Poets multiplied words -believing to multiply ideas; they doubled rhymes; they -tripled them in the same verse believing to increase proportionably -its harmony. Their imagination bending before -an inspiring genius became vagabond; they thought to -rise to the sublime, and fell into the bombastic. At last, -knowing no longer how to give emphasis and importance -to their extravagant thoughts, they created words -of such length that, in order to contain them, it was -necessary to forge verses of four <i>cæsuras</i> of nineteen -syllables each.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_202" id="fnanchor_202"></a><a href="#footnote_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was, therefore, at the epoch of the decadence of the -Indian Empire, that rhyme usurped poetry. It would be -difficult today to say whether it was an innovation or a -simple renovation. However it may be, it is probable that -it passed rapidly from the ruling nation to subject nations -where it was diversely welcomed according to the language -and particular mind of each people.</p> - -<p>If one can believe the annals of the Indians, China was -one of their colonies for a long time schismatic and -rebellious.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_203" id="fnanchor_203"></a><a href="#footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a></span> -If one can lend faith to the most ancient tradition of the -Chinese, they form from time immemorial a body of autochthonous -people.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_204" id="fnanchor_204"></a><a href="#footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></span> -The discussion of this historic difficulty -would be out of place here. Suffice it to say, that the Chinese -having commenced by having rhymed verses, and preserving -by character and by religion, with an inviolable respect, -the ancient usages, have never had but a mediocre poetry, -absolutely foreign to -epopœia.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_205" id="fnanchor_205"></a><a href="#footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a></span> -Their principal sacred -books, called <cite>Kings</cite>, are composed of symbolic or hieroglyphic -characters, forming by groups sorts of tableaux, of profound -and often sublime conception, but bereft of what we would -call eloquence of language. These are mute images, incommunicable -by means of the voice, and which the reader -must consider with the eyes and meditate long upon in order -to comprehend them.</p> - -<p>The Tartars who reign today in China and who are -distinguished from the others by the epithet of Manchus, -although possessors of a formed tongue whose richness -certain authors praise,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_206" id="fnanchor_206"></a><a href="#footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a></span> -have not any kind of poetry as I -have already remarked.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_207" id="fnanchor_207"></a><a href="#footnote_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a></span> -The other Tartars were hardly -more advanced before being placed by their conquests -within reach of the learning of the vanquished people. -The Turks had no alphabetical characters. The Huns -were ignorant even of its existence. The proud vanquisher -of Asia, Genghis Khan did not find, according to the best -historians, a single man among the Mongolians capable of -writing his despatches. The alphabet of fourteen letters -that the Uïgurian Tartars possess, appears to have been -given them by the ancient Persians,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_208" id="fnanchor_208"></a><a href="#footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a></span> -from whom they also -received the little that they knew of poetry.</p> - -<p>These Persians, today imitators of the Arabs, were in -very remote times disciples of the Indians. Their sacred -tongue then called Zend, in which are written the fragments -that remain to us of Zoroaster, was a dialect of -Sanskrit.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_209" id="fnanchor_209"></a><a href="#footnote_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></span> -These fragments that we owe to the indefatigable zeal of -Anquetil Duperron, appear to be written, as the Vedas, or -as all the sacred books of India, in cadenced prose. After -the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, the most famous book among the Parsees -is the <cite>Boun-Dehesh</cite>, written in Pehlevi, and containing the -cosmogony of Zoroaster. Pehlevi, which is derived from -Chaldaic Nabatæan, indicates a -translation,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_210" id="fnanchor_210"></a><a href="#footnote_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a></span> -and testifies -that Persia had already passed from under the dominion -of India to that of Assyria. But when, thanks to the conquests -of Cyrus, Persia had become free and mistress of -Asia, Pehlevi, which recalled its ancient servitude, was -banished from the court by Bahman-Espandiar, whom we -call Artaxerxes -Longimanus.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_211" id="fnanchor_211"></a><a href="#footnote_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></span> -The Parsee replaced it; -this last dialect, modified by Greek under the successors of -Alexander, mixed with many Tartar words under the Parthian -kings, polished by the Sassanidæ, usurped at last by -the Arabs and subjected to the intolerant influence of Islamism, -had no longer its own character: it has taken, in the -modern Persian, all the movements of the Arabic, notwithstanding -its slight analogy with -it<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_212" id="fnanchor_212"></a><a href="#footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a></span>; -following its -example, it has concentrated all the beauties of poetry in -rhyme and since then it has had neither Eumolpœia nor -Epopœia.</p> - -<p>As to the Arab, no one is ignorant of the degree to which -he is a slave to rhyme. Already, by a sufficiently happy -conjecture, a French writer had made the first use of rhyme -in France coincide with the irruption of the Moors into -Europe at the beginning of the eighth -century.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_213" id="fnanchor_213"></a><a href="#footnote_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></span> -He has -said that Provence had been the door by which this novelty -was introduced into France. However difficult it may -appear of proving rigorously this assertion, lacking monuments, -it cannot, however, be denied that it may be very -probable, above all considering what influence the Arabs -exercised upon the sciences and arts in the south of France -after they had penetrated through Spain. Now, there is -no country on earth where the poetry that I have called -romantic has been cultivated with more constancy and -success than in Arabia; rhyme, if she has received it from -India, was naturalized there by long usage, in such a way -as to appear to have had birth there. If it must be said, -the Arab tongue seems more apt at receiving it than the -Sanskrit. Rhyme seems more requisite to poetry there, -on account of the great quantity and inflexibility of the -monosyllables, which joining together only with much -difficulty to form the numerous and rhythmic combinations, -had need of its assistance to soften their harshness and to -supply the harmony which they lacked.</p> - -<p>Neverthless, whatever may be the pretension of Arabia -to the invention of rhyme, and even to that of romantic -poetry, one cannot be prevented, when one possesses without -prejudice and to a certain extent the distinguishing -character of the Asiatic languages, from seeing that there -are proofs in the Arabic itself which give evidence in favour -of India. Such is, for example, the word -<i>Diwan</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_214" id="fnanchor_214"></a><a href="#footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></span> -by which -the Arabs designate the collection of their ancient -poetries.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_215" id="fnanchor_215"></a><a href="#footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a></span> -This word, which is attached to the Sanskrit expression -<i>Dewa</i> or <i>Diwa</i>, designates all that is divine, celestial; all -that emanates from the Universal -Intelligence<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_216" id="fnanchor_216"></a><a href="#footnote_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a></span>: -it is the -poetry of the Greeks, the language of the gods, or the voice -of the Universal Being of the Egyptians and the Phœnicians.</p> - -<p>However, the Arabic <i>Diwan</i>--that is to say, the poetic -collection of that nation, goes back to most ancient times. -One finds in it verses attributed to the first Hebrew patriarchs -and even to Adam<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_217" id="fnanchor_217"></a><a href="#footnote_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a></span>; -for since the introduction of -Islamism, the cosmogony of Moses has become that of the -Mussulmans, as it has been ours since the establishment of -Christianity. It is there, in this <dfn>diwan</dfn>, that the most -authentic traditions are preserved: they are all in verse -and resemble greatly, as to form and doubtless as to substance, -that which the monk of St. André has transmitted -to us through the court of Charlemagne. It is the same -chivalrous spirit and the same romantic fictions. The -Persian poet Firdausi appears to have followed similar -traditions concerning the ancient kings of Iran, in his famous -poem entitled -<cite>Shah-Namah</cite>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_218" id="fnanchor_218"></a><a href="#footnote_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></span> -The wonders which reign -in these traditions have been transmitted no doubt by the -Arabs, with the artifice of rhyme: both have the same spirit. -The protecting fairies of the knights, the giant persecutors -of ladies, the enchanters, the magic, and all those illusions -are the fruits of that brilliant and dreamy imagination which -characterizes the modern Orientals. We have enthusiastically -enjoyed them in the depths of the barbarity where we -were plunged; we have allowed ourselves to be drawn by -the charms of rhyme, like children in the cradle, whom their -nurses put to sleep by the monotonous sound of a lullaby. -Escaped from that state of languor, and struck at last with -a gleam of real intelligence, we have compared Greece and -Arabia, the songs of epopœia and those of the ballads; we -have blushed at our choice; we have wished to change it; -but owing to the captivating form always more or less the -substance, we have only succeeded in making mixtures -more or less happy, according to the secondary mode that -we follow.</p> - -<p>Rhyme, brought into Europe by the Arabs more than -a thousand years ago, spread by degrees among all nations, -in such a way that when one wishes to examine its origin -with accuracy, one no longer knows whether it is indigenous -there or exotic. One finds on all sides only rhymed verses. -The Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, French, Germans of all -dialects, Hollanders, Danes, Swedes and Norwegians, all -rhyme.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_219" id="fnanchor_219"></a><a href="#footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a></span> -The modern Greeks themselves have forgotten -their ancient rhythm in order to assume our -style.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_220" id="fnanchor_220"></a><a href="#footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a></span> -If -anything could, however, make one doubt that rhyme may -be natural to Europe, it is that ancient Scandinavian, in -which are written the precious fragments which have come -down to us concerning the mythological cult of the Celts, -our ancestors, does not rhyme; also it rises often to the -sublimity of Eumolpœia.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_221" id="fnanchor_221"></a><a href="#footnote_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a></span> -This observation, which makes -us reject Arabia, will take us back to India, if we consider -that there is plausible presumption in believing that the -Phœnicians and the Egyptians who had so much intercourse -with the Arabs, did not rhyme, since the sacred book of -the Hebrews, the <cite>Sepher</cite>, that we call the <cite>Bible</cite>, and which -appears to have issued from the Egyptian sanctuaries, is -written in cadenced rhyme, as the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite> of the Parsees -and the <cite>Vedas</cite> of the -Indians.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_222" id="fnanchor_222"></a><a href="#footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a></span></p> - -<p>The outline that I have just sketched confirms, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, -what I have wished to prove to you and which is the subject -of this discourse, the distinction that should be made -between the essence and the form of poetry, and the reciprocal -influence that should be recognized between these -two parts of the science. You have seen that wherever -rhyme has dominated exclusively, as in Asia among the -Chinese, Arabians, Persians; as in Europe among all the -modern peoples, it has excluded epopœia and has replaced -allegorical genius by the spirit of romantic fictions; you -have seen that wherever eumolpique poetry has wished to -appear, whether moral or rational, theosophical or philosophical, -it has been obliged to have recourse to a particular -prose, when the form of poetry has resisted it, as has happened -in China for the <cite>Kings</cite>, in Persia for the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, -in Arabia for the <cite>Koran</cite>; you have seen that wherever -poetry has been preserved purely rhythmical, as in Greece -and with the Romans, it has admitted eumolpœia and epopœia -without mixture; and finally, that wherever the two -forms meet each other with all their modifications, as in -India, it gives way in turn to all the different kinds, intellectual -and rational, epic, dramatic, and romantic.</p> - -<p>Now, what Hindustan was for Asia, France should be -for Europe. The French tongue, as the Sanskrit, should -tend towards universality; it should be enriched with all -the learning acquired in the past centuries, so as to transmit -it to future generations. Destined to float upon the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(débris)</i> -of a hundred different dialects, it ought to be able to save -from the shipwreck of time all their beauties and all their -remarkable productions. Nevertheless, how will it be -done, if its poetic forms are not open to the spirit of all -the poetries, if its movement, arrested by obstacles cannot -equal that of the tongues which have preceded it in the -same career? By what means, I ask you, will it succeed -to the universal dominion of Sanskrit, if, dragging always -after it the frivolous jingling of Arabic sounds, it cannot -even succeed to the partial domination of Greek or Latin? -Must it be necessary then that it betray its high destinies, -and that the providential decree which founds the European -empire, exempt it from the glory which it promises to the -French name?</p> - -<p>I have told you, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, in beginning this discourse, -that it was in the interest of science alone, that I entered -this career: it is assuredly not by my poor poetic talent that -I have aspired to the honour of occupying your attention; -but by a generous instinct, which, making me ignore many -of the considerations which might have arrested me, has -persuaded me that I could be useful. I have dared to conceive -the possibility of composing, in French, eumolpique -verse, which might neither be measured by musical rhythm -foreign to our tongue, nor enchained by rhyme opposed to -all intellectual and rational movement, and which however -might have neither the harshness, nor the discord of that -which has been called, up to this time, blank verse.</p> - -<p>Many French writers have tried to make verse deprived -of rhyme. Some have sought to imitate the measures of -the ancients, others have satisfied themselves with copying -certain moderns who do not rhyme. Each of them has -misunderstood the essential character of his tongue. Vossius -alone appears to have foreseen the principles without -developing them, when he has said that French verse might -be considered as having only one -foot.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_223" id="fnanchor_223"></a><a href="#footnote_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a></span> -This is exactly -true in examining rhythm only in itself, and giving to each -hemistich the name of time: but if one considers this one -foot, whether hexameter or pentameter, as formed of two -times equal or unequal, it is perceived that it participates, -through its final, in two natures: the one strong and forceful, -that we name masculine; the other soft and languid, -that we call feminine. Therefore, French verse having but -one rhythmic foot, differs, however, in the style of this foot -and can be considered in two relations. Let us take for -example the hexameter verse. The rhythmic foot which -constitutes it is composed of two equal times distinguished -by the cæsura, the last of which is masculine or feminine: -Masculine, as in:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Rome, l’unique objet de mon ressentiment!</div> -<div class="i0">Rome, à qui vient ton bras d’immoler mon amant!</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>Feminine, as in:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Rome qui t’a vu naître et que ton cœur adore!</div> -<div class="i0">Rome enfin que je hais parce qu’elle t’honore!</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>In rhymed verses, such as these I have just cited, two -feet of the same kind are obliged to follow one another on -account of the rhyme which links them; they then form but -one whole and, proceeding abreast without being separated, -they injure by their forced mass the rapidity of expression -and flight of thought. If a third foot of the same kind -occur with the other two feet, rhyming together, it would -have to rhyme with them to prevent an insupportable discordance, -which is not tolerated; a fourth or a fifth foot would -submit to the same law, so that, if the poet wished to fill -his piece with masculine verses alone, it would be necessary -that he should make them proceed upon a single rhyme, as -the Arabs do today and as our early troubadours did, -following their example. The French poet can vary his -rhyme only by varying the style of his verses and by mingling -alternately together the masculine and feminine finals.</p> - -<p>As these two kinds of finals are dissimilar without being -opposed, they may be brought together without the need -of rhyming; their meeting, far from being disagreeable is, -on the contrary, only pleasing; two finals of the same kind, -whether masculine or feminine, can never clash without -causing the same sound—​that is, without rhyming; but it is -not thus with the finals of different kinds, since the rhyme is -impossible in this case. So that, to make what I call eumolpique -verses, it suffices to avoid the meeting of finals of the -same kind, whose impact necessitates the rhyme, by making -one kind succeed another continually, and opposing alternately -the masculine and feminine, the mingling of which is -irrelevant to eumolpœia. Here is all the mechanism of my -verses: they are fluent as to form; as to the essence which is -expedient for them—​that is another thing: for it is rarely -encountered.</p> - -<p>Those who have made blank verse in French have -spoken justly of it with the greatest contempt; these verses, -miserable as to substance, without poetic fire, written as the -flattest prose, lacking movement and grace, had, furthermore, -the insupportable fault of not recognizing the genius -of the French tongue, by making finals of the same kind -clash constantly, and by not distinguishing that which is -called rhyme from that which repels it.</p> - -<p>Now that I have made as clear as possible my motives -and my means, there remains only, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, for me to -submit to your judgment the translation that I have made, -in eumolpique verse, of the piece of Greek poetry which -comprises the doctrine of Pythagoras in seventy-one lines -called, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(par excellence)</i>, Golden Verses. This piece, venerable -by its antiquity and by the celebrated philosopher whose -name it bears, belonging to eumolpœia, without any mixture -of passion, is sufficiently known to savants so that I need -not speak about what concerns its particular merit. This -would mean, moreover, a matter of some explanations. -At any rate, I believe it advisable before passing to this -final subject, to give you certain examples of the use of my -verses as applied to epopœia, so that you may judge, since -they are in hands as incapable as mine, what they might -become when used by men of superior genius and talent. -I will choose, for this purpose, the exposition and invocation -of the principal epic poems of Europe, in order to have a -fixed subject for comparison. I will translate line by line, -and will imitate, as well as is possible for me, the movement -and harmony of the poet that I may have before me. This -labour, which I hope will not be without some interest for -the illustrious academicians whom I am addressing, will -furnish me the occasion of showing by certain characteristic -traits the genius of the language and poetry of the different -modern peoples of Europe; and I will terminate thus the -outline that I have sketched touching the poetic conditions -of the principal nations of the earth. -<!--Page 101--></p> - -<p class="p2 center"><abbr title="Section Seven">§ VII</abbr></p> - -<p>I am beginning with the creator of epopœia, with Homer. -It is easy to see by the manner in which this divine man -blends, from the opening lines of the <cite>Iliad</cite>, the exposition and -invocation, that, full of a celestial inspiration that he was -the first to receive, he seeks to pour forth the superabundant -fire which consumes him, and to throw into the soul -of his hearer the impassioned enthusiasm which masters -and controls his own. The following lines will suffice -to make known the subject of a work which fills twenty-four -cantos.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i0">Déesse! viens chanter la colère d’Achille,</div> -<div class="i0">Fatale, et pour les Grecs si fertile en malheurs,</div> -<div class="i0">Qui, d’avance, aux enfers, précipitant en foule</div> -<div class="i0">Les âmes des héros, livra leurs corps sanglants</div> -<div class="i0">Aux dogues affamés: ainsi Jupiter même</div> -<div class="i0">Le voulut, quand la haine eut divisé les cœurs</div> -<div class="i0">Du roi des rois Atride et du divin Achille.</div> -<div class="i2">Lequel des Immortels provoqua ce courroux?</div> -<div class="i0">Apollon irrité, qui, pour punir Atride,</div> -<div class="i0">Ravagea son armée: et les peuples mourraient!</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">O Goddess! sing the wrath of Peleus’ son,</div> -<div class="i0">Achilles; sing the deadly wrath that brought</div> -<div class="i0">Woes numberless upon the Greeks, and swept</div> -<div class="i0">To Hades many a valiant soul, and gave</div> -<div class="i0">Their limbs a prey to dogs and birds of air,—</div> -<div class="i0">For so had Jove appointed,—​from the time</div> -<div class="i0">When the two chiefs, Atrides, King of men,</div> -<div class="i0">And great Achilles, parted first as foes.</div> -<div class="i2">Which of the gods put strife between the chiefs,</div> -<div class="i0">That they should thus contend? Latona’s son</div> -<div class="i0">And Jove’s. Incensed against the king, he bade</div> -<div class="i0">A deadly pestilence appear among</div> -<div class="i0">The army, and the men were perishing.</div> -<div class="i10"><span class="sc">Bryant.</span></div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> -<div class="i0">Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεὰ, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος,</div> -<div class="i0">οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκεν,</div> -<div class="i0">πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν</div> -<div class="i0">ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν</div> -<div class="i0">οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι (Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή),</div> -<div class="i0">ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀτρείδης τε, ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν, καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.</div> -<div class="i2">Τίς τ’ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι;</div> -<div class="i0">Λητοῦς καὶ Διὸς υἱός. Ὁ γὰρ βασιλῆϊ χολωθεὶς</div> -<div class="i0">νοῦσον ἀνὰ στρατὸν ὦρσε κακὴν, ὀλέκοντο δὲ λαοὶ.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2">I dispense with making any reflection upon the charm -of the original verses and upon the admirable sentiment -which terminates them. It would be a very strange thing -not to be impressed by the beauties of this poetry. Let -us pass on to Vergil.</p> - -<p>Even though I should not say it, it would suffice now -to compare the Greek poet with the Latin poet, in order to -perceive that the latter received only a second inspiration, -transmitted by the inspiring power of the former. Vergil, -less ardent, more tender, more correct, admits at once the -luminous distinction; far from blending the exposition and -invocation, he separates them, affects a tone more simple, -promises little, exposes with timidity the subject of his -poem, summons his Muse, and seems to persuade it, even -less than the reader, to be favourable to him. He employs -these lines:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i0">Je chante les combats, et ce Héros troyen,</div> -<div class="i0">Qui, fuyant Ilion aborda l’Italie</div> -<div class="i0">Le premier: sur la terre errant, et sur les mers,</div> -<div class="i0">En butte aux traits cruels de Junon irritée,</div> -<div class="i0">Il souffrit mille maux; avant qu’il établît</div> -<div class="i0">Ses Dieux chez les Latins, et fondât une ville,</div> -<div class="i0">Berceau d’Albe, de Rome et de ses hauts remparts.</div> -<div class="i2">Muse! rappelle-moi quels motifs de vengeance</div> -<div class="i0">Excitaient la Déesse, et pourquoi son courroux</div> -<div class="i0">S’obstinait à poursuive un Héros magnanime?</div> -<div class="i0">Tant de haine entre-t-elle au cœur des Immortels!</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end poem-container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Arms and the man I sing, who first,</div> -<div class="i0">By fate of Ilium realm amerced,</div> -<div class="i0">To fair Italia onward bore,</div> -<div class="i0">And landed on Lavinium’s shore:—</div> -<div class="i0">Long tossing earth and ocean o’er,</div> -<div class="i0">By violence of heaven, to sate</div> -<div class="i0">Fell Juno’s unforgetting hate:</div> -<div class="i0">Much laboured too in battle-field,</div> -<div class="i0">Striving his city’s walls to build,</div> -<div class="i2">And give his Gods a home:</div> -<div class="i0">Thence come the hardy Latin brood,</div> -<div class="i0">The ancient sires of Alba’s blood,</div> -<div class="i2">And lofty-rampired Rome.</div> -<div class="i0">Say, Muse, for godhead how disdained,</div> -<div class="i0">Or wherefore worth, Heaven’s queen constrained</div> -<div class="i0">That soul of piety so long</div> -<div class="i0">To turn the wheel, to cope with wrong.</div> -<div class="i0">Can heavenly natures nourish hate</div> -<div class="i0">So fierce, so blindly passionate?</div> -<div class="i10"><span class="sc">Conington.</span></div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="la" xml:lang="la"> -<div class="i0">Arma virumque cano, Trojæ qui primus ab oris</div> -<div class="i0">Italiam, fato profugus, Lavinaque venit</div> -<div class="i0">Litora, multum ille et terris jactatus et alto</div> -<div class="i0">Vi superûm, sævæ memorem Junonis ob iram,</div> -<div class="i0">Multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem</div> -<div class="i0">Inferretque deos Latio: genus unde Latinum,</div> -<div class="i0">Albanique patres atque altæ mœnia Romæ.</div> -<div class="i2">Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine læso,</div> -<div class="i0">Quidve dolens, regina deûm tot volvere casus</div> -<div class="i0">Insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores</div> -<div class="i0">Impulerit. Tantæne animis cœlestibus iræ?</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2">It can be observed that Vergil, although he places himself -foremost and although he says, <cite>I sing</cite>, begins nevertheless -in a manner much less animated, much less sure than -the Greek poet, who, transported beyond himself, seems to -impose upon his Muse the subject of his songs, interrogates -her, and then inspired by her, responds. The Latin poet -finishes, like his model, with a sentence; but it is easy to feel -that this apostrophe,</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Can heavenly natures nourish hate</div> -<div class="i0">So fierce, so blindly passionate?</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="unindent">although very beautiful, contains less depth, less feeling, -and holds less intimately to the subject than this sublime -reflection:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">... and the men were perishing!</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>Someone has said that Vergil had imitated in his exposition -the commencement of the <cite>Odyssey</cite> of Homer; this is -a mistake. One finds always in the exposition of the <cite>Odyssey</cite> -the real character of a first inspiration blended with the -invocation, although more calm and less alluring than in the -<cite>Iliad</cite>. Here is the translation:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i2">Du plus sage Héros, Muse, dis les traverses</div> -<div class="i0">Sans nombre, après qu’il eut triomphé d’Ilion:</div> -<div class="i0">Rapelle les cités, les peuples, les usages,</div> -<div class="i0">Qu’il connut, et les mers où longtemps il erra:</div> -<div class="i0">À quels soins dévorants, à quels maux l’exposèrent</div> -<div class="i0">L’amour de la patrie et noble désir</div> -<div class="i0">D’y mener ses guerriers! Vain désir: ils osèrent,</div> -<div class="i0">Insensés! du Soleil dévorer les troupeaux;</div> -<div class="i0">Et ce Dieu, du retour leur ravit la journée.</div> -<div class="i0">Fais-nous part de ces faits, fille de Jupiter.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Tell me, O Muse, of that sagacious man</div> -<div class="i0">Who, having overthrown the sacred town</div> -<div class="i0">Of Ilium, wandered far and visited</div> -<div class="i0">The capitals of many nations, learned</div> -<div class="i0">The customs of their dwellers and endured</div> -<div class="i0">Great suffering on the deep; his life was oft</div> -<div class="i0">In peril, as he laboured to bring back</div> -<div class="i0">His comrades to their homes. He saved them not,</div> -<div class="i0">Though earnestly he strove; they perished all,</div> -<div class="i0">Through their own folly; for they banqueted,</div> -<div class="i0">Madmen! upon the oxen of the Sun,—</div> -<div class="i0">The all-o’erlooking Sun, who cut them off</div> -<div class="i0">From their return. O Goddess, virgin-child</div> -<div class="i0">Of Jove, relate some part of this to me.</div> -<div class="i10"><span class="sc">Bryant.</span></div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> -<div class="i0">Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ</div> -<div class="i0">πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν,</div> -<div class="i0">πολλῶν δ’ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω·</div> -<div class="i0">πολλὰ δ’ ὅ γ’ ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν,</div> -<div class="i0">ἀρνύμενος ἥν τε ψυχὴν καὶ νόστον ἑταίρων.</div> -<div class="i0">ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ὧς ἑτάρους ἐρρύσατο ἱέμενός περ·</div> -<div class="i0">αὐτῶν γὰρ σφετέρῃσιν ἀτασθαλίῃσιν ὄλοντο,</div> -<div class="i0">νήπιοι, οἳ κατὰ βοῦς Ὑπερίονος Ἠελίοιο</div> -<div class="i0">ἤσθιον· αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῖσιν ἀφείλετο νόστιμον ἦμαρ.</div> -<div class="i0">τῶν ἁμόθεν γε, θεὰ θύγατερ Διός, εἰπὲ καὶ ἡμῖν.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>The talent of Homer shows itself completely in the -<cite>Odyssey</cite>; it dominates the genius there, so to speak, as much -as the genius had dominated it in the <cite>Iliad</cite>. The fire which -animates the <cite>Iliad</cite> has been, with reason, compared to that -of the sun arrived at the height of its course, and the splendour -which shines in the <cite>Odyssey</cite> to that with which the -occident is coloured on the evening of a fine day. Perhaps -if we had his <cite>Thebaid</cite>, we would see those brilliant lights -which accompany the aurora, developed there, and then -we would possess in all its shades this immortal genius who -depicted all nature.</p> - -<p>There are people who, feeling by a sort of intuition that -Homer had been created the poetic incentive of Europe, -even as I have said, and judging on the other hand that -Ariosto had made an epic poem, are convinced that the -Italian poet had copied the Greek; but this is not so. Ariosto, -who has made only a romanesque poem, has not received -the inspiration of Homer; he has simply followed the -fictions attributed to Archbishop Turpin and clothing them -with forms borrowed from the Arabs by the troubadours -makes himself creator in this secondary style. The rhyme -is as essential to it as it is harmful to veritable epopœia; this -is why the eumolpique verses never conform to it in the -slightest degree. To apply them to it, is to make serious -what is by nature gay, it is to give a character of force and -of truth to what is only light, airy, and fantastic. I am -about, however, to translate the beginning of his poem, in -order to furnish, by the shocking disparity which exists -between the romantic essence of his poetry and the epic form -that I here adapt, a new proof of what I have said.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Je veux chanter les Dames, les Guerriers,</div> -<div class="i0">L’amour, l’honneur, et les jeux et les armes,</div> -<div class="i0">Durant ces temps où les fiers Sarrasins,</div> -<div class="i0">Des mers d’Afrique, abordèrent en France,</div> -<div class="i0">Pour seconder les fureurs d’Agramant,</div> -<div class="i0">Le jeune roi, dont l’orgueilleuse audace</div> -<div class="i0">Pensait venger la mort du vieux Trojan,</div> -<div class="i0">Sur l’empereur des Romains, Charlemagne.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Je veux aussi raconter de Roland,</div> -<div class="i0">Chose inouïe, autant en vers qu’en prose;</div> -<div class="i0">Dire l’amour qui rendit furieux</div> -<div class="i0">Ce paladin, auparavant si sage;</div> -<div class="i0">Si toutefois celle qui m’a charmé,</div> -<div class="i0">Qui va minant ma raison d’heure en heure,</div> -<div class="i0">M’en laisse assez pour remplir dignement</div> -<div class="i0">Mon entreprise et tenir ma promesse.</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Of Loves and Ladies, Knights and Arms, I sing,</div> -<div class="i0">Of Courtesies, and many a Daring Feat;</div> -<div class="i0">And from those ancient days my story bring,</div> -<div class="i0">When Moors from Afric passed in hostile fleet,</div> -<div class="i0">And ravaged France, with Agramant their King,</div> -<div class="i0">Flushed with his youthful rage and furious heat;</div> -<div class="i0">Who on King Charles’, the Roman emperor’s head</div> -<div class="i0">Had vowed due vengeance for Troyano dead.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">In the same strain of Roland will I tell</div> -<div class="i0">Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme,</div> -<div class="i0">On whom strange madness and rank fury fell,</div> -<div class="i0">A man esteemed so wise in former time;</div> -<div class="i0">If she, who to like cruel pass has well</div> -<div class="i0">Nigh brought my feeble wit which fain would climb</div> -<div class="i0">And hourly wastes my sense, concede me skill</div> -<div class="i0">And strength my daring promise to fulfil.</div> -<div class="i10"><span class="sc">W. R. Rose.</span></div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="it" xml:lang="it"> -<div class="i2">Le donne, i cavalier, l’arme, gl’amori</div> -<div class="i0">Le cortesíe, l’audaci imprese io canto,</div> -<div class="i0">Che furo al tempo che passaro i Mori</div> -<div class="i0">D’Africa il mare, e in Francia nocquer tanto,</div> -<div class="i0">Seguendo l’ire e i giovenil furori</div> -<div class="i0">D’Agramante lor re, che si diè vanto</div> -<div class="i0">Di vendicar la morte di Troiano</div> -<div class="i0">Sopra re Carlo imperator romano.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Dirò d’Orlando in un medesmo tratto</div> -<div class="i0">Cosa non detta in prosa mai, nè in rima;</div> -<div class="i0">Che per amor venne in furore e matto,</div> -<div class="i0">D’uom che si saggio era stimato prima:</div> -<div class="i0">Se da colei che tal quasi m’ha fatto</div> -<div class="i0">Che’l poco ingegno ad or ad or mi lima,</div> -<div class="i0">Me ne sarà però tanto concesso,</div> -<div class="i0">Che mi basti a finir quanto ho promesso.</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2">It is very easy to see, in reading these two strophes, -that there exists in the exposition no sort of resemblance -either with that of Homer, or with that of Vergil. It is a -third style, wholly foreign to the other two. Homer mingling -the exposition and the invocation, commands his Muse -to sing what she inspires in him; Vergil distinguishing one -from the other, prays his Muse to acquaint him with what -he is about to sing; whereas Ariosto, announcing simply -the subject of his songs, makes no invocation. It is evident -that he relies upon himself, and that in the style that -he adopts he understands very well that he has no other -Muse, no other guide than his imagination. His subject -is in accord with his manner of treating it. If one wishes to -reflect upon this decisive point, one will feel and realize, -for the first time perhaps, why in the opinion of all the -world concerning two works from the same hand, <cite>La Pucelle</cite> -and <cite>La Henriade</cite>, the one is a poem, whereas the other, composed -with a far greater pretension, is not. Voltaire, in -imitating Ariosto in a subject that he has rendered romanesque -and frivolous, has received the second inspiration; but -in imitating Lucan in an historic subject he received nothing, -for Lucan, creator of a mixed style, had no inspiration that -he could communicate.</p> - -<p>I have said what I thought of Camoens: it is useless to -quote the exposition of his poem that has nothing remarkable, -particularly since Tasso has so far surpassed him.</p> - -<p>Tasso was worthy of receiving a veritable inspiration. -His lofty genius, his pure and brilliant imagination brought -him nearer to Vergil than to Ariosto; and if he had been -inspired even through the Latin poet, he would have shown -Europe what the magnetic power of Homer was, although -acting only in its third degree. But the prejudices of education -working in him even without his knowledge, and the -influence that chivalresque poetry had attained in Italy, -did not permit him either to forsake entirely the chronicles -of Archbishop Turpin, or above all, to make any changes in -the consecrated form. All that he could do in a most -grave and serious historical subject was to mix a little allegorical -genius with a great deal of romanesque fiction; so -that, becoming inspired at the same time with Ariosto, -Lucan, and Vergil, he made a mixed work, which, under the -form of a lengthy song, contained the essence of epopœia, -of history, and of romance. This work is one of the most -entertaining poems that one can read; the only one perhaps -which a translation in prose can harm but little. The inequality -of its texture takes away nothing from the interest -that it inspires. It pleases, but it does not instruct. If -the eumolpique lines were applied to it throughout, it would -not sustain them; for it is in substance only a very beautiful -ballad; nevertheless, here and there are found parts -which could become sublime. His exposition, imitating -Vergil, reveals them very well. They are as follows:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i2">Je chante les combats pieux, et le Guerrier</div> -<div class="i0">Qui délivra du Christ la tombe renommée.</div> -<div class="i0">Combien il déploya de génie et d’ardeur!</div> -<div class="i0">Combien il supporta de maux dans cette guerre!</div> -<div class="i0">Vainement les enfers s’armèrent; vainement</div> -<div class="i0">Les peuples de l’Asie aux Africains s’unirent:</div> -<div class="i0">Favorisé du Ciel, sous ses drapeaux sacrés,</div> -<div class="i0">Vainqueur, il ramena ses compagnons fidèles.</div> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Divine Muse! ô toi dont le front radieux</div> -<div class="i0">Ne ceint point sur le Pinde un laurier périssable,</div> -<div class="i0">Mais qui, parmi les chœurs des habitants du Ciel,</div> -<div class="i0">Chantes, le front orné d’étoiles immortelles,</div> -<div class="i0">Viens, inspire à mon sein tes célestes ardeurs;</div> -<div class="i0">Fais briller dans mes vers tes clartés, et pardonne</div> -<div class="i0">Si, parant quelquefois l’austère vérité,</div> -<div class="i0">Je mêle à tes attraits des grâces étrangères.</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i2">I sing the pious arms and Chief, who freed</div> -<div class="i0">The Sepulchre of Christ from thrall profane:</div> -<div class="i0">Much did he toil in thought, and much in deed;</div> -<div class="i0">Much in the glorious enterprise sustain;</div> -<div class="i0">And Hell in vain opposed him; and in vain</div> -<div class="i0">Afric and Asia to the rescue pour’d</div> -<div class="i0">Their mingled tribes;—​Heaven recompensed his pain,</div> -<div class="i0">And from all fruitless sallies of the sword,</div> -<div class="i0">True to the Red-Cross flag his wandering friends restored.</div> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">O thou, the Muse, that not with fading palms</div> -<div class="i0">Circlest thy brows on Pindus, but among</div> -<div class="i0">The Angels warbling their celestial psalms,</div> -<div class="i0">Hast for the coronal a golden throng</div> -<div class="i0">Of everlasting stars! make thou my song</div> -<div class="i0">Lucid and pure; breathe thou the flame divine</div> -<div class="i0">Into my bosom; and forgive the wrong,</div> -<div class="i0">If with grave truth light fiction I combine,</div> -<div class="i0">And sometimes grace my page with other flowers than thine!</div> -<div class="i10"><span class="sc">Wiffen.</span></div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="it" xml:lang="it"> -<div class="i2">Canto l’armi pietose, e’l Capitano</div> -<div class="i0">Che’l gran sepolcro liberò di Christo:</div> -<div class="i0">Molto egli oprò col senno e con la mano;</div> -<div class="i0">Molto soffri nel glorioso acquisto:</div> -<div class="i0">E invano l’Inferno a lui s’oppose, e invano</div> -<div class="i0">S’armò d’Asia, e dì Libia il popol misto;</div> -<div class="i0">Chè il Ciel diè favore, e sotto ai santi</div> -<div class="i0">Segni ridusse i suoi compagni erranti.</div> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">O Musa, tu, che di caduchi allori</div> -<div class="i0">Non circondi la fronte in Elicona</div> -<div class="i0">Ma su nel Ciel infra i beati cori,</div> -<div class="i0">Hai di stelle immortali aurea corona,</div> -<div class="i0">Tu spira al petto mio celesti ardori,</div> -<div class="i0">Tu rischiara il mio canto, e tu perdona,</div> -<div class="i0">S’intesso fregi al ver, s’adorno in parte</div> -<div class="i0">D’altri diletti, che de’ tuoi, le carte.</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2">The captivating enthusiasm of Homer, the majestic -simplicity of Vergil are not there; there is a sweetness of -expression, a purity of imagery which please. This might -be greater, but then the melancholy of the romance would -exclude it and the reader would demand the full force of -epopœia.</p> - -<p>Besides, the Italians have tried, over and over again, to -vary the form of their verses; some have wished to measure -them by musical rhythm; others have contented themselves -with making blank verse. They have neither succeeded -completely nor failed completely. Their language sweet -and musical lacks force whether in good or in evil. Its -words might indeed, strictly speaking, be composed of long -and short syllables; but as they terminate, nearly all, in -the soft and languid style that we call feminine, it results, -therefore, that in the measured verses the poets lack the -long syllables to constitute the last foot and to form the -spondee; and that in the blank verse they are obliged to -terminate them all in the same style; so that with the measure -they create only lame verses, and without the rhyme -they make them all equally -languid.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_224" id="fnanchor_224"></a><a href="#footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a></span></p> - -<p>I recall having sometimes read French writers who, -not having investigated the character of their tongue, have -reproached it for its feminine syllables and have believed -that their concurrence was harmful to its force and its harmony. -These writers have scarcely considered what this -language would be, deprived of its feminine sounds. For -with the little force that it would gain on one side, it would -acquire such a harshness on the other, that it would be -impossible to draw from it four consecutive lines that would -be endurable. If all its finals were masculine, and if nothing -could change it otherwise, it would be necessary to renounce -poetry, or like the Arabs, be resolved to compose whole -poems in the same rhyme.</p> - -<p>We have just seen that the lack of masculine finals -takes away all energy from the Italian tongue; a contrary -defect would deprive the French of this <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(mélange)</i> of sweetness -and force which makes it the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(première langue)</i> of -Europe. The English language is lacking in precisely -what the writers of whom I have spoken desired eliminated -from the French, without foreseeing the grave -disadvantages of their desire: it has no feminine -finals<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_225" id="fnanchor_225"></a><a href="#footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a></span>; - -also it is in everything the opposite of the Italian. It -is true that it possesses great energy, great boldness of -expression, and a grammatical liberty which goes to -the full extent; but deprived of sweetness and softness, it -is, if I may say it, like those brittle metals whose strength -is in stiffness, and which is broken when one would make -them flexible. The poverty of its rhymes, denuded for -the most part of accuracy of accent and of harmony in -consonants, has for a long time engaged the English poets -in making blank verse; and it must be admitted that, notwithstanding -the defect inherent in their tongue and which -consists, as I have just said, in the absolute lack of feminine -finals, they have succeeded in this better than any of the -poets of other nations. These lines, all imperfect in their -harmony, are however, as to form, the only eumolpique -verse that they could make. Shakespeare felt it and made -use of it in his tragedies.</p> - -<p>Shakespeare with the creative genius with which nature -had endowed him, would have borne dramatic art to its -perfection in these modern times, if circumstances had been -as favourable to him as they were adverse. Emulator of -Æschylus, he might have equalled and perhaps surpassed -him, if he had had at his disposal a mine so rich, so brilliant -as that of the mysteries of Orpheus; if he had made use of -a language so harmonious, if his taste had been able to be -refined at the school of Pindar or of Homer. At the epoch -of his birth, Europe scarcely emerged from the gloom of -barbarism; the theatre, given over to ridiculous mountebanks, -profaned in indecent farces the incomprehensible -mysteries of the Christian religion, and the English tongue, -still crude and unformed, had not succeeded in amalgamating -in one single body the opposed dialects of which it was -successively formed. In spite of these obstacles, Shakespeare -stamped upon England a movement of which Europe -felt the influence. Raised by the sole force of his genius to -the essence of dramatic poetry, he dared to seek for his -subjects in the mythology of Odin, and put upon the stage, -in <cite>Hamlet</cite> and in <cite>Macbeth</cite>, tableaux of the highest -character.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_226" id="fnanchor_226"></a><a href="#footnote_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></span> - -Like Æschylus he conducted one to virtue by terror; but -unfortunately the taste of the spectators, upon which he -was forced to model his, led him to degrade his tableaux -by grotesque figures: the English people were not sufficiently -advanced to comprehend the moral end of the tragedy. -They must be amused; and Shakespeare succeeded only at -the expense of the beauties of the art. Historic facts and -trivial scenes replaced the mysterious and sublime subjects.</p> - -<p>In London, the dramatic muse was turbulent and licentious; -as in Madrid it had been chivalrous and gallant. -Everywhere the theatre had to accommodate itself to the -taste of the people. The first regular tragedy which Pierre -Corneille composed in France was derived from a Spanish -ballad. Madrid at that time gave the tone to Europe. -It needed much of the time and all the prosperity of Louis -XIV. to throw off the unseasonable ascendancy that this -proud nation had assumed over public -opinion.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_227" id="fnanchor_227"></a><a href="#footnote_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></span> -Notwithstanding -the efforts of Corneille, of Racine, and of -Molière, the Théâtre Français retained always the romanesque -tone that it had originally received. All that these -three men could do was, by lofty sentiments, by purity of -forms, by regularity of the customs and characters, to pass -over what was, in reality, defective. They came thus to -give to modern dramatic art all the perfection of which it -was susceptible. Shakespeare had been in London the -successor of Æschylus; Corneille received in France the -inspiration of Sophocles; Racine, that of Euripides; and -Molière united as in a sheaf the spirit of Menander, of -Terence, and of Plautus.</p> - -<p>When I compare Shakespeare with Æschylus, I want -to make it clearly understood that I regard him as the regenerator -of the theatre in Europe, and superior to Corneille -and Racine as to dramatic essence, although he may be -assuredly much inferior to them as to form. Æschylus, -in Greek, was inspired by Homer; while, on the contrary, it -was Shakespeare who inspired Milton. It is known that -<cite>Paradise Lost</cite> was at first conceived as the subject of a -tragedy, and that it was only after reflection that the English -poet saw therein the material for an epic poem. I will -tell later on, in speaking of the <cite>Messiah</cite> of Klopstock, what -has prevented these two subjects, which appear equally -epics, from attaining wholly to the majesty of epopœia. -As many of the motives that I have to offer apply to the -two works, I will thus avoid useless repetition. I shall -begin by translating the exposition and invocation of Milton, -by imitating its movement and its harmony, as I have done -with the other poets.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i2">De l’homme, viens chanter la disgrâce, et la fruit</div> -<div class="i0">De cet arbre fatal, dont le goût homicide</div> -<div class="i0">Livra le Monde au crime, à la mort, aux malheurs,</div> -<div class="i0">Et nous ravit Eden, jusqu’au moment qu’un Homme</div> -<div class="i0">Plus grand, par son trépas, racheta le séjour</div> -<div class="i0">Du bonheur: viens, ô Muse! ô toi qui, sur la cime</div> -<div class="i0">Se Sinaï, d’Oreb, en secret inspiras</div> -<div class="i0">La Berger d’Israël, quand d’une voix sacrée</div> -<div class="i0">Il enseignait comment et la terre et des cieux</div> -<div class="i0">Sortirent du Chaos! ou bien, si tu préfères</div> -<div class="i0">Les sommets de Sion, les bords du Siloë,</div> -<div class="i0">Qui, près du Temple saint, roule ses flots, ô Muse!</div> -<div class="i0">Viens protéger de là mes chants audacieux,</div> -<div class="i0">Mes chants qui, surpassant d’un essor non timide,</div> -<div class="i0">Les monts Aoniens, vont raconter des faits</div> -<div class="i0">Que n’ont point encor dits la prose ni la rime.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i2">Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit</div> -<div class="i0">Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste</div> -<div class="i0">Brought death into the world, and all our woe,</div> -<div class="i0">With loss of Eden, till one greater Man</div> -<div class="i0">Restore us and regain the blissful seat,</div> -<div class="i0">Sing, heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top</div> -<div class="i0">Of Oreb or of Sinai, didst inspire</div> -<div class="i0">That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,</div> -<div class="i0">In the beginning how the heavens and earth</div> -<div class="i0">Rose out of chaos; or if Sion hill</div> -<div class="i0">Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flow’d</div> -<div class="i0">Fast by the oracle of God; I thence</div> -<div class="i0">Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,</div> -<div class="i0">That with no middle flight intends to soar</div> -<div class="i0">Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues</div> -<div class="i0">Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>This invocation is manifestly in imitation of Homer, -from whom Milton has received the second inspiration without -the intermediary—​Vergil. One can observe in the -English poet the same movement and almost as much -force as in the Greek poet, but much less clarity, precision, -and particularly harmony. Nearly all of these defects -pertain to his subject and his tongue. Circumstances -were not favourable to Milton. His lines could not have -been better with the elements that he was forced to employ. -All imperfect as they are, they are worth much more than -those of Klopstock; for at least they are in the character -of his tongue, whereas those of the German poet are not. -Milton is satisfied with throwing off the yoke of rhyme, and -has made eumolpique lines of one foot only, measured by -ten syllables. Their defect, inherent in the English idiom, -consists, as I have said, in having all the lines bearing equally -the masculine final, jarring continually one with the other. -Klopstock has aspired to make, in German, verses measured -by the musical rhythm of the Greeks; but he has not perceived -that he took as long and short, in his tongue, syllables -which were not such in musical rhythm, but by accent and -prosody, which is quite different. The German tongue, -composed of contracted words and consequently bristling -with consonants, bears no resemblance to the Greek, whose -words, abounding in vowels, were, on the contrary, made -clear by their elongation. The rhythmic lines of Klopstock -are materially a third longer than those of Homer, -although the German poet has aspired to build them on an -equal measure.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_228" id="fnanchor_228"></a><a href="#footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a></span> -Their rhythmic harmony, if it exists -there, is absolutely factitious; it is a pedantic imitation and -nothing more. In order to make the movement of these -lines understood in French, and to copy as closely as possible -their harmony, it is necessary to compose lines of two -cæsuras, or what amounts to the same, to employ constantly -a line and a half to represent a single one. Here are the -first fourteen lines which contain the exposition and invocation -of the Messiah:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i0">Des coupables humains, célèbre, Ame immortelle, l’heureuse délivrance,</div> -<div class="i0">Que sur terre envoyé le Messie accomplit dans son humanité:</div> -<div class="i0">Dis comment il rendit les fils du premier homme à leur Auteur céleste;</div> -<div class="i0">Souffrant et mis à mort, enfin glorifié. Ainsi s’exécuta</div> -<div class="i0">Le décret éternel. En vain Satan rebelle opposa son audace</div> -<div class="i0">A ce Fils du Très-Haut; et Judas vainement s’éleva contre lui:</div> -<div class="i0">Réconciliateur et Rédempteur suprême, il consomma son œuvre.</div> -<div class="i0">Mais quoi, noble action! que Dieu seul en son cœur miséricordieux,</div> -<div class="i0">Connaît, la Poésie, en son exil terrestre, pourra-t-elle te suivre?</div> -<div class="i0">Non, Esprit créateur, c’est à toi, devant qui je m’incline en tremblant,</div> -<div class="i0">A rapprocher de moi cette action divine, à toi-même semblable.</div> -<div class="i0">Viens donc, conduis-la-moi dans l’état immortel de toute sa beauté;</div> -<div class="i0">Remplis-la de ton feu, toi que, sondant l’abîme du Très-Haut, peux de l’homme</div> -<div class="i0">Issu de la poussière, et fragile et mortel, te faire un temple saint.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">My Soul, degenerate man’s redemption sing,</div> -<div class="i0">Which the Messiah in his human state</div> -<div class="i0">On earth accomplished, by which, suffering slain</div> -<div class="i0">And glorify’d, unto the Love of God</div> -<div class="i0">The progeny of Adam he restored.</div> -<div class="i0">Such was the everlasting Will divine,</div> -<div class="i0">Th’ infernal Fiend opposed him, Judah stood</div> -<div class="i0">In opposition proud; but vain their rage:</div> -<div class="i0">He did the deed, he wrought out man’s salvation.</div> -<div class="i2">Yet, wondrous Deed, which th’ all-compassionate</div> -<div class="i0">Jehovah alone completely comprehends,</div> -<div class="i0">May Poesy presume from her remote</div> -<div class="i0">Obscurity to venture on thy theme?</div> -<div class="i0">Creative Spirit, in whose presence here</div> -<div class="i0">I humbly’ adore, her efforts consecrate,</div> -<div class="i0">Conduct her steps and lead her, me to meet,</div> -<div class="i0">Of transport full, with glorious charms endow’d</div> -<div class="i0">And power immortal, imitating Thee.</div> -<div class="i10">(<span class="sc">Egestorff.</span>)</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem" lang="de" xml:lang="de"> -<div class="i0">Sing, unserterbliche Seele, der sündigen Menschen Erlösung,</div> -<div class="i0">Die der Messias auf Erden, in seiner Menscheit vollendet;</div> -<div class="i0">Und durch die er Adams Geschlecht zu der Liebe der Gottheit,</div> -<div class="i0">Leidend, getödtet und verherlichet, weider erhöhet hat.</div> -<div class="i0">Also geschah des Ewigen Wille. Vergebens erhub sich</div> -<div class="i0">Satan gegen der göttlichen Sohn; umsonst stand Juda</div> -<div class="i0">Gegen ihn auf; er that’s, und wollbrachte die grosse Versöhnung.</div> -<div class="i0">Aber, o That, die allein der Albarmherzige kennet,</div> -<div class="i0">Darf aus dunckler Ferne sich auch dir nahen die Dichtkunst?</div> -<div class="i0">Weihe sie, Geist, Schöpfer, vor dem ich hier still anbete,</div> -<div class="i0">Führe sie mir, als deine Nachahmerin, voiler Entzückung,</div> -<div class="i0">Voll unsterblicher Kraft, in verklärter Schönheit, entgegen.</div> -<div class="i0">Rüste mit deinem Feuer sie, du, der die Tiefen des Gottheit</div> -<div class="i0">Schaut und den Menschen, aus Staube gemacht, zum Tempel sich heiligt!</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>It is evident that in this exposition the movement of -Homer has been united by Klopstock to the ideas of Tasso. -The German poet claims nevertheless the originality, and -believes that he himself was called to enjoy the first inspiration. -In order that this high aspiration might have been -realized, a mass of learning very difficult to find would have -been necessary. I will explain briefly this idea. I believe -that the one who, disdaining to follow in the footsteps of -Homer or of Vergil, would wish to open another road to -epopœia, should be well acquainted with the ground over -which he ventures to trace it, and the goal toward which -he aspires to conduct it; I think he should make himself -master of his subject so that nothing might remain obscure -or unknown to him; so that if he should choose either the -downfall of Man, as Milton, or his rehabilitation, after the -example of Klopstock, he would be able to acquaint himself -with the inner meaning of these mysteries, to explain all the -conditions, to comprehend the beginning and the end, and, -raising himself to the intellectual nature where they had -birth, to spread light upon physical nature. This is the -first attainment that I deem indispensable to the epic poet; -I say that he should understand what he would sing. Homer -knew what Ilium was, what Ithaca was; he could explain -to himself the nature of Achilles and Helen, of Penelope and -Ulysses; consequently he could depict them. I do not wish -to investigate here whether Milton has understood in the -same manner the beginning of the World and the nature of -Satan; nor whether Klopstock has well understood the -mystery of the incarnation of the Messiah. I only say -that if they have not understood these things, they cannot -sing them in a manner really epic.</p> - -<p>A defect which is common to these two poets, and which -is even noticeable in the <cite>Jerusalem Delivered</cite> of Tasso, is, -that everything which does not pertain to the part of the -celebrated hero, is by its impure, unfaithful, impious nature, -governed by the Principle of evil, and as such consigned to -eternal damnation. An insurmountable barrier separates -the personages and makes them not alone enemies, but -opposed, as much as good and evil, light and darkness. -However, the passions act unknown even to the poet; the -reader is hurried along, he forgets the fatal line of demarcation, -and is deceived into becoming interested in Satan, -into finding great, beautiful, and terrible, this enemy of -mankind; he trusts in Armida, he is moved by her troubles, -and seconds with his vows those of a notorious magician, -instrument of the Infernal Spirit. Matters go not thus -with Homer. The Greeks see in the Trojans, enemies, -and not reprobates. Paris is culpable but not impious. -Hector is a hero in whom one can be interested without -shame, and the interest that one devotes to him reflects -upon Achilles and can even be increased. The gods are -divided; but Venus and Juno, Minerva and Mars, Vulcan -and Neptune are of a like nature; and although divided in -the epic action, they are none the less venerated by both -parties, equal among each other and all equally subject to -Jupiter, who excites or checks their resentment. I know -not whether any one has already made this observation; -but be that as it may, it is very important. One can attain -to the sublimity of epopœia only if like Homer one knows -how to oppose the Powers which serve the hero with the -Powers which persecute him. For if everything which -serves the hero is good, holy, and sacred, and everything -which is harmful to him wicked, impious, and reprobate, -I do not see the glory of his triumph.</p> - -<p>The principal defect in Milton’s poem is that his hero -succumbs, although he has to combat only the evil things -within himself, whilst everything which is good protects -him: the poem of Klopstock does not hold the reader’s interest, -because the perils of his hero are illusory and as soon -as he is represented as God, and when he himself knows his -divinity, his downfall is absolutely impossible.</p> - -<p>But it is too much to dwell upon points of criticism which -do not belong to my subject. I have touched upon them -only slightly so that you may feel, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, notwithstanding -the pretensions of three rival peoples, that the epic -career remains none the less wholly open to the French -nation. Some out-of-the-way paths have been traced here -and there; but no poet since Vergil, has left the imprint -of his steps upon the true path. The moment is perhaps at -hand for gathering the palms that time has ripened. Must -this century, great in prodigies, remain without an impassioned -and enchanting voice to sing of them? Assuredly -not. Whoever may be the poet whose genius raises itself -to this noble task, I have wished from afar to lend him my -feeble support; for I have often enough repeated, that -talent alone will aspire to this in vain. Epopœia will only -be the portion of the one who thoroughly understands the -essence of poetry and who is able to apply to it a proper -form. I have penetrated this essence as far as has been -possible for me, and I have revealed my ideas, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, -as clearly as the insufficiency of my means has permitted. -I trust that their development may have appeared satisfactory -and useful to you; I trust equally that the new form -which I offer you merits your attention. I have applied -it before you, to ideas, to intentions and to very different -harmonies: it adapts itself here, for of itself it is nothing. -Subject wholly to poetic essence, it receives therefrom all its -lustre. If the ideas that it would render have grandeur and -sublimity, it will easily become grand and sublime; but -nothing would be poorer and more void, than that it should -serve trivial thoughts or that it should conceal an absolute -want of ideas. Do not imagine, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, that the absence -of rhyme makes easy the French verse; it is precisely -this absence which makes the great difficulty: for there is -not then the means of writing without thinking. One can, -with the aid of talent and practice, compose pleasing rhymed -verse, without a great expenditure of ideas; the enormous -quantity that is made today proves that it is not very -difficult. The elegance of form supplies the sterility of -substance. But this form becomes at last worn out; the -rhymes are not inexhaustible; one word attracts another, -forces it to unite with it, making understood the sounds -that one has heard a thousand times, repeating the pictures -which are everywhere; one repeats unceasingly the same -things: the enjambment which gives so much grace to the -Greek and Latin verse and without which real epic impulse -cannot exist, is opposed to the rhyme and destroys it. You -can see, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Messieurs</i>, that it constitutes one of the principal -qualities of eumolpique verse; nothing here constrains the -enthusiasm of the poet.</p> - -<p>After some impassioned verses that I have believed -necessary for you to hear, I shall now pass on to verses, -philosophical and devoid of passion, which form the subject -of this writing and to which I desire above all to call your -attention.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS</h3> -</div><!--end chapter--> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="p2 center">ΤᾺ Τ῀ΩΝ ΠΥΘΑΓΟΤΡΕΊΩΝ ἜΠΗ ΤᾺ ΧΡΥΣΆ</p> - -<p class="p2 center">ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_229" id="fnanchor_229"></a><a href="#footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">ΑΘΑΝΑΤΟΥΣ μὲν πρῶτα Δεοὺς, νόμῳ ὡς διάκεινται,</div> -<div class="i0">Τίμα· καὶ σέβου ὅρκον. ἔπειθ’ Ἥρωας ἀγαυούς.</div> -<div class="i0">Τοὺς τε καταχθονίους σέβε Δαίμονας, ἔννομα ῥέζων.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2 center">ΚΆΘΑΡΣΙΣ.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_230" id="fnanchor_230"></a><a href="#footnote_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">Τούς τε γονεῖς τίμα, τούς τ’ ἄγχιστ’ ἐκγεγαῶτας.</div> -<div class="i0">Τῶν δ’ ἄλλων ἀρετῃ ποιεῦ φίλον ὅστις ἄριστος.</div> -<div class="i0">Πρᾳέσι δ’ εἶκε λόγοις, ἔργοισί τ’ ἐπωφελίμοισι.</div> -<div class="i0">Μὴδ’ ἔχθαιρε φίλον σὸν ἁμαρτάδος εἵνεκα μικρῆς,</div> -<div class="i0">Ὄφρα δύνῃ δύναμις γὰρ ἀνάγκης ἐγγύθι ναίει.</div> -<div class="i0">Ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως ἴσθι. κρατεῖν δ’ εἰθίζεο τῶνδε·</div> -<div class="i0">Γαστρὸς μὲν πρώπιστα, καὶ ὕπνου, λαγνείης τε,</div> -<div class="i0">Καὶ θυμοῦ. Πρήξεις δ’ αἰσχρόν ποτε μήτε μετ’ ἄλλου,</div> -<div class="i0">Μὴτ’ ἰδίῃ. Πάντων δὲ μάλιστα αἰσχύνεο σαυτόν.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Εἶτα δικαιοσύνην ἀσκεῖν ἔργῳ τε, λόγῳ τε.</div> -<div class="i0">Μὴδ’ ἀλογίστως σαυτὸν ἔχειν περὶ μηδὲν ἔθιζε·</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀλλὰ γνῶθι μὲν ὡς θανέειν πέπρωται ἅπασι.</div> -<div class="i0">Χρήματα δ’ ἄλλοτε μὲν κτᾶσθαι φιλεῖ, ἄλλοτ’ ὀλέσθαι.</div> -<div class="i0">Ὅσσα τε δαιμονίῃσι τύχαις βροτοὶ ἄλγε ἔχουσιν,</div> -<div class="i0">Ὧν ἄν μοῖραν ἔχῄς πρᾴως φέρε, μήδ’ ἀγανάκτει.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἰᾶσθαι δὲ πρέπει καθόσον δυνὴ· Ὥδε δὲ φράζευ.</div> -<div class="i0">Οὐ πάνυ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς τουτῶν πολὺ μοῖρα δίδωσι.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Πολλοὶ δ’ ἀνθρώποισι λόγοι δειλοὶ τε, καὶ ἐσθλοί</div> -<div class="i0">Προσπίπτουσ’, ὧν μήτ’ ἐκπλήσσεο, μήτ’ ἄρ’ ἐάσῃς</div> -<div class="i0">Εἴργεσθαι σαυτόν. Ψεῦδος δ’ ἤν πέρ τι λέγηται,</div> -<div class="i0">Πρᾴως εἶχ’· Ὃ δέ τοι ἐρέω, ἐπὶ παντὶ τελείσθω.</div> -<div class="i0">Μηδεὶς μήτε λόγῳ σε παρείπῃ, μήτε τι ἔργῳ</div> -<div class="i0">Πρῆξαι, μὴδ’ εἰπεῖν, ὅ, τι τοὶ μὴ βέλτερόν ἐστι.</div> -<div class="i0">Βουλεύου δὲ πρὸ ἔργου, ὅπως μὴ μωρὰ πέληται.</div> -<div class="i0">Δειλοῦ τοι πρήσσειν τε λέγειν τ’ ἀνόητα πρὸς ἀνδρὸς.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀλλὰ τάδ’ ἐκτελέειν, ἅ σε μὴ μετέπειτ’ ἀνιήσῃ.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Πρῆσσε δὲ μηδὲν τῶν μὴ πίστασαι· ἀλλὰ διδάσκευ</div> -<div class="i0">Ὅσσα χρεὼν, καὶ τερπνότατον βίον ὧδε διάξεις.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Ὀυδ’ ὑγιείης τῆς περὶ σῶμ’ ἀμέλειαν ἔχειν χρή.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀλλὰ ποτοῦ τε μέτρον, καὶ σίτου, γυμνασίων τε</div> -<div class="i0">Ποιεῖσθαι. μέτρον δὲ λέγω τό δ’, ὃ μή σ’ ἀνιήσει.</div> -<div class="i0">Εἰθίζου δὲ δίαιταν ἔχειν καθάρειον, ἄθρυπτον.</div> -<div class="i0">Καὶ πεφύλαξό γε ταῦτα ποιεῖν, ὁπόσα φθόνον ἴσχει</div> -<div class="i0">Μὴ δαπανᾷν παρὰ καιρὸν, ὁποῖα καλῶν ἀδαήμων.</div> -<div class="i0">Μὴ δ’ ἀνελεύθερος ἴσθι· μέτρον δ’ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἄριστον.</div> -<div class="i0">Πρῆσσε δὲ ταῦθ’, ἅ σε μὴ βλάψῃ· λόγισαι δὲ πρὸ ἔργου.</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2 center">ΤΕΛΕΑΌΤΗΣ.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_231" id="fnanchor_231"></a><a href="#footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Μὴδ’ ὕπνον μαλακοῖσιν ἐπ’ ὄμμασι προσδέξασθαι,</div> -<div class="i0">Πρὶν τῶν ἡμερινῶν ἔργων τρὶς ἕκαστον ἐπελθεῖν·</div> -<div class="i0">Πῇ παρέβην; τὶ δ’ ἔρεξα; τὶ μοι δέον οὐκ ἐτελέσθη;</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀρξάμενος δ’ ἀπὸ πρώτου ἐπέξιθι· καὶ μετέπειτα</div> -<div class="i0">Δεινὰ μὲν ἐκπρήξας ἐπιπλήσσεο· χρηστὰ δὲ, τέρπου.</div> -<div class="i0">Ταῦτα πόνει· ταῦτ’ ἐκμελέτα· τούτων χρὴ ἐρᾷν σε.</div> -<div class="i0">Ταῦτά σε τῆς θείης ἀρετῆς εἰς ἴχνια θήσει.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">Ναὶ μὰ τὸν ἡμετέρᾳ ψυχᾷ παραδόντα τετρακτὺν,</div> -<div class="i0">Παγὰν ἀενάου φύσεως. Ἀλλ’ ἔρχευ ἐπ’ ἔργον</div> -<div class="i0">Θεοῖσιν ἐπευξάμενος τελέσαι. Τούτων δὲ κρατήσας,</div> -<div class="i0">Γνώση ἀθανάτων τε θεῶν, θνητῶν τ’ ἀνθρώπων</div> -<div class="i0">Σύστασιν, ᾗ τε ἕκαστα διέρχεται, ᾗ τε κρατεῖται.</div> -<div class="i0">Γνώσῃ δ’, ἣ θέμις ἐστὶ, φύσιν περὶ παντὸς ὁμοίην</div> -<div class="i0">Ὥστε σε μήτ’ ἄελπτ’ ἐλπίζειν, μήτε τι λήθειν.</div> -<div class="i0">Γνώσῃ δ’ ἀνθρώπους αὐθαίρετα πήματ’ ἔχοντας</div> -<div class="i0">Τλήμονας, οἵ τ’ ἀγαθῶν πέλας ὄντων οὔτ’ ἐσορῶσιν.</div> -<div class="i0">Οὔτε κλύουσι· λύσιν δὲ κακῶν παῦροι συνίσασι.</div> -<div class="i0">Τοίη μοίρα βροτῶν βλάπτει φρένας· οἱ δὲ κυλίνδροις</div> -<div class="i0">Ἄλλοτ’ ἐπ’ ἄλλα φέρονται ἀπείρονα πήματ’ ἔχοντες.</div> -<div class="i0">Λυγρὴ γὰρ συνοπαδὸς ἔρις βλάπτουσα λέληθε</div> -<div class="i0">Σύμφυτος· ἣν οὐ δεῖ προσάγειν, εἴκοντα δὲ φεύγειν.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Ζεῦ πάτερ, ἤ πολλῶν τε κακῶν λύσειας ἅπαντας.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἤ πᾶσιν δείξαις ὁίῳ τῷ δαίμονι χρῶνται.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀλλὰ σὺ θάρσει· ἐπεὶ θεῖον γένος ἐστὶ βροτοῖσιν</div> -<div class="i0">Οἷς ἱερὰ προφέρουσα φύσις δείκνυσιν ἕκαστα.</div> -<div class="i0">ᾯν εἴ σοί τι μέτεστι, κρατήσεις ὧν σε κελεύω,</div> -<div class="i0">Ἐξακέσας, ψυχὴν δὲ πόνων ἀπὸ τῶν δὲ σαώσεις.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἀλλ’ εἴργου βρωτῶν, ὧν εἴπομεν, ἔν τε καθαρμοῖς,</div> -<div class="i0">Ἔν τε λύσει ψυχῆς κρίνων· καὶ ψράζευ ἕκαστα,</div> -<div class="i0">Ἡνίοχον γνώμην στήσας καθύπερθεν ἀρίστην.</div> -<div class="i0">Ἢν δ’ ἀπολείψας σῶμα ἐς αἰθέρ’ ἐλεύθερον ἔλθῃς,</div> -<div class="i0">Ἔσσεαι ἀθάνατος θεὸς, ἄμβροτος, οὐκ ἔτι θνητός.</div> -</div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<p class="center"><strong>Vers Dorés des Pythagoriciens</strong></p> - -<p class="p2 center">PRÉPARATION</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Rends aux Dieux immortels le cult consacré;</div> -<div class="i0">Garde ensuite ta foi: Révère la mémoire</div> -<div class="i0">Des Héros bienfaiteurs, des Esprits demi-Dieux.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2 center">PURIFICATION</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Sois bon fils, frère juste, époux tendre et bon père.</div> -<div class="i0">Choisis pour ton ami, l’ami de la vertu;</div> -<div class="i0">Cède à ses doux conseils, instruis-toi par sa vie,</div> -<div class="i0">Et pour un tort léger ne le quitter jamais;</div> -<div class="i0">Si tu le peux du moins: car une loi sévère</div> -<div class="i0">Attache la Puissance à la Nécessité.</div> -<div class="i0">Il t’est donné pourtant de combattre et se vaincre</div> -<div class="i0">Tes folles passions: apprends à les dompter.</div> -<div class="i0">Sois sobre, actif et chaste; évite la colère.</div> -<div class="i0">En public, en secret ne te permets jamais</div> -<div class="i0">Rien de mal; surtout respecte-toi toi-même.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Ne parle et n’agis point sans avoir réfléchi.</div> -<div class="i0">Sois juste. Souviens-toi qu’un pouvoir invincible</div> -<div class="i0">Ordonne de mourir; que les biens, les honneurs</div> -<div class="i0">Facilement acquis, sont faciles à perdre.</div> -<div class="i0">Et quant aux maux qu’entraîne avec soi le Destin,</div> -<div class="i0">Juge-les ce qu’ils sont: supporte-les; et tâche,</div> -<div class="i0">Autant que tu pourras, d’en adoucir les traits:</div> -<div class="i0">Les Dieux, aux plus cruels, n’ont pas livré les sages.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Comme la Vérité, l’Erreur a ses amants:</div> -<div class="i0">Le philosophe approuve, ou blâme avec prudence;</div> -<div class="i0">Et si Erreur triomphe, il s’éloigne; il attend.</div> -<div class="i0">Ecoute, et grave bien en ton cœur mes paroles:</div> -<div class="i0">Ferme l’œil et l’oreille à la prévention;</div> -<div class="i0">Crains l’exemple d’autrui; pense d’après toi-même;</div> -<div class="i0">Consulte, délibère, et choisis librement.</div> -<div class="i0">Laisse les fous agir et sans but et sans cause.</div> -<div class="i0">Tu dois dans le présent, contempler l’avenir.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Ce que tu ne sais pas, ne prétends point le faire.</div> -<div class="i0">Instruis-toi: tout s’accorde à la constance, au temps.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">Veille sur ta santé: dispense avec mesure,</div> -<div class="i0">Au corps les aliments, à l’esprit le repos.</div> -<div class="i0">Trop ou trop peu de soins sont à fuir; car l’envie,</div> -<div class="i0">A l’un et l’autre excès, s’attache également.</div> -<div class="i0">Le luxe et l’avarice ont des suites semblables.</div> -<div class="i0">Il faut choisir en tout, un milieu juste et bon.</div> -</div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="p2 center">PERFECTION</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Que jamais le sommeil ne ferme ta paupière,</div> -<div class="i0">Sans t’être demandé: Qu’ai-je omis? qu’ai-je fait?</div> -<div class="i0">Si c’est mal, abstiens-toi; si c’est bien, persévère.</div> -<div class="i0">Médite mes conseils; aime-les; suis-les tous:</div> -<div class="i0">Aux divines vertus ils sauront te conduire.</div> -<div class="i0">J’en jure par celui qui grava dans nos cœurs,</div> -<div class="i0">La Tétrade sacrée, immense et pur symbole,</div> -<div class="i0">Source de la Nature, et modèle des Dieux.</div> -<div class="i0">Mais qu’avant, ton âme, à son devoir fidèle,</div> -<div class="i0">Invoque avec ferveur ces Dieux, dont les secours</div> -<div class="i0">Peuvent seuls achever tes œuvres commencées.</div> -<div class="i0">Instruit par eux, alors rien ne t’abusera:</div> -<div class="i0">Des êtres différents tu sonderas l’essence;</div> -<div class="i0">Tu connaîtras de Tout le principe et la fin.</div> -<div class="i0">Tu sauras, si le Ciel le veut, que la Nature,</div> -<div class="i0">Semblable en toute chose, est la même en tout lieu:</div> -<div class="i0">En sorte qu’éclairé sur tes droits véritables,</div> -<div class="i0">Ton cœur de vains désirs ne se repaîtra plus.</div> -<div class="i0">Tu verras que les maux qui dévorent les hommes,</div> -<div class="i0">Sont le fruit de leur choix; et que ces malheureux</div> -<div class="i0">Cherchent loin d’eux biens dont ils portent la source.</div> -<div class="i0">Peu savent être heureux: jouets des passions,</div> -<div class="i0">Tour à tour ballotés par des vagues contraires,</div> -<div class="i0">Sur une mer sans rive, ils roulent, aveuglés,</div> -<div class="i0">Sans pouvoir résister ni céder à l’orage.</div> -<div class="i2">Dieu! vous les sauveriez en désillant leurs yeux.…</div> -<div class="i0">Mais non: c’est aux humains, dont la race est divine,</div> -<div class="i0">A discerner l’Erreur, à voir la Vérité.</div> -<div class="i0">La Nature les sert. Toi qui l’as pénétrée,</div> -<div class="i0">Homme sage, homme heureux, respire dans le port.</div> -<div class="i0">Mais observe mes lois, en t’abstenant des choses</div> -<div class="i0">Que ton âme doit craindre, en les distinguant bien;</div> -<div class="i0">En laissant sur le corps régner l’intelligence:</div> -<div class="i0">Afin que, t’élevant dans l’Ether radieux,</div> -<div class="i0">Au sein des Immortels, tu sois un Dieu toi-même!</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">EXAMINATIONS OF THE GOLDEN VERSES: -EXPLANATIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS</h3> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">EXAMINATIONS OF THE GOLDEN VERSES:<br /> -EXPLANATIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS</p> - -<p class="p2 center">1. <span class="sc">The Golden Verses of the Pythagoreans</span></p> - -<p class="dropcap negindent">THE ancients had the habit of comparing with gold all -that they deemed without defects and pre-eminently -beautiful: thus, by the <i>Golden Age</i> they understood, the age -of virtues and of happiness; and by the <i>Golden Verses</i>, the -verses wherein was concealed the most pure -doctrine.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_232" id="fnanchor_232"></a><a href="#footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a></span> - -They constantly attributed these Verses to Pythagoras, -not that they believed that this philosopher had himself -composed them, but because they knew that his disciple, -whose work they were, had revealed the exact doctrine of -his master and had based them all upon maxims issued from -his mouth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_233" id="fnanchor_233"></a><a href="#footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a></span> -This disciple, commendable through his -learning, and especially through his devotion to the precepts -of Pythagoras, was called -Lysis.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_234" id="fnanchor_234"></a><a href="#footnote_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></span> -After the death -of this philosopher and while his enemies, momentarily -triumphant, had raised at Crotona and at Metaponte that -terrible persecution which cost the lives of so great a number -of Pythagoreans, crushed beneath the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(débris)</i> of their -burned school, or constrained to die of hunger in the temple -of the Muses,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_235" id="fnanchor_235"></a><a href="#footnote_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a></span> -Lysis, happily escaped from these disasters, -retired into Greece, where, wishing to spread the sect of -Pythagoras, to whose principles calumnies had been attached, -he felt it necessary to set up a sort of formulary -which would contain the basis of morals and the principal -rules of conduct given by this celebrated man. It is to this -generous movement that we owe the philosophical verses -that I have essayed to translate into French. These verses, -called <i>golden</i> for the reason I have given, contain the sentiments -of Pythagoras and are all that remain to us, really -authentic, concerning one of the greatest men of antiquity. -Hierocles, who has transmitted them to us with a long and -masterly Commentary, assures us that they do not contain, -as one might believe, the sentiment of one in particular, -but the doctrine of all the sacred corps of Pythagoreans -and the voice of all the -assemblies.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_236" id="fnanchor_236"></a><a href="#footnote_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a></span> -He adds that there -existed a law which prescribed that each one, every morning -upon rising and every evening upon retiring, should read -these verses as the oracles of the Pythagorean school. One -sees, in reality, by many passages from Cicero, Horace, -Seneca, and other writers worthy of belief, that this law -was still vigorously executed in their -time.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_237" id="fnanchor_237"></a><a href="#footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a></span> -We know -by the testimony of Galen in his treatise on <cite>The Understanding -and the Cure of the Maladies of the Soul</cite>, that he himself -read every day, morning and evening, the Verses of Pythagoras; -and that, after having read them, he recited them by -heart. However, I must not neglect to say that Lysis, -who is the author of them, obtained so much celebrity in -Greece that he was honoured as the master and friend of -Epaminondas.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_238" id="fnanchor_238"></a><a href="#footnote_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a></span> -If his name has not been attached to -this work, it is because at the epoch when he wrote it, the -ancient custom still existed of considering things and not -individuals: it was with the doctrine of Pythagoras that -one was concerned, and not with the talent of Lysis which -had made it known. The disciples of a great man had no -other name than his. All their works were attributed to -him. This is an observation sufficiently important to make -and which explains how Vyasa in India, Hermes in Egypt, -Orpheus in Greece, have been the supposed authors of such -a multitude of books that the lives of many men would -not even suffice to read them.</p> - -<p>In my translation, I have followed the Greek text, such -as is cited at the head of the Commentary of Hierocles, commentated -on by the son of Casaubon, and interpreted into -Latin by J. Curterius; London edition, 1673. This work, -like all those which remain to us of the ancients, has been -the subject of a great many critical and grammatical discussions: -in the first place one must before everything else be -assured of the material part. This part is today as authentic -and as correct as it is possible to be, and although there -exists still, several different readings, they are of too little -importance for me to dwell upon. It is not my affair and -besides, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(chacun doit faire son métier)</i>. That of the grammarian -has ended where it ought to end. For how can man -ever expect to advance if he never is willing to try some new -thing which is offered. I shall not therefore make any -criticizing remarks concerning the text, for I consider this -text sufficiently examined; neither will I make any notes -concerning the Commentaries, properly so-called, on these -seventy-one lines, for I think it is sufficient having those of -Hierocles, of Vitus Amerbachius, Theodore Marcilius, -Henri Brem, Michel Neander, Jean Straselius, Guilhaume -Diezius, Magnus-Daniel Omeis, André Dacier, etc. As I -stated, I shall make examinations rather than commentaries, -and I will give, regarding the inner meaning of the Verses, -all the explanations that I believe useful for their complete -development.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><span class="sc">Preparation</span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">2. <i>Render to the Immortal Gods the consecrated cult;<br /> - Guard then thy faith</i>:</p> - -<p>Pythagoras, of whom a modern savant, otherwise most -estimable, has rather throughtlessly reproached with being -a fanatical and superstitious -man,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_239" id="fnanchor_239"></a><a href="#footnote_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a></span> -begins his teaching, -nevertheless, by laying down a principle of universal tolerance. -He commands his disciples to follow the cult established -by the laws, whatever this cult may be, and to adore -the gods of their country, what ever these gods may be; -enjoining them only, to guard afterwards their faith—​that -is, to remain inwardly faithful to his doctrine, and never to -divulge the mysteries. Lysis, in writing these opening -lines, adroitly conceals herein a double meaning. By the -first he commended, as I have said, tolerance and reserve -for the Pythagorean, and, following the example of the -Egyptian priests, established two doctrines, the one apparent -and vulgar, conformable to the law; the other mysterious -and secret, analogous to the faith; by the second meaning, -he reassures the suspicious people of Greece, who, according -to the slanders which were in circulation might have feared -that the new sect would attack the sanctity of their gods. -This tolerance on the one hand, and this reserve on the other, -were no more than what they would be today. The Christian -Religion, exclusive and severe, has changed all our ideas -in this respect: by admitting only one sole doctrine in one -unique church, this religion has necessarily confused tolerance -with indifference or coldness, and reserve with heresy -or hypocrisy; but in the spirit of polytheism these same -things take on another colour. A Christian philosopher -could not, without perjuring himself and committing a -frightful impiety, bend the knee in China before <i>Kong-Tse</i>, -nor offer incense to <i>Chang-Ty</i> nor to <i>Tien</i>; he could neither -render, in India, homage to <i>Krishna</i>, nor present himself at -Benares as a worshipper of <i>Vishnu</i>; he could not even, -although recognizing the same God as the Jews and Mussulmans, -take part in their ceremonies, or what is still more, -worship this God with the Arians, the Lutherans, or Calvinists, -if he were a Catholic. This belongs to the very -essence of his cult. A Pythagorean philosopher did not -recognize in the least these formidable barriers, which hem -in the nations, as it were, isolate them, and make them worse -than enemies. The gods of the people were in his eyes the -same gods, and his cosmopolitan dogmas condemned no -one to eternal damnation. From one end of the earth to -the other he could cause incense to rise from the altar of -the Divinity, under whatever name, under whatever form it -might be worshipped, and render to it the public cult established -by the law. And this is the reason. Polytheism -was not in their opinion what it has become in ours, an -impious and gross idolatry, a cult inspired by the infernal -adversary to seduce men and to claim for itself the honours -which are due only to the Divinity; it was a particularization -of the Universal Being, a personification of its attributes -and its faculties. Before Moses, none of the theocratic -legislators had thought it well to present for the adoration -of the people, the Supreme God, unique and uncreated in -His unfathomable universality. The Indian Brahmans, who -can be considered as the living types of all the sages and of -all the pontiffs of the world, never permit themselves, even -in this day when their great age has effaced the traces of -their ancient science, to utter the name of God, principle of -All.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_240" id="fnanchor_240"></a><a href="#footnote_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a></span> -They are content to meditate upon its essence in -silence and to offer sacrifices to its sublimest emanations. -The Chinese sages act the same with regard to the Primal -Cause, that must be neither named nor -defined<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_241" id="fnanchor_241"></a><a href="#footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a></span>; -the -followers of Zoroaster, who believe that the two universal -principles of good and evil, Ormuzd and Ahriman, emanate -from this ineffable Cause, are content to designate it under -the name of Eternity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_242" id="fnanchor_242"></a><a href="#footnote_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a></span> -The Egyptians, so celebrated for -their wisdom, the extent of their learning, and the multitude -of their divine symbols, honoured with silence the -God, principle and source of all -things<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_243" id="fnanchor_243"></a><a href="#footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></span>; -they never spoke -of it, regarding it as inaccessible to all the researches of -man; and Orpheus, their disciple, first author of the brilliant -mythology of the Greeks, Orpheus, who seemed to announce -the soul of the World as creator of this same God from which -it emanated, said plainly:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">“I never see this Being surrounded with a -cloud.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_244" id="fnanchor_244"></a><a href="#footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a></span></p> - -<p>Moses, as I have said, was the first who made a public -dogma of the unity of God, and who divulged what, up to -that time had been buried in the seclusion of the sanctuaries; -for the principal tenets of the mysteries, those upon which -reposed all others, were the Unity of God and the homogeneity -of Nature.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_245" id="fnanchor_245"></a><a href="#footnote_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a></span> -It is true that Moses, in making this disclosure, -permitted no definition, no reflection, either upon the -essence or upon the nature of this unique Being; this is -very remarkable. Before him, in all the known world, and -after him (save in Judea where more than one cloud still -darkened the idea of divine Unity, until the establishment -of Christianity), the Divinity was considered by the theosophists -of all nations, under two relations: primarily as -unique, secondarily as infinite; as unique, preserved under -the seal of silence to the contemplation and meditation of -the sages; as infinite, delivered to the veneration and invocation -of the people. Now the unity of God resides in His -essence so that the vulgar can never in any way either -conceive or understand. His infinity consists in His perfections, -His faculties, His attributes, of which the vulgar -can, according to the measure of their understanding, grasp -some feeble emanations, and draw nearer to Him by detaching -them from the universality—​that is, by particularizing -and personifying them. This is the particularization and -the personification which constitutes, as I have said, polytheism. -The mass of gods which result from it, is as infinite -as the Divinity itself whence it had birth. Each nation, -each people, each city adopts at its liking, those of the divine -faculties which are best suited to its character and its requirements. -These faculties, represented by simulacra, -become so many particular gods whose variety of names -augments the number still further. Nothing can limit this -immense theogony, since the Primal Cause whence it emanates -has not done so. The vulgar, lured by the objects -which strike the senses, can become idolatrous, and he does -ordinarily; he can even distinguish these objects of his -adoration, one from another, and believe that there really -exist as many gods as statues; but the sage, the philosopher, -the most ordinary man of letters does not fall into this error. -He knows, with Plutarch, that different places and names -do not make different gods; that the Greeks and Barbarians, -the nations of the North and those of the South, adore the -same Divinity<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_246" id="fnanchor_246"></a><a href="#footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a></span> -he restores easily that infinity of attributes -to the unity of the essence, and as the honoured remnants -of the ancient Sramanas, the priests of the Burmans, -still do today, he worships God, whatever may be the -altar, the temple, and the place where he finds -himself.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_247" id="fnanchor_247"></a><a href="#footnote_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a></span></p> - -<p>This is what was done by the disciples of Pythagoras, according -to the commandment of their master; they saw in -the gods of the nations, the attributes of the Ineffable Being -which were forbidden them to name; they augmented ostensibly -and without the slightest reluctance, the number of -these attributes of which they recognized the Infinite Cause; -they gave homage to the cult consecrated by the law and -brought them all back secretly to the Unity which was the -object of their faith.</p> - -<p class="p2 center">3. … <i>Revere the memory<br /> -Of the Illustrious Heroes, of Spirits demi-Gods.…</i></p> - -<p>Pythagoras considered the Universe as an animated All, -whose members were the divine Intelligences, each ranked -according to its perfections, in its proper -sphere.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_248" id="fnanchor_248"></a><a href="#footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a></span> -He -it was who first designated this All, by the Greek word -<i>Kosmos</i>, in order to express the beauty, order, and regularity -which reigned there<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_249" id="fnanchor_249"></a><a href="#footnote_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a></span>; -the Latins translated this word by -<i>Mundus</i>, from which has come the French word <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(monde)</i>. -It is from Unity considered as principle of the world, that -the name Universe which we give to it is derived. Pythagoras -establishes Unity as the principle of all things and -said that from this Unity sprang an infinite -Duality.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_250" id="fnanchor_250"></a><a href="#footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a></span> -The essence of this Unity, and the manner in which the -Duality that emanated from it was finally brought back -again, were the most profound mysteries of his doctrine; -the subject sacred to the faith of his disciples and the -fundamental points which were forbidden them to reveal. -Their explanation was never made in writing; those who -appeared worthy of learning them were content to be taught -them by word of mouth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_251" id="fnanchor_251"></a><a href="#footnote_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a></span> -When one was forced, by the -concatenation of ideas, to mention them in the books of -the sect, symbols and ciphers were used, and the language -of Numbers employed; and these books, all obscure as they -were, were still concealed with the greatest care; by all -manner of means they were guarded against falling into -profane hands.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_252" id="fnanchor_252"></a><a href="#footnote_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a></span> -I cannot enter into the discussion of -the famous symbol of Pythagoras, <em>one</em> and <em>two</em>, without -exceeding very much the limits that I have set down in -these examinations<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_253" id="fnanchor_253"></a><a href="#footnote_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a></span>; -let it suffice for me to say, that as -he designated God by 1, and Matter by 2, he expressed the -Universe by the number 12, which results in the union of -the other two. This number is formed by the multiplication -of 3 by 4: that is to say, that this philosopher conceived -the Universal world as composed of three particular worlds, -which, being linked one with the other by means of the four -elementary modifications, were developed in twelve concentric -spheres.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_254" id="fnanchor_254"></a><a href="#footnote_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a></span> -The ineffable Being which filled these -twelve spheres without being understood by any one, was -God. Pythagoras gave to It, truth for soul and light for -body.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_255" id="fnanchor_255"></a><a href="#footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a></span> -The Intelligence which peopled the three worlds -were, firstly, the immortal gods properly so-called; secondly, -the glorified heroes; thirdly, the terrestial demons. The -immortal gods, direct emanations of the uncreated Being -and manifestation of Its infinite faculties, were thus named -because they could not depart from the divine life—​that is, -they could never fall away from their Father into oblivion, -wandering in the darkness of ignorance and of impiety; -whereas the souls of men, which produced, according to -their degree of purity, glorified heroes and terrestrial demons, -were able to depart sometimes from the divine life -by voluntary drawing away from God; because the death -of the intellectual essence, according to Pythagoras and -imitated in this by Plato, was only ignorance and -impiety.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_256" id="fnanchor_256"></a><a href="#footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a></span> -It must be observed that in my translation I have not -rendered the Greek word δαίμονες by the word <i>demons</i>, -but by that of <i>spirits</i>, on account of the evil meaning that -Christianity has attached to it, as I explained in a preceding -note.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_257" id="fnanchor_257"></a><a href="#footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a></span></p> - -<p>This application of the number 12 to the Universe is -not at all an arbitrary invention of Pythagoras; it was -common to the Chaldeans, to the Egyptians from whom he -had received it, and to the principal peoples of the -earth<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_258" id="fnanchor_258"></a><a href="#footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a></span>: -it gave rise to the institution of the zodiac, whose division -into twelve asterisms has been found everywhere existent -from time immemorial.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_259" id="fnanchor_259"></a><a href="#footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a></span> -The distinction of the three -worlds and their development into a number, more or less -great, of concentric spheres inhabited by intelligences of -different degrees of purity, were also known before Pythagoras, -who in this only spread the doctrine which he had -received at Tyre, at Memphis, and at -Babylon.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_260" id="fnanchor_260"></a><a href="#footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a></span> -This -doctrine was that of the Indians. One finds still today -among the Burmans, the division of all the created beings -established in three classes, each of which contains a certain -number of species, from the material beings to the spiritual, -from the sentient to the -intelligible.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_261" id="fnanchor_261"></a><a href="#footnote_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a></span> -The Brahmans, -who count fifteen spheres in the universe,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_262" id="fnanchor_262"></a><a href="#footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a></span> -appear to -unite the three primordial worlds with the twelve concentric -spheres which result from their development. Zoroaster, -who admitted the dogma of the three worlds, limited the -inferior world to the vortex of the moon. There, according -to him, the empire of evil and of matter comes to an -end.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_263" id="fnanchor_263"></a><a href="#footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a></span> -This idea thus conceived has been general; it was that of -all the ancient philosophers<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_264" id="fnanchor_264"></a><a href="#footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a></span>; -and what is very remarkable, -is that it has been adopted by the Christian theosophists -who certainly were not sufficiently learned to act through -imitation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_265" id="fnanchor_265"></a><a href="#footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a></span> -The followers of Basil, those of Valentine, -and all the gnostics have imbibed from this source the -system of emanations which has enjoyed such a great renown -in the school of Alexandria. According to this system, -the Absolute Unity, or God, was conceived as the spiritual -Soul of the Universe, the Principle of existence, the Light -of lights; it was believed that this creative Unity, inaccessible -to the understanding even, produced by emanation -a diffusion of light which, proceeding from the centre to -the circumference, losing insensibly its splendour and its -purity in proportion as it receded from its source, ended by -being absorbed in the confines of darkness; so that its divergent -rays, becoming less and less spiritual and, moreover, -repulsed by the darkness, were condensed in commingling -with it, and, taking a material shape, formed all the kinds of -beings that the world contains. Thus was admitted, between -the Supreme Being and man, an incalculable chain -of intermediary beings whose perfections decreased proportionably -with their alienation from the Creative Principle. -All the philosophers and all the sectarians who admired -this spiritual hierarchy considered, under the relations -peculiar to them, the different beings of which it was composed. -The Persian magians who saw there genii, more or -less perfect, gave them names relative to their perfections, -and later made use of these same names to evoke them: -from this came the Persian magic, which the Jews, having -received by tradition during their captivity in Babylon, -called <i>Kabbala</i>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_266" id="fnanchor_266"></a><a href="#footnote_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a></span> -This magic became mixed with astrology -among the Chaldeans, who regarded the stars as animated -beings belonging to the universal chain of divine -emanations; in Egypt, it became linked with the mysteries -of Nature, and was enclosed in the sanctuaries, where it -was taught by the priests under the safeguard of symbols -and hieroglyphics. Pythagoras, in conceiving this spiritual -hierarchy as a geometrical progression, considered the beings -which compose it under harmonious relations, and based, -by analogy, the laws of the universe upon those of music. -He called the movement of the celestial spheres, harmony, -and made use of numbers to express the faculties of different -beings, their relations and their influences. Hierocles mentions -a sacred book attributed to this philosopher, in which -he called the divinity, the Number of -numbers.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_267" id="fnanchor_267"></a><a href="#footnote_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a></span> -Plato, -who, some centuries later, regarded these same beings as -ideas and types, sought to penetrate their nature and to -subjugate them by dialectics and the force of thought. -Synesius, who united the doctrine of Pythagoras to that of -Plato, sometimes called God, the Number of numbers, and -sometimes the Idea of ideas.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_268" id="fnanchor_268"></a><a href="#footnote_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a></span> -The gnostics gave to the -intermediary beings the name of -Eons.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_269" id="fnanchor_269"></a><a href="#footnote_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a></span> -This name, -which signifies, in Egyptian, a principle of the will, being -developed by an inherent, plastic faculty, is applied in -Greek to a term of infinite -duration.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_270" id="fnanchor_270"></a><a href="#footnote_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a></span> -One finds in Hermes -Trismegistus the origin of this change of meaning. -This ancient sage remarks that the two faculties, the two -virtues of God, are the understanding and the soul, and that -the two virtues of the Eon are perpetuity and immortality. -The essence of God, he said again, is the good and the beautiful, -beatitude and wisdom; the essence of Eon, is being -always the same.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_271" id="fnanchor_271"></a><a href="#footnote_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a></span> -But, not content with assimilating -beings of the celestial hierarchy to ideas, to numbers, or to -the plastic principle of the will, there were philosophers -who preferred to designate them by the name of Words. -Plutarch said on one occasion that words, ideas, and divine -emanations reside in heaven and in the -stars.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_272" id="fnanchor_272"></a><a href="#footnote_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a></span> -Philo -gives in more than one instance the name of word to angels; -and Clement of Alexandria relates that the Valentinians -often called their Eons thus.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_273" id="fnanchor_273"></a><a href="#footnote_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></span> -According to Beausobre, -the philosophers and theologians, seeking for terms in which -to express incorporal substances, designated them by some -one of their attributes or by some one of their operations, -naming them <i>Spirits</i>, on account of the subtlety of their -substance; <i>Intelligences</i>, on account of the thought; <i>Words</i>, -on account of the reason; <i>Angels</i>, on account of their services; -<i>Eons</i>, on account of their manner of subsisting, always -equal, without change and without -alteration.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_274" id="fnanchor_274"></a><a href="#footnote_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a></span> -Pythagoras -called them Gods, Heroes, Demons,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_275" id="fnanchor_275"></a><a href="#footnote_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a></span> -relative to their -respective elevation and the harmonious position of the -three worlds which they inhabit. This cosmogonic ternary -joined with Creative Unity, constitutes the famous Quaternary, -or Sacred Tetrad, the subject of which will be taken -up further on.</p> - -<p class="p2 center"><span class="sc">Purification</span></p> - -<p class="p2 center">4. <i>Be a good son, just brother, spouse tender, and good father.</i></p> - -<p>The aim of the doctrine of Pythagoras was to enlighten -men, to purify them of their vices, to deliver them from -their errors, and to restore them to virtue and to truth; and -after having caused them to pass through all the degrees -of the understanding and intelligence, to render them like -unto the immortal gods.</p> - -<p>This philosopher had for this purpose divided his doctrine -into two parts: the purgative part and the unitive -part. Through the first, man became purified of his uncleanness, -emerged from the darkness of ignorance, and -attained to virtue: through the second, he used his acquired -virtue to become united to the Divinity through whose -means he arrived at perfection. These two parts are found -quite distinct in the Golden Verses. Hierocles, who has -clearly grasped them, speaks of it in the beginning of his -<i>Commentaries</i> and designates them by two words which -contain, he said, all the doctrine of Pythagoras, <i>Purification</i> -and <i>Perfection</i>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_276" id="fnanchor_276"></a><a href="#footnote_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a></span> -The Magians and the Chaldeans, all -of whose principles Pythagoras had adopted, were agreed -on this point, and in order to express their idea, made use -of a parabolical phrase very celebrated among them. “We -consume,” they said, “the refuse of matter by the fire of -divine love.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_277" id="fnanchor_277"></a><a href="#footnote_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a></span> -An anonymous author who has written an -history of Pythagoras, preserved by Photius, said that the -disciples of this great man taught that one perfects oneself -in three ways: in communing with the gods, in doing good -in imitation of the gods, and in departing from this life to -rejoin the gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_278" id="fnanchor_278"></a><a href="#footnote_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a></span> -The first of these ways is contained in -the first three lines of the Golden Verses which concern the -cult rendered, according to the law and according to the -faith, to the Gods, to the glorified Heroes, and to the Spirits. -The second, that is, the Purification, begins at the fourth -line which makes the subject of this Examination. The -third, that is, the union with the Divinity, or Perfection, -begins at the fortieth line of my translation:</p> - -<p class="center small">Let not sleep e’er close thy tired eyes.</p> - -<p>Thus the division that I have believed ought to be made -of this short poem is not at all arbitrary, as one sees the -judicious Bayle had remarked it before -me.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_279" id="fnanchor_279"></a><a href="#footnote_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is worthy of observation, that Pythagoras begins the -purgative part of his doctrine by commending the observance -of natural duties, and that he places in the rank of -primary virtues, filial piety, paternal and conjugal love. -Thus this admirable philosopher made it his first care to -strengthen the ties of blood and make them cherished and -sacred; he exhorts respect to children, tenderness to parents, -and union to all the members of the family; he follows thus -the profound sentiment which Nature inspires in all sentient -beings, very different in this from certain legislators, -blinded by false politics, who, in order to conduct men to -I know not what power and what imaginary welfare, have -wished, on the contrary, to break those ties, annihilate those -relationships of father, son, and brother, to concentrate, -they said, upon a being of reason called Country the affection -that the soul divides among those objects of its -first love.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_280" id="fnanchor_280"></a><a href="#footnote_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a></span> -If the legislators had cared to reflect a -moment, they would have seen that there existed no country -for the one who had no father, and that the respect and love -that a man in his virile age feels for the place of his birth, -holds its principle and receives its force from those same -sentiments that he felt in his infancy for his mother. Every -effect proclaims a cause; every edifice rests upon a foundation: -the real cause of love of country is maternal love; the -sole foundations of the social edifice are paternal power and -filial respect. From this sole power issues that of the prince, -who, in every well-organized state, being considered as -father of the people, has right to the obedience and respect -of his children.</p> - -<p>I am going to make here a singular comparison which I -beg the reader to observe. Moses, instructed in the same -school as Pythagoras, after having announced the Unity of -God in the famous Decalogue which contains the summary -of his law, and having commanded its adoration to his -people, announces for the first virtue, filial -piety<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_281" id="fnanchor_281"></a><a href="#footnote_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a></span>; “Honour,” -he said, “thy father and thy mother, that thy days -may be multiplied in this country of Adam, that Jhôah, -thy Gods, has given thee.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_282" id="fnanchor_282"></a><a href="#footnote_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a></span></p> - -<p>The theocratic legislator of the Hebrews in making this -commandment places recompense by the side of precept: -he declares formally that the exercise of filial piety draws -with it a long existence. Now, it must be remarked that -Moses being content with enclosing in his doctrine the sole -purgative part, doubtless judging his people not in a condition -to support the unitive part, spoke to them nowhere -of the immortality which is its consequence; contenting -himself with promising the joys of temporal blessings, -among which he carefully placed in the first rank a long -life. Experience has proved, relative to people in general, -that Moses spoke with a profound understanding of the -causes which prolong the duration of empires. Filial piety -is the national virtue of the Chinese, the sacred foundation -upon which reposes the social edifice of the greatest and the -most ancient people of the -world.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_283" id="fnanchor_283"></a><a href="#footnote_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a></span> -This virtue has been -to China, for more than four thousand years, what love of -country was to Sparta or to Rome. Sparta and Rome have -fallen notwithstanding the sort of fanaticism with which -their children were animated, and the Chinese Empire -which existed two thousand years before their foundation, -still exists two thousand years after their downfall. If -China has been able to preserve herself in the midst of the -flux and reflux of a thousand revolutions, to save herself -from her own wrecks, to triumph over her own defects, and -to subjugate even her conquerors, she owes it to this virtue -which, raising itself from the humblest citizen to the Son -of heaven seated upon the imperial throne, animates all -the hearts with a sacred fire, of which Nature herself provides -the nourishment and eternalizes the duration. The -Emperor is the father of the state; two hundred million -men, who regard themselves as his children, compose his -immense family; what human effort could overthrow this -colossus?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_284" id="fnanchor_284"></a><a href="#footnote_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">5. <i>Choose for thy friend, the friend of virtue;<br /> - Yield to his gentle counsels, profit by his life,<br /> - And for a trifling grievance never leave him</i>;</p> - -<p>After the duties which have their source directly in Nature, -Pythagoras commends to his disciples those which -proceed from the social state; friendship follows immediately -filial piety, paternal and fraternal love; but this philosopher -makes a distinction full of meaning: he ordains to honour -one’s relations; he says to choose one’s friends. This is why: -it is Nature that presides at our birth, that gives us a father, -a mother, brothers, sisters, relations of kinship, a position -upon the earth, and a place in society; all this depends not -upon us: all this, according to the vulgar, is the work of -hazard; but according to the Pythagorean philosopher these -are the consequences of an anterior order, severe and irresistible, -called Fortune or Necessity. Pythagoras opposed -to this restrained nature, a free Nature, which, acting upon -forced things as upon brute matter, modifies them and -draws as it wills, good or bad results. This second nature -was called Power or Will: it is this which rules the life of -man, and which directs his conduct according to the elements -furnished him by the first. Necessity and Power -are, according to Pythagoras, the two opposed motives of -the sublunary world where man is relegated. These two -motives draw their force from a superior cause that the -ancients named <dfn>Nemesis</dfn>, the fundamental -decree,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_285" id="fnanchor_285"></a><a href="#footnote_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a></span> -that -we name <dfn>Providence</dfn>. Thus then, Pythagoras recognized, -relative to man, things constrained and things free, according -as they depend upon Necessity or the Will: he ranked filial -piety in the first and friendship in the second. Man not -being free to give himself parents of his choice, must honour -them such as they are, and fulfil in regard to them all the -duties of nature, whatever wrong they might do towards -him; but as nothing constrains him from giving his friendship, -he need give it only to the one who shows himself -worthy of it by his attachment to virtue.</p> - -<p>Let us observe an important point. In China where -filial piety is regarded as the root of all virtues and the first -source of instruction,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_286" id="fnanchor_286"></a><a href="#footnote_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a></span> -the exercise of the duties which -it imposes admits of no exception. As the legislator teaches -there that the greatest crime is to lack in filial piety, he -infers that he who has been a good son will be a good father -and that thus nothing will break the social -tie<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_287" id="fnanchor_287"></a><a href="#footnote_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a></span>; -for he -first establishes this virtue which embraces all, from the -emperor to the lowliest of his subjects, and that it is for the -peoples what the regularity of the celestial movements is -for the ethereal space: but in Italy and in Greece where -Pythagoras established his dogmas, it would have been -dangerous for him to give the same extension, since this -virtue not being that of the State, would necessarily involve -abuses in the paternal authority, already excessive among -certain peoples. That is the reason the disciples of this -philosopher, in distinguishing between forced and voluntary -actions, judged wisely that it would be necessary to apply -here the distinction: therefore they urged to honour one’s -father and mother and to obey them in all that concerns -the body and mundane things, but without abandoning -one’s soul to them<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_288" id="fnanchor_288"></a><a href="#footnote_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a></span>; -for the divine law declares free what -has not been received from them and delivers it from -their power. Pythagoras furthermore had favoured this -opinion by saying, that after having chosen a friend from -among the men most commended for their virtues, it was -necessary to learn by his actions and to be guided by his -discourse: which testified to the lofty idea that he had of -friendship. “Friends,” he said, “are like companions of -travel who reciprocally assist each other to persevere in -the path of the noblest -life.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_289" id="fnanchor_289"></a><a href="#footnote_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a></span> -” It is to him that we owe -that beautiful expression, so often quoted, so little felt by -the generality of men, and which a victorious king, Alexander -the Great, felt so keenly and expressed so felicitously -by the following: “My friend is another -myself.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_290" id="fnanchor_290"></a><a href="#footnote_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a></span> -It is -also from him that Aristotle had borrowed that beautiful -definition: “The real friend is one soul that lives in two -bodies.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_291" id="fnanchor_291"></a><a href="#footnote_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a></span> -The founder of the Lyceum, in giving such a -definition of friendship, spoke rather by theory than by -practice, he who reasoning one day upon friendship, cried -ingenuously: “Oh, my friends! there are no -friends.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_292" id="fnanchor_292"></a><a href="#footnote_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a></span></p> - -<p>Yet Pythagoras did not conceive friendship as a simple -individual affection, but as an universal benevolence which -should be extended to all men in general, and to all good -people.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_293" id="fnanchor_293"></a><a href="#footnote_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a></span> -At that time he gave to this virtue the name of -philanthropy. It is the virtue which, under the name of -charity, serves as foundation for the Christian religion. -Jesus offers it to his disciples immediately after divine love, -and as equal to piety.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_294" id="fnanchor_294"></a><a href="#footnote_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a></span> -Zoroaster places it after -sincerity<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_295" id="fnanchor_295"></a><a href="#footnote_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a></span>; -he wished that man might be pure in thought, -speech, and action; that he might speak the truth, and that -he might do good to all men. Kong-Tse as well as Pythagoras -commended it after filial -piety.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_296" id="fnanchor_296"></a><a href="#footnote_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a></span> -“All morals,” he -said, “can be reduced to the observation of three fundamental -laws, of the relations between sovereigns and -subjects, between parents and children, between husbands -and wives; and to the strict practice of the five capital -virtues, of which the first is humanity, that is to say, that -universal charity, that expansion of the soul which binds -man to man without distinction.”</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">6. <i>If thou canst at least: for a most rigid law<br /> - Binds Power to Necessity.</i></p> - -<p>Here is the proof of what I said just now, that Pythagoras -recognized two motives of human actions, the first, issuing -from a constrained nature, called Necessity; the second -emanating from a free nature, called Power, and both dependent -upon an implied primordial law. This doctrine -was that of the ancient Egyptians, among whom Pythagoras -had imbibed it. “Man is mortal with reference to the body,” -they said, “but he is immortal with reference to the soul -which constitutes essential man. As immortal he has -authority over all things; but relative to the material and -mortal part of himself, he is subject to -destiny.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_297" id="fnanchor_297"></a><a href="#footnote_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a></span></p> - -<p>One can see by these few words that the ancient sages -did not give to Destiny the universal influence that certain -philosophers and particularly the Stoics gave to it later on; -but they considered it only as exercising its empire over -matter. It is necessary to believe that since the followers -of the Porch had defined it as a chain of causes, by virtue -of which the past has taken place, the present exists, and -the future is to be realized<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_298" id="fnanchor_298"></a><a href="#footnote_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a></span>; -or still better, as the rule of -the law by which the Universe is -governed<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_299" id="fnanchor_299"></a><a href="#footnote_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a></span>; -one must -believe, I say, that these philosophers confounded Destiny -with Providence, and did not distinguish the effect from -its cause, since these definitions conform only with the -fundamental law of which destiny is but an emanation. -This confusion of words had to produce and in fact did -produce, among the Stoics, an inversion of ideas which was -the most unfortunate result<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_300" id="fnanchor_300"></a><a href="#footnote_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a></span>; -for, as they established, -according to their system, a chain of good and evil that -nothing could either alter or break, one easily inferred that -the Universe being subject to the attraction of a blind fatality, -all actions are here necessarily determined in advance, -forced, and thereafter indifferent in themselves; so that -good and evil, virtue and vice, are vain words, things whose -existence is purely ideal and relative.</p> - -<p>The Stoics would have evaded these calamitous results -if, like Pythagoras, they had admitted the two motives -of which I have spoken, Necessity and Power; and if, far -from instituting Necessity alone as absolute master of the -Universe, under the name of Destiny or Fatality, they had -seen it balanced by the Power of the Will, and subject to the -Providential Cause whence all emanates. The disciples -of Plato would also have evaded many errors, if they had -clearly understood this concatenation of the two opposed -principles, from which results universal equilibrium; but -following certain false interpretations of the doctrine of -their master regarding the soul of matter, they had imagined -that this soul was no other than Necessity by which it is -ruled<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_301" id="fnanchor_301"></a><a href="#footnote_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a></span>; -so that, according to them, this soul being inherent -in matter, and bad in itself, gave to Evil a necessary -existence: a dogma quite formidable, since it makes the -world to be considered as the theatre of a struggle without -beginning or end, between Providence, principle of Good, and -the soul of matter, principle of Evil. The greatest mistake -of the Platonists, exactly contrary to that of the Stoics, -was in having confused the free power of the Will with the -divine Providence, in having instituted it for the principle -of good and thus being put in position of maintaining that -there are two souls in the world, a beneficent one, God, and -a malefic one, Matter. This system, approved of by many -celebrated men of antiquity and which Beausobre assures -was the most widely received,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_302" id="fnanchor_302"></a><a href="#footnote_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a></span> -offers, as I have observed, -the very great disadvantage of giving to Evil a necessary -existence, that is to say, an independent and eternal existence. -Now, Bayle has very well proved, by attacking this -system through that of Manes, that two opposed Principles -cannot exist equally eternal and independent of one another, -because the clearest ideas of order teach us that a Being -which exists by itself, which is necessary, which is eternal, -must be unique, infinite, all-powerful, and endowed with all -manner of perfections.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_303" id="fnanchor_303"></a><a href="#footnote_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a></span></p> - -<p>But it is not at all certain that Plato may have had the -idea that his disciples have attributed to him, since far -from considering matter as an independent and necessary -being, animated by a soul essentially bad, he seems even to -doubt its existence, going so far as to regard it as pure -nothingness, and calls the bodies which are formed of it, -equivocal beings holding the medium between what is always -existing and what does not exist at -all<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_304" id="fnanchor_304"></a><a href="#footnote_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a></span>; -he affirms -sometimes that matter has been created and sometimes -that it has not been<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_305" id="fnanchor_305"></a><a href="#footnote_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a></span>; -and thus falls into contradictions -of which his enemies have taken advantage. Plutarch, -who has clearly seen it, excuses them by saying that this -great philosopher has fallen into these contradictions designedly, -in order to conceal some mystery; a mind constructed -like his not being made to affirm two opposites -in the same sense.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_306" id="fnanchor_306"></a><a href="#footnote_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a></span> -The mystery that Plato wished to -conceal, as he makes it sufficiently -understood,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_307" id="fnanchor_307"></a><a href="#footnote_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a></span> -was the -origin of Evil. He himself declares that he has never -revealed and that he never will reveal, in writing, his real -sentiments in this respect. Thus what Chalcidius and after -him André Dacier have given concerning the doctrine of -Plato are only conjectures or very remote inferences drawn -from certain of his dogmas. One has often made use of -this means, with regard to celebrated men whose writings -one comments upon and particularly when one has certain -reasons for presenting one’s ideas <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(sous un côté)</i> which outlines -or which favours an opinion either favourable or unfavourable. -It is this which happened more to Manes than to -any other; his doctrine concerning the two Principles has -been greatly calumniated, and without knowing just what -he meant by them, one hastened to condemn him without -investigating what he had said; adopting as axioms that -he had laid down, inferences the most bizarre and most -ridiculous that his enemies had drawn from certain equivocal -phrases.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_308" id="fnanchor_308"></a><a href="#footnote_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a></span> -What persuades me to make this observation, -is because it has been proved that Manes had indeed admitted -two opposed Principles of Good and Evil, eternal -independents, and holding of themselves their proper and -absolute existence, since it is easy to see that Zoroaster, -whose doctrine he had principally imitated, had not admitted -them as such, but as equally issued from a superior Cause, -concerning the essence of which he was -silent.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_309" id="fnanchor_309"></a><a href="#footnote_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a></span> -I am -very much inclined to believe that the Christian doctors -who have transmitted to us the ideas of this mighty heresiarch, -blinded by their hatred or by their ignorance, have -travestied them as I find that the Platonist philosophers, -bewildered by their own opinions, have entirely disfigured -those of the illustrious founder of the Academy. The errors -of both have been, taking for absolute beings, what Zoroaster -and Pythagoras, Plato or Manes, had put down as emanations, -results, forces, or even the simple abstractions of the -understanding. Thus Ormuzd and Ahriman, Power and -Necessity, the Same and the Other, Light and Darkness, -are, in reality, only the same things diversely expressed, -diversely sensed, but always drawn from the same origin -and subject to the same fundamental Cause of the Universe.</p> - -<p>It is not true therefore, as Chalcidius has stated, that -Pythagoras may have demonstrated that evil exists -necessarily,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_310" id="fnanchor_310"></a><a href="#footnote_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a></span> -because matter is evil in itself. Pythagoras -never said that matter might be an absolute being whose -essence might be composed of evil. Hierocles, who had -studied the doctrine of this great man and that of Plato, -has denied that either the one or the other had ever declared -matter as a being existing by itself. He has proved, on the -contrary, that Plato taught, following the steps of Pythagoras, -that the World was produced from Nothing, and that -his followers were mistaken when they thought that he -admitted an uncreated -matter.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_311" id="fnanchor_311"></a><a href="#footnote_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a></span> -Power and Necessity -(mentioned in the lines at the head of this Examination) -are not, as has been believed, the absolute source of good -and evil. Necessity is not more evil in itself than Power -is not good; it is from the usage that man is called to make -of them, and from their employment which is indicated by -wisdom or ignorance, virtue or vice, that results Good or -Evil. This has been felt by Homer who has expressed it -in an admirable allegory, by representing the god of gods -himself, Jupiter, opening indifferently the sources of good -and evil upon the universe.</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Beside Jove’s threshold stand two casks of gifts for man.</div> -<div class="i0">One cask contains the evil, one the - good,...<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_312" id="fnanchor_312"></a><a href="#footnote_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a></span></div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>Those who have rejected this thought of Homer have -not reflected enough upon the prerogatives of poetry, which -are to particularize what is universal and to represent as -done what is to be done. Good and Evil do not emanate -from Jupiter in action, but in potentiality, that is to say, -that the same thing represented by Jupiter or the Universal -Principle of the Will and the Intelligence, becomes good -or evil, according as it is determined by the particular operation -of each individual principle of the Will and the -Intelligence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_313" id="fnanchor_313"></a><a href="#footnote_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a></span> -Now, man is to the Being called Jupiter by -Homer, as the particular is to the -Universal.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_314" id="fnanchor_314"></a><a href="#footnote_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">7. <i>Still it is given thee to fight and overcome<br /> - Thy foolish passions: learn thou to subdue them.</i></p> - -<p>It seems that Lysis, foreseeing the wrong inductions -that would be drawn from what he had said, and as if he -had a presentiment that one would not fail to generalize the -influence of Necessity upon the actions of men, may have -wished beforehand to oppose himself to the destructive -dogma of fatality, by establishing the empire of the Will -over the passions. This is in the doctrine of Pythagoras -the real foundation of the liberty of man: for, according to -this philosopher, no one is free, only he who knows how to -master himself,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_315" id="fnanchor_315"></a><a href="#footnote_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a></span> -and the yoke of the passions is much -heavier and more difficult to throw off than that of the most -cruel tyrants. Pythagoras, however, did not, according -to Hierocles, prescribe destroying the passions, as the Stoics -taught in late times; but only to watch over them and repress -excess in them, because all excess is -vicious.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_316" id="fnanchor_316"></a><a href="#footnote_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a></span> -He regarded -the passions as useful to man, and although produced -in principle by Necessity, and given by an irresistible destiny, -as nevertheless submissive in their use to the free power -of the Will. Plato had well realized this truth and had -forcibly indicated it in many passages of his works: one -finds it chiefly in the second dialogue of Hippias, where -this philosopher shows, evidently without seeming to have -the design, that man good or bad, virtuous or criminal, -truthful or false, is only such by the power of his will, and -that the passion which carries him to virtue or to vice, to -truth or falsehood, is nothing in itself; so that no man is -bad, only by the faculty which he has of being good; nor -good, only by the faculty which he has of being bad.</p> - -<p>But has man the faculty of being good or bad at his pleasure, -and is he not irresistibly drawn toward vice or virtue? -This is a question which has tried all the great thinkers of -the earth, and which according to circumstances has caused -storms of more or less violence. It is necessary, however, -to give close attention to one thing, which is, that before the -establishment of Christianity and the admission of original -sin as fundamental dogma of religion, no founder of sect, -no celebrated philosopher had positively denied the free -will, nor had taught ostensibly that man may be necessarily -determined to Evil or to Good and predestined from all -time to vice or virtue, to wickedness or eternal happiness. -It is indeed true that this cruel fatality seemed often to -follow from their principles as an inevitable consequence, -and that their adversaries reproached them with it; but -nearly all rejected it as an insult, or a false interpretation -of their system. The first who gave place to this accusation, -in ancient times, was a certain Moschus, a Phœnician -philosopher, who, according to Strabo, lived before the epoch -in which the war of Troy is said to have taken place, that -is to say, about twelve or thirteen centuries before our -era.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_317" id="fnanchor_317"></a><a href="#footnote_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a></span> -This philosopher detaching himself from the theosophical -doctrine, the only one known at that time, and having -sought the reason of things in the things themselves, can -be considered as the real founder of Natural Philosophy: -he was the first who made abstraction from the Divinity, -and from the intelligence, and assumed that the Universe -existing by itself was composed of indivisible particles, -which, endowed with figures and diverse movements, produced -by their fortuitous combinations an infinite series -of beings, generating, destroying, and renewing themselves -unceasingly. These particles, which the Greeks named -<i>atoms</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_318" id="fnanchor_318"></a><a href="#footnote_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a></span> -on account of their indivisibility, constituted the -particular system which still bears this name. Leucippus, -Democritus, and Epicurus adopted it, adding to it their own -ideas; and Lucretius having naturalized it among the Romans, -favoured its passage down to these modern times, -when the greater part of our philosophers have done nothing -but renovate it under other -forms.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_319" id="fnanchor_319"></a><a href="#footnote_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a></span> -Assuredly there is -no system whence the fatal necessity of all things issues more -inevitably than from that of atoms; also it is certain that -Democritus was accused of admitting a compulsory -destiny,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_320" id="fnanchor_320"></a><a href="#footnote_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a></span> -although, like Leibnitz, he admitted to each atom an animated -and sentient nature.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_321" id="fnanchor_321"></a><a href="#footnote_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a></span> -It is not known if he replied -to this accusation; but there are certain proofs that Epicurus, -who had less right than he to reject it, since he regarded -atoms as absolutely -inanimate,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_322" id="fnanchor_322"></a><a href="#footnote_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a></span> -rejected it nevertheless, -and not wishing to admit a dogma subversive of all morals, -he declared himself against it, and taught the liberty of -man.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_323" id="fnanchor_323"></a><a href="#footnote_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a></span></p> - -<p>A singular thing is, that this fatality which appears attached -to the system of atoms, whence the materialist promoters, -true to their principle, banished the influence of -Divine Providence,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_324" id="fnanchor_324"></a><a href="#footnote_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a></span> -followed still more naturally from -the opposed system, wherein the spiritualist philosophers -admitted this Providence to the full extent of its power. -According to this last system, a sole and same spiritual -substance filled the Universe, and by its diverse modifications -produced there all the phenomena by which the senses -are affected. Parmenides, Melissus, and Zeno of Elea, who -adopted it, sustained it with great success: they asserted -that matter was only pure illusion, that there is nothing in -things, that bodies and all their variations are only pure -appearances, and that therefore nothing really exists outside -of spirit.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_325" id="fnanchor_325"></a><a href="#footnote_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a></span> -Zeno of Elea particularly, who denied the -existence of movement, brought against this existence some -objections very difficult to -remove.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_326" id="fnanchor_326"></a><a href="#footnote_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a></span> -The Stoic philosophers -became more or less strongly attached to this opinion. -Chrysippus, one of the firmest pillars of the Porch, -taught that God is the soul of the world, and the world, -the universal extension of that soul. He said that by -Jupiter, should be understood, the eternal law, the fatal -necessity, the immutable truth of all future -things.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_327" id="fnanchor_327"></a><a href="#footnote_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a></span> -Now, it is evident that if, in accordance with the energetic -expression of Seneca, this unique principle of the Universe -has ordained once to obey always its own -command,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_328" id="fnanchor_328"></a><a href="#footnote_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a></span> -the Stoics were not able to escape from the reproach that -was directed toward them, of admitting the most absolute -fatality, since the soul of man being, according to them, only -a portion of the Divinity, its actions could have no other -cause than God Himself who had willed -them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_329" id="fnanchor_329"></a><a href="#footnote_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a></span> -Nevertheless -Chrysippus rejected the reproach in the same manner -as did Epicurus; he always sustained the liberty of man, -notwithstanding the irresistible force that he admitted in -the unique Cause<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_330" id="fnanchor_330"></a><a href="#footnote_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a></span>; -and what seemed a manifest contradiction, -he taught that the soul sins only by the impulse of -its own will, and therefore that the blame of its errors should -not be put upon destiny.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_331" id="fnanchor_331"></a><a href="#footnote_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a></span></p> - -<p>But it suffices to reflect a moment upon the nature of -the principles set down by Epicurus, by Chrysippus, and -by all those who have preceded them or followed them in -their divergent opinions, to see that the inferences drawn -by their adversaries were just, and that they could not -refute them without contradicting -themselves.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_332" id="fnanchor_332"></a><a href="#footnote_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a></span> -Every -time that one has claimed to found the Universe upon the -existence of a sole material or spiritual nature, and to make -proceed from this sole nature the explanation of all phenomena, -one has become exposed and always will be, to insurmountable -difficulties. It is always in asking what the -origin of Good and Evil is, that all the systems of this sort -have been irresistibly overthrown, from Moschus, Leucippus, -and Epicurus, down to Spinoza and Leibnitz; from -Parmenides, Zeno of Elea, and Chrysippus, down to Berkeley -and Kant. For, let there be no misunderstanding, the -solution of the problem concerning free will depends upon -preliminary knowledge of the origin of evil, so that one -cannot reply plainly to this question: Whence comes Evil? -Neither can one reply to this one: Is man free? And that -one be not still further deceived here, the knowledge of the -origin of evil, if it has been acquired, has never been openly -divulged: it has been profoundly buried with that of the -Unity of God in the ancient mysteries and has never -emerged except enveloped in a triple veil. The initiates imposed -upon themselves a rigid silence concerning what they -called the <i>sufferings of God</i><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_333" id="fnanchor_333"></a><a href="#footnote_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a></span>: -his death, his descent into -the infernal regions, and his -resurrection.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_334" id="fnanchor_334"></a><a href="#footnote_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a></span> -They knew -that the serpent was, in general, the symbol of evil, and that -it was under this form that the Python had fought with -and been slain by Apollo.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_335" id="fnanchor_335"></a><a href="#footnote_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a></span> -The theosophists have not -made a public dogma of the Unity of God, precisely on -account of the explanation that it would be necessary to -give to the origin of good and evil; for without this explanation, -the dogma in itself would have been incomprehensible. -Moses realized it perfectly, and in the plan which he had -conceived of striking the people whose legislator he was, -with a character as extraordinary as indelible, by founding -his cult upon the publicity of a dogma hidden, until that -time in the depths of the sanctuaries and reserved for the -initiates alone, he did not hesitate to divulge what he knew -pertaining to the creation of the world and the origin of evil. -It is true that the manner in which he gave it, under a simplicity -and apparent clarity, concealed a profundity and -obscurity almost unfathomable; but the form which he gave -to this formidable mystery sufficed to support, in the opinion -of the vulgar, the Unity of God and this was all that he -wished to do.</p> - -<p>Now it is the essence of theosophy to be dogmatic, and -that of natural philosophy to be skeptical; the theosophist -speaks by faith, the physicist speaks by reason; the doctrine -of the one excludes the discussion that the system of the -other admits and even necessitates. Up to that time, theosophy -dominating upon the earth had taught the influence -of the will, and the tradition which was preserved in it -among all the nations of the earth during an incalculable -succession of centuries gave it the force of demonstration. -Among the Indians, Krishna; among the Persians, Zoroaster; -in China, Kong-Tse; in Egypt, Thoth; among the Greeks, -Orpheus; even Odin, among the Scandinavians; everywhere -the lawgivers of the people had linked the liberty of man with -the consoling dogma of Divine -rovidence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_336" id="fnanchor_336"></a><a href="#footnote_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a></span> -The peoples -accustomed to worship in polytheism the Divine Infinity -and not its Unity, did not find it strange to be guided, -protected, and watched over on the one side, whereas they -remained, on the other, free in their movements; and they -did not trouble themselves to find the source of good and -evil since they saw it in the objects of their cult, in these -same gods, the greater part of whom being neither essentially -good nor essentially bad were reputed to inspire in -them the virtues or the vices which, gathered freely by them, -rendered them worthy of recompense or -chastisement.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_337" id="fnanchor_337"></a><a href="#footnote_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a></span> -But when Natural Philosophy appeared, the face of things -was changed. The natural philosophers, substituting the observation -of nature and experience for mental contemplation -and the inspiration of theosophists, thought that they -could make sentient what was intelligible, and promised to -prove by fact and reasoning whatever up to that time had -had only proofs of sentiment and analogy. They brought -to light the great mystery of Universal Unity, and transforming -this Intellectual Unity into corporal substance -placed it in water,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_338" id="fnanchor_338"></a><a href="#footnote_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a></span> -in infinite space,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_339" id="fnanchor_339"></a><a href="#footnote_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a></span> -in the air,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_340" id="fnanchor_340"></a><a href="#footnote_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a></span> -in the -fire,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_341" id="fnanchor_341"></a><a href="#footnote_341" class="fnanchor">[341]</a></span> -whence they draw in turn the essential and formal -existence of all things. The one, attached to the school of -Ionia, established as fundamental maxim, that there is but -one principle of all; and the other, attached to that of Elea, -started from this axiom that nothing is made from -nothing.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_342" id="fnanchor_342"></a><a href="#footnote_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a></span> -The former sought the <em>how</em>, and the latter the <em>why</em> of things; -and all were united in saying that there is no effect without -cause. Their different systems, based upon the principles -of reasoning which seemed incontestable, and supported by -a series of imposing conclusions, had, at first, a prodigious -success; but this <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(éclat)</i> paled considerably when soon the disciples -of Pythagoras, and a little later those of Socrates and -Plato, having received from their masters the theosophical -tradition, stopped these sophistical physicists in the midst -of their triumphs, and, asking them the cause of physical -and of moral evil, proved to them that they knew nothing -of it; and that, in whatever fashion they might deduce it by -their system, they could not avoid establishing an absolute -fatality, destructive to the liberty of man, which by depriving -it of morality of actions, by confounding vice and virtue, -ignorance and wisdom, made of the Universe no more than -a frightful chaos. In vain these had thrust back the reproach -and claimed that the inference was false; their adversaries -pursuing them on their own ground cried out to -them: If the principle that you admit is good, whence comes -it that men are wicked and -miserable?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_343" id="fnanchor_343"></a><a href="#footnote_343" class="fnanchor">[343]</a></span> -If this unique -principle is bad, whence emerge goodness and -virtue?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_344" id="fnanchor_344"></a><a href="#footnote_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a></span> -If nature is the expression of this sole principle, how is it -not constant and why does its government sow goodness -and evil?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_345" id="fnanchor_345"></a><a href="#footnote_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a></span> -The materialists had recourse vainly to a -certain deviation in atoms,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_346" id="fnanchor_346"></a><a href="#footnote_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a></span> -and the spiritualists, to a -certain adjuvant cause quite similar to efficacious -grace<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_347" id="fnanchor_347"></a><a href="#footnote_347" class="fnanchor">[347]</a></span>; -the theosophists would never have renounced them if they -had not enclosed them in a syllogistic circle, by making -them admit, sometimes that the unique and all-powerful -Principle cannot think of -everything,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_348" id="fnanchor_348"></a><a href="#footnote_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a></span> -sometimes that vice -is useful and that without it there would be no -virtue<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_349" id="fnanchor_349"></a><a href="#footnote_349" class="fnanchor">[349]</a></span>; -paradoxes of which they had no trouble demonstrating the -absurdity and the revolting -inferences.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_350" id="fnanchor_350"></a><a href="#footnote_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a></span></p> - -<p>Take a survey of all the nations of the world, peruse all -the books that you please, and you will find the liberty of -man, the free will of his actions, the influence of his will over -his passions, only in the theosophical tradition. Wherever -you see physical or metaphysical systems, doctrines of -whatever kind they may be, founded upon a sole principle -of the material or spiritual Universe, you can conclude -boldly that absolute fatality results from it and that their -authors find themselves in need of making two things one: or -of explaining the origin of good and evil, which is impossible; -or of establishing the free will <i>a priori</i>, which is a manifest -contradiction of their reasonings. If you care to penetrate -into metaphysical depths, examine this decisive point upon -this matter. Moses founded his cult upon the Unity of God -and he explained the origin of evil; but he found himself -forced by the very nature of this formidable mystery to -envelop his explanation with such a veil, that it remained -impenetrable for all those who had not received the traditional -revelation; so that the liberty of man existed in his -cult only by favour of theosophical tradition, and that it -became weaker and disappeared entirely from it with this -same tradition, the two opposed sects of the Pharisees and -Sadducees which divided the cult prove -this.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_351" id="fnanchor_351"></a><a href="#footnote_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a></span> -The -former, attached to the tradition and allegorizing the text -of the <i>Sepher</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_352" id="fnanchor_352"></a><a href="#footnote_352" class="fnanchor">[352]</a></span> -admitted the free will<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_353" id="fnanchor_353"></a><a href="#footnote_353" class="fnanchor">[353]</a></span>; -the others, on -the contrary, rejecting it and following the literal meaning, -established an irresistible destiny to which all was subjected. -The most orthodox Hebrews, and those even who -passed as seers or prophets of the nation, had no difficulty -in attributing to God the cause of -Evil.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_354" id="fnanchor_354"></a><a href="#footnote_354" class="fnanchor">[354]</a></span> -They were obviously -authorized by the history of the downfall of the -first man, and by the dogma of original sin, which they took -according to the meaning attached to it by the vulgar. It -also happened, after the establishment of Christianity and -of Islamism, that this dogma, received by both cults in all -its extent and in all its literal obscurity, has necessarily -drawn with it predestination, which is, in other words, only -the fatality of the ancients. Mohammed, more enthusiast -than learned, and stronger in imagination than in reasoning, -has not hesitated a moment, admitting it as an inevitable -result of the Unity of God, which he announced after -Moses.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_355" id="fnanchor_355"></a><a href="#footnote_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a></span> -It is true that a few Christian doctors, when they have -been capable of perceiving the inferences in it have denied -this predestination, and have wished, either by allegorizing -the dogma of original sin, as Origen, or rejecting it wholly, -as Pelagius, to establish the free will and the power of the -will; but it is easy to see, in reading the history of the church, -that the most rigid Christians, such as Saint Augustine -and the ecclesiastical authority itself, have always upheld -predestination as proceeding necessarily from the divine -Prescience and from the All-Powerful, without which there -is no Unity. The length of this examination forces me to -suspend the proofs that I was going to give regarding this -last assertion; but further on I will return to it.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">8. <i>Be sober, diligent, and chaste; avoid all wrath.<br /> - In public or in secret ne’er permit thou<br /> - Any evil; and above all else respect thyself.</i></p> - -<p>Pythagoras considered man under three principal modifications, -like the Universe; and this is why he gave to man -the name of the microcosm or the small -world.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_356" id="fnanchor_356"></a><a href="#footnote_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a></span> -Nothing -was more common among the ancient nations than to compare -the Universe to a grand man, and man, to a small -Universe.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_357" id="fnanchor_357"></a><a href="#footnote_357" class="fnanchor">[357]</a></span> -The Universe, considered as a grand and -animated All, composed of intelligence, soul and body, was -called Pan or Phanes.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_358" id="fnanchor_358"></a><a href="#footnote_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a></span> -<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_359" id="fnanchor_359"></a><a href="#footnote_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a></span> -Man, or microcosm, was composed -in the same way but in an inverse manner, of -body, soul, and intelligence; and each of these three parts -was, in its turn, considered under three modifications, so -that the ternary ruling in the whole ruled equally in the -least of its subdivisions. Each ternary, from that which -embraced Immensity, to that which constituted the weakest -individual was, according to Pythagoras, included in an -absolute or relative Unity, and formed thus, as I have already -said, the Quaternary or Sacred Tetrad of the Pythagoreans. -This Quaternary was universal or particular. -Pythagoras was not, however, the inventor of this doctrine: -it was spread from China to the depths of -Scandinavia.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_360" id="fnanchor_360"></a><a href="#footnote_360" class="fnanchor">[360]</a></span> -One finds it likewise expressed in the oracles of -Zoroaster.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_361" id="fnanchor_361"></a><a href="#footnote_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a></span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">In the Universe a Ternary shines forth,</div> -<div class="i0">And the Monad is its principle.</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end poem-container--> - -<p>Thus, according to this doctrine, Man, considered as a -relative unity contained in the absolute Unity of the Grand -All, presents himself as the universal ternary, under three -principal modifications, of body, soul, and spirit or intelligence. -The soul, considered as the seat of the passions, is -presented in its turn, under the three faculties of the rational, -irascible or appetent soul. Now, in the opinion of Pythagoras, -the vice of the appetent faculty of the soul is intemperance -or avarice; that of the irascible faculty is -cowardice; and that of the rational faculty is folly. The vice -which reaches these three faculties is injustice. In order -to avoid these vices, the philosopher commends four principal -virtues to his disciples: temperance for the appetent -faculty, courage for the irascible faculty, prudence for the -rational faculty, and for these three faculties together, -justice, which he regards as the most perfect virtue of the -soul.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_362" id="fnanchor_362"></a><a href="#footnote_362" class="fnanchor">[362]</a></span> -I say the soul, because the body and the intelligence, -being equally developed by means of three faculties -instinctive or spiritual, as well as the soul, were susceptible -of the vices and the virtues which were peculiar to them.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">9. <i>Speak not nor act before thou hast reflected;<br /> - Be just.</i></p> - -<p>By the preceding lines, Lysis, speaking in the name -of Pythagoras, had commended temperance and diligence; -he had prescribed particularly watching over the irascible -faculty, and moderating its excesses; by these, he indicates -the peculiar character of prudence which is reflection and -he imposes the obligation of being just, by binding, as it -were, the most energetic idea of justice with that of death, -as may be seen in the subsequent lines:</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">10. … <i>Remember that a power invincible<br /> - Ordains to die</i>; …</p> - -<p>That is to say, remember thou that the fatal necessity -to which thou art subjected in reference to the material and -mortal part of thyself, according to the sentence of the -ancient sages,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_363" id="fnanchor_363"></a><a href="#footnote_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a></span> -will strike thee particularly in the objects -of thy cupidity, of thy intemperance, in the things which -will have excited thy folly, or flattered thy cowardice; -remember thou that death will break the frail instruments -of thy wrath, will extinguish the firebrands that it will -have lighted; remember thou finally,</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">11. … <i>That riches and the honours<br /> - Easily acquired, are easy thus to lose.</i></p> - -<p>Be just: injustice has often easy triumphs; but what -remains after death of the riches that it has procured? -Nothing but the bitter remembrance of their loss, and the -nakedness of a shameful vice uncovered and reduced to -impotency.</p> - -<p>I have proceeded rapidly in the explanation of the foregoing -lines, because the morals which they contain, founded -upon the proofs of sentiment, are not susceptible of receiving -others. I do not know if this simple reflection has already -been made, but in any case it ought to draw with it one more -complicated, and serve to find the reason for the surprising -harmony which reigns, and which has always reigned, among -all the peoples of the earth upon the subject of morals. -Man has been allowed to disagree upon subjects of reasoning -and opinion, to differ in a thousand ways in those of -taste, to dispute upon the forms of cult, the dogmas of -teachings, the bases of science, to build an infinity of psychological -and physical systems; but Man has never been able, -without belying his own conscience, to deny the truth and -universality of morals. Temperance, prudence, courage, -and justice, have always been considered as virtues, and -avarice, folly, cowardice, and injustice, as vices; and this, -without the least discussion. Never has any legislator -said that it was necessary to be a bad son, a bad friend, a -bad citizen, envious, ungrateful, perjured. The men most -beset with these vices have always hated them in others, -have concealed them at home, and their very hypocrisy -has been a new homage rendered to morals.</p> - -<p>If certain sectarians, blinded by a false zeal and furthermore -systematically ignorant and intolerant, have circulated -that the cults differing from theirs lacked morals, or received -impure ones, it is because they either misunderstood the -true principles of morals, or they calumniated them; principles -are the same everywhere; only their application is -more or less rigid and their consequences are more or less -well applied in accordance with the times, the places, and -the men. The Christians extol, and with reason, the purity -and the sanctity of their morals; but if it must be told them -with frankness they have nothing in their sacred books -that cannot be found as forcibly expressed in the sacred -books of other nations, and often even, in the opinion of -impartial travellers, one has seen it much better practised. -For example, the beautiful maxim touching upon the pardon -of offences<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_364" id="fnanchor_364"></a><a href="#footnote_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a></span> -is found complete in the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>. It is -written: “O God! greater than all that which is great! if -a man provoke you by his thoughts, by his speech, or by his -actions, if he humbles himself before you, pardon him; even -so, if a man provoke me by his thoughts by his speech or -by his actions may I pardon -him.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_365" id="fnanchor_365"></a><a href="#footnote_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a></span> -One finds in the same -book, the precept on charity, such as is practised among the -Mussulmans, and that of agriculture placed in the rank of -virtues, as among the Chinese. “The King whom you love, -what desire you that he shall do, Ormuzd? Do you desire -that, like unto you, he shall nourish the -poor?”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_366" id="fnanchor_366"></a><a href="#footnote_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a></span> -“The purest point of the law is to sow the land. He who sows -the grain and does it with purity is as great before me as he -who celebrates ten thousand -adorations.…”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_367" id="fnanchor_367"></a><a href="#footnote_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a></span> -“Render the earth fertile, cover it with flowers and with fruits; -multiply the springs in the places where there is no -grass.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_368" id="fnanchor_368"></a><a href="#footnote_368" class="fnanchor">[368]</a></span> -This same maxim of the pardon of offences and those which -decree to return good for evil, and to do unto others what we -would that they should do unto us, is found in many of the -Oriental writings. One reads in the distichs of Hafiz this -beautiful passage:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Learn of the sea-shell to love thine enemy, and to fill with -pearls the hand thrust out to harm thee. Be not less generous -than the hard rock; make resplendent with precious stones, the -arm which rends thy side. Mark thou yonder tree assailed by -a shower of stones; upon those who throw them it lets fall only -delicious fruits or perfumed flowers. The voice of all nature -calls aloud to us: shall man be the only one refusing to heal the -hand which is wounded in striking him? To bless the one who -offends him?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_369" id="fnanchor_369"></a><a href="#footnote_369" class="fnanchor">[369]</a></span></p> - -<p>The evangelical precept paraphrased by Hafiz is found in -substance in a discourse of Lysias; it is clearly expressed by -Thales and Pittacus; Kong-Tse taught it in the same words -as Jesus; finally one finds in the <cite>Arya</cite>, written more than -three centuries before our era, these lines which seem made -expressly to inculcate the maxim and depict the death of -the righteous man:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The duty of a good man, even at the moment of his destruction, -consists not only in forgiving but even in a desire of benefiting -his destroyer; as the Sandal-tree, in the instant of its -overthrow sheds perfume on the ax which fells; and he would -triumph in repeating the verse of Sadi who represents a return -of good for good as a slight reciprocity, but says to the virtuous -man, “confer benefits on him who has injured -thee.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_370" id="fnanchor_370"></a><a href="#footnote_370" class="fnanchor">[370]</a></span></p> - -<p>Interrogate the peoples from the Boreal pole to the -extremities of Asia, and ask them what they think of virtue: -they will respond to you, as Zeno, that it is all that is good -and beautiful; the Scandinavians, disciples of Odin, will -show you the -<cite>Hâvamâl</cite><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_371" id="fnanchor_371"></a><a href="#footnote_371" class="fnanchor">[371]</a></span>, -sublime discourse of their ancient -legislator, wherein hospitality, charity, justice, and courage -are expressly commended to them: You will know by -tradition that the Celts had the sacred verses of their -Druids, wherein piety, justice, and valour were celebrated -as national -virtues<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_372" id="fnanchor_372"></a><a href="#footnote_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a></span>; -you will see in the books preserved -under the name of Hermes<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_373" id="fnanchor_373"></a><a href="#footnote_373" class="fnanchor">[373]</a></span> -that the Egyptians followed -the same idea regarding morals as the Indians their ancient -preceptors; and these ideas, preserved still in the -<cite>Dharma-Shastra</cite>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_374" id="fnanchor_374"></a><a href="#footnote_374" class="fnanchor">[374]</a></span> -will strike you in the <cite>Kings</cite> of the Chinese. It -is there, in those sacred books whose origin is lost in the -night of time,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_375" id="fnanchor_375"></a><a href="#footnote_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a></span> -that you will find at their source the most -sublime maxims of Fo-Hi, Krishna, Thoth, Zoroaster, -Pythagoras, Socrates, and Jesus. Morals, I repeat, are -everywhere the same; therefore it is not upon its written -principles that one should judge of the perfection of the -cult, as has been done without reflection, but upon their -practical application. This application, whence results -the national spirit, depends upon the purity of the religious -dogmas, upon the sublimity of the mysteries, and upon their -more or less great affinity with the Universal Truth which -is the soul, apparent or hidden, of all religion.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">12. <i>As to the evils which Destiny involves,<br /> -  Judge them what they are; endure them all and strive,<br /> -  As much as thou art able, to modify the traits.<br /> -  The Gods, to the most cruel, have not exposed the sage.</i><br /></p> - -<p>I have said that Pythagoras acknowledged two motives -of human actions, the power of the Will and the necessity -of Destiny, and that he subjected both to one fundamental -law called Providence from which they emanated alike. -The first of these motives was free, and the second constrained: -so that man found himself placed between two -opposed, but not injurious natures, indifferently good or -bad, according as he understood the use of them. The -power of the Will was exercised upon the things to be done, -or upon the future; the necessity of Destiny, upon the things -done, or upon the past: and the one nourished the other -unceasingly, by working upon the materials which they reciprocally -furnished each other; for according to this admirable -philosopher, it is of the past that the future is born, of the -future that the past is formed, and of the union of both that -is engendered the always existing present, from which they -draw alike their origin: a most profound idea that the -Stoics had -adopted.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_376" id="fnanchor_376"></a><a href="#footnote_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a></span> -Thus, following this doctrine, liberty -rules in the future, necessity in the past, and Providence -over the present. Nothing that exists happens by chance -but by the union of the fundamental and providential law -with the human will which follows or transgresses it, by -operating upon -necessity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_377" id="fnanchor_377"></a><a href="#footnote_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a></span> -The harmony of the Will and -Providence constitutes Good; Evil is born of their opposition. -Man has received three forces adapted to each of the -three modifications of his being, to be guided in the course -that he should pursue on earth and all three enchained to -his Will. The first, attached to the body, is instinct; the -second, devoted to the soul, is virtue; the third, appertaining -to intelligence, is science or wisdom. These three forces, -indifferent in themselves, take this name only through the -good usage that the Will makes of it; for, through bad usage -they degenerate into brutishness, vice, and ignorance. Instinct -perceives the physical good or evil resulting from -sensation; virtue recognizes the moral good or evil existing -in sentiment; science judges the intelligible good or evil -which springs from assent. In sensation, good or evil is -called pleasure or pain; in sentiment, love or hate; in assent, -truth or error. Sensation, sentiment, and assent, dwelling -in the body, in the soul, and in the spirit, form a ternary, -which becoming developed under favour of a relative unity -constitutes the human quaternary, or Man considered -abstractly. The three affections which compose this ternary -act and react upon one another, and become mutually -enlightened or obscured; and the unity which binds them, -that is to say, Man, is perfected or depraved, according as -it tends to become blended with the Universal Unity or to -become distinguished from it. The means that this ternary -has of becoming blended with it, or of becoming distinguished -from it, of approaching near or of drawing away from it, -resides wholly in its Will, which, through the use that it -makes of the instruments furnished it by the body, soul, -and mind, becomes instinctive or stupefied; is made virtuous -or vicious, wise or ignorant, and places itself in condition -to perceive with more or less energy, to understand and to -judge with more or less rectitude what there is of goodness, -excellence, and justice in sensation, sentiment, or assent; -to distinguish, with more or less force and knowledge, good -and evil; and not to be deceived at last in what is really -pleasure or pain, love or hatred, truth or error.</p> - -<p>Indeed one feels that the metaphysical doctrine that -I have just briefly set forth is nowhere found so clearly -expressed, and therefore I do not need to support it with any -direct authority. It is only by adopting the principles set -down in the Golden Verses and by meditating a long time -upon what has been written by Pythagoras that one is -able to conceive the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(ensemble)</i>. The disciples of this philosopher -having been extremely discreet and often obscure, -one can only well appreciate the opinions of their master -by throwing light upon them with those of the Platonists -and Stoics, who have adopted and spread them without any -reserve.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_378" id="fnanchor_378"></a><a href="#footnote_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a></span></p> - -<p>Man, such as I have just depicted him, according to -the idea that Pythagoras had conceived, placed under the -dominion of Providence between the past and the future, -endowed with a free will by his essence, and being carried -along toward virtue or vice with its own movement, Man, -I say, should understand the source of the evils that he -necessarily experiences; and far from accusing this same -Providence which dispenses good and evil to each according -to his merit and his anterior actions, can blame only himself -if he suffers, through an inevitable consequence of his past -mistakes.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_379" id="fnanchor_379"></a><a href="#footnote_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a></span> -For Pythagoras admitted many successive -existences,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_380" id="fnanchor_380"></a><a href="#footnote_380" class="fnanchor">[380]</a></span> -and maintained that the present, which strikes us, and -the future, which menaces us, are only the expression of the -past which has been our work in anterior times. He said that -the greater part of men lose, in returning to life, the remembrance -of these past existences; but that, concerning himself, -he had, by a particular favour of the gods, preserved the -memory of them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_381" id="fnanchor_381"></a><a href="#footnote_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a></span> -Thus according to his doctrine, this -fatal Necessity, of which man unceasingly complains, has -been created by himself through the use of his will; he -traverses, in proportion as he advances in time, the road that -he has already traced for himself; and according as he has -modified it by good or evil, as he sows so to speak, his virtues -or his vices, he will find it again more smooth or laborious, -when the time will come to traverse it anew.</p> - -<p>These are the dogmas by means of which Pythagoras -established the necessity of Destiny, without harming the -power of the Will, and left to Providence its universal empire, -without being obliged either to attribute to it the origin -of evil, as those who admitted only one principle of things, -or to give to evil an absolute existence, as those who admitted -two principles. In this, he was in accordance with -the ancient doctrine which was followed by the oracles of -the gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_382" id="fnanchor_382"></a><a href="#footnote_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a></span> -The Pythagoreans, however, did not regard -pain, that is to say, whatever afflicts the body in its mortal -life, as veritable evils; they called veritable evils only sins, -vices, and errors into which one falls voluntarily. In their -opinion, the physical and inevitable evils being illustrated -by the presence of virtue, could be transformed into blessings -and become distinguished and -enviable.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_383" id="fnanchor_383"></a><a href="#footnote_383" class="fnanchor">[383]</a></span> -These last -evils, dependent upon necessity, Lysis commended to be -judged for what they were; that is, to consider as an inevitable -consequence of some mistake, as the chastisement -or remedy for some vice; and therefore to endure them, and -far from irritating them further by impatience and anger, -on the contrary to modify them by the resignation and acquiescence -of the will to the judgment of Providence. He -does not forbid, as one sees in the lines cited, assuaging -them by lawful means; on the contrary, he desires that the -sage should apply himself to diverting them if possible, and -healing them. Thus this philosopher did not fall into the -excess with which the Stoics have been justly -reproached.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_384" id="fnanchor_384"></a><a href="#footnote_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a></span> -He considered pain evil, not that it was of the same nature -as vice, but because its nature, a purgative for vice, makes -it a necessary consequence. Plato adopted this idea, and -made all the inferences felt with his customary -eloquence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_385" id="fnanchor_385"></a><a href="#footnote_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a></span></p> - -<p>As to what Lysis said, always following Pythagoras, -that the sage was never exposed to the crudest evils, this -can be understood as Hierocles has understood it, in a simple -and natural manner, or in a more mysterious manner as I -stated. It is evident at once, in following the inferences of -the principles which have been given, that the sage is not, -in reality, subject to the severest evils, since, not aggravating -by his emotions those which the necessity of destiny -inflict upon him, and bearing them with resignation, he -alleviates them; living happy, even in the midst of misfortune, -in the firm hope that these evils will no more trouble -his days, and certain that the divine blessings which are -reserved for virtue, await him in another -life.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_386" id="fnanchor_386"></a><a href="#footnote_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a></span> -Hierocles, -after having revealed this first manner of explaining the -verse in question, touches lightly upon the second, in saying -that the Will of man can have an influence on Providence, -when, acting in a lofty soul, it is assisted by succour from -heaven and operates with -it.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_387" id="fnanchor_387"></a><a href="#footnote_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a></span> -This was a part of the -doctrine taught in the mysteries, whose divulgence to the -profane was forbidden. According to this doctrine, of -which sufficiently strong traces can be recognized in -Plato,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_388" id="fnanchor_388"></a><a href="#footnote_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a></span> -the Will, exerting itself by faith, was able to subjugate -Necessity itself, to command Nature, and to work miracles. -It was the principle upon which was founded the magic -of the disciples of -Zoroaster.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_389" id="fnanchor_389"></a><a href="#footnote_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a></span> -Jesus saying parabolically, -that by means of faith one could remove -mountains,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_390" id="fnanchor_390"></a><a href="#footnote_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a></span> -only spoke according to the theosophical traditions known -to all the sages. “The uprightness of the heart and faith -triumphs over all obstacles,” said -Kong-Tse<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_391" id="fnanchor_391"></a><a href="#footnote_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a></span>; -“all men -can render themselves equal to the sages and to the heroes -whose memory the nations revere,” said Meng-Tse; “it is -never the power which is lacking, it is the will; provided -one desire, one succeeds.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_392" id="fnanchor_392"></a><a href="#footnote_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a></span> -These ideas of the Chinese -theosophists are found in the writings of the -Indians,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_393" id="fnanchor_393"></a><a href="#footnote_393" class="fnanchor">[393]</a></span> -and even in those of some Europeans who, as I have already -observed, had not enough erudition to be imitators. “The -greater the will,” said Boehme, “the greater the being and -the more powerfully inspired.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_394" id="fnanchor_394"></a><a href="#footnote_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a></span> -“Will and liberty are -the same thing.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_395" id="fnanchor_395"></a><a href="#footnote_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a></span> -“It is the source of light, the magic -which makes something from -nothing.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_396" id="fnanchor_396"></a><a href="#footnote_396" class="fnanchor">[396]</a></span></p> - -<p class="blockquote">“The Will which goes resolutely forward is faith; it models its -own form in spirit and overcomes all things; by it, a soul receives -the power of carrying its influence in another soul, and of penetrating -its most intimate essences. When it acts with God it can -overthrow mountains, break the rocks, confound the plots of the -impious, and breathe upon them disorder and dismay; it can -effect all prodigies, command the heavens, the sea, and enchain -death itself: it subjugates all. Nothing can be named that cannot -be commanded in the name of the Eternal. The soul which -executes these great things only imitates the prophets and the -saints, Moses, Jesus, and the apostles. All the elect have a -similar power. Evil disappears before them. Nothing can harm -the one in whom God -dwells.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_397" id="fnanchor_397"></a><a href="#footnote_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is in departing from this doctrine, taught as I have -said in the mysteries, that certain gnostics of the Alexandrian -school assert that evils never attended the true sages, if -there were found men who might have been so in reality; -for Providence, image of divine justice, would never allow -the innocent to suffer and be punished. Basil, who was -one of those who supported this Platonic -opinion,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_398" id="fnanchor_398"></a><a href="#footnote_398" class="fnanchor">[398]</a></span> -was -sharply reprimanded by the orthodox Christians, who treated -him as a heretic, quoting to him the example of the martyrs. -Basil replied that the martyrs were not entirely innocent, -because there is no man exempt from faults; that God punishes -in them, either evil desires, actual and secret sins, or -sins that the soul had committed in a previous existence; -and as they did not fail to oppose him again with the example -of Jesus, who, although fully innocent, had, however, -suffered the torture of the cross, Basil answered without -hesitation that God had been just, in his opinion, and that -Jesus, being man, was no more than another exempt from -sin.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_399" id="fnanchor_399"></a><a href="#footnote_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">13. <i>Even as Truth, does Error have its lovers;<br /> -  With prudence the Philosopher approves or blames;<br /> -  If Error triumph, he departs and waits.</i></p> - -<p>It is sufficiently known that Pythagoras was the first -who used the word Philosopher to designate <i>a friend of -wisdom.</i><span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_400" id="fnanchor_400"></a><a href="#footnote_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a></span> -Before him, the word <i>Sophos</i>, sage, was used. It -is therefore with intention that I have made it enter into -my translation, although it may not be literally in the text. -The portrayal that Lysis gives of the philosopher represents -everything in moderation and in that just mean, where the -celebrated Kong-Tse placed also the perfection of the -sage.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_401" id="fnanchor_401"></a><a href="#footnote_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a></span> -He commended to him tolerance for the opinions of others, -instilling in him that, as truth and error have likewise their -followers, one must not be flattered into thinking that one -can enlighten all men, nor bring them to accept the same -sentiments and to profess the same doctrine. Pythagoras -had, following his custom, expressed these same ideas by -symbolic phrases: “Exceed not the balance,” he had said, -“stir not the fire with the sword,” “all materials are not -fitting to make a statue of Mercury.” That is to say, avoid -all excess; depart not from the golden mean which is the -appanage of the philosopher; propagate not your doctrine -by violent means; use not the sword in the cause of God and -the truth; confide not science to a corrupt soul; or as Jesus -forcibly said: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, -neither cast ye your pearls before -swine”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_402" id="fnanchor_402"></a><a href="#footnote_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a></span>; -for all men -are not equally fitted to receive science, to become models -of wisdom, nor to reflect the image of God.</p> - -<p>Pythagoras, it must be said, had not always entertained -these sentiments. While he was young and while he still -burned unconsciously with the fire of passions, he abandoned -himself to a blind and vehement zeal. An excess of -enthusiasm and of divine love had thrown him into intolerance -and perhaps he would have become persecutor, if, -like Mohammed, he had had the weapons at hand. An -incident opened his eyes. As he had contracted the habit -of treating his disciples very severely, and as he generally -censured men for their vices with much asperity, it happened -one day that a youth, whose mistakes he had publicly -exposed and whom he had upbraided with bitterest reproaches, -conceived such despair that he killed himself. -The philosopher never thought of this evil of which he had -been the cause without violent grief; he meditated deeply, -and made from this incident reflections which served him the -remainder of his life. He realized, as he energetically -expressed it, that one must not stir the fire with the sword. -One can, in this regard, compare him with Kong-Tse and -Socrates. The other theosophists have not always shown -the same moderation. Krishna, the most tolerant among -them had nevertheless said, abandoning himself to thoughtless -enthusiasm: “Wisdom consists in being wholly for -Me … in freedom from love of self … in loosening all -bonds of attachment for one’s children, wife, and home … -in rendering to God alone a steadfast cult … disdaining -and fleeing from the society of -men”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_403" id="fnanchor_403"></a><a href="#footnote_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a></span>: -words remarkable -for the connection that they have with those of Jesus: -“If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, -and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and -his own life also, he cannot be my -disciple.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_404" id="fnanchor_404"></a><a href="#footnote_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a></span> -Zoroaster -seemed to authorize persecution, saying in an outburst of -indignation: “He who does evil, destroy him; rise up against -all those who are cruel.… Smite with strength the -proud Turanian who afflicts and torments the -just.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_405" id="fnanchor_405"></a><a href="#footnote_405" class="fnanchor">[405]</a></span> -One -knows to what pitch of wrath Moses was kindled against -the Midianites and the other peoples who resisted -him,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_406" id="fnanchor_406"></a><a href="#footnote_406" class="fnanchor">[406]</a></span> -notwithstanding that he had announced, in a calmer moment, -the God of Israel as a God merciful and gracious, long-suffering -and abundant in goodness and -truth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_407" id="fnanchor_407"></a><a href="#footnote_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a></span> -Mohammed, -as passionate as Moses, and strongly resembling the legislator -of the Hebrews by his ability and firmness, has fallen -into the same excess. He has often depicted, as cruel and -inexorable, this same God whom he invokes at the head of -all of his writings, as very good, very just, and very -clement.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_408" id="fnanchor_408"></a><a href="#footnote_408" class="fnanchor">[408]</a></span> -This proves how rare a thing it is to remain in the golden -mean so commended by Kong-Tse and Pythagoras, how -difficult it is for any pupil to resist the lure of the passions -to stifle utterly their voice, in order to hear only the voice -of the divine inspiration. Reflecting upon the discrepancies -of the great men whom I have just cited, one cannot refrain -from thinking with Basil, that, in effect, there are no men -on earth veritably wise and without -sin<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_409" id="fnanchor_409"></a><a href="#footnote_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a></span>; -above all when -one considers that Jesus expressed himself in the same details -as Krishna, Zoroaster, and Moses; and that he who had -exhorted us in one passage to love our enemies, to do good -to those who hate us, and to pray even for those who persecute -and calumniate us,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_410" id="fnanchor_410"></a><a href="#footnote_410" class="fnanchor">[410]</a></span> -menaces with fire from heaven -the cities that recognize him -not,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_411" id="fnanchor_411"></a><a href="#footnote_411" class="fnanchor">[411]</a></span> -and elsewhere it is -written: “Do not think that I came to send peace upon -earth: I came not to send peace, but the -sword”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_412" id="fnanchor_412"></a><a href="#footnote_412" class="fnanchor">[412]</a></span>; -“For -there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: -three against two, and two against three. The father shall -be divided against the son, and the son against the father, -the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against -the mother.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_413" id="fnanchor_413"></a><a href="#footnote_413" class="fnanchor">[413]</a></span> -“He that is not with me, is against me: and -he that gathereth not with me, -scattereth.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_414" id="fnanchor_414"></a><a href="#footnote_414" class="fnanchor">[414]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">14. <i>Listen, and in thine heart engrave my words;<br /> -  Keep closed both eye and ear ’gainst prejudice;<br /> -  Of others the example fear; think for thyself.</i></p> - -<p>Lysis continues, in the name of Pythagoras, to trace -for the philosopher the course that he must follow in the -first part of his doctrine, which is the Purification. After -having commended to him moderation and prudence in -all things, having exhorted him to be as slow to censure as -to approve, he seeks to put him on guard against prejudices -and the routine of example, which are, in reality, the greatest -obstacles that are encountered by science and truth. This -is what Bacon, the regenerator of philosophy in modern -Europe, so keenly felt, as I have already cited with praise -at the opening of this work. This excellent observer, to -whom we owe our freedom from scholastic leading-strings -whose ignorance had stifled for us the name of Aristotle, -having formed the difficult enterprise of disencumbering -and, as it were, clearing the air belonging to the human -understanding, in order to put it in a condition to receive -an edifice less barbarous, remarked, that one would never -attain to establishing there the foundation of true science, -if one did not first labour to set aside -prejudices.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_415" id="fnanchor_415"></a><a href="#footnote_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a></span> -He -displayed all his forces against these formidable enemies of -human perfectibility, and if he did not overthrow them all, -at least he indicated them in such a manner as to make it -easier to recognize and destroy them. The prejudices -which obsess the human understanding and which he calls -idols, are, according to him, of four kinds: these are the -idols of the tribe; the idols of the den; the idols of society; -and the idols of theories. The first are inherent in human -nature; the second are those of each individual; the third -result from the equivocal definitions attached to words; -the fourth and the most numerous are those that man -receives from his teachers and from the doctrines which -are current.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_416" id="fnanchor_416"></a><a href="#footnote_416" class="fnanchor">[416]</a></span> -The last are the most tenacious and the -most difficult to conquer. It seems even impossible wholly -to resist them. The man who aspires to the perilous glory -of improving the human mind, finds himself placed between -two formidable dangers, which, like those of Sylla -and Charybdis, threaten alternately to break his frail bark: -upon one is irresistible routine, upon the other proud innovation. -There is danger alike from both sides. He can -save himself only by favour of the golden mean, so commended -by all the sages and so rarely followed even by them.</p> - -<p>This golden mean must needs be very difficult to hold -in the course of life, since Kong-Tse himself, who has made -it all his study, has lacked it in the most important part of -his doctrine, in that concerning human perfectibility. Imbued -unknowingly with the prejudices of his nation, he -has seen nothing beyond the doctrine of the ancients and -has not believed that anything might be added -thereunto.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_417" id="fnanchor_417"></a><a href="#footnote_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a></span> -Instead of pushing the mind of the Chinese forward toward -the goal where nature unceasingly tends, which is the perfection -of all things, he has, on the contrary, thrown it -backward and, inspiring it with a fanatical respect for works -of the past, has prevented it from meditating upon anything -great for the -future.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_418" id="fnanchor_418"></a><a href="#footnote_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a></span> -Filial piety itself, pushed, to excess -changed to a blind imitation, has also augmented the evil. -So that the greatest people of the world, the richest in principles -of all kinds, not daring to draw from these same -principles any development, through fear of profaning them, -continually on their knees before a sterile antiquity, have -remained stationary, whereas all around is progression; -and for nearly four thousand years have really not advanced -a step more towards the civilization and perfection of the -arts and sciences.</p> - -<p>The side on which Bacon has departed from the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(juste -milieu)</i> has been precisely the opposite from that which -prevented Kong-Tse from remaining there. The Chinese -theosophist had been led astray by his excessive veneration -for antiquity and the English philosopher, by his profound -disdain for it. Warned against the doctrine of Aristotle, -Bacon has extended his prejudice to everything that came -from the ancients. Rejecting in a moment the labour of -thirty centuries and the fruit of the meditation of the greatest -geniuses, he has wished to admit nothing beyond what -experience could confirm in his -eyes.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_419" id="fnanchor_419"></a><a href="#footnote_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a></span> -Logic to him has -seemed useless for the invention of the -sciences.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_420" id="fnanchor_420"></a><a href="#footnote_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a></span> -He -has abandoned the syllogism, as an instrument too gross to -penetrate the depths of -nature.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_421" id="fnanchor_421"></a><a href="#footnote_421" class="fnanchor">[421]</a></span> -He has thought that -it could be of no avail either in expression of words or in -the ideas which flow from -it.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_422" id="fnanchor_422"></a><a href="#footnote_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a></span> -He has believed the abstract -principles deprived of all foundation; and with the -same hand with which he fights these false ideas he has -fought the results of these principles, in which he has unfortunately -found much less -resistance.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_423" id="fnanchor_423"></a><a href="#footnote_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a></span> -Filled with -contempt for the philosophy of the Greeks, he has denied -that it had produced anything either useful or -good<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_424" id="fnanchor_424"></a><a href="#footnote_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a></span>; -so that after having banished the natural philosophy of -Aristotle, which he called a jumble of dialectic -terms,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_425" id="fnanchor_425"></a><a href="#footnote_425" class="fnanchor">[425]</a></span> -he has seen in the metaphysics of Plato only a dangerous and -depraved philosophy, and in the theosophy of Pythagoras -only a gross and shocking -superstition.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_426" id="fnanchor_426"></a><a href="#footnote_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a></span> -Here indeed is -a case of returning again to the idea of Basil, and of exclaiming -with him, that no man is without sin. Kong-Tse has -been unquestionably one of the greatest men who has honoured -the earth, and Bacon one of the most judicious philosophers -of Europe; both have, however, committed grave -mistakes whose effect is more or less felt by posterity: the -former, filling the Chinese <i>literati</i> with an exaggerated respect -for antiquity, has made of it an immobile and almost -inert mass, that Providence, in order to obtain certain -necessary movements, has had to strike many times with the -terrible scourge of revolutions; the latter, inspiring, on the -contrary, a thoughtless contempt for everything that came -from the ancients, demanding the proof of their principles, -the reason for their dogmas, subjecting all to the light of -experience, has broken the scientific body, has deprived it -of unity, and has transformed the assemblage of thinkers -into a tumultuous anarchy from whose irregular movement -has sprung enough violent storms. If Bacon had been -able to effect in Europe the same influence that Kong-Tse -had effected in China, he would have drawn philosophy into -materialism and absolute empiricism. Happily the remedy -is born of the evil itself. The lack of unity has taken away -all force from the anarchical colossus. Each supposing -to be in the right, no one was. A hundred systems raised -one upon the other clashed and were broken in turn. Experience, -invoked by all parties, has taken all colours and -its opposed judgments were self-destructive.</p> - -<p>If, after having called attention to the mistakes of these -great men, I dared to hazard my opinion upon the point -where both of them have failed, I would say that they have -confused the principles of the sciences with their developments; -it must be so, by drawing the principles from the -past, as Kong-Tse; by allowing the developments to act -throughout the future, as Bacon. Principles hold to the -Necessity of things; they are immutable in themselves; -finite, inaccessible to the senses, they are proved by reason: -their developments proceed from the power of the Will; -these developments are free, indefinite; they affect the senses -and are demonstrated by experience. Never is the development -of a principle finished in the past, as Kong-Tse -believed; never is a principle created in the future, as Bacon -imagined. The development of a principle produces another -principle, but always in the past; and as soon as this new -principle is laid down, it is universal and beyond the reach -of experience. Man knows that this principle exists, but -he knows not how. If he knew, he would be able to create -it at his pleasure; which does not belong to his nature.</p> - -<p>Man develops, perfects, or depraves, but he creates -nothing. The scientific golden mean commended by Pythagoras, -consists therefore, in seizing the principles of the -sciences where they are and developing them freely without -being constrained or driven by any false ideas. As to that -which concerns morals, it is forcibly enough expressed by -all that has preceded.</p> - -<p>The man who recognizes his dignity, says Hierocles, -is incapable of being prejudiced or seduced by -anything.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_427" id="fnanchor_427"></a><a href="#footnote_427" class="fnanchor">[427]</a></span> -Temperance and force are the two incorruptible guardians -of the soul: they prevent it from yielding to the allurements -of things pleasing and being frightened by the horrors of -things dreadful. Death suffered in a good cause is illustrious -and glorious.</p> - -<p class="p2">15. <i>Consult, deliberate, and freely choose.</i></p> - -<p>In explaining this line from a moral standpoint as Hierocles -has done, one readily feels that to deliberate and choose -in that which relates to moral conduct, consists in seeking -for what is good or evil in an action, and in attaching oneself -to it or fleeing from it, without letting oneself be drawn -along by the lure of pleasure or the fear of -pain.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_428" id="fnanchor_428"></a><a href="#footnote_428" class="fnanchor">[428]</a></span> -But if -one penetrates still deeper into the meaning of this line, it -is seen that it proceeds from principles previously laid down -regarding the necessity of Destiny and the power of the -Will; and that Pythagoras neglected no opportunity for -making his disciples feel that, although forced by Destiny -to find themselves in such or such a condition, they remained -free to weigh the consequences of their action, and to decide -themselves upon the part that they ought to take. The -following lines are, as it were, the corollary of his counsel.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">16. <i>Let fools act aimlessly and without cause,<br /> -  Thou shouldst, in the present, contemplate the future.</i></p> - -<p>That is to say, thou shouldst consider what will be the -results of such or such action and think that these results, -dependent upon thy will (while the action remains in suspense -and free, while they are yet to be born), will become -the domain of Necessity the very instant when the action -will be executed, and increasing in the past, once they shall -have had birth, will coöperate in forming the plan of a new -future.</p> - -<p>I beg the reader, interested in these sorts of comparisons, -to reflect a moment upon the idea of Pythagoras. He will -find here the veritable source of the astrological science of -the ancients. Doubtless he is not ignorant of what an -extended influence this science exercised already upon the -face of the globe. The Egyptians, Chaldeans, Phœnicians, -did not separate it from that which regulated the cult of -the gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_429" id="fnanchor_429"></a><a href="#footnote_429" class="fnanchor">[429]</a></span> -Their temples were but an abridged image of -the Universe, and the tower which served as an observatory -was raised at the side of the sacrificial altar. The -Peruvians followed, in this respect, the same usages as -the Greeks and Romans.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_430" id="fnanchor_430"></a><a href="#footnote_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a></span> -Everywhere the grand Pontiff -united the science of genethlialogy or astrology with the -priesthood, and concealed with care the principles of this -science within the precincts of the -sanctuary.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_431" id="fnanchor_431"></a><a href="#footnote_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a></span> -It was -a Secret of State among the Etruscans and at -Rome,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_432" id="fnanchor_432"></a><a href="#footnote_432" class="fnanchor">[432]</a></span> -as -it still is in China and -Japan.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_433" id="fnanchor_433"></a><a href="#footnote_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a></span> -The Brahmans did not -confide its elements except to those whom they deemed -worthy to be initiated.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_434" id="fnanchor_434"></a><a href="#footnote_434" class="fnanchor">[434]</a></span> -For one need only lay aside an -instant the bandage of prejudice to see that an Universal -science, linked throughout to what men recognize as the -most holy, can not be the product of folly and stupidity, -as has been reiterated a hundred times by a host of moralists. -All antiquity is certainly neither foolish nor stupid, and the -sciences it cultivated were supported by principles which, -for us today, being wholly unknown, have none the less -existed. Pythagoras, if we give attention here, revealed -to us those of genethlialogy and of all the sciences of divination -which relate thereunto.</p> - -<p>Let us observe this closely. The future is composed of -the past—​that is to say, that the route that man traverses -in time, and that he modifies by means of the power of his -will, he has already traversed and modified; in the same -manner, using a practical illustration, that the earth describing -its annual orbit around the sun, according to the modern -system, traverses the same spaces and sees unfold around it -almost the same aspects: so that, following anew a route -that he has traced for himself, man would be able not only -to recognize the imprints of his steps, but to foresee the -objects that he is about to encounter, since he has already -seen them, if his memory preserved the image, and if this -image was not effaced by the necessary consequence of his -nature and the providential laws which rule him. Such is -the doctrine of Pythagoras as I have already -revealed.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_435" id="fnanchor_435"></a><a href="#footnote_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a></span> -It was that of the mysteries and of all the sages of antiquity. -Origen, who has opposed it, attributes it to the Egyptians, -to the Pythagoreans, and to the disciples of Plato. It was -contained in the sacred books of the Chaldeans, cited by -Syncellus, under the title of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(livres -géniques)</i>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_436" id="fnanchor_436"></a><a href="#footnote_436" class="fnanchor">[436]</a></span> -Seneca and -Synesius have supported it as wholly in accordance with -the spirit of the -initiations.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_437" id="fnanchor_437"></a><a href="#footnote_437" class="fnanchor">[437]</a></span> -What the ancients called -the <em>great year</em>, was a consequence of this doctrine; for it was -taught in the mysteries, that the Universe itself traversed, -after a sequence of incalculable centuries, the same revolutions -that it had already traversed, and brought around in -the vast unfolding of its concentric spheres, as much for it -as for the worlds which compose it, the succession of the -four ages, the duration of which, relative to the nature of -each being, immense for the Universal Man, is limited in -the individual to what is called infancy, youth, manhood, -and old age, and is represented on the earth by the fleeting -seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. This great -year, thus conceived, has been common to all the peoples -of the earth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_438" id="fnanchor_438"></a><a href="#footnote_438" class="fnanchor">[438]</a></span> -Cicero has plainly seen that it constituted -the veritable basis of genethlialogy or the astrological -science.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_439" id="fnanchor_439"></a><a href="#footnote_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a></span> -Indeed if the future is composed of the past—​that -is, a thing already made, upon which the present is gradually -unfolded as upon the circumference of a circle which has -neither beginning nor end, it is evident that one can succeed, -up to a certain point, to recognize it, whether by means of -remembrance, by examining in the past, the picture of the -whole revolution; or by means of prevision carrying the -moral sight, more or less far, upon the route through which -the Universe is passing. These two methods have grave -disadvantages. The first appears even impossible. For -what is the duration of the great year? What is the immense -period, which, containing the circle of all possible aspects -and of all corresponding effects, as Cicero supposes, is able, -by observations made and set down in the genethliatic -archives, to foresee, at the second revolution, the return of -the events which were already linked there and which must -be reproduced?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_440" id="fnanchor_440"></a><a href="#footnote_440" class="fnanchor">[440]</a></span> -Plato exacts, for the perfection of this -great year, that the movement of the fixed stars, which -constitutes what we call the precession of the equinoxes, -should coincide with the particular movement of the celestial -bodies, so as to bring back the heavens to the fixed -point of its primitive -position.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_441" id="fnanchor_441"></a><a href="#footnote_441" class="fnanchor">[441]</a></span> -The Brahmans carry -the greatest duration of this immense period, which they -name <i>Kalpa</i>, to 4,320,000,000 of years, and its mean duration, -which they name <i>Maha-Youg</i>, to -4,320,000.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_442" id="fnanchor_442"></a><a href="#footnote_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a></span> -The -Chinese appear to restrict it to 432,000 -years,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_443" id="fnanchor_443"></a><a href="#footnote_443" class="fnanchor">[443]</a></span> -and in -this they agree with the Chaldeans; but when one reduces -it again to a twelfth of this number, with the Egyptians, -that is, to the sole revolution of the fixed stars, which they -made, according to Hipparchus, 36,000 years, and which -we make no more than 25,867, according to modern -calculations,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_444" id="fnanchor_444"></a><a href="#footnote_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a></span> - -we feel indeed that we would be still very far from -having a series of observations capable of making us foresee -the return of the same events, and that we could not conceive -even, how men could ever attain to its mastery. As -to the second method, which consists, as I have said, in -carrying forward the moral sight upon the route which one -has before him, I have no need to observe that it can be -only very conjectural and very uncertain, since it depends -upon a faculty which man has never possessed except as a -special favour of Providence.</p> - -<p>The principle by which it is claimed that the future is -only a return of the past, did not therefore suffice to recognize -even the plan of it; a second principle is necessary, and -this principle, openly announced in the Golden Verses, as -we shall see farther on, was that by which it was established -that Nature is everywhere alike, and, consequently, that its -action, being uniform in the smallest sphere as in the greatest, -in the highest as in the lowest, can be inferred from both, -and pronounced by analogy. This principle proceeded -from the ancient dogma concerning the animation of the -Universe, as much in general as in particular: a dogma consecrated -among all nations, and following which it was taught -that not only the Great All, but the innumerable worlds -which are like its members, the heavens and the heaven -of heavens, the stars and all the beings who people them -even to the plants and metals, are penetrated by the same -Soul and moved by the same -Spirit.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_445" id="fnanchor_445"></a><a href="#footnote_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a></span> -Stanley attributes this -dogma to the Chaldeans,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_446" id="fnanchor_446"></a><a href="#footnote_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a></span> -Kircher to the Egyptians,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_447" id="fnanchor_447"></a><a href="#footnote_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a></span> -and -the wise Rabbi Maimonides traces it back to the -Sabæans.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_448" id="fnanchor_448"></a><a href="#footnote_448" class="fnanchor">[448]</a></span> -Saumaise has attributed to them the origin of astrological -science,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_449" id="fnanchor_449"></a><a href="#footnote_449" class="fnanchor">[449]</a></span> -and he is correct in one point. But of what use -is it to consider the movement of the heavens and the respective -position of the stars belonging to the same sphere -as the earth, in order to form the genethliatical theme of the -empires of nations, cities, and even of simple individuals, -and conclude from the point of departure in the temporal -route of existence, the aim of this route and the fortunate -or unfortunate events with which they should be sown, if -one had not established, primarily, that this route, being only -some portion of an existing sphere and already traversed, -it belonged thus to the domain of Necessity and could be -known; and, secondarily, that the analogical <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(rapport)</i> ruling -between the sentient sphere that one examined and the -intelligible sphere that one could not perceive, authorized -drawing inferences from both and even deciding from the -general to the particular? For, believing that the stars -have an actual and direct influence upon the destiny of -peoples and of men, and that they even determine this -destiny by their good or evil aspects, is an idea as false as -ridiculous, born of the darkness of modern times, and that -is not found among the ancients, even among the most -ignorant masses. The genethliatical science is supported -by principles less absurd. These principles, drawn from -the mysteries, were, as I have explained, that the future is -a return of the past and that nature is everywhere the same.</p> - -<p>It is from the union of these two principles that resulted -genethlialogy, or the science by which the point of departure -being known in any sphere whatever, they believed -they had discovered, by the aspect and direction of the -stars, the portion of this sphere which must immediately -follow this point. But this union, outside of the enormous -difficulty that it presented, still involved in its execution -very dangerous consequences. This is why they concealed -in the sanctuaries the science which was its object, and made -of religion a secret and state affair. The prevision of the -future, supposing it possible as the ancients did, is not, in -effect, a science that one should abandon to the vulgar, who, -being unable to acquire previously the learning necessary, -and having but rarely the wisdom which regulates its use, -risked debasing it, or making use of it wrongfully. Furthermore, -the pontiffs, who were in sole charge, initiated in the -great mysteries and possessing the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(ensemble)</i> of the doctrine, -knew very well that the future, such even as they could -hope to understand it in the perfection of the science, was -never aught but a doubtful future, a sort of canvas upon -which the power of the Will might exercise itself freely, in -such a manner that, although the matter might be determined -beforehand, its form was not, and that such an imminent -event could be suspended, evaded, or changed by a -coöperation of the acts of the will, inaccessible to all prevision. -This is what was said with such profoundness by -Tiresias, the most famous hierophant of Greece and whom -Homer called the only -sage,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_450" id="fnanchor_450"></a><a href="#footnote_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a></span> -these words so often quoted -and so little understood: “Whatever I may see will come -to pass, or it will not come to -pass”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_451" id="fnanchor_451"></a><a href="#footnote_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a></span>; -that is to say, The -event that I see is in the necessity of Destiny and it will -come to pass, unless it is changed by the power of the Will; -in which case it will not come to pass.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">17. <i>That which thou dost not know, pretend not that thou dost.<br /> - Instruct thyself: for time and patience favour all.</i></p> - -<p>Lysis has enclosed in these two lines the summary of -the doctrine of Pythagoras regarding science: according to -this philosopher, all science consists of knowing how to -distinguish what one does not know and of desiring to learn -that of which one knows -nothing.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_452" id="fnanchor_452"></a><a href="#footnote_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a></span> -Socrates had adopted -this idea, as simple as profound; and Plato has consecrated -several of his dialogues to its -development.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_453" id="fnanchor_453"></a><a href="#footnote_453" class="fnanchor">[453]</a></span></p> - -<p>But the distinction between what one does not know -and the desire to learn that of which one is ignorant, is -a thing much rarer than one imagines. It is the golden -mean of science, as difficult to possess as that of virtue, and -without which it is, however, impossible to know oneself. -For, without knowledge of oneself, how can one acquire -knowledge of others? How judge them if one cannot be -one’s own judge? Pursue this reasoning. It is evident -that one can know only what one has learned from others, -or what one has found from oneself: in order to have learned -from others, one must have wished to receive lessons; in -order to have found, one must have wished to seek; but -one cannot reasonably desire to learn or to seek only for -what one believes one does not know. If one imposes upon -oneself this important point, and if one imagines oneself -knowing that of which one is ignorant, one must judge it -wholly useless to learn or to seek, and then ignorance is -incurable: it is madness to style oneself doctor concerning -things that one has neither learned nor sought after, and of -which one can consequently have no knowledge. It is Plato -who has made this irresistible reasoning, and who has drawn -this conclusion: that all the mistakes that man commits come -from that sort of ignorance which makes him believe that -he knows what he does not -know.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_454" id="fnanchor_454"></a><a href="#footnote_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a></span></p> - -<p>From time immemorial this sort of ignorance has been -quite considerable; but I believe that it will never again -show itself to the extent it did among us some centuries -ago. Men hardly free from the mire of barbarism, without -being given the time either to acquire or to seek after any -true knowledge of antiquity, have offered themselves boldly -as its judges and have declared that the great men who have -made it illustrious were either ignorant, imposters, fanatics, -or fools. Here, I see musicians who seriously assure me -that the Greeks were rustics in the way of music; that all -that can be said of the wonders effected by this art is idle -talk, and that we have not a village fiddler who could not -produce as much effect as Orpheus, Terpander, or Timotheus, -if he had similar -auditors.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_455" id="fnanchor_455"></a><a href="#footnote_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a></span> -There, are the critics who -tell me with the same phlegmatic air that the Greeks of the -time of Homer knew neither how to read nor how to write; -that this poet himself, assuming that he really existed, did -not know the letters of the -alphabet<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_456" id="fnanchor_456"></a><a href="#footnote_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a></span>; -but that his existence -is a fancy,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_457" id="fnanchor_457"></a><a href="#footnote_457" class="fnanchor">[457]</a></span> -and that the works attributed to him -are the crude productions of certain plagiarist -rhapsodists.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_458" id="fnanchor_458"></a><a href="#footnote_458" class="fnanchor">[458]</a></span> -Further on I see, to complete the singularity, a research -worker who finds, doubtless to the support of all this, that -the first editor of the poems of Homer, the virile legislator -of Sparta, Lycurgus in short, was a man ignorant and unlettered, -knowing neither how to read nor -write<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_459" id="fnanchor_459"></a><a href="#footnote_459" class="fnanchor">[459]</a></span>: -quite -an original idea and a comparison wholly bizarre, between -the author and the editor of the <cite>Iliad</cite>! But this is nothing. -Here is an archbishop of Thessalonica, who, animated by a -righteous indignation, declared that Homer may have been -an instrument of the -devil,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_460" id="fnanchor_460"></a><a href="#footnote_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a></span> -and that one may be damned -in reading him. That one shrugs the shoulders at the allegories -of this poet, that one finds them not in the least interesting, -that one falls asleep even, let all that pass; but -to be damned! I have said that Bacon, drawn along unfortunately -by that fatal prejudice which makes one judge -without understanding, had calumniated the philosophy -of the Greeks; his numerous disciples have even surpassed -him upon this point. Condillac, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(coryphée)</i> of modern -empiricism, has seen in Plato only delirious metaphysics -unworthy of occupying his time, and in Zeno only logic -deprived of reasoning and principles. I would that Condillac, -so great an amateur of analysis, had endeavoured to -analyse the metaphysics of the one and the logic of the other, -to prove to me that he understood at least what he found so -unworthy of taking up his time; but that was the thing -about which he thought the least. Open whatever book -you will; if the authors are theologians, they will say to you -that Socrates, Pythagoras, Zoroaster, Kong-Tse or Confucius, -as they call him, are -pagans,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_461" id="fnanchor_461"></a><a href="#footnote_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a></span> -whose damnation is, if not -certain, at least very probable; they will treat their theosophy -with the most profound contempt: if they are physicists, -they will assure you that Thales, Leucippus, Heraclitus, -Parmenides, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Aristotle, and the -others are miserable dreamers; they will jeer at their systems: -if they are astronomers, they will laugh at their astronomy: -if they are naturalists, chemists, botanists, they will make -jest of their methods, and will take into consideration their -credulity, their stupidity, their bad faith, the numerous -wonders that they no longer understand in Aristotle and -in Pliny. None will take the trouble to prove their assertions; -but, like people blinded by passion and ignorance, -they state as fact what is in question, or putting their own -ideas in place of those that they do not understand they -will create phantoms for the sake of fighting them. Never -going back to the principles of anything, stopping only at -forms, adopting without examination the commonest notions, -they will commit on all sides the same mistake that -they have committed with respect to the genethliatical -science, the principles of which I have shown in my last -Examination; and confounding this science of the ancients -with the astrology of the moderns, they will consider in -the same light Tiresias and Nostradamus, and will see no -difference between the oracle of Ammon, or of Delphi, and -the lucky chance of the most paltry fortune-teller.</p> - -<p>However, I do not pretend to say that all the modern -savants indulge, in this same manner, in presumption and -false notions with regard to antiquity; there have been many -honourable exceptions among them: even those have been -found who, drawn beyond the golden mean, by the necessity -of effecting a useful reform or of establishing a new system, -have returned there as soon as their passion or their interest -have no longer commanded them. Such for example is -Bacon, to whom philosophy has owed enough great favours -to forget certain incidental prejudices; for I am, furthermore, -far from attributing to him the errors of his disciples. -Bacon, at the risk of contradicting himself, yielding to the -sentiment of truth, although he subjected all to the light of -experience, admitted, however, positive and real universals, -which, by his method are wholly -inexplicable.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_462" id="fnanchor_462"></a><a href="#footnote_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a></span> -Forgetting -what he had said of Plato in one book, he declared -in another: that this philosopher, endowed with a sublime -genius, turning his attention upon all nature and contemplating -all things from a lofty elevation, had seen very clearly, -in his doctrine of ideas, what the veritable objects of science -are.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_463" id="fnanchor_463"></a><a href="#footnote_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a></span> -Finally recognizing the principles of physics and -the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(ensemble)</i> of things as the foremost to be considered, he -made astrological science, which he likened to astronomy, -depend upon it, in such a manner as to show that he did -not confound it with vulgar astrology. This philosopher -found that before his time, astronomy, well enough founded -upon phenomena, utterly lacked soundness, and that astrology -had lost its true principles. To be sure he agreed with -astronomy presenting the exterior of celestial phenomena, -that is to say, the number, situation, movement, and periods -of the stars; but he accused it of lacking in understanding -of the physical reasons of these phenomena. He believed -that a single theory which contents itself with appearances -is a very easy thing, and that one can imagine an infinity -of speculations of this sort; also he wished that the science -of astronomy might be further advanced.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Instead of revealing the reasons of celestial phenomena [he -said], one is occupied only with observations and mathematical -demonstrations; for these observations and these demonstrations -can indeed furnish certain ingenious hypotheses to settle all that -in one’s mind, and to make an idea of this assemblage, but not -to know precisely how and why all this is actually in nature: -they indicate, at the most, the apparent movements, the artificial -assemblage, the arbitrary combination of all these phenomena, -but not the veritable causes and the reality of things: and -as to this subject [he continues], it is with very little judgment -that astronomy is ranked among the mathematical sciences; -this classification derogates from its -dignity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_464" id="fnanchor_464"></a><a href="#footnote_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a></span></p> - -<p>Regarding astrological science, Bacon wished that it might -be regenerated completely by bringing it back to its real -principles, that is to say, that one should reject all that the -vulgar had added thereto, both narrow and superstitious, -preserving only the grand revolutions of the ancients. These -ideas, as is quite obvious, are not at all in accord with those -that his disciples have adopted since; also the greater part -of them refrain from citing similar passages.</p> - -<p class="p2 center">18. <i>Neglect not thy health …</i></p> - -<p>I had at first the intention of making here some allusion -to the manner in which Pythagoras and the ancient sages -considered medicine; and I had wished to reveal their principles, -quite different from those of the moderns; but I have -realized that an object so important requires developments -that this work would not allow and I have left them for a -time more opportune, and for a work more suitable. Moreover -the line of Lysis has no need of explanation; it is clear. -This philosopher commends each one to guard his health, -to keep it by temperance and moderation, and if it becomes -impaired, to put himself in condition of not confiding to -another the care of its re-establishment. This precept was -sufficiently understood by the ancients for it to have become -a sort of proverb.</p> - -<p>The Emperor Tiberius, who made it a rule of conduct, -said that a man of thirty years or more who called or even -consulted a physician was an ignoramus.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_465" id="fnanchor_465"></a><a href="#footnote_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a></span> -It is true -that Tiberius did not add to the precept the exercise of the -temperance that Lysis did not forget to commend in the -following lines, also he lived only seventy-eight years, notwithstanding -the strength of his constitution promised him -a much longer life. Hippocrates of Cos, the father of medicine -in Greece and strongly attached to the doctrine of -Pythagoras, lived one hundred and four years; Xenophile, -Apollonius, Tyanæus, Demonax, and many other Pythagorean -philosophers lived to one hundred and six and one-hundred -and ten years; and Pythagoras himself, although -violently persecuted towards the end of his life, attained to -nearly ninety-nine years according to some and even to the -century mark according to others.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_466" id="fnanchor_466"></a><a href="#footnote_466" class="fnanchor">[466]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">19. … <i>Dispense with moderation,<br /> -  Food to the body, and to the mind repose</i>,</p> - -<p>The body, being the instrument of the soul, Pythagoras -desired that one should take reasonable and necessary care -of it in order to hold it always in condition to execute the -behests of the soul. He regarded its preservation as a part -of the purgative virtue.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_467" id="fnanchor_467"></a><a href="#footnote_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">20. <i>Too much attention or too little shun; for envy<br /> -  Thus, to either excess is alike attached.</i></p> - -<p>The philosopher, firm in his principle of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(juste milieu)</i>, -wished that his disciples should avoid excess in all things, -and that they should not draw attention to themselves by -an unusual way of living. It was a widespread opinion among -the ancients, that envy, shameful for the one who felt it -and dangerous for the one who inspired it, had fatal consequences -for both.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_468" id="fnanchor_468"></a><a href="#footnote_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a></span> -For envy is attached to all that tends -to distinguish men too ostensibly. Thus, notwithstanding -all that has been published of the extraordinary rules and -severe abstinences that Pythagoras imposed upon his disciples -and that he made them observe, it appears indubitable -that they were only established after his death, and that -his interpreters, being deceived regarding the mysterious -meaning of these symbols, take in the literal sense, what he -had said in the figurative. The philosopher blamed only -the excess, and permitted besides, a moderate usage of all -the foods to which men were accustomed. Even the beans, -for which his disciples later conceived so much abhorrence, -were eaten frequently.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_469" id="fnanchor_469"></a><a href="#footnote_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a></span> -He did not forbid absolutely either -wine, or meat, or even fish, whatever may have been asserted -at different times<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_470" id="fnanchor_470"></a><a href="#footnote_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a></span>; -though, indeed, those of his -disciples who aspired to the highest perfection abstained -from them<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_471" id="fnanchor_471"></a><a href="#footnote_471" class="fnanchor">[471]</a></span>; -he represented drunkenness and intemperance -only as odious vices that should be -avoided.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_472" id="fnanchor_472"></a><a href="#footnote_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a></span> -He had no -scruples about drinking a little wine himself, and of tasting -the meats set before him at -table,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_473" id="fnanchor_473"></a><a href="#footnote_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a></span> -in order to show that -he did not regard them as impure, notwithstanding he preferred -the vegetable <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(régime)</i> to all others and that, for the -most part, he restricted himself to it from -choice.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_474" id="fnanchor_474"></a><a href="#footnote_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a></span> -Further -on I will return to the mystic meaning of the symbols, by -which he had the appearance of forbidding the use of certain -foods and above all beans.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">21. <i>Luxury and avarice have similar results.<br /> -  One must choose in all things a mean just and good.</i></p> - -<p>Lysis terminates the purgative part of the doctrine of -Pythagoras with the trait which characterizes it in general -and in particular; he has shown the golden mean in virtue -and in science; he has commended it in conduct, he states -in full and says openly that extremes meet; that luxury -and avarice differ not in their effects, and that philosophy -consists in avoiding excess in everything. Hierocles adds -that, to be happy, one must know how, where, when, and how -much to take; and that he who is ignorant of these just -limits is always unhappy and he proves it as follows:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Voluptuousness [he said] is necessarily the effect of an action: -now, if the action is good the voluptuousness remains; if it is -evil the voluptuousness passes and is corrupted. When one does -a shameful thing with pleasure, the pleasure passes and the shame -remains. When one does an excellent thing with great trouble -and labour the pain passes and the excellence alone remains. -Whence it follows necessarily, that the evil life is also bitter and -produces as much sorrow and chagrin as the good life is sweet -and procures joy and -contentment.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_475" id="fnanchor_475"></a><a href="#footnote_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a></span></p> - -<p>“As the flame of a torch tends always upward whichever -way one turns it,” said the Indian sages, “thus the man -whose heart is afire with virtue, whatever accident befalls -him, directs himself always toward the end that wisdom -indicates.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_476" id="fnanchor_476"></a><a href="#footnote_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Misfortune follows vice, and happiness virtue,” said -the Chinese, “as the echo follows the voice and the shadow -him who moves.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_477" id="fnanchor_477"></a><a href="#footnote_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a></span></p> - -<p class="blockquote">O virtue! divine virtue! [exclaims -Kong-Tse<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_478" id="fnanchor_478"></a><a href="#footnote_478" class="fnanchor">[478]</a></span> -] a celestial -power presents thee to us, an interior force conducts us toward -thee; happy the mortal in whom thou dwellest! he strikes the -goal without effort, a single glance suffices for him to penetrate -the truth. His heart becomes the sanctuary of peace and his -very inclinations protect his innocence. It is granted to the sage -only, to attain to so desirable a state. He who aspires to this -must resolve upon the good and attach himself strongly to it; -he must apply himself to the study of himself, interrogate nature, -examine all things carefully, meditate upon them and allow -nothing to pass unfathomed. Let him develop the faculties of -his soul, let him think with force, let him put energy and firmness -into his actions. Alas! how many men there are who seek virtue -and science, and who stop in the middle of their course, because -the goal keeps them waiting! My studies, they say, leave me -with all my ignorance, all my doubts; my efforts, my labours -enlarge neither my views nor my sagacity; the same clouds hover -over my understanding and obscure it; I feel my forces abandoning -me and my will giving way beneath the weight of the obstacle. -No matter; guard yourself against discouragement; that which -others have been able to attain at the first attempt, you may be -able at the hundredth; that which they have done at the hundredth, -you will do at the -thousandth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_479" id="fnanchor_479"></a><a href="#footnote_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 center"><span class="sc">Perfection</span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">22. <i>Let not sleep e’er close thy tired eyes,<br /> -  Without thou ask thyself; What have I omitted, and what done?</i></p> - -<p>Lysis, after having indicated the route by which Pythagoras -conducted his disciples to virtue, goes on to teach -them the use that this philosopher wished them to make -of this celestial gift, once they had mastered it. Up to -this point it is confined in the purgative part of the doctrine -of his teacher; he now passes to the unitive part, -that is to say, to that which has as object the uniting of -man to the Divinity, by rendering him more and more like -unto the model of all perfection and of all wisdom, which is -God. The sole instrument capable of operating this union -has been placed at his disposition by means of the good usage -that he has made of his will: it is virtue which must serve -him at present to attain truth. Now, Truth is the ultimate -goal of perfection: there is nothing beyond it and nothing -this side of it but error; light springs from it; it is the -soul of God, according to -Pythagoras,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_480" id="fnanchor_480"></a><a href="#footnote_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a></span> -and God himself, -according to the legislator of the -Indians.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_481" id="fnanchor_481"></a><a href="#footnote_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a></span></p> - -<p>The first precept that Pythagoras gave to his disciples -on entering the course of perfection tended to turn their -thoughts upon themselves, to bring them to interrogate -their actions, their thoughts, their discourse, to question -the motives, to reflect in short upon their exterior movements -and seek thus to know themselves. Knowledge of self -was the most important knowledge of all, that which must -conduct them to all others. I will not weary my readers -by adding anything to what I have already said pertaining -to the importance of this knowledge, and the extreme value -set upon it by the ancients. They know unquestionably -that the morals of Socrates and the philosophy of Plato were -only the development of it and that an inscription in the -temple of Greece, that of Delphi, commended it, after that -of the golden mean, as the very teaching of the God whom -they worshipped there<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_482" id="fnanchor_482"></a><a href="#footnote_482" class="fnanchor">[482]</a></span>: -<i>Nothing in excess, and know Thyself</i>, -contained in few words the doctrine of the sages, -and presented for their meditation the principles upon -which reposed virtue and wisdom which is its consequence. -Nothing further was necessary to electrify the soul of Heraclitus -and to develop the germs of genius, which until the -moment when he read these two sentences were buried in a -cold inertia.</p> - -<p>I will not pause therefore to prove the necessity of a -knowledge without which all other is but doubt and presumption. -I will only examine, in a brief digression, if -this knowledge is possible. Plato, as I have said, made the -whole edifice of his doctrine rest upon it; he taught, according -to Socrates, that ignorance of one’s self involves all -ignorance, all mistakes, all vices, and all misfortunes; whereas -knowledge of one’s self, on the contrary, draws all virtue -and all goodness<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_483" id="fnanchor_483"></a><a href="#footnote_483" class="fnanchor">[483]</a></span>: -so that it cannot be doubted that this -knowledge might be considered possible, since its impossibility -merely questioned would render its system null and -void. However, as Socrates had said that he knew nothing, -in order to distinguish himself from the sophists of his day -who pretended to know everything; as Plato had constantly -used in his teachings that sort of dialectic which, proceeding -toward truth by doubt, consists in defining things for what -they are, knowing their essence, distinguishing those which -are real from those which are only illusory; and above all -as the favourite maxim of these two philosophers had been -that it was necessary to renounce all manner of prejudices, -not pretending to know that of which one is ignorant, and -giving assent only to clear and evident truths; it came to -pass that the disciples of these great men, having lost sight -of the real spirit of their doctrine, took the means for the -end; and imagining that the perfection of wisdom was in -the doubt which leads to it, established as fundamental -maxim, that the wise man ought neither to affirm nor deny -anything; but to hold his assent suspended between the -<i>pro</i> and <i>con</i> of each -thing.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_484" id="fnanchor_484"></a><a href="#footnote_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a></span> -Arcesilaus, who declared -himself the chief of this revolution, was a man of vast intellect, -endowed with much physical and moral means, an -imposing presence, and very -eloquent,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_485" id="fnanchor_485"></a><a href="#footnote_485" class="fnanchor">[485]</a></span> -but imbued with -that secret terror which prevents concentrating upon the -things that one regards as sacred and forbidden; audacious -and almost impious to all outward appearance, he was, in -reality, timid and -superstitious.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_486" id="fnanchor_486"></a><a href="#footnote_486" class="fnanchor">[486]</a></span> -Impressed with the -inadequacy of his researches to discover the certainty of -certain principles, his vanity had persuaded him that this -certainty was undiscoverable, since he, Arcesilaus, did not -find it; and his superstition acting in accord with his vanity, -he finally believed that the ignorance of man is an effect of -the will of God; and that, according to the meaning of a passage -from Hesiod that he cited unceasingly, the Divinity has -spread an impenetrable veil between it and the human -understanding.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_487" id="fnanchor_487"></a><a href="#footnote_487" class="fnanchor">[487]</a></span> -Also he named the effect of this ignorance, -<i>Acatalepsy</i>, that is to say incomprehensibility, or -impossibility to raise the -veil.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_488" id="fnanchor_488"></a><a href="#footnote_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a></span> -His disciples in great -numbers adopted this incomprehensibility and applied it -to all sorts of subjects; now denying, then affirming the -same thing; placing a principle, and overthrowing it the -next moment; becoming entangled themselves in captious -arguments in order to prove that they knew nothing, and -making for themselves the calamitous glory of ignoring -good and evil, and of being unable to distinguish virtue -from vice.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_489" id="fnanchor_489"></a><a href="#footnote_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a></span> -Dismal effect of an early error! Arcesilaus -became the convincing proof of what I have repeated touching -the golden mean and the similitude of extremes: once -having left the path of truth, he became through weakness -and through superstition the head of a crowd of audacious -atheists, who, after having called in question the principles -upon which logic and morals repose, placed there those of -religion and overthrew them. Vainly he essayed to arrest -the movement of which he had been the cause by establishing -two doctrines: the one public, wherein he taught skepticism; -the other secret, wherein he maintained -dogmatism<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_490" id="fnanchor_490"></a><a href="#footnote_490" class="fnanchor">[490]</a></span>: -the time was no longer favourable for this distinction. All -that he gained was to let another usurp the glory and to -give his name to the new sect of doubters. It was Pyrrho -who had this honour. This man, of a character as firm as -impassive, to whom living or dying was a matter of indifference, -who preferred nothing to something, whom a precipice -opening beneath his feet would be unable to swerve from -his path, gathered under his colours all those who made a -philosophical profession of doubting everything, of recognizing -nowhere the character of truth, and he gave them a -sort of doctrine wherein wisdom was placed in the most -complete uncertainty, felicity in the most absolute inertia, -and genius in the art of stifling all kinds of genius by the -accumulation of contradictory -reasonings.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_491" id="fnanchor_491"></a><a href="#footnote_491" class="fnanchor">[491]</a></span> -Pyrrho had -much contempt for men, as was obvious from the doctrine -which he gave them. He had constantly on his lips this -line of Homer: “Even as are the generations of leaves such -are those likewise of -men.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_492" id="fnanchor_492"></a><a href="#footnote_492" class="fnanchor">[492]</a></span></p> - -<p>I pause a moment here, in order that the reader may -observe, that although the thought of Hesiod, concerning -the veil that the gods had spread between them and men, -and which gave rise to Arcesilaus establishing his acatalepsy, -had originated in -India,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_493" id="fnanchor_493"></a><a href="#footnote_493" class="fnanchor">[493]</a></span> -it had never had the same -results there; and this, because the Brahmans, in teaching -that this veil existed and that it even bewildered the vulgar -by a series of illusory phenomena, have never said that it -was impossible to raise it; because this might have been an -attack on the power of the will of man and its perfectibility, -to which they put no limit. We shall see further on that -such was also the idea of Pythagoras. Let us return to the -Skeptics.</p> - -<p>The writer to whom we owe a comparative history of -the systems of philosophy, written with thought and impartiality, -has felt keenly that skepticism ought to be considered -under two relations: as skepticism of criticism and -reform, necessary to correct the presumption of the human -mind and to destroy its prejudices; as skepticism absolute -and determined, which confounds in a common proscription -both truth and -error.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_494" id="fnanchor_494"></a><a href="#footnote_494" class="fnanchor">[494]</a></span> -The first, of which Socrates -gave the example, and which Bacon and Descartes have -revived, is a sort of intellectual remedy that Providence -prepares for healing one of the most fatal maladies of the -human mind, that kind of presumptuous ignorance which -makes one believe that he knows that which he does not -know: the second, which is only the excess and abuse of -the first, is this same remedy transformed into poison by an -aberration of the human reason which transports it beyond -the circumstances which invoke its action, and employs it -to devour itself and to exhaust in their source all the causes -which cooperate in the progress of human -understanding.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_495" id="fnanchor_495"></a><a href="#footnote_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a></span> -Arcesilaus was the first to introduce it into the Academy -by exaggerating the maxims of Socrates, and Pyrrho made -a special system of destruction in it, under the name of -<i>Pyrrhonism</i>. This system, welcomed in Greece, soon infected -it with its venom, notwithstanding the vigorous resistance -of Zeno the Stoic, whom Providence had raised up -to oppose its ravages.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_496" id="fnanchor_496"></a><a href="#footnote_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a></span> -Carried to Rome by Carneades, -the head of the third academy, it alarmed with its maxims -subversive of public morals, Cato the Censor, who confounding -it with philosophy conceived for it an implacable -hatred.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_497" id="fnanchor_497"></a><a href="#footnote_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a></span> -This rigid republican, hearing Carneades speak against -justice, denying the existence of virtues, attacking the -Divine Providence, and questioning the fundamental verities -of religion, held in contempt a science which could bring -forth such arguments.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_498" id="fnanchor_498"></a><a href="#footnote_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a></span> -He urged the return of the Greek -philosophy, so that the Roman youth might not be imbued -with its errors; but the evil was done. The destructive -germs that Carneades had left, fermented secretly in the -heart of the State, developed under the first favourable -conditions, increased and produced at last that formidable -colossus, which, after taking possession of the public mind, -having obscured the most enlightened ideas of good and -evil, annihilated religion, and delivered the Republic to -disorder, civil wars, and destruction; and raising itself again -with the Roman Empire, withering the principles of the life -it had received, necessitated the institution of a new cult -and thus was exposed to the incursion of foreign errors and -the arms of the barbarians. This colossus, victim of its -own fury, after having torn and devoured itself was buried -beneath the shams that it had heaped up; Ignorance seated -upon its <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(débris)</i> governed Europe, until Bacon and Descartes -came and resuscitating, as much as was possible for them -the Socratic skepticism, endeavoured by its means to turn -minds toward the research of truth. But they might -not have done so well, had they not also awakened certain -remnants of Pyrrhonic skepticism, which, being sustained -with their passions and their prejudices, soon resulted in -bewildering their disciples. This new skepticism, naïve in -Montaigne, dogmatic in Hobbes, disguised in Locke, masterly -in Bayle, paradoxical but seductive in the greater number of -the eighteenth-century writers, hidden now beneath the -surface of what is called Experimental philosophy, lures -the mind on toward a sort of empirical routine, and unceasingly -denying the past, discouraging the future, aims -by all kinds of means to retard the progress of the human -mind. It is no more even the character of truth; and the -proof of this character that the modern skeptics demand -<i>ad infinitum</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_499" id="fnanchor_499"></a><a href="#footnote_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a></span> -is the demonstration of the very possibility -of understanding this character and of proving it: a new -subtlety that they have deduced from the unfruitful efforts -that certain thinkers have made recently in Germany, to -give to the possibility of the knowledge of self, a basis which -they have not given.</p> - -<p>I will relate in my next Examination, what has hindered -these savants from finding this basis. I must, before terminating -this one, show to my readers how I believe one -can distinguish the two kinds of skepticism of which I have -just spoken. A simple question put to a skeptic philosopher -will indicate whether he belongs to the school of Socrates -or Pyrrho. He must before entering into any discussion -reply clearly to this demand: Do you admit of any difference -whatever between that which is and that which is not? If -the skeptic belongs to the school of Socrates, he will necessarily -admit a difference and he will explain it, which will -make him recognized at once. If on the contrary, he belongs -to that of Pyrrho, he will respond in one of three ways: -either that he admits a difference, or that he admits none, -or that he does not know whether one exists. If he admits -it without explaining it, he is beaten; if he does not admit it, -he falls into absurdity; if he pretends not to distinguish it, -he becomes foolish and ridiculous.</p> - -<p>He is beaten, if he admits a difference between that -which is and that which is not; because that difference, -admitted, proves the existence of being; the existence of -being proves that of the skeptic who replies; and that -existence proved, proves all the others, whether one considers -them in him, or outside of him, which is the same thing for -the moment.</p> - -<p>He falls into absurdity, if he does not admit any difference -between that which is and that which is not, for then -one can prove to him that 1 is equal to 0, and that the part -is as great as the whole.</p> - -<p>He becomes foolish and ridiculous, if he dares to say that -he does not know whether a difference really exists between -that which is, and that which is not; for then one asks him -what he did at the age of six months, at one year, two -years, two weeks ago, yesterday? Whatever he replies, he -will become the object of ridicule.</p> - -<p>Behold the Pyrrhonian beaten, that is to say, the one -who professes to doubt everything; since a single acknowledged -difference bringing him irresistibly to a certainty, -and since one certainty militates against all the others, there -is no further doubt; and since, doubting no further, it is -only a question then of knowing what he ought, or ought -not to doubt: this is the true character of the skeptic of the -Socratic School.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">23. <i>Abstain thou if ’tis evil; persevere if good.</i></p> - -<p>But although one may bring the absolute skeptic to agree -that a difference between good and evil can indeed exist, -as he is forced to agree that one does exist between that -which is and that which is not, just as I have demonstrated -in my preceding Examination; would he not be right in -saying, that to know in general, that good and evil can differ -and consequently exist separately, does not prevent confounding -them in particular; and that he can doubt that -man may be able to make the distinction, until one may have -proved to him that not alone their knowledge, but that some -sort of knowledge is possible? Assuredly, this is pushing -doubt very far. One could dispense with replying to this, -since the skeptic already interrogated concerning the difference -existing between what is and what is not has been -forced to admit it and to acquire thus some sort of knowledge -of being; but let us forget this, in order to examine why -the savants of Germany have inadequately removed a difficulty -which they have imposed upon themselves.</p> - -<p>It is Kant, one of the ablest minds that Europe has produced -since the extinction of learning, who, resolved to -terminate with a single blow the struggle springing up -unceasingly between dogmatism and skepticism, has been -the first to form the bold project of creating a science which -should determine, <i>a priori</i>, the possibility, the principles, -and the limits of all -knowledge.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_500" id="fnanchor_500"></a><a href="#footnote_500" class="fnanchor">[500]</a></span> -This science, which he -named <cite>Critical Philosophy</cite>, or method of -judgment,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_501" id="fnanchor_501"></a><a href="#footnote_501" class="fnanchor">[501]</a></span> -he -has developed in several works of considerable length and -very difficult of comprehension. I do not intend here to -make an explanation of this science; for this labour, out of -place in these Examinations, would carry me too far. My -intention is only to show the point wherein it has given way, -and how it has furnished new weapons for the skeptics, -in not holding well to the promise that it had made of determining -the principle of knowledge. Therefore, I will suppose -the doctrine of Kant understood or partially so. Several -works, circulated somewhat extensively in France, have -unravelled it sufficiently to the -savants.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_502" id="fnanchor_502"></a><a href="#footnote_502" class="fnanchor">[502]</a></span> -I will only say -what the authors of these works have been unable to say, -and this will be the general result of the impression that the -study of this doctrine has made upon me: it is that Kant, -who pretends to found all his doctrine upon principles, -<i>a priori</i>, abstraction being made of all the underlying notions -of experience, and who, rising into an ideal sphere there to -consider reason in an absolute way, independent of its -effects so as to deduce from it a theory transcendental and -purely intelligible, concerning the principle of knowledge, -has done precisely the opposite from what he wished to do; -for not finding what he sought, he has found what he has -not sought, that is to say, the essence of matter. Let the -disciples of this philosophy give attention to what I say. -I have known several systems of philosophy and I have put -considerable force into penetrating them; but I can affirm -that there exists not a single one upon the face of the earth, -wherein the primitive matter of which the Universe is composed -may be characterized by traits as striking as in that -of Kant. I believe it impossible either to understand it -better or to depict it better. He uses neither figures, nor -symbols; he tells what he sees with a candour which would -have been appalling to Pythagoras and Plato; for what the -Koenigsberg professor advances concerning both the existence -and the non-existence of this -matter,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_503" id="fnanchor_503"></a><a href="#footnote_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a></span> -and of its intuitive -reality, and of its phenomenal illusion, and of its -essential forms, time and space, and of the labour that the -mind exercises upon this equivocal being, which, always -being engendered, never, however, exists; all this, taught in -the mysteries, was only clearly revealed to the initiate. -Listen a moment to what has transpired in India: it is the -fundamental axiom of the <i>Vedantic</i> school, the illustrious -disciples of Vyasa and of Sankarâchârya, an axiom in accordance -with the dogmas of the sacred books.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Matter exists [say these philosophers], but not of an existence -such as is imagined by the vulgar; it exists but it has no essence -independent of intellectual perceptions; for existence and perceptibility -are, in this case, convertible terms. The sage knows -that appearances and their exterior sensations are purely illusory -and that they would vanish into nothingness, if the Divine energy -which alone sustains them was for an instant -suspended.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_504" id="fnanchor_504"></a><a href="#footnote_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a></span></p> - -<p>I beg the disciples of Kant to give attention to this -passage, and to remember what Plato has said of the same, -that, sometimes matter exists and sometimes it does not -exist<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_505" id="fnanchor_505"></a><a href="#footnote_505" class="fnanchor">[505]</a></span>; -as Justin the martyr, and Cyril of Alexandria have -reproached him for it; and as Plutarch and Chalcidius -have strongly remarked -it,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_506" id="fnanchor_506"></a><a href="#footnote_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a></span> -in seeking to excuse this apparent -contradiction.</p> - -<p>Let us endeavour now to call attention to the point -where Kant is led astray. This point, in the philosophical -course that this savant meant to pursue, seemed at first of -very slight importance; but the deviation that it causes, -although small and almost imperceptible at the first instant, -determines none the less a divergent line, which, turning -aside more and more from the right line proportionably as -it is prolonged, is found to strike at an enormous distance -from the mark where Kant hoped it would arrive. This -deviating point—​who would have believed it—​is found in -the misinterpretation and the misapplication of a word. -All the attention of the reader is required here. What I -am about to say, in demonstrating the error of the German -philosopher, will serve to supplement all that I have said -pertaining to the doctrine of Pythagoras.</p> - -<p>Kant, whether through imitation of the ancient philosophers -or through the effect of his own learning which had -made him desirous of knowing the truth, has considered -man under three principal modifications which he calls -faculties. In my twelfth Examination I have said that -such was the doctrine of Pythagoras. Plato, who followed -in everything the metaphysics of this great genius, distinguished -in Man as in the Universe, the body, soul, and spirit; -and placed, in each of the modifications of the particular or -universal unity which constituted them, the analogous -faculties which, becoming developed in their turn, gave -birth to three new modifications whose productive unity -they became<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_507" id="fnanchor_507"></a><a href="#footnote_507" class="fnanchor">[507]</a></span>; -so that each ternary is represented in its -development, under the image of the triple Ternary, and -formed by its union with the Unity, first the Quaternary -and afterwards the -Decade.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_508" id="fnanchor_508"></a><a href="#footnote_508" class="fnanchor">[508]</a></span> -Now the German philosopher, -without explaining the principle which led him to -consider man under three principal faculties, states them; -without saying to what particular modification he attributes -them, that is, without foreseeing if these faculties -are physical, animistic or intellectual; if they belong to -the body, to the soul, or to the mind: a first mistake which -leads him to a second of which I am about to speak.</p> - -<p>In order to express these three facilities, Kant makes -use of three words taken from his own tongue and concerning -the meaning of which it is well to fix our attention. He -has named the first of these faculties <i>Empfindlichkeit</i>, the -second, <i>Verstand</i>, and the third, <i>Vernunft</i>. These three -words are excellent; it is only a question of clearly understanding -and explaining them.</p> - -<p>The word <i>Empfindlichkeit</i> expresses that sort of faculty -which consists in collecting from without, feeling from within, -and finding good or -bad.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_509" id="fnanchor_509"></a><a href="#footnote_509" class="fnanchor">[509]</a></span> -It has been very well rendered -in French by the word <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(sensibilité)</i>.</p> - -<p>The word <i>Verstand</i> designates that sort of faculty which -consists in reaching afar, being carried from a central point -to all other points of the circumference to seize -them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_510" id="fnanchor_510"></a><a href="#footnote_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a></span> - -It has been quite well rendered in French by the word -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(entendement)</i>.</p> - -<p>The word <i>Vernunft</i> is applied to that sort of faculty, -which consists in choosing at a distance, in wishing, in -selecting, in electing that which is -good.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_511" id="fnanchor_511"></a><a href="#footnote_511" class="fnanchor">[511]</a></span> -It is expressed -by the word <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(raison)</i>; but this expresses it very poorly, whatever -may be the real meaning given it by Kant.</p> - -<p>This philosopher ought to have realized more fully the -origin of this word and he should have made a more just -application; then his system would have taken another -direction and he would have attained his goal. He would -have made us see, and he would have seen himself, the reality, -namely, <em>intelligence</em> and not reason.</p> - -<p>One can easily see that the faculty which Kant designates -by the word <i>Empfindlichkeit</i>, sense perception, belongs to -the physical part of man; and that which he expresses by -the word <i>Verstand</i>, the understanding, resides in his animistic -part; but one cannot see at all that what he names <i>Vernunft</i>, -and which he continually confounds with reason, may be able -in any manner to dominate in his intellectual part. For -this, it would be necessary that he should consider it under -the relation of the intelligence; which he has not done. It -is very true that he has wished to place it constantly in the -mind, by representing the three faculties of which man is -composed as a sort of hierarchy, of which sense perception -occupies the base, understanding the centre, and reason the -summit; or as one of his translators said, imagining this -hierarchy under the emblem of an empire, of which sense -perception constitutes the subjects, understanding the -agents or ministers, and reason the sovereign or -legislator.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_512" id="fnanchor_512"></a><a href="#footnote_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a></span> - -I cannot conceive how Kant, by giving the word <i>Vernunft</i>, -the meaning of the Latin word <i>ratio</i>, has been able to say -that it is the highest degree of the activity of a mind which -has the power of all its liberty, and the consciousness of all -its strength<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_513" id="fnanchor_513"></a><a href="#footnote_513" class="fnanchor">[513]</a></span>: -there is nothing more false. Reason does -not exist in liberty, but on the contrary, in necessity. Its -movement, which is geometric, is always forced: it is an -inference from the point of departure, and nothing more. -Let us examine this carefully. The Latin word <i>ratio</i>, whose -meaning Kant has visibly followed, has never translated -exactly the Greek word <i>logos</i>, in the sense of <i>word</i>; and -if the Greek philosophers have substituted sometimes the -<i>logos</i> for <i>nous</i>, or the word for the intelligence, by taking -the effect for the cause, it is wrong when the Romans have -tried to imitate them, by using <i>ratio</i>, in place of <i>mens</i>, or -<i>intelligentia</i>. In this they have proved their ignorance and -have disclosed the calamitous ravages that skepticism had -already made among them. The word <i>ratio</i> springs from -the root <i>ra</i> or <i>rat</i>, which in all the tongues where it has been -received, has carried the idea of a <i>ray</i>, a straight line drawn -from one point to -another.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_514" id="fnanchor_514"></a><a href="#footnote_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a></span> -Thus reason, far from being -free as Kant has pretended, is what is the most constrained -in nature: it is a geometric line, always subject to -the point whence it emanates, and forced to strike the point -toward which it is directed under penalty of ceasing to be -itself; that is to say, of ceasing to be straight. Now, reason -not being free in its course, is neither good nor bad in itself; -it is always analogous to the principle of which it is the -inference. Its nature is to go straight; its perfection is -nothing else. One goes straight in every way, in every -direction, high, low, to right, to left; one reasons correctly -in truth as in error, in vice as in virtue: all depends upon -the principle from which one sets out, and upon the manner -in which one looks at things. Reason does not give this -principle; it is no more master of the end which it goes to -attain, than the straight line drawn upon the ground is -master of the point toward which it tends. This end and -this point are determined beforehand, by the position of the -reasoner or by geometry.</p> - -<p>Reason exists alike in the three great human modifications, -although its principal seat is in the soul, according to -Plato.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_515" id="fnanchor_515"></a><a href="#footnote_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a></span> -There is a physical reason acting in the instinct, a moral -reason acting in the soul, and an intellectual reason acting -in the mind. When a hungry dog brings to his master a -piece of game without touching it, he obeys an instinctive -reason which makes him sacrifice the pleasure of gratifying -his appetite, to the pain of receiving the blow of a stick. -When a man dies at his post instead of abandoning it, he -follows a moral reason which makes him prefer the glory of -dying to the shame of living. When a philosopher admits -the immortality of the soul, he listens to an intellectual -reason which shows him the impossibility of its annihilation. -All this, nevertheless, takes place only so far as the dog, the -man, and the philosopher admit the real principles; for if -they admitted false principles, their reasons, although -equally well deduced, would conduct them to opposed results; -and the piece of game would be eaten, the post -would be abandoned, and the immortality of the soul -would be denied.</p> - -<p>One ought to feel now the mistake of Kant in all its -extent. This philosopher having confounded one of the -principal modifications of man, his -intelligence,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_516" id="fnanchor_516"></a><a href="#footnote_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a></span> -whose -seat is in the soul, with one of his secondary faculties, his -reason, finds himself, in raising this reason outside of its -place and giving it a dominance that it has not, ousting -entirely the spiritual part; so that meditating constantly -in the median part of his being, which he believed to be the -superior, and descending, he found matter, understood it -perfectly, and missed absolutely the spirit. What he assumed -was, it was nothing else than the understanding, a -neuter faculty placed between sense perception which is -purely passive, and the intelligence which is wholly active. -He had the weakness to fix his thought here and thenceforth -was lost. Reason which he invoked to teach him to distinguish, -in his ideas, the part which is furnished by the spirit, -from that which is given by objects, was only able to show -him the straight line that it described in his understanding. -This line being buried in matter instead of rising in intelligible -regions, taught him that everything that did not -correspond to a possible experience could not furnish him -the subject of a positive knowledge, and thus all the great -questions upon the existence of God, the immortality of the -soul, the origin of the Universe; all that pertains to theosophy, -to cosmology; in short, all that which is intelligible, cannot -take place in the order of his -understanding.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_517" id="fnanchor_517"></a><a href="#footnote_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a></span> -This -catastrophe, quite inevitable as it was, was none the less -poignant. It was odd to see a man who seemed to promise -to establish the possibility and the principles of all knowledge -upon an incontestable basis, announce coldly that -God, the Universe, and the Soul could not be subjects there, -and soon discover, pushed by the force of his reasoning, -that even the reality of physical subjects by which the -senses are affected is only phenomenal, that one can in no -way know what they are, but only what they appear to -be<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_518" id="fnanchor_518"></a><a href="#footnote_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a></span>; -and that even one’s own Self, considered as a subject, -is also for one only a phenomenon, an appearance, concerning -the intimate essence of which one can learn -nothing.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_519" id="fnanchor_519"></a><a href="#footnote_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a></span> -Kant felt indeed the terrible contradiction into which he had -fallen; but instead of retracing courageously his steps, and -seeking above reason for the principles of knowledge that it -did not possess, he continued his descending movement which -he called transcendental, and finally discovered beneath -this <em>pure Reason</em>, a certain <em>practical Reason</em>, to which he confided -the destinies of the greatest subjects with which man -can be occupied: God, nature, and himself. This practical -reason, which is no other than <em>common sense</em>, ought, according -to him, to bring man to believe what is not given him -to know,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_520" id="fnanchor_520"></a><a href="#footnote_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a></span> -and to engage him, through the need of his own -felicity, to follow the paths of virtue, and to admit the -system of recompense which proceeds from the existence of -God and the immortality of the soul. Thus, this common -sense, already invoked to aid the existence of the physical -subjects which Berkeley reduced to nothingness, was called, -under another name, to sustain that of the spiritual beings -which Kant admitted baffling the action of his pure reason; -but this faculty, vainly proposed by -Shaftesbury,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_521" id="fnanchor_521"></a><a href="#footnote_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a></span> -by -Hutcheson,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_522" id="fnanchor_522"></a><a href="#footnote_522" class="fnanchor">[522]</a></span> -by Reid,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_523" id="fnanchor_523"></a><a href="#footnote_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a></span> -by Oswald,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_524" id="fnanchor_524"></a><a href="#footnote_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a></span> -by the celebrated -Pascal himself,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_525" id="fnanchor_525"></a><a href="#footnote_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a></span> -to give a support to the first truths, and -to furnish the principles of our moral and physical knowledge; -this faculty, I say, whose seat is in the instinct, has -been easily challenged as incompetent to pronounce upon the -subjects which are outside the jurisdiction of its judgments; -for it has been keenly felt that it was abandoning these -subjects to the prejudices of the vulgar, to their erroneous -opinions, to their blind passions; and that practical philosophy -or common sense, acting in each man according to -the extent of his views, would only embarrass relative truths -and would create as many principles as individuals. Furthermore -was it not to run counter to common sense itself, -to submit intelligence and reason to it? Was it not subverting -Nature, and, as it were, causing light to spring upward -from below, seeking in the particular, the law which -rules the Universal?</p> - -<p>The skeptics who saw all these things triumphed, but -their triumph only proved their weakness; for Reason, by -which they demonstrated nothingness, is the sole weapon of -which they can make use. This faculty overthrown in -Kant, leaves them powerless, and delivers them defenceless -to the irresistible axioms that the intelligence places <i>a priori</i> -upon the primordial truths and the fundamental principles -of the Universe, even as the sequel of these Examinations -will demonstrate.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">24. <i>Meditate upon my counsels, love them; follow them:<br /> -  To the divine virtues will they know how to lead thee.</i></p> - -<p>I have spoken at considerable length of the skeptics; -but I have believed it necessary in explaining a dogmatic -work, whose <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(esprit)</i> is wholly opposed to that of skepticism. -When Lysis wrote in Greece, there had been no one as yet -who doubted either the existence of the gods, or that of -the Universe, or made the distinction between good and -evil, virtue and vice. Arcesilaus and Pyrrho were not born, -and the clouds that they raised afterwards concerning these -great subjects of the meditation of the sages were not even -suspected. The minds had inclined rather toward credulity -than toward doubt; toward superstition than toward -atheism; it was more necessary to limit their curiosity than -to excite their indifference. At that epoch, the philosophers -enveloped the truth with veils, and rendered the avenues of -science difficult, so that the vulgar might not profane them. -They knew what had been too long forgotten: that all kinds -of wood are not fitting to make a Mercury. Also their -writers were obscure and sententious: in order to dishearten, -not those who might be able to doubt, but those who were -not in a condition to comprehend.</p> - -<p>Today, as the minds are changed, it is of more importance -to attract those who are able to receive the truth, than -to keep at a distance those who are unable to receive it; -the latter, separating themselves, are persuaded that they -either possess it or have no need of it. I have given the -history of skepticism; I have shown its origin and the sorry -effects of its absolute and disordered influence; not in order -to bring back the skeptics of the profession, but to endeavour -to prevent the men who are still drifting in uncertainty from -becoming so. I have essayed to show them by the example -of one of the greatest reasoners of Germany, by the example -of Kant, that reason alone, with whatever talents it may -be accompanied, cannot fail to lead them to nothingness. -I have made them see that this faculty so lauded is nothing -of itself. I am content with the example of the Koenigsberg -professor; but had I not feared prolixities, I would have -added the example of Berkeley and that of Spinoza. The -varied catastrophes of these three savants form a striking -contrast. Kant, following step by step his pure Reason, -comes to see that the knowledge of intelligible things is impossible -and finds matter; Berkeley, led by the same reason, -proves that the existence of matter is illusory, and that all is -spirit; Spinoza, drawing irresistible arguments from this same -faculty, shows that there exists and can exist only one sole -substance and that therefore spirit and matter are but one. -And do not think that, armed with reason alone, you can -combat separately Spinoza, Berkeley, or Kant: their contradictory -systems will clash in vain; they will triumph -over you and will push you into the dark and bottomless -abyss of skepticism.</p> - -<p>Now, how can this be done? I have told you: it is because -man is not a simple being. Fix this truth firmly. -Man is triple; and it is according as his volitive unity operates -in one or the other of his modifications that he is led -on to see, in such or such a way. Plato has said it, following -Pythagoras, and I say it to you not only following Pythagoras -and Plato, but following all the sages and all the -theosophists of the world. Plato places in the superior -and spiritual modification, composed of the <em>same</em>, that is -to say of the indivisible substance of the universe, the -<i>hegemonicon</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_526" id="fnanchor_526"></a><a href="#footnote_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a></span> -or the intellectual assent; in the inferior and -material modification, composed of the <em>other</em> or the <em>diverse</em>, -that is to say, of the divisible substance, the -<i>physicon</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_527" id="fnanchor_527"></a><a href="#footnote_527" class="fnanchor">[527]</a></span> -or the physical sense perception; in the median modification -or the soul, properly speaking, composed of essence, that -is to say, of the most subtle parts of matter elaborated by -the spirit, the -<i>logicon</i>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_528" id="fnanchor_528"></a><a href="#footnote_528" class="fnanchor">[528]</a></span> -or the moral, logical, or reasonable -sentiment. One finds in Plutarch the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(résumé)</i> of the doctrine -of a philosopher named Sylla, who, admitting, as did Plato, -that man is composed of spirit, soul, and body, said that the -body drew its origin from the earth, the soul from the moon, -and the spirit from the -sun.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_529" id="fnanchor_529"></a><a href="#footnote_529" class="fnanchor">[529]</a></span> -But without disturbing -ourselves for the present, with the origin of these three -parts, since assuredly the earth, the moon, and the sun, -which this philosopher has assigned them for principles, -are things very difficult to understand in themselves, let us -be content with knowing, as I have already said, that these -three great modifications which form the human Quaternary -manifest themselves by sensation, sentiment, and assent, -and develop the principal faculties of the instinct, the understanding, -and the intelligence. The instinct is the seat -of common sense; the understanding is that of reason; -and the intelligence, that of sagacity or wisdom. Men -can never acquire any science, any real knowledge, if the -assent is not determined by favour of the intelligence -which elects the principle and places it with sagacity; for -one can really know or understand only that to which the -intelligence has given consent. All the results that the -understanding, deprived of intelligence, can procure by -means of reason are only opinions, those of these results -which are rigorously demonstrated in the manner of the -geometricians are identities; common sense transported -even into the understanding can give only notions, the -certainty of which, however founded it may be upon experience, -can never surpass that of physical sensation, whose -transient and limited authority is of no weight in the assent -of intelligible truths.</p> - -<p>Let us venture now to divulge a secret of the mysteries -to which Pythagoras made allusion when he said: that not -all kinds of wood are fitting to make a Mercury; and notwithstanding -the vulgar prejudice which is opposed to -this truth, let us affirm that animistic equality among men -is a chimera. I feel that here I am about to clash greatly -with theological ideas and to put myself in opposition to -many brilliant paradoxes that modern philosophers, more -virtuous than wise, have raised and sustained with more -talent and reason than sagacity; but the force of my subject -draws me on and since I am explaining the doctrine of -Pythagoras, it is indeed necessary that I should say why -Lysis, after having examined and commended in detail all -the human virtues in the purgative part of his teachings, -begins again a new instruction in the unitive part and promises -to lead one to divine virtues. This important distinction -that he makes between these two kinds of virtues has -been made by Plato, Aristotle, Galen, and many others of -the philosophers of -antiquity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_530" id="fnanchor_530"></a><a href="#footnote_530" class="fnanchor">[530]</a></span> -One of them, Macrobius, -to whom we owe the knowledge and explanation of many -of the mystic secrets, which, notwithstanding the extreme -care exercised to conceal them, were rumoured outside of -the sanctuaries, has made a comparison between the degrees -of the initiation and those that one admits in the exercise -of the virtues; and he enumerates -four.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_531" id="fnanchor_531"></a><a href="#footnote_531" class="fnanchor">[531]</a></span> -This number, -which is related to the universal Quaternary, has been the -most constantly followed, although it may have varied, -however, from three to seven. The number <em>three</em> was -regarded by the ancients as the principle of nature, and the -number <em>seven</em> as its -end.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_532" id="fnanchor_532"></a><a href="#footnote_532" class="fnanchor">[532]</a></span> -The principal degrees of initiation -were, to the number of three, as the grades of the -apprentice, companion, and master are in Free Masonry -today. From this comes the epithet of Triple, given to -the mysterious Hecate, and even to Mithra, considered -as the emblem of mystic -knowledge.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_533" id="fnanchor_533"></a><a href="#footnote_533" class="fnanchor">[533]</a></span> -Sometimes three -secondary degrees were added to the three principal ones -and were terminated by an extraordinary revelation, which -raising the initiate to the rank of <i>Epopt</i>, or seer <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(par excellence)</i>, -gave him the true signification of the degrees through which -he had already -passed<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_534" id="fnanchor_534"></a><a href="#footnote_534" class="fnanchor">[534]</a></span>; -showed him nature -unveiled,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_535" id="fnanchor_535"></a><a href="#footnote_535" class="fnanchor">[535]</a></span> -and admitted him to the contemplation of divine -knowledge.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_536" id="fnanchor_536"></a><a href="#footnote_536" class="fnanchor">[536]</a></span> - -It was for the Epopt alone that the last veil fell, -and the sacred vestment which covered the statue of the -Goddess was removed. This manifestation, called Epiphany, -shed the most brilliant light upon the darkness which -until then had surrounded the initiate. It was prepared, -said the historians, by frightful tableaux with alternatives -of both terror and -hope.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_537" id="fnanchor_537"></a><a href="#footnote_537" class="fnanchor">[537]</a></span> -The grade of Elect has replaced -that of Epopt among the Free Masons, without in any sense -offering the same results. The forms are indeed nearly -preserved; but the substance has disappeared. The Epopt -of Eleusis, Samothrace, or Hierapolis was regarded as the -foremost of men, the favourite of the gods, and the possessor -of celestial treasures; the sun shone, in his sight, with a -purer brightness; and the sublime virtue that he had acquired -in the tests, more and more difficult, and the lessons -more and more lofty, gave him the faculty of discerning -good and evil, truth and error, and of making a free choice -between them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_538" id="fnanchor_538"></a><a href="#footnote_538" class="fnanchor">[538]</a></span></p> - -<p>But if the various grades of initiation expressed symbolically -the different degrees of virtue to which men in general -can attain, the tests that one was made to pass through at -each new grade, made known in particular, whether the -man who presented himself to obtain it, was worthy or -unworthy. These tests were at first sufficiently easy; but -they became increasingly difficult to such an extent that -the life of the new member was frequently in danger. One -would know in that way to what sort of man this life belonged, -and verify by the crucible of terror and of suffering, -the temper of the soul and the claim of his right to the truth. -It is known that Pythagoras owed to his extreme patience -and to the courage with which he surmounted all the -obstacles, his initiation into the Egyptian -mysteries.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_539" id="fnanchor_539"></a><a href="#footnote_539" class="fnanchor">[539]</a></span> -Those who attained as he did the last degree of initiation -were very rare; the greater number went no further than -the second grade and very few attained the third. Lessons -proportionate to their strength and to those of the faculties -that had been recognized as dominating in them were -given; for this is the essential point in this Examination, one -learned in the sanctuaries to divide the mass of humanity -into three great classes, dominated by a fourth more elevated, -according to the relations that were established between -the faculties of men and the parts of the Universe to which -they corresponded. In the first were ranged the material -or instinctive men; in the second, the animistic, and in the -third, the intellectual men. Thus all men were by no means -considered as equal among them. The pretended equality -which was made on the exterior was mere compliance to the -errors of the vulgar, who, having seized the authority in -most of the cities of Greece and Italy, forced the truth to -conceal an exposure which would have injured it. The -Christian cult, raised upon the extinction of all enlightenment, -nourished in the hearts of slaves and lowly citizens, -sanctified in the course of time a precedent favourable to -its growth. Those, however, among the Christians who -were called gnostics,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_540" id="fnanchor_540"></a><a href="#footnote_540" class="fnanchor">[540]</a></span> -on account of the particular knowledge -that they possessed, and especially the Valentinians -who boasted that they had preserved the knowledge of the -initiation, wished to make a public dogma of the secret of -the mysteries in this respect, pretending that the corruption -of men being only the effect of their ignorance and of their -earthly attachment, it was only necessary in order to save -them, to enlighten them regarding their condition and their -original destination<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_541" id="fnanchor_541"></a><a href="#footnote_541" class="fnanchor">[541]</a></span>; -but the orthodox ones, who felt -the danger into which this doctrine was drawing them, -condemned the authors as heretics.</p> - -<p>This condemnation, which satisfied the pride of the -vulgar, did not prevent the small number of sages remaining -silent, faithful to the truth. It is only necessary to open -one’s eyes, and detaching them a moment from Judea, to -see that the dogma of inequality among men had served as -basis for the civil and religious laws of all the peoples of the -earth, from the orient of Asia to the occidental limits of -Africa and Europe. Everywhere, four great established -divisions under the name of Castes, recalled the four principal -degrees of initiation and retraced upon humanity -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(en masse)</i>, the Universal Quaternary. Egypt had, in this -respect, in very ancient times, given example to -Greece<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_542" id="fnanchor_542"></a><a href="#footnote_542" class="fnanchor">[542]</a></span>; -for this Greece, so proud of her liberty, or rather of her turbulent -anarchy, had been at first subjected to the common -division, even as it is seen in Aristotle and -Strabo.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_543" id="fnanchor_543"></a><a href="#footnote_543" class="fnanchor">[543]</a></span> -The -Chaldeans were, relative to the peoples of -Assyria,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_544" id="fnanchor_544"></a><a href="#footnote_544" class="fnanchor">[544]</a></span> -only -what the Magi were among the -Persians,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_545" id="fnanchor_545"></a><a href="#footnote_545" class="fnanchor">[545]</a></span> -the Druids -among the Gauls,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_546" id="fnanchor_546"></a><a href="#footnote_546" class="fnanchor">[546]</a></span> -and the Brahmans among the Indians. -It is quite well known that this last people, the Brahmans, -constitute the foremost and highest of the four castes of -which the whole nation is composed. The allegorical origin -that religion gives to these castes proves clearly the analogy -of which I have spoken. The following is what is found -relative to this in one of the Shastras. “At the first creation -by Brahma, the Brahmans sprang from his mouth; -the Kshatrys issued from his arms; the Vaisyas from his -thighs, and the Soudras from his feet.” It is said in another -of these books containing the cosmogony of the Banians, -that the first man, called Pourou, having had four sons -named Brahma, Kshetri, Vaisa, and Souderi, God designated -them to be chiefs of the four tribes which he himself -instituted.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_547" id="fnanchor_547"></a><a href="#footnote_547" class="fnanchor">[547]</a></span> -The sacred books of the Burmans, which appear -anterior to those of the other Indian nations, establish the -same division. The Rahans, who fill the sacerdotal offices -among these peoples, teach a doctrine conformable to that -of the mysteries. They say that inequality among men is -a necessary consequence of their past virtues or past vices, -and that they are born in a nation more or less enlightened, -in a caste, in a family, more or less illustrious, according to -their previous conduct.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_548" id="fnanchor_548"></a><a href="#footnote_548" class="fnanchor">[548]</a></span> -This is very close to the thought -of Pythagoras; but no one has expressed it with greater -force and clearness than Kong-Tse. I think I have no need -to say that these two sages did not copy each other. The -assent that they gave to the same idea had its source elsewhere -than in sterile imitation.</p> - -<p>The Chinese people, from time immemorial, have been -divided into four great classes, relative to the rank that men -occupy in society, following the functions that they execute -therein,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_549" id="fnanchor_549"></a><a href="#footnote_549" class="fnanchor">[549]</a></span> -very nearly as do the Indians: but this division, -that long custom has rendered purely political, is looked upon -very differently by the philosophers. Man, according to -them, constitutes one of the three productive powers which -compose the median trinity of the Universe; for they consider -the Universe, or the great All, as the expression of a -triple Trinity enveloped and dominated by the primordial -Unity: which constitutes for them a decade instead of a -Quaternary. This third power called <i>Yin</i>, that is to say, -mankind, is subdivided into three principal classes, which -by means of the intermediary classes admitted by Kong-Tse, -produces the five classes spoken of by this sage.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The first class, the most numerous, comprises [he said] that -multitude of men who act only by a sort of imitative <em>instinct</em>, -doing today what they did yesterday, in order to recommence tomorrow -what they have done today; and who, incapable of discerning -in the distance the real and substantial advantages, the -interest of highest importance, extract easily a little profit, -a base interest in the pettiest things, and have enough adroitness -to procure them. These men have an <em>understanding</em> as the others -but this understanding goes no further than the <em>senses</em>; they see -and hear only through the eyes and the ears of their bodies. -Such are the people.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The second class is composed [according to the same sage] -of men instructed in the sciences, in letters and in the liberal arts. -These men have an object in view in whatever they undertake, -and know the different means by which the end can be accomplished; -they have not penetrated into the essence of things, but -they know them well enough to speak of them with ease and to -give lessons to others; whether they speak or whether they act, -they can give <em>reason</em> for what they say or what they do, comparing -subjects among them and drawing just inferences concerning -what is harmful or profitable: these are the artists, the <i>literati</i>, -who are occupied with things wherein <em>reasoning</em> must enter. -This class can have an influence on customs and even on the -government.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The third class [continues Kong-Tse] comprises those who -in their speech, in their actions, and in the whole of their conduct, -never deviate from what is prescribed by <em>right reason</em>; who do -good without any pretension whatsoever; but only because it is -good; who never vary, and show themselves the same in adversity -as in fortune. These men speak when it is necessary to speak, and -are silent when it is necessary to be silent. They are not satisfied -with drawing the sciences from the diverse channels destined -to transmit them, but go back to the source. These are the -philosophers.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Those who never digress from the fixed and immutable rule -which they have traced out for themselves, who, with utmost -exactness and a constancy always the same, fulfill to the very -least, their obligations, who fight their passions, observe themselves -unceasingly, and prevent vices from developing; those -finally, who speak no word which is not measured and that may -not be useful for instruction, and who fear neither trouble nor -labour in order to make <em>virtue</em> prosper in themselves and in others, -constitute the fourth class, which is that of virtuous men.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The fifth class, finally [adds Kong-Tse], which is the loftiest -and sublimest, comprises the extraordinary men, who unite in -their persons the qualities of the spirit and heart, perfected by the -blessed habit of fulfilling voluntarily and joyfully, what nature -and morals impose jointly upon reasonable beings living in -society. Imperturbable in their mode of life, like unto the sun -and the moon, the heavens and the earth, they never cease their -beneficent operations; they act by <em>intelligence</em> and as <em>spirits</em> see -without being seen. This class, very few in number, can be called -that of the Perfect ones, the -Saints.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_550" id="fnanchor_550"></a><a href="#footnote_550" class="fnanchor">[550]</a></span></p> - -<p>I have transcribed what has just been read without -changing a single word. If the reader has given to this -extract the attention that it merits, he will have seen the -doctrine of Pythagoras such as I have revealed and the -important distinction between Instinct, Reason, and Intelligence -such as I have established; he will have seen the -dogma of the mysteries concerning the animistic inequality -of men, of which I have spoken, and will have easily recognized, -in the right reason which constitutes the third class -according to the Chinese theosophist, the pure reason which -has directed the German philosopher in the establishment -of critical philosophy. This right reason, being quite near -to human virtues, is still very far from Wisdom which alone -leads to Truth. Nevertheless it can reach there, for nothing -is impossible for the Will of man, even as I have quite forcibly -stated<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_551" id="fnanchor_551"></a><a href="#footnote_551" class="fnanchor">[551]</a></span>; -but it would be necessary for that, to make -acquisition of the divine virtues, and in the same manner -that one is raised from instinct to understanding by purification, -to pass from understanding to intelligence by perfection. -Lysis offers the means: it is by knowledge of -oneself that he promises to lead one to this desired end; -he assures it, he invokes the name of Pythagoras himself:</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">25. <i>I swear it by the one who in our hearts engraved<br /> -  The sacred Tetrad, symbol immense and pure,<br /> -  Source of Nature and model of the Gods.</i></p> - -<p>Drawn on by my subject, I have forgotten to say that, -according to Porphyry, there is lacking in the Golden Verses -as given by Hierocles, two lines which ought to be placed -immediately before those which open the unitive part of -the doctrine of Pythagoras called <em>perfection</em>; these -are<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_552" id="fnanchor_552"></a><a href="#footnote_552" class="fnanchor">[552]</a></span>:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> - <div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">Πρῶτα μὲν ἐξ ὕπνοιο μελίφρονος ἐξ ὑπανίτας,</div> -<div class="i0">Εὖ μάλα ποιπνεύειν ὅσ’ ἐν ἤματι ἔργα τελέσσεις.</div> - </div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">On the moment of awakening, consider calmly</div> -<div class="i0">What are thy duties, and what thou shouldst accomplish.</div> - </div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>These lines, which express the general outline of this last -part, are remarkable, and one cannot conceive how Hierocles -could have overlooked or neglected them. Although, -it is true, they add nothing in the literal sense, they say -much, however, in the figurative sense; they serve as proof -of the division of this poem, which Hierocles himself has -adopted without explanation. Lysis indicates quite strongly -that he is about to pass on to a new teaching: he calls the -attention of the disciple of Pythagoras to the new career -which is opened before him, and to the means of traversing -it and of attaining to the divine virtues which must crown -it. This means is the knowledge of oneself, as I have said. -This knowledge, so commended by the ancient sages, so -exalted by them, which must open the avenues of all the -others and deliver to them the key of the mysteries of nature -and the doors of the Universe; this knowledge, I say, could -not be exposed unveiled at the epoch when Pythagoras -lived, on account of the secrets that it would of necessity -betray. Likewise this philosopher had the habit of proclaiming -it under the emblem of the sacred Tetrad or of the -Quaternary. This is why Lysis, in invoking the name of -his master, designates it on this occasion with the most -striking characteristic of his doctrine. “I swear,” he said, -“by the one who has revealed to our soul the knowledge of -the Tetrad, that source of eternal Nature”: that is to say, -I swear by the one who, teaching our soul to know itself, -has put it in condition to know all nature of which it is the -abridged image.</p> - -<p>In many of my preceding Examinations I have already -explained what should be understood by this celebrated -Tetrad, and here would perhaps be the time to reveal its -constitutive principles; but this revelation would lead me -too far. It would be necessary in order to do this, to enter -into details of the arithmological doctrine of Pythagoras -which, lacking preliminary data, would become fatiguing -and unintelligible. The language of Numbers of which -this philosopher made use, following the example of the -ancient sages, seems today entirely lost. The fragments -which have come down to us serve rather to prove its existence -than to give any light upon its elements; for those -who have composed these fragments wrote in a language -that they supposed understood, in the same manner as our -modern writers when they employ algebraic terms. It would -be ridiculous if one wished before having acquired any -notion concerning the value and use of the algebraic signs, -to explain a problem contained in these signs. This is, -however, what has often been done relative to the language -of Numbers. One has pretended, not only to explain it -before having learned it, but even to write of it, and has -by so doing rendered it the most lamentable thing in the -world. The savants seeing it thus travestied have justly -scorned it; as their contempt was not unreasonable they -have made it reflect, by the same language upon the ancients -who have employed it. They have acted in this as in many -other things; they themselves creating the stupidity of -ancient sciences and saying afterwards: antiquity was stupid.</p> - -<p>One day I shall try, if I find the time and the necessary -facilities, to give the true elements of the arithmological -science of Pythagoras and I will show that this science was -for intelligible things what algebra has become among us -for physical things; but I shall only do so after having revealed -what the true principles of music are; for otherwise -I should run the risk of not being understood.</p> - -<p>Without perplexing ourselves, therefore, with the constitutive -principles of the Pythagorean Quaternary, let us -content ourselves with knowing that it was the general -emblem of anything moving by itself and manifesting by its -facultative modifications; for according to Pythagoras, 1 -and 2 represent the hidden principles of things; 3, their -faculties, and 4, their proper essence. These four numbers -which, united by addition produce the number 10, constituted -the Being, as much universal as particular; so that -the Quaternary, which is as its virtue, could become the -emblem of all beings, since there is none which may not -recognize the principles, and which does not manifest itself -by faculties more or less perfect, and which may not enjoy -an existence universal or relative; but the being to which -Pythagoras applied it most commonly was Man. Man, as -I have said, manifests himself as does the Universe, under -the three principal modifications of body, soul, and spirit. -The unknown principles of this first Ternary are what Plato -calls the <em>same</em>, and the <em>other</em>, the <em>indivisible</em> and the <em>divisible</em>. -The indivisible principle gives the spirit; the divisible the -body; and the soul has birth from this last principle elaborated -by the first.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_553" id="fnanchor_553"></a><a href="#footnote_553" class="fnanchor">[553]</a></span> -Such was the doctrine of Pythagoras -which was borrowed by Plato. It had been that of the -Egyptians, as can be seen in the works which remain to us -under the name of Hermes. Synesius, who had been initiated -into their mysteries, said particularly, that human -souls emanated from two sources: the one luminous, which -flows from heaven on high; the other tenebrous, which -springs from the earth in the abysmal depths of which it -finds its origin.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_554" id="fnanchor_554"></a><a href="#footnote_554" class="fnanchor">[554]</a></span> -The early Christians, faithful to theosophical -tradition, followed the same teaching; they established -a great difference between the spirit and the soul. -They considered the soul as an issue of the material principle, -and in consequence being neither enlightened nor -virtuous in itself. The spirit, said Basil, is a gift of God: -it is the soul of the soul, as it were; it is united to the soul; -it enlightens it, it rescues it from earth and raises it to -heaven.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_555" id="fnanchor_555"></a><a href="#footnote_555" class="fnanchor">[555]</a></span> -Beausobre, who relates these words, observes -that this sentiment was common to several Fathers of the -primitive church, particularly to -Tatian.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_556" id="fnanchor_556"></a><a href="#footnote_556" class="fnanchor">[556]</a></span></p> - -<p>I have spoken often of this first Ternary, and even of -the triple faculties which are attached to each of its modifications; -but as I have done many times, I believe it useful -to present here the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(ensemble)</i>, so as to have the opportunity -of uniting, under the same viewpoint, the volitive unity, -from which results the human Quaternary, in general, and -in the particular being, which is man.</p> - -<p>The three faculties which, as I have said, distinguish -each of the three human modifications are: sense perception -for the body, sentiment for the soul, and assent for the spirit. -These three faculties develop instinct, understanding, and -intelligence, which produce by a common reaction, common -sense, reason, and sagacity.</p> - -<p>Instinct, placed at the lowest degree of the ontological -hierarchy, is absolutely passive; intelligence, raised to the -summit, is entirely active, and understanding placed in -the centre, is neuter. Sense perception perceives the sensations, -sentiment conceives the ideas, assent elects the -thoughts; perception, conception, election are modes of -acting, of the instinct, the understanding, and the intelligence. -The understanding is the seat of all the passions -that the instinct feeds continually, excites, and tends to -make unruly; and that the intelligence purifies, tempers, -and seeks always to put in harmony. The instinct, reacted -upon by the understanding, becomes common sense: it -perceives notions more or less clearly, following more or -less, the influence that it accords to the understanding. -The understanding, reacted upon by the intelligence, becomes -reason: it conceives of opinions so much the more -just, as its passions are the more calm. Reason cannot by -its own movement attain to wisdom and find truth, because -being placed in the middle of a sphere and forced from there, -it describes, from the centre to the circumference, a ray always -straight and subordinate to the point of departure; it has -against it infinity, that is to say, that truth being one, and -residing in a single point of the circumference, it cannot be -the subject of reason, only as far as it is known beforehand, -and as reason is placed in the direction convenient for its -encounter. Intelligence, which can only put reason in -this direction by the assent that it gives at the point of -departure, would never know this point only by wisdom -which is the fruit of inspiration: now, inspiration is the -mode of acting of the will, which joining itself to the triple -Ternary, as I have just described, constitutes the human -ontological Quaternary. It is the will which envelops the -primordial Ternary in its unity, and which determines the -action of each of its faculties according to its own mode -without the will it would have no existence. The three -faculties by which the volitive unity is manifested in the -triple Ternary, are memory, judgment, and imagination. -These three faculties, acting in a homogeneous unity, have -neither height nor depth and do not affect one of the modifications -of the being, any more than another; they are all -wherever the will is, and the will operates freely in the intelligence -or in the understanding; in the understanding or in -the instinct: where it wills to be there it is; its faculties -follow it everywhere. I say that it is wherever it wills to -be when the being is wholly developed; for following the -course of Nature, it is first in the instinct and only passes -into the understanding and into the intelligence successively -and in proportion as the animistic and spiritual faculties -are developed. But in order that this development may -take place, the will must determine it; for without the will -there is no movement. Be assured of this. Without the -operation of the will, the soul is inert and the spirit sterile. -This is the origin of that inequality among men of which -I have spoken. When the will does not disengage itself -from matter, it constitutes instinctive men; when it is concentrated -in the understanding, it produces animistic men; -when it acts in the spirit, it creates intellectual men. Its -perfect harmony in the primordial Ternary, and its action -more or less energetic in the uniformity of their faculties, -equally developed, constitute the extraordinary men endowed -with sublime genius; but the men of this fourth class -which represents the autopsy of the -mysteries,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_557" id="fnanchor_557"></a><a href="#footnote_557" class="fnanchor">[557]</a></span> -are extremely -rare. Often it suffices for a powerful will, acting either -in the understanding or in the intelligence and concentrating -wholly there, to astonish men by the strength of reasoning -and outbursts of wisdom, which draws the name of genius -without being wholly merited. Recently there has been -seen in Germany the most extraordinary reasoning, in -Kant, failing in its aim through lack of intelligence; one has -seen in the same country the most exalted intelligence, in -Boehme, giving way for want of reason. There have been in -all times and among all nations men similar to Boehme and -to Kant. These men have erred through not knowing -themselves; they have erred, through a lack of harmony -that they might have been able to acquire, if they had -taken the time to perfect themselves; they have erred, but -their very error attests the force of their will. A weak will, -operating either in the understanding or in the intelligence, -makes only sensible men and men of intellect. This same -will acting in the instinct produces artful men; and if it is -strong and violently concentrated through its original attraction -in this corporal faculty, it constitutes men dangerous -to society, miscreants, and treacherous brigands.</p> - -<p>After having applied the Pythagorean Quaternary to -Man, and having shown the intimate composition of this -Being, image of the Universe, according to the doctrine of -the ancients, I ought perhaps to use all the means in my -power, in order to demonstrate with what facility the physical -and metaphysical phenomena which result from their -combined action can be deduced; but such an undertaking -would necessarily draw me into details foreign to these -examinations. I must again put off this point as I have put -off many others; I will take them up in another work, if the -savants and the thinkers to whom I address myself approve -the motive which has put the pen in my hand.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">26. <i>But before all, thy soul to its faithful duty,<br /> -  Invoke these Gods with fervour, they whose aid,<br /> -  Thy work begun, alone can terminate.</i></p> - -<p>All the cults established upon the face of the earth have -made a religious duty of prayer. This alone would prove, -if it were necessary, what I have advanced concerning the -theosophical dogma of the volitive liberty of man; for if man -were not free in his actions, and if an irresistible fatality -led him on to misfortune and to crime, what use would be -invoking the gods, imploring their assistance, begging them -to turn aside from him the evils which must inevitably -overwhelm him? If, as Epicurus taught, an impenetrable -barrier separated gods and men; if these gods, absorbed in -their beatitude and their impassive immortality, were such -strangers to the evils of humanity that they neither troubled -to alleviate them nor to prevent them, for what purpose -then the incense burning at the foot of their -altars?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_558" id="fnanchor_558"></a><a href="#footnote_558" class="fnanchor">[558]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was, he said, on account of the excellence of their -nature that he honoured them thus, and not from any -motive of hope or fear, not expecting any good from them -and not dreading any -evil.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_559" id="fnanchor_559"></a><a href="#footnote_559" class="fnanchor">[559]</a></span> -What miserable sophism! -How could Epicurus say such a thing before having explained -clearly and without amphibology, what the origin of good -and evil is, so as to prove that the gods indeed do not cooperate -either for the augmentation of the one, or the -diminution of the other? But Epicurus had never dreamed -of giving this explanation. However little he might have -considered it, he would have seen that in whatever fashion -he had given it, it would have overthrown the doctrine of -atoms; for a sole principle, whatever it may be, cannot -produce at the same time good and evil. Nevertheless, -if he has not explained this origin, and if he has not shown -in a peremptory way that we are in a sphere where absolute -evil reigns, and that consequently we can have no sort of -communication with that wherein good resides, it will remain -always evident that if we are not in such a sphere, -and if we possess a portion of good, this good must come to -us from the sphere wherein absolute good has its source. -Now, this sphere is precisely that in which Epicurus places -the gods.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_560" id="fnanchor_560"></a><a href="#footnote_560" class="fnanchor">[560]</a></span> -But, perhaps, a defender of Epicurus will -say, the good that we possess comes to us only once from -the divine sphere and thenceforth it comes to us no more. -This is contrary to the most intimate and most general -notion that we have of the Divinity, to that of its immutability -upon which Epicurus himself leans most, and from which -it results that the gods could never be what they have -been, nor do what they have done.</p> - -<p>In one word, just as well as in a thousand, any maker of -a system is obliged to do one of two things, either to declare -himself what the origin is of good and evil, or to admit -<i>a priori</i> the theosophical dogma of the liberty of man. Epicurus -knew this, and although this dogma might ruin his -system completely, he preferred to admit it than expose -himself to give an explanation beyond his capability and -beyond that of all men. But if man is free, he can be counselled; -if he can be counselled, it is evident that he can, -even that he must, demand counsel. This is the rational -principle of prayer. Now, common sense is the asking for -counsel wiser than its own, and sagacity shows in the Gods -the source of wisdom.</p> - -<p>Epicurus, nevertheless, denied the intervention of divine -Providence and pretended that the Gods, absorbed in their -supreme felicity, do not mingle in any -affair.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_561" id="fnanchor_561"></a><a href="#footnote_561" class="fnanchor">[561]</a></span> -A single -question, simple and naïve, would overthrow this assertion -destitute of proofs, and besides, inconsistent with the conduct -of Greek philosophy; but I prefer to leave this question to -Bayle, who has expended much logic in sustaining this point. -This French philosopher, under pretext of making Epicurus -dispute with a polytheistic priest, advances against Providence -an argument which he believes irresistible, and which -is, indeed, one of the most subtle that one could possibly advance. -“Are the gods satisfied with their administration or -are they dissatisfied? Be mindful,” he says, “of my dilemma: -if they are satisfied with what comes to pass under their -providence, they are pleased with evil; if they are dissatisfied, -they are unhappy.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_562" id="fnanchor_562"></a><a href="#footnote_562" class="fnanchor">[562]</a></span> -The manner in which Bayle throws -himself into the midst of the question, without examining -the principles of it, denounces him as a skeptic; it is necessary -therefore to use against him the weapons that I -have given against skepticism; that is, to bring him back -abruptly to the principles, by interrogating him before replying -to him. It is necessary to ask him, if he admits a difference -between that which is and that which is not? He is -forced to admit it, as I have said; for in whatever region -of himself his will takes refuge, whether it exercises its -judgment in the instinct, in the understanding or in the -intelligence, you will pursue it in him opposing, in the first -case, the axiom of common sense: nothing is made from -nothing; in the second, that of reason: that which is, is; -in the last, that of sagacity: everything has its opposite -and can have only one. Nothing is made from nothing -therefore that which is not, can never produce that which is. -That which is, is; therefore, that which is not, is not that -which is. Everything has its opposite and can have only -one; therefore the absolute opposite of that which is, is -that which is not. If the skeptic refuses himself the evidence -of common sense, of reason and of sagacity united, he -lies to his conscience, or he is mad and then one must leave -him.</p> - -<p>The difference admitted between that which is and that -which is not, proceeds therefore against Bayle, or against -those who resemble him; ask them if man is a prey to absolute -evil, whether physical or moral? They will reply to -you, no; for they will feel that if they should respond otherwise, -you would prove to them that not having the faculty -of making a difference between good and evil, nor of comparing -them together, they could never draw from this -comparison their strongest argument against Providence. -They will, therefore, reply that man is not a prey to absolute -evil, but to a very great relative evil; as great as they wish. -You, nevertheless continue thus: if man is not a prey to -absolute evil, he might be, since it would suffice for this to -take away the sum of good which mitigates the evil, and -which the difference, previously established between that -which is and that which is not, teaches to distinguish. Now, -this sum of good, whence comes it? Who dispenses it? -Who? If the skeptics are silent, affirm for them that it -emanates from the gods themselves and that Providence -is the dispenser. Then reply to their dilemma, and say -that the gods are content with their administration and -that they have reason to be, since by it they procure a -sum of good increasing more and more, for the beings which -without Providence would never know it; and that their -Providence, which has mitigated evil from its origin, mitigates -it still and will mitigate it to its end; and if the astonished -skeptics object that Providence takes a great deal of -time to make what should be made in an instant, reply to -them that it is not a question of knowing how nor why it -makes things, but only that it makes them; which is proved -by the overthrow of their dilemma; and which, after all, -is saying with more reason in this circumstance than in any -other, that time has nothing to do with the affair, since it -is nothing to Providence, although for us it may be much.</p> - -<p>And if, continuing to draw inferences from your reasoning, -the skeptics say to you that, according to the continual -effusion of good which you establish, the sum ought to be -daily augmented, whilst that of evil, diminishing in the -same proportion, ought at last to disappear wholly, which -they cannot believe; reply, that the inferences of a reasoning -which confounds theirs are at their disposal; that they -can deduce from them as much as they wish; without engaging -you, for that matter, to discuss the extent of their -view, either in the past, or in the future, because each one -has his own; that, besides, you owe it to truth to teach them -that the dogma, by means of which you have ruined the -laborious structure of their logic, is no other than a theosophical -tradition, universally received from one end of the -earth to the other, as it is easy to prove to them.</p> - -<p>Open the sacred books of the Chinese, the Burmans, -Indians, and Persians, you will find there the unequivocal -traces of this dogma. Here, it is Providence represented -under the traits of a celestial virgin, who, sent by the Supreme -Being, furnished arms to combat and to subjugate the -genius of evil, and to bring to perfection everything that it -had corrupted.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_563" id="fnanchor_563"></a><a href="#footnote_563" class="fnanchor">[563]</a></span> -There, it is the Universe itself and the -Worlds which compose it, which are signalized as the instrument -employed by this same Providence to attain this -end.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_564" id="fnanchor_564"></a><a href="#footnote_564" class="fnanchor">[564]</a></span> -Such was the secret doctrine of the -mysteries.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_565" id="fnanchor_565"></a><a href="#footnote_565" class="fnanchor">[565]</a></span> -Good and -Evil were represented in the sanctuaries under the emblems -of light and darkness: the formidable spectacle of the combat -between these two opposed principles was given there -to the initiate; and after many scenes of terror, the most -obscure night was insensibly succeeded by the purest and -most brilliant day.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_566" id="fnanchor_566"></a><a href="#footnote_566" class="fnanchor">[566]</a></span> -It was exactly this that Zoroaster -had publicly taught.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Ormuzd [said this theosophist] knew by his sovereign science -that at first he could in no way influence Ahriman; but that -afterwards he united with him and that at last he finished by -subjugating him and changing him to such a degree that the -Universe existed without evil for a duration of -centuries.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_567" id="fnanchor_567"></a><a href="#footnote_567" class="fnanchor">[567]</a></span> -When the end of the world comes [he said in another place] -the wickedest of the infernal spirits will be pure, excellent, -celestial: yes [he adds], he will become celestial, this liar, this evil -doer; he will become holy, celestial, excellent, this cruel one: -vice itself, breathing only virtue, will make long offerings of -praise to Ormuzd before all the -world.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_568" id="fnanchor_568"></a><a href="#footnote_568" class="fnanchor">[568]</a></span></p> - -<p>These words are the more remarkable when one considers -that the dogma relating to the downfall of the rebellious angel -has passed from the cosmogony of the Parsees into that of -the Hebrews, and that it is upon this dogma alone, imperfectly -interpreted by the vulgar, that the contradictory -doctrine of the eternity of evil and the torments that follow -it, have been founded. This doctrine, but little understood, -has been sharply -attacked.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_569" id="fnanchor_569"></a><a href="#footnote_569" class="fnanchor">[569]</a></span> -Simon, very inappropriately -surnamed the <i>Magician</i>, forced St. Peter himself, -disputing with him, to acknowledge that the Hebraic writings -had said nothing positive on this -subject.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_570" id="fnanchor_570"></a><a href="#footnote_570" class="fnanchor">[570]</a></span> -This is -certain. These writings, interpreted as they have been by -the Hellenic Jews and given out under the name of <i>Version -of the Septuagint</i>, shed no light upon this important point; -but it is well to know that these interpreters have designedly -concealed this light, in order not to divulge the meaning of -their sacred book. If one understood thoroughly the language -of Moses, one would see that, far from setting aside -the theosophical traditions which he had received in Egypt, -this theocratic legislator remained constantly faithful to -them. The passage in his Sepher where he speaks of the -annihilation of Evil, in the meaning of Zoroaster, is in chapter -<abbr title="three, verse">iii., v.</abbr> 15, of the part vulgarly called <i>Genesis</i>, as I hope one -day to show.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_571" id="fnanchor_571"></a><a href="#footnote_571" class="fnanchor">[571]</a></span> -But without entering at this time, into -the discussion where the real translation of this passage -would lead me, let it suffice to say that the early Christians -were very far from admitting the eternity of evil; for without -speaking of Manes and his numerous followers who -shared the opinion of -Zoroaster,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_572" id="fnanchor_572"></a><a href="#footnote_572" class="fnanchor">[572]</a></span> -those who are versed -in these sorts of matters know that Origen taught that -torments will not be eternal, and that demons, instructed -by chastisement, will be converted at last and will obtain -their pardon.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_573" id="fnanchor_573"></a><a href="#footnote_573" class="fnanchor">[573]</a></span> -He was followed in this by a great number -of learned men, by the evidence of Beausobre who quotes, -on this subject, the example of a philosopher of Edessa, -who maintained that after the consummation of the ages, all -creatures would become consubstantial with -God.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_574" id="fnanchor_574"></a><a href="#footnote_574" class="fnanchor">[574]</a></span></p> - -<p>One thing worthy of notice is that Zoroaster, who has -made prayer one of the principal dogmas of his religion, has -been imitated in this by Mohammed, who, unknowingly, -perhaps, has borrowed a great number of things from this -ancient legislator of the Parsees. It is presumable that the -followers of Manes, having retired to Arabia, were responsible -for these borrowings, by the opinions that they circulated -there. But, it must be frankly stated, this dogma, -quite in its place in the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, does not appear so -consistent in the <cite>Koran</cite>, for, of what use is it in a cult where -the predestination of men, necessitated by the Prescient -and All-Powerful Divine, delivers irresistibly the greatest -part of them to an eternal damnation, on account of the -original stain imprinted upon mankind by the sin of the -first man? One cannot be prevented, in reflecting upon this -manifest contradiction, from believing that the theosophical -tradition pertaining to the free will of man, and the influencing -action of Providence operating the progressive augmentation -of good and the gradual diminution of evil, -announced openly by Zoroaster, must have acted secretly -in the mind of the theocratic legislator of Arabia. If it -had not been thus, the prayers that he ordered as one of the -first and most essential duties of the religion, would have -been without object.</p> - -<p>According to the doctrine of Pythagoras revealed by -Hierocles, two things agree in the efficacy of prayer: the -voluntary movement of our soul, and aid from heaven. -The first of these things is that which seeks goodness; and -the other that which shows it. Prayer is a medium between -our quest and the celestial gift. One seeks, one prays in -vain, if one adds not prayer to research and research to -prayer. Virtue is an emanation from God; it is like a -reflected image of the Divinity, the resemblance of which -alone constitutes the good and the beautiful. The soul -which is attached to this admirable type of all perfection -is aroused to prayer by its inclination to virtue, and it augments -this inclination by the effusion of the goodness which -it receives by means of prayer; so that it does precisely -what it demands and demands what it -does.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_575" id="fnanchor_575"></a><a href="#footnote_575" class="fnanchor">[575]</a></span> -Socrates -was not far from the doctrine of Pythagoras in this respect; -he added only, that prayer exacted much precaution -and prudence, lest, without perceiving it, one demand of -God great evils, in thinking to ask great blessings.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The sage [he said] knows what he ought to say or do; the -fool is ignorant of it; the one implores in prayer, what can be -really useful to him; the other desires often things which, being -granted him, become for him the source of greatest misfortunes. -The prudent man [he adds], however little he may doubt himself, -ought to resign himself to Providence who knows better than he, -the consequences that things must have.</p> - -<p>This is why Socrates cited as a model of sense and reason -this prayer of an ancient poet:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"> -<div class="i0">Grant us good whether prayed for or unsought by us;</div> -<div class="i0">But that which we ask amiss, do thou -avert.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_576" id="fnanchor_576"></a><a href="#footnote_576" class="fnanchor">[576]</a></span></div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p>The prayer was, as I have said, one of the principal -dogmas of the religion of -Zoroaster<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_577" id="fnanchor_577"></a><a href="#footnote_577" class="fnanchor">[577]</a></span>: -the Persians also -had the greatest confidence therein. Like the Chaldeans, -they founded all magical power upon its efficacy. They -still possess today certain kinds of prayers for conjuring -maladies and driving away demons. These prayers, which -they name <i>tavids</i>, are written upon strips of paper and carried -after the manner of -talismans.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_578" id="fnanchor_578"></a><a href="#footnote_578" class="fnanchor">[578]</a></span> -It is quite well-known -that the modern Jews use them in the same way. -In this they imitate, as in innumerable other things, the -ancient Egyptians whose secret doctrine Moses has transmitted -to them.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_579" id="fnanchor_579"></a><a href="#footnote_579" class="fnanchor">[579]</a></span> -The early Christians were inclined to -theosophical ideas on this subject. Origen explains it -clearly in speaking of the virtue attached to certain names -invoked by the Egyptian sages and the most enlightened -of the magians of Persia.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_580" id="fnanchor_580"></a><a href="#footnote_580" class="fnanchor">[580]</a></span> -Synesius, the famous Bishop -of Ptolemaïs, initiated into the mysteries, declares that the -science, by means of which one linked the intelligible essences -to sentient forms, by the invocation of spirits, was -neither vain nor criminal, but on the contrary quite innocent -and founded upon the nature of -things.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_581" id="fnanchor_581"></a><a href="#footnote_581" class="fnanchor">[581]</a></span> -Pythagoras -was accused of magic. Ignorance and weakness of mind -have always charged science with this banal -accusation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_582" id="fnanchor_582"></a><a href="#footnote_582" class="fnanchor">[582]</a></span> -This philosopher, rightly placed in the rank of the ablest -physicians of -Greece,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_583" id="fnanchor_583"></a><a href="#footnote_583" class="fnanchor">[583]</a></span> -was, according to his most devoted -disciples, neither of the number of the gods, nor even of -those of the divine heroes; he was a man whom virtue and -wisdom had adorned with a likeness to the gods, by the -complete purifying of his understanding which had been -effected through contemplation and -prayer.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_584" id="fnanchor_584"></a><a href="#footnote_584" class="fnanchor">[584]</a></span> -This is what -Lysis expressed by the following lines:</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">27. <i>Instructed by them, naught shall then deceive thee;<br /> -  Of diverse beings thou shalt sound the essence;<br /> -  And thou shalt know the principle and end of All.</i></p> - -<p>That is to say, that the true disciple of Pythagoras, -placed <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(en rapport)</i> with the gods through contemplation, -arrived at the highest degree of perfection, called in the -mysteries, autopsy; saw fall before him the false veil which -until then had hidden Truth, and contemplated Nature in -its remotest sources. It is necessary, in order to attain to -this sublime degree, that the intelligence, penetrated by -the divine ray of inspiration, should fill the understanding -with a light intense enough to dissipate all the illusions of -the senses, to exalt the soul and release it wholly from things -material. Thus it was explained by Socrates and -Plato.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_585" id="fnanchor_585"></a><a href="#footnote_585" class="fnanchor">[585]</a></span> -These philosophers and their numerous disciples put no limit -to the advantages of autopsy, or theophany, as they sometimes -named this highest degree of the telestic science. They -believed that the contemplation of God could be carried so -far during this same life, that the soul became not only -united to this Being of beings, but that it was mingled and -blended with it. Plotinus boasted having experienced the -joy of this beatific vision four times, according to Porphyry, -who himself claimed to have been honoured with it at the -age of sixty-eight.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_586" id="fnanchor_586"></a><a href="#footnote_586" class="fnanchor">[586]</a></span> -The great aim of the mysteries was -to teach the initiates the possibility of this union of man with -God, and to indicate to them the means. All initiations, all -mythological doctrines, tended only to alleviate the soul of -the weight of material things, to purify it, so that, desirous -of spiritual welfare, and being projected beyond the circle -of generations, it could rise to the source of its -existence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_587" id="fnanchor_587"></a><a href="#footnote_587" class="fnanchor">[587]</a></span> -If one examines carefully the different cults which still -dominate upon earth, one will see that they have not been -animated by any other spirit. The knowledge of the Being -of beings has been offered everywhere as the aim of wisdom; -its similitude, as the crown of perfection; and its enjoyment, -as the object of all desires and the goal of all efforts. The -enumeration of its infinite faculties has varied; but when one -has dared fix one’s attention upon the unity of its essence, -one has always defined it as has Pythagoras: the principle -and the end of all things.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The Spirit whence proceed the created beings [say the -Brahmans], by which they live after being emanated from it, -toward which they aspire, and in which they are finally absorbed, -this Spirit is that, to the knowledge of which thou shouldst -aspire, the Great Being.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_588" id="fnanchor_588"></a><a href="#footnote_588" class="fnanchor">[588]</a></span> -—​The Universe is one of its -forms.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_589" id="fnanchor_589"></a><a href="#footnote_589" class="fnanchor">[589]</a></span> -—​It -is the Being of beings: without form, without quality, without -passion; immense, incomprehensible, infinite, indivisible, -incorporal, irresistible: no intelligence can conceive of its operations -and its will suffices to move all -intelligences.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_590" id="fnanchor_590"></a><a href="#footnote_590" class="fnanchor">[590]</a></span> -—​It is the -Truth and the Science which never -perish.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_591" id="fnanchor_591"></a><a href="#footnote_591" class="fnanchor">[591]</a></span> -—​Its wisdom, its -power, and its plan, are as an immense and limitless sea which no -being is in condition either to traverse or to fathom. There -is no other God than it. The Universe is filled with its immensity. -It is the principle of all things without having -principles.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_592" id="fnanchor_592"></a><a href="#footnote_592" class="fnanchor">[592]</a></span> -God is one,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_593" id="fnanchor_593"></a><a href="#footnote_593" class="fnanchor">[593]</a></span> -eternal, like unto a perfect sphere which has -neither beginning nor end. He rules and governs all that exists -by a general providence, resultant of fixed and determined -principles. Man ought not to seek to penetrate the nature or -the essence of this Ineffable Being: such a research is vain and -criminal.—</p> - -<p>Thus do the Hindu sages express themselves in sundry -places. They commend aspiring to the knowledge of the -Being of beings, making oneself worthy to be absorbed in -its bosom; and forbid, at the same time, seeking to penetrate -its nature. I have already said that such was the doctrine -of the mysteries. I am about to add an important reflection -in order to cast some light upon a doctrine which, at -first glance, appears contradictory.</p> - -<p>Man, who aspires by the inner movement of his will, to -attain to the highest degree of human perfection, and who, -by the purification of his understanding, and the acquisition -of celestial virtues, puts himself in a state to receive the -truth, must observe that the higher he rises in the intelligible -sphere, the nearer he approaches to the unfathomable Being -whose contemplation must make his happiness, the less he -can communicate the knowledge of it to others; for truth, -coming to him under intelligible forms more and more universalized, -can never be contained in the rational or sentient -forms that he might give it. Here is the point where many -mystic contemplators have gone astray. As they had never -adequately fathomed the triple modification of their being, -and as they had not known the intimate composition of the -human Quaternary, they were ignorant of the manner in -which the transformation of ideas was made, as much in -the ascendant progression as in the descendant progression; -so that, confusing continually understanding and intelligence, -and making no difference between the products of their will -according as it acted in one or the other of its modifications, -they often showed the opposite of what they intended to -show; and instead of the seers that they might, perhaps, -have been, they became visionaries. I could give a great -many examples of these aberrations; but I will limit myself -to a single one, because the man who furnishes it for me, -immeasurably great on the side of intelligence, lacked understanding -and felt keenly himself, the weakness of his reason. -This man, whose audacious gaze has penetrated as far as the -divine sanctuary, is a German shoemaker of obscure birth, -called Jacob Boehme. The rusticity of his mind, the roughness -of his character, and more than all that, the force and -the number of his prejudices, render his works almost unintelligible -and therefore repel the savants. But when one -has the patience and talent necessary to separate the pure -gold from its dross and from its alloy, one can find there -things which are nowhere else. These things, which present -themselves nearly always under the oddest and most absurd -forms, have taken them by passing from his intelligence to -his instinct, without his reason having had the force to oppose -itself. This is how he artlessly expresses this transformation -of ideas: “Now that I have raised myself so high, I dare not -look back for fear that giddiness may seize me … for as -long as I ascend, I am convinced of my impulse; but it is not -the same when I turn my head and when I wish to descend; -then I am troubled, I am bewildered, it seems to me that I -shall fall.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_594" id="fnanchor_594"></a><a href="#footnote_594" class="fnanchor">[594]</a></span> -And in truth he fell so rapidly that he did -not perceive, either the terrible disparity between his ideas -and his expressions, nor the manifest contradictions into -which his prejudices had drawn him.</p> - -<p>These grave disadvantages, which do not strike the vulgar, -were perfectly understood and appreciated by the sages. -The institutors of the mysteries were not ignorant of them -and it is for this that they had imposed the most absolute -silence upon the initiates and particularly upon the epopts, -to whom they gave their highest teachings. They made -them feel readily that intelligible things can only become -sentient by being transformed, and that this transformation -requires a talent and an authority even, which cannot be -the appanage of all men.</p> - -<p>I am now at the close of my reflection. The diverse cults -established upon earth are but the transformations of ideas; -that is to say, particular forms of religion, by means of which -a theocratic legislator or theosophic sage renders sentient -that which is intelligible, and puts within reach of all men -what, without these forms, would have been only within -reach of a very small number; now, these transformations -can only be effected in three ways, according to the three -faculties of the human Ternary; the fourth, which concerns -its Quaternary or its relative unity, being impossible. I beg -the reader to recall what I have said, touching the intimate -composition and movement of this Quaternary, and grant -me a little attention.</p> - -<p>The aim of all the cults being to conduct to the knowledge -of the Divinity, they differ only by the route that they travel -in its attainment, and this route depends always upon the -manner in which the Divinity has been considered by the -founder of the cult. If this founder has considered it in his -intelligence, he has seen the Divinity in its universal modifications, -and, therefore, triple, as the Universe; if he has -considered it in his understanding, he has seen it in its -creative principles, and, therefore, double as Nature; if he -has considered it in his instinct, he has seen it in its faculties -and its attributes, and, therefore, infinite, as Matter; if he has -considered it, finally, in its proper volitive unity, acting at -once in its three modifications, he has seen this same Divinity -according to the force and movement of his thought, -either in its absolute essence or in its universal essence; that -is, One in its cause, or One in its effects. Examine closely -what I have said and see if there exists a single cult upon the -face of the earth that you may not connect with one of the -kinds whose origin I have indicated.</p> - -<p>I have said that the Divinity, considered in the human -intelligence, is shown under the emblem of the universal -Ternary; hence all the cults which are dominated by three -principal gods as in -India,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_595" id="fnanchor_595"></a><a href="#footnote_595" class="fnanchor">[595]</a></span> -in Greece and in -Italy,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_596" id="fnanchor_596"></a><a href="#footnote_596" class="fnanchor">[596]</a></span> -three -principal modifications in the same God, as in -China,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_597" id="fnanchor_597"></a><a href="#footnote_597" class="fnanchor">[597]</a></span> -in -Japan, in Tibet and among the considerable followers of -Fo-Hi or Buddha.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_598" id="fnanchor_598"></a><a href="#footnote_598" class="fnanchor">[598]</a></span> -This cult, which has been called that -of the <i>Tritheists</i>, is one of the most widespread on earth, -and one which has mingled most easily with the others. It -pleases the imagination and gives to wisdom great power to -rise to intelligible truths.</p> - -<p>I have said that the Divinity, considered in the human -understanding, is manifest under the emblem of two natural -principles: hence, all the cults wherein two opposed beings -appear, as in the cult of Zoroaster. This cult, which is -rarely encountered as pure as among the ancient Persians, -or among the followers of Manes, mingles readily with -tritheism and even polytheism: it was quite recognizable -in Egypt and among the Scandinavians, and much more -involved among the Indians, Greeks, and Latins. This cult -could be considered as a natural <i>Diarchy</i>, and those who -follow it, <i>Diarchists</i>. Judgment and reason conform very -well in it; one also sees ordinarily, profound reasoners and -skeptics, inclining there <i>nolens -volens</i>.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_599" id="fnanchor_599"></a><a href="#footnote_599" class="fnanchor">[599]</a></span> -Its abuse leads to -atheism; but it offers great means, when one knows how to -make good use of it, to penetrate the essence of things and -succeed to the explanation of natural phenomena.</p> - -<p>Again I say, that the Divinity considered in the instinct -is presented under the emblem of material infinity: hence, -all cults where, by a contrary movement, the intelligible -becomes sentient and the sentient intelligible; as when the -attributes and faculties of the Divinity are particularized -and personified, and as the agents of Nature, the parts of the -Universe and the individual beings themselves, are deified. -This cult, to which I have given the name of <i>Polytheism</i>, is -everywhere, under different forms and under different names, -the portion of the vulgar. More or less apparent it insinuates -itself in the midst of the other two, multiplies the images of -the intellectual modifications and the natural principles, and -whatever attentions the theosophists bring to forestall its -invasion, end by stifling utterly the spirit of it beneath the -material covering which envelops them. This cult, the cradle -of all religions, with which the other two can never entirely -dispense, which nourishes and lives in their life, is also the -tomb. It pleases singularly that faculty of man which is -developed first, sense perception; it aids the development of -instinct and can, by the sole medium of common sense, lead -to the knowledge of the natural principles. Its abuse precipitates -peoples into idolatry and superstition; its good use -arouses the talents and gives birth to heroic virtues. One -becomes artist or hero through the exaltation of Polytheism; -savant or philosopher through that of Diarchy; and sage or -theosophist through that of Tritheism. These three cults, -whether pure or variously mixed, are the only ones in which -transformation may be possible; that is to say, which may be -clothed in ostensible forms and enclosed in any sort of ritual. -The fourth cult, which is founded upon the absolute unity -of God, is not transformable. This is the reason.</p> - -<p>The Divinity considered in the volitive unity of man, -acting at the same time in its principal faculties, is manifested -finally, in its absolute essence, or in its universal -essence; One in its cause, or One in its effects: thence, not -only all public cults, but all secret mysteries, all doctrines -mystic and contemplative; for how can that which has no -likeness to anything be represented? How render sentient -that which is beyond all intelligence? What expressions -will be consistent with that which is inexpressible, with that -which is more ineffable than silence itself? What temples -will one raise to that which is incomprehensible, inaccessible, -unfathomable? The theosophists and sages have realized -these difficulties; they have seen that it was necessary to -suppress all discourse, to set aside all simulacra: to renounce -all enclosures, to annihilate finally all sentient objects -or to be exposed to give false ideas of the absolute essence -of a Being that neither time nor space can contain. Many -have dared the undertaking. One knows, in delving into -ages long since past, that the ancient Magians of Persia -erected no temple and set up no -statue.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_600" id="fnanchor_600"></a><a href="#footnote_600" class="fnanchor">[600]</a></span> -The Druids -acted in the same manner.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_601" id="fnanchor_601"></a><a href="#footnote_601" class="fnanchor">[601]</a></span> -The former invoked the -Principle of all things upon the summits of mountains; the -latter, in the depths of the forests. Both deemed it unworthy -of the divine Majesty to enclose it within precincts -and to represent it by a material -image.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_602" id="fnanchor_602"></a><a href="#footnote_602" class="fnanchor">[602]</a></span> -It even appears -that the early Romans shared this -opinion.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_603" id="fnanchor_603"></a><a href="#footnote_603" class="fnanchor">[603]</a></span> -But this -cult, entirely intellectual and destitute of forms, could not -subsist long. Perceptible objects were needed by the people, -on which they might place their ideas. These objects, even -in spite of the legislator who sought to proscribe them, -insinuated themselves.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_604" id="fnanchor_604"></a><a href="#footnote_604" class="fnanchor">[604]</a></span> -Images, statues, temples were -multiplied notwithstanding the laws which prohibited them. -At that time if the cult did not undergo a salutary reform, it -was changed, either into a gross anthropomorphism, or into -an absolute materialism: that is to say, that a man of the -people being unable to rise to the divine Unity, drew it down -to his level; and the savant, being unable to comprehend -it and believing nevertheless to grasp it, confused it with -Nature.</p> - -<p>It was to evade this inevitable catastrophe that the -sages and theosophists had, as I have said, made a mystery -of the Unity of God, and had concealed it in the inmost -recesses of the sanctuaries. It was only after many trials, -and not until the initiate was judged worthy to be admitted -to the sublime degree of autopsy, that the last veil was lifted -to his gaze, and the principle and end of all things, the Being -of beings, in all its unfathomable Unity, was delivered to his -contemplation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_605" id="fnanchor_605"></a><a href="#footnote_605" class="fnanchor">[605]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">28. <i>If Heaven wills it, thou shalt know that Nature,<br /> -  Alike in everything, is the same in every place.</i></p> - -<p>I have already said that the homogeneity of Nature was, -with the unity of God, one of the greatest secrets of the -mysteries. Pythagoras founded this homogeneity upon the -unity of the spirit by which it is penetrated and from which, -according to him, all our souls draw their -origin.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_606" id="fnanchor_606"></a><a href="#footnote_606" class="fnanchor">[606]</a></span> -This -dogma which he had received from the Chaldeans and from -the priests of Egypt was admitted by all the sages of antiquity, -as is proved at great length by Stanley and the -astute Beausobre.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_607" id="fnanchor_607"></a><a href="#footnote_607" class="fnanchor">[607]</a></span> -These sages established a harmony, a -perfect analogy between heaven and earth, the intelligible -and the sentient, the indivisible substance and the divisible -substance; in such a manner that that which took place in one -of the regions of the Universe or of the modifications of the -primordial Ternary was the exact image of that which took -place in the other. This idea is found very forcibly revealed -by the ancient Thoth, called <dfn>Hermes -Trismegistus</dfn>,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_608" id="fnanchor_608"></a><a href="#footnote_608" class="fnanchor">[608]</a></span> -by the -Greeks, in the table of Emerald which is attributed to him.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">In truth, and without fiction, in truth, in truth, I say to -you, that things inferior are like unto the superior; both unite -their invincible forces to produce one sole thing, the most marvellous -of all, and as all things are emanated by the will of one -unique God, thus all things whatsoever must be engendered by -this sole thing,—​by a disposition of Universal -nature.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_609" id="fnanchor_609"></a><a href="#footnote_609" class="fnanchor">[609]</a></span></p> - -<p>I must say, however, that it is upon the homogeneity of -Nature that were founded in the principle all the so-called -occult sciences of which the principal four, relating to the -human Quaternary, were Theurgy, Astrology, Magic, and -Chemistry.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_610" id="fnanchor_610"></a><a href="#footnote_610" class="fnanchor">[610]</a></span> -I have already spoken of the astrological -science, and I have given sufficient evidence of what I think -regarding the ridiculous and petty ideas concerning it that -the modems have conceived. I will refrain from speaking -of the other three, on account of the prolixities into which -the discussions that they would provoke might lure me. -In another work I will endeavour to show that the principles -upon which they were supported differed greatly from those -which superstition and blind credulity have given them in -times of ignorance; and that the sciences taught to the initiates -in the ancient sanctuaries, under the names of Theurgy, -Magic, or Chemistry, differed much from what the vulgar -have understood in later times by the same words.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">29. <i>So that, as to thy true rights enlightened,<br /> -  Thine heart shall no more feed on vain desires.</i></p> - -<p>That is to say, that the disciple of Pythagoras, having -attained through knowledge of himself to that of truth, -ought to judge sanely of the possibility or impossibility of -things, and to find in wisdom itself that just mean which he -has found in virtue and in science. Equally distant from -that blind credulity which admits and seeks without reflection -the things most incompatible with the laws of Nature, -and from that presumptuous ignorance which rejects and -denies without examination all those things which issue from -the narrow circle of its empirical notions; he should understand -with exactness the limits and the forces of Nature, -know instantly what is contained therein or what exceeds -them, and not form any vow, any project, or any enterprise -beyond his power.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">30. <i>Thou shalt see that the evils which devour men<br /> -  Are of their choice the fruit.…</i></p> - -<p>Undoubtedly one of the most important things for man -to understand is the nearest cause of his evils, so that, -ceasing from murmuring against Providence, he may blame -only himself for the misfortunes of which he is the proper -artisan. Ignorance, always weak and presumptuous, concealing -its own mistakes, holds responsible, with their -consequences, the things which are most foreign there: thus -the child which hurts itself, threatens with his voice and -strikes with his hand the wall against which he has stumbled. -Of all errors this is the most common. Likewise he acknowledges -with as much difficulty his own wrongs as he accuses -with ease those of others. This baleful habit of imputing to -Providence the evils which afflict humanity has furnished, -as we have seen, the strongest arguments to the skeptics to -attack its influence, and to undermine thus in its foundation -the very existence of the Divinity. All peoples have been -guilty of -this<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_611" id="fnanchor_611"></a><a href="#footnote_611" class="fnanchor">[611]</a></span>; -but the moderns are, as I believe, the only -ones who coldly and without passion, in order to sustain -certain opinions that they have embraced, have raised -systematically their ignorance concerning the cause of evil, -and made an irresistible fatality proceed from the All-Powerful -and divine Prescience, which drawing man on to -vice and misfortune, damns him by force; and by a consequence -determined by the will of God, delivers him to eternal -sufferings.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_612" id="fnanchor_612"></a><a href="#footnote_612" class="fnanchor">[612]</a></span> -Such were those among the Christians of the -fifth century, who were named Predestinarians on account -of their terrible system. Their opinion, it is true, was condemned -by the councils of Arles and -Lyon<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_613" id="fnanchor_613"></a><a href="#footnote_613" class="fnanchor">[613]</a></span>; -but they -declared that the church fell into inconsistency, since the -sentiment in this respect, being exactly conformable with -that which Saint Augustine had advanced against the Pelagians, -this church could not condemn the one without -condemning the other and therefore, without deciding in -favour of the opposed doctrine which they had already -condemned. It is certain that the Predestinarians were -right on this last point, as well as Gotescalc, Baius, and Jansenius, -who, with the book of Saint Augustine in hand, -proved it later on, by causing in this church, at different -times, troubles more or less violent on the subject.</p> - -<p>This is the moment to complete the proofs of what I -advanced in my Seventh Examination, that the liberty of -man can be established only by the sole theosophical tradition, -and the assent that all the sages of the earth have given -to it; and that there is no doctrine, which, becoming separated, -does not abandon the Universe to the irresistible impulse of -an absolute fatality. I have shown sufficiently the emptiness -of all the cosmogonical systems, whether their authors have -founded them upon a sole principle or upon two, upon spirit -or upon matter; I have sufficiently indicated the danger -that would have ensued from divulging the secret dogma of -divine Unity, since this disclosure drew with it the necessity -of explaining the origin of Good and Evil, which was impossible; -I have cited the example of Moses, and I have -demonstrated as a decisive point in this matter that those -of his followers who rejected the oral tradition of this great -man, to attach themselves to the literal meaning only of his -Sepher, fell into fatalism and were led to make God himself -the author of Evil; finally I have announced that Christianity -and Islamism, issuing alike from the Mosaic doctrine, -have not been able to evade the dogma of predestination: -this dogma, although often repulsed by the Christian and -Mussulman doctors, alarmed at its consequences, is shown, -none the less, from the facts. The Koran which teaches it -openly exempts me from other proofs in defence of the Mussulmans. -Let us turn to the Christians.</p> - -<p>It is certain that one of the greatest men of the primitive -church, Origen, perceiving to what consequences the explanation -of the origin of Evil led, by the way in which it was -vulgarly understood, according to the literal translation of -the Sepher of Moses, undertook to bring all back to allegory, -recalling Christianity being born to the theosophical tradition -pertaining to the free will of -man<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_614" id="fnanchor_614"></a><a href="#footnote_614" class="fnanchor">[614]</a></span>; -but his books, -wherein he exposed this tradition according to the doctrine -of Pythagoras and -Plato,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_615" id="fnanchor_615"></a><a href="#footnote_615" class="fnanchor">[615]</a></span> -were burned as heretical, by -the order of Pope -Gelasius.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_616" id="fnanchor_616"></a><a href="#footnote_616" class="fnanchor">[616]</a></span> -The church at that time -paid little attention to the blow dealt by Origen, occupied -as it was with examining the principal dogmas of incarnation, -of the divinity of Jesus, of the consubstantiality of the Word, -of the Unity of its person and the duality of its nature; but -when, following the energetic expression of Plucquet, the -flame of conflagration had passed over all these opinions, -and when the waves of blood had drenched the ashes, it was -necessary to offer new food for its activity. An English -monk named Pelagius,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_617" id="fnanchor_617"></a><a href="#footnote_617" class="fnanchor">[617]</a></span> -born with an ardent and impetuous -mind, was the foremost to attack this thorny question -of the liberty of man, and, wishing to establish it, was led -to deny original sin.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Man [he said] is free to do good or evil: he who tries to lay -the blame of his vices on the weakness of nature, is unjust: for -what is sin, in general? Is it a thing that one may evade, or -not? If one cannot evade it, there is no evil in committing it -and then it does not exist: if one can evade it, it must be evil to -commit it and therefore it exists: its very existence is born of the -free will, and proves -it.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_618" id="fnanchor_618"></a><a href="#footnote_618" class="fnanchor">[618]</a></span> -The dogma of original sin [continued -Pelagius] is absurd and unjust to God; for a creature which does -not exist would not be an accomplice of a bad action; and it -outrages divine justice, to say that God punishes him as guilty -of this action.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_619" id="fnanchor_619"></a><a href="#footnote_619" class="fnanchor">[619]</a></span> -Man [added Pelagius] has therefore a real power -of doing good and evil, and he is free in these two respects. -But the liberty of doing a thing supposes necessarily the union -of all causes and of all conditions requisite for doing that thing; -and one is not free regarding an effect, every time that one of -the causes or conditions naturally exigent for producing this -effect is lacking. Therefore, to have the liberty of seeing the -subjects, it is necessary not only that the sense of sight be well -developed, but also that the subjects be discriminated, and -placed at an equitable -distance.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_620" id="fnanchor_620"></a><a href="#footnote_620" class="fnanchor">[620]</a></span></p> - -<p>This far, the doctrine of Pelagius was wholly similar to -that of Pythagoras, as explained by -Hierocles<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_621" id="fnanchor_621"></a><a href="#footnote_621" class="fnanchor">[621]</a></span>; -but it -differs from it afterwards, in what the English monk asserted, -that since man is born with the liberty of doing good and evil, -he receives from nature and unites in him all the conditions -and all the causes naturally necessary for good and evil; -which robs him of his most beautiful prerogative,—​perfectibility; -whereas Pythagoras held, on the contrary, that these -causes and these effects were only accorded to those who, -on their part, concurred in acquiring them, and who, by the -work that they have done for themselves in seeking to know -themselves, have succeeded in possessing them more and -more perfectly.</p> - -<p>However mitigated the doctrine of Pelagius might be, it -appeared still to accord too much with free will and was -condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities, who declared, -through the medium of several councils, that man can do -nothing of himself without the aid of grace. Saint Augustine, -who had been the soul of these councils, pressed by the disciple -of Pelagius to explain the nature of this grace and to -say how God accorded it to one man rather than to another -without being induced by the difference of their merits, -replied that man being in the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(masse de perdition)</i>, and God -having no need of them, and being furthermore independent -and all-powerful, he gave grace to whom he willed, without -the one to whom he did not give it having the right to -complain; everything coming to pass as a result of his will, -which had foreseen all and determined -all.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_622" id="fnanchor_622"></a><a href="#footnote_622" class="fnanchor">[622]</a></span> -Assuredly -one could not establish more forcibly the necessity of all -things, nor submit men to a sterner fatality, since the want -of grace deprived them, not only of virtue in the fleeting -course of this life, but delivered them without hope to the -torments of an eternal hell. But Saint Augustine, who -obeyed a severe and consistent reason, felt very well that he -could not speak otherwise, without renouncing the dogma of -original sin and overthrowing the foundation of Christianity. -All the rigid Christians, all those who, at different times, -have undertaken to restore Christianity to its constitutive -principles, have thought as Saint Augustine, and although -the church, alarmed at the terrible inferences that were -drawn from the canonical doctrine, may have essayed to -temper it, by condemning, as I have said, the Predestinarians -and by approving of the persecutions directed against -Gotescalc; and, at the time when Luther drew in his reform -a great part of Christendom toward the dogma of predestination, -this did not prevent Baius, who remained faithful -to orthodoxy, from preaching the same dogma; nor Calvin, -soon after, from adding new lights to what Luther had left -doubtful, and Jansenius, finally, corroborating what Baius -had only outlined, from raising in the very midst of the -church that formidable faction which all the united efforts -of the Pope and the Jesuits have been unable to convict of -erring in the doctrine of Saint Augustine, which it has sustained -with a force worthy of a better cause.</p> - -<p>According to Calvin, who of all of them expresses himself -most clearly, the soul of man, all of whose faculties are -infected with sin, lacks force to resist the temptation which -lures him on toward evil. The liberty of which he prides -himself is a chimera; he confounds the free with the voluntary, -and believes that he chooses freely because there is no -constraint, and that he wills to do the evil that he -does.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_623" id="fnanchor_623"></a><a href="#footnote_623" class="fnanchor">[623]</a></span> -Thus following the doctrine of this reformer, man, dominated -by his vicious passions, can produce of himself only -wicked actions; and it is to draw him from this state of -corruption and impotence that it was necessary that God -should send his son upon earth to redeem him and to atone -for him; so that it is from the absence of liberty in man that -Calvin draws his strongest proofs of the coming of Christ: -“For,” he said, “if man had been free, and if he had been -able to save himself, it would not have been needful that -God should offer up his Son in -sacrifice.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_624" id="fnanchor_624"></a><a href="#footnote_624" class="fnanchor">[624]</a></span></p> - -<p>This last argument seems irresistible. Besides when the -Jesuits had accused Calvin and his followers of making God -the author of sin, and of destroying thus all idea of the -Divinity<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_625" id="fnanchor_625"></a><a href="#footnote_625" class="fnanchor">[625]</a></span> -they knew better than to say how it can be -otherwise accomplished. They would not have been able, -without doing a thing impossible for them—​that is, without -giving the origin of evil. The difficulty of this explanation, -which Moses, even as I have said, has enveloped with a -triple veil, has in no wise escaped the fathers of the primitive -church. They have well felt that it was the important point -whereon depended the solution of all other questions. But -how can one attempt even the explanation? The most -enlightened among them had agreed that it is an abyss of -nature that one would not know how to -fathom.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_626" id="fnanchor_626"></a><a href="#footnote_626" class="fnanchor">[626]</a></span></p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">31. … <i>that these unfortunates<br /> -  Seek afar the goodness whose source within they bear</i>.</p> - -<p>The source of all goodness is wisdom, and wisdom begins -with the knowledge of oneself. Without this knowledge, one -aspires in vain to real goodness. But how is it obtainable? -If you interrogate Plato upon this important point, he will -respond to you, that it is in going back to the essence of -things—​that is to say, in considering that which constitutes -man in himself. “A workman, you will say to this philosopher, -is not the same thing as the instrument which he -uses; the one who plays the lyre differs from the lyre upon -which he plays. You will readily agree to this, and the -philosopher, pursuing his reasoning, will add: And the eyes -with which this musician reads his music, and the hands -with which he holds his lyre, are they not also instruments? -Can you deny, if the eyes, if the hands are instruments, that -the whole body may likewise be an instrument, different -from the being who makes use of it and who commands?” -Unquestionably no, and you will comprehend sufficiently -that this being, by which man is really man, is the soul, the -knowledge of which you ought to seek. “For,” Plato will -also tell you, “he who knows his body, only knows that it is -his, and is not himself. To know his body as a physician or -as a sculptor, is an art, to know his soul, as a sage, is a -science and the greatest of all -sciences.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_627" id="fnanchor_627"></a><a href="#footnote_627" class="fnanchor">[627]</a></span></p> - -<p>From the knowledge of himself man passes to that of -God; and it is in fixing this model of all perfection that he -succeeds in delivering himself from the evils which he has -attracted by his own choice.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_628" id="fnanchor_628"></a><a href="#footnote_628" class="fnanchor">[628]</a></span> -His deliverance depends, -according to Pythagoras, upon virtue and upon -truth.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_629" id="fnanchor_629"></a><a href="#footnote_629" class="fnanchor">[629]</a></span> -The virtue, that he acquires by purification, tempers and -directs the passions; the truth, which he attains by his union -with the Being of beings, dissipates the darkness with which -his intelligence is obsessed; and both of them, acting jointly -in him, give him the divine form, according as he is disposed -to receive it, and guide him to supreme -felicity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_630" id="fnanchor_630"></a><a href="#footnote_630" class="fnanchor">[630]</a></span> -But how -difficult to obtain this desired goal!</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">32. <i>For few know happiness: playthings of the passions,<br /> -  Hither, thither tossed by adverse waves,<br /> -  Upon a shoreless sea, they blinded roll,<br /> -  Unable to resist or to the tempest yield.</i></p> - -<p>Lysis shows in these lines what are the greatest obstacles -to the happiness of man. They are the passions: not the -passions in themselves, but the evil effects that they produce -by the disordered movement that the understanding allows -them to take. It is to this that the attention must be directed -so that one should not fall into the error of the Stoics. -Pythagoras, as I have said, did not command his disciples -to destroy their passions, but to moderate their ardour, and -to guide them well. “The passions,” said this philosopher, -“are given to be aids to reason; it is necessary that they be -its servants and not its masters.” This is a truth that the -Platonists and even the Peripatetics have recognized, by -the evidence of Hierocles.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_631" id="fnanchor_631"></a><a href="#footnote_631" class="fnanchor">[631]</a></span> -Thus Pythagoras regarded the -passions as instruments of which the understanding makes -use in raising the intellectual edifice. A man utterly deprived -of them would resemble a mass inert and immovable -in the course of life; it is true that he might be able not to -become depraved, but then he could not enjoy his noblest -advantage, which is perfectibility. Reason is established -in the understanding to hold sway over the passions; it must -command them with absolute sovereignty, and make them -tend towards the end that wisdom indicates. If it should not -recognize the laws that intelligence gives it, and if, presumptuously, -it wishes, instead of acting according to given -principles, to lay down principles itself, it falls into excess, -and makes man superstitious or skeptic, fanatic or atheist; -if, on the contrary, it receives laws from the passions that it -ought to rule, and if weak it allows itself to be subjugated -by them, it falls into error and renders man stupid or mad, -brutish in vice, or audacious in crime. There are no true -reasonings except those admitted by wisdom; the false -reasonings must be considered as the cries of an insensate -soul, given over to the movements of an anarchical reason -which the passions confuse and -blind.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_632" id="fnanchor_632"></a><a href="#footnote_632" class="fnanchor">[632]</a></span></p> - -<p>Pythagoras considered man as holding the mean between -things intellectual and sentient, the lowest of the superior -beings and the highest of the inferior, free to move either -toward the heights or the depths, by means of his passions, -which bring into action the ascending or descending movement -that his will possesses with potentiality; sometimes -being united with the immortals and, through his return to -virtue, recovering the lot which is his own, and other times -plunging again into mortal kind and through transgression -of the divine laws finding himself fallen from his -dignity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_633" id="fnanchor_633"></a><a href="#footnote_633" class="fnanchor">[633]</a></span> -This opinion, which had been that of all the sages who had -preceded Pythagoras, has been that of all the sages who have -followed him, even of those among the Christian theosophists -whose religious prejudices have removed them farthest -from his doctrine. I shall not stop to give the proofs of its -antiquity; they are to be found everywhere, and would be -superfluous. Thomas Burnet, having vainly sought for the -origin without being able to discover it, decided that it -was necessary that it should descend from -heaven.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_634" id="fnanchor_634"></a><a href="#footnote_634" class="fnanchor">[634]</a></span> -It is -certain that one can only with difficulty explain how a man -without erudition, like Boehme, never having received this -opinion from anyone, has been able to explain it so clearly. -“When one sees man existing,” says this theosophist, “one -can say: Here all Eternity is manifested in one -image.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_635" id="fnanchor_635"></a><a href="#footnote_635" class="fnanchor">[635]</a></span></p> - -<p class="blockquote">The abode of this being is an intermediate point between -heaven and hell, love and anger; that, of the things to which -he is attached, becomes his kind.… If he inclines toward -the celestial nature, he assumes a celestial form, and the human -form becomes infernal if he inclines toward hell; for as the mind -is, so is the body. In whatever way the mind projects itself, it -shadows forth its body with a similar form and a similar -source.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_636" id="fnanchor_636"></a><a href="#footnote_636" class="fnanchor">[636]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is upon this principle, which one finds still everywhere -diversely expressed, that the dogma of the transmigration -of souls is founded. This dogma, explained in the ancient -mysteries,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_637" id="fnanchor_637"></a><a href="#footnote_637" class="fnanchor">[637]</a></span> -and received by all peoples,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_638" id="fnanchor_638"></a><a href="#footnote_638" class="fnanchor">[638]</a></span> -has been to -such an extent disfigured in what the moderns have called -<i>Metempsychosis</i>, that it would be necessary to exceed considerably -the limits of these Examinations in order to give -an explanation which could be understood. Later I will -endeavour to expose my sentiment upon this mystery, when -I treat of Theurgy and other occult sciences to which it is -allied.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">33. <i>God! Thou couldst save them by opening their eyes.</i></p> - -<p>Lysis here approaches openly one of the greatest difficulties -of nature, that which in all time has furnished to the -skeptics and to the atheists the weapons that they have -believed most formidable. Hierocles has not concealed it in -his Commentaries, and he expresses it in these terms: “If -God is able to bring back all men to virtue and to happiness, -and if he does not will to do so, is God therefore unjust and -wicked? Or if he wills to bring them back and if he is unable, -is God therefore weak and -impotent?”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_639" id="fnanchor_639"></a><a href="#footnote_639" class="fnanchor">[639]</a></span> -Long before -Hierocles, Epicurus seized upon this argument to support -his system, and had extended it without augmenting its -force. His design had been to prove by its means that, -according as he had advanced it, God does not interfere with -the things of this world, and that there is, consequently, no -Providence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_640" id="fnanchor_640"></a><a href="#footnote_640" class="fnanchor">[640]</a></span> -Lactantius, thinking that he was answering -this, has quoted from Epicurus and has afforded Bayle, the -most learned and the most formidable of modern skeptics, -the occasion for demonstrating that, until now, this terrible -argument had remained unrefuted notwithstanding all the -efforts made for its overthrow.</p> - -<p>This indefatigable reasoner said:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">The evil exists; man is wicked and unhappy: everything -proves this sad truth. History is, properly speaking, only a -miscellany of the crimes and adversities of mankind. However, -at intervals, there have been seen shining some examples of -virtue and happiness. There is, therefore, a mixture of evils -and of moral and physical goodness.… Now, if man is the -work of a sole principle, sovereignly good, sovereignly holy, -sovereignly potential, how is he exposed to the maladies of cold, -heat, hunger, thirst, pain, and sorrow? How has he so many -wicked inclinations? How does he commit so many crimes? -Can the sovereign sanctity produce a criminal creature? Can -the sovereign bounty produce an unfortunate -creature?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_641" id="fnanchor_641"></a><a href="#footnote_641" class="fnanchor">[641]</a></span></p> - -<p>Bayle, content with his anti-providential declaration, -believes that he has triumphed over all the dogmatists of -the world; but whilst he recovers his breath, observe that he -admits a mixture of good and evil, and allow him to continue.</p> - -<p>“Origen,” he said, “asserts that evil has come from the -wicked use of the free will. And why has God allowed man -to have so pernicious a free will?” “Because,” Origen -answers, “an intelligent creature who had not enjoyed free -will would have been immutable and immortal as God.” -What pitiable reason! Is it that the glorified souls, the saints, -are equal to God, being predestined to good, and deprived -of what is called <em>free will</em>, which, according to Saint Augustine, -is only the possibility of evil when the divine grace -does not incline man towards the -good?”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_642" id="fnanchor_642"></a><a href="#footnote_642" class="fnanchor">[642]</a></span></p> - -<p>Bayle, after several outbursts of this sort, finishes by -declaring that the way in which evil is introduced under the -rule of a sovereign being, infinitely good, infinitely potential, -infinitely holy, is not only inexplicable but even -incomprehensible.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_643" id="fnanchor_643"></a><a href="#footnote_643" class="fnanchor">[643]</a></span> -Bayle is right on this point; also I have always -said, in the course of this work, that the origin of evil, -comprehensible or not, could never be divulged. But the -matter of the origin of evil is not the question here. Bayle -was too good a reasoner not to have felt it, not to have seen -that the argument of Epicurus, and all the elocution with -which he furnished it, did not bear upon the cause of evil -itself, but upon its effects; which is quite different. Epicurus -did not demand that the origin of evil be explained to him, -but the local existence of its effects—​that is to say, one should -state clearly to him, that if God was able and willing to take -away the evil from the world, or to prevent it from penetrating -there, why he did not do so. When any one’s house -is the prey of flames, one is not so insensate as to be concerned -with knowing what the essence of the fire is, and why it burns -in general, but why it burns in particular; and why, being -able to extinguish it, one has not done so. Bayle, I repeat, -was too clever a logician not to have perceived this. This -distinction was too simple to have escaped him; but seeing -that its very simplicity had concealed it from the doctors -of the Christian church, he was content to affect an ignorance -of it to his adversaries, to have the pleasure, so precious to a -skeptic such as he, of seeing them one after another exhaust -themselves upon the argument of Epicurus:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">God, whether he wills to take away evil, and can not; whether -he can and does not will to; whether he does not will it nor can; -whether he wills it and can. If he wills it and can not, he is -weak; which does not accord with God. If he can and does not -will it, he is wicked; which accords with him no better. If he -does not will it nor can, he is wicked and weak, which could not -be. If he can and wills it, that which alone is worthy of his -divinity, whence then come the evils? Or why does he not take -them away?<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_644" id="fnanchor_644"></a><a href="#footnote_644" class="fnanchor">[644]</a></span></p> - -<p>Lactantius, to whom Bayle owed his argument, had -thought to overthrow it, by saying that God, being able to -take away evil, did not will it; so as to give to men, by its -means, wisdom and virtue.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_645" id="fnanchor_645"></a><a href="#footnote_645" class="fnanchor">[645]</a></span> -But the skeptic philosopher -had no trouble to prove that this answer was worth nothing, -and that the doctrine that it contained was monstrous; since -it was certain that God was able to give wisdom and virtue -without the means of evil; since he had even given them, -following the belief of Lactantius himself, and that it was -because he had renounced them that man had become subject -to evil. Saint Basil was no more fortunate than Lactantius. -Vainly he asserted that the free will, whence results -evil, had been established by God himself in the design that -this All-powerful Being had for being loved and freely served. -Bayle, attacking him in his own faith, asked him, if God is -loved and served by force in Paradise, where the glorified -souls do not enjoy the fatal privilege of being able to -sin.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_646" id="fnanchor_646"></a><a href="#footnote_646" class="fnanchor">[646]</a></span> -And with the same blow with which he struck him, he -brought down Malebranche who had said the same -thing.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_647" id="fnanchor_647"></a><a href="#footnote_647" class="fnanchor">[647]</a></span> - -The downfall of Malebranche, and the desire to avenge him, -bestirred in vain a crowd of audacious metaphysicians. -Bayle pierced them one after another with the weapons of -Epicurus, whose steel they did not know, and died with the -glory of their having said the greatest piece of stupidity -which could be said upon a like matter: namely, that it was -possible that God might prescribe another end, in creating -the world, than to make his creatures -happy.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_648" id="fnanchor_648"></a><a href="#footnote_648" class="fnanchor">[648]</a></span></p> - -<p>The death of Bayle did not extinguish the ardour that his -works had excited. Leibnitz, justly displeased with all that -had been said, thought he could answer the skeptic philosopher -better; and raising himself with a great force of genius -to that pristine moment when God formed the decree of -producing the world, he represented the Being of beings -choosing among an infinity of worlds, all possible, all present -at his thought, the actual world, as most conformable to his -attributes, the most worthy of him, the best finally, the most -capable of attaining to the greatest and most excellent end -that this all-perfect Being may have been able to -purpose.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_649" id="fnanchor_649"></a><a href="#footnote_649" class="fnanchor">[649]</a></span> -But what is this magnificent and worthy end which the -Divinity has chosen, this goal which not alone constitutes -the actual world such as it is, but which also presents it to -the mind, according to the system of Leibnitz, as the best of -possible worlds? This philosopher does not know.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">We are not able [he said] to penetrate it, for we are too -limited for this; we can only infer, by reasoning with the insight -that God has given us, that his bounty only has been able to -purpose, by creating the greatest possible number of intelligent -creatures, by endowing them with as much knowledge, happiness, -and beauty as the Universe might admit without going away -from the immutable order established by his -wisdom.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_650" id="fnanchor_650"></a><a href="#footnote_650" class="fnanchor">[650]</a></span></p> - -<p>Up to this point, the system of Leibnitz sustained itself, -and was able even to lead to a relative truth; but its work -was not accomplished. It was necessary to explain, following -the demand of Epicurus so much repeated by Bayle, how -in this immutable order established by the divine Wisdom -in this best of worlds, that physical and moral evil make felt -such severe effects. The German philosopher, instead of -stopping at these effects, and stating the primordial cause, -inaccessible to his researches, still scorned it, as had all the -adversaries of Bayle, and asserted that physical and moral -evils were necessary to maintain this immutable order, and -entered into the plan of this best of worlds. Fatal assertion -which overthrew his system instantly: for, how dares one -to say that evil is necessary, and above all necessary not -only in what is best, but in what is the best possible!</p> - -<p>Now, whatever may be the primordial cause of Evil, -concerning which I can not nor do I wish to explain myself, -until the triple veil, extended over this formidable mystery -by Moses, may have been raised, I will say, according to the -doctrine of Pythagoras and Plato, that its effects can be -neither necessary, nor irresistible since they are not immutable -and I will reply to the much-lauded argument of Epicurus, -that by this very thing they are neither necessary nor -irresistible; God can and will remove them and he does -remove them.</p> - -<p>And if certain disciples of Bayle, astonished by a reply -so bold and so new, asked me when and how God works so -great a benefit, of which they have perceived no traces, I -will say to them: by time and by means of perfectibility. -Time is the instrument of Providence; perfectibility, the -plan of its work; Nature, the object of its labour; and Good, -its result. You know, and Bayle himself agrees, that there -exists a mixture of good and evil: and I repeat to you here -what I have already said<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_651" id="fnanchor_651"></a><a href="#footnote_651" class="fnanchor">[651]</a></span>; -and I maintain that this good -emanates from Providence, and is its work, and replaces in -the sphere where it has been transported, an equivalent -amount of evil which it has transmuted into good; I maintain -that this good continues augmenting itself unceasingly -and the evil which corresponds to it, diminishing in an equal -proportion; I maintain finally that, having left absolute evil -and having arrived at the point where you now are, you will -arrive by the same road and by the same means, that is, by -favour of time and of perfectibility, from the point where -you are to absolute Good, the crown of perfection. This is -the answer to your question, When and how does God take -away evils? Still if you claim you cannot see any of this, -I will reply that it is not for you, arguing with the weakness -of your view, to deny the progress of Providence, you whose -imperfect senses mistake all the time even the subjects -within your range, and for whom the extremes are touching -so forcibly, that it is impossible for you to distinguish upon -the same dial the movement of the needle which traverses -it in a cycle, from the movement of that which traverses -it in less than a second; one of these needles appearing to -you immobile and the other not existing for -you.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_652" id="fnanchor_652"></a><a href="#footnote_652" class="fnanchor">[652]</a></span></p> - -<p>If you deny what I affirm, bring other proofs of your -denial than your weakness and cease, from the little corner -where Nature has placed you, presuming to judge its immensity. -Still if you lack negative proofs, wait a moment -more, and you shall have from me affirmative proofs. But -if, going back, and wishing to sustain the argument of Epicurus -which is giving way, you believe that you will succeed -by saying that this philosopher had not asked, in the case -where God was able and willed to remove evils, how he -removed them, but why he did not remove them; I will reply -to you that this question is a pure sophism; that the how is -implicitly contained in the why, to which I have replied in -affirming that God, being able and willing to remove evils, -removes them. And if you recall an objection that I have -already overthrown concerning the manner in which he -removes them, and that bringing you to judge of his ways, -you would assume that he ought to remove them, not in a -lapse of time so long that you would be unconscious of it, -but in the twinkling of an eye; I would reply that this way -would be to you quite as imperceptible as the other; and -that furthermore, that which you demand exists, since the -lapse of time of which you complain, however long it may -appear to you, is less than the twinkling of an eye for the -Being of beings who employs it, being absolutely <i>nihil</i> -compared to Eternity. And from there I will take occasion -to tell you that evil, in the way in which it is manifest in the -world, being a sort of malady, God, who alone can cure it, -knows also the sole remedy which may be applicable to it -and that this sole remedy is time.</p> - -<p>It seems to me that however little attention you may -have given to what I have just said, you ought to be tempted -to pass on from the knowledge of the remedy to that of the -malady; but it is in vain that you would demand of me an -explanation concerning its nature. This explanation is not -necessary to overthrow the argument of Epicurus and that -is all that I have wished to do. The rest depends upon you -and I can only repeat with Lysis:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">“God! Thou couldst save them by opening their eyes.”</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">34. <i>But no: ’tis for the humans of a race divine,<br /> -  To discern Error, and to see the Truth.</i></p> - -<p>Hierocles who, as I have said, has not concealed the -difficulty which is contained in these lines, has raised it, by -making evident that it depends upon the free will of man, and -by putting a limit upon the evils which he attracts to himself -by his own choice. His reasoning coinciding with mine can -be reduced to these few words. The sole remedy for evil, -whatever may be the cause, is time. Providence, minister -of the Most High, employs this remedy; and by means of -perfectibility which results from it, brings back all to good. -But the aptitude of the maladies for receiving it acts in -proportion to this remedy. Time, always the same, and -always <i>nihil</i> for the Divinity is, however, shortened or -lengthened for men, according as their will coincides with the -providential action or differs therefrom. They have only to -desire good, and time which fatigues them will be lightened. -But what if they desire evil always, will time therefore not -be finished? Will the evils therefore have no limit? Is it -that the will of man is so inflexible that God may not turn it -towards the good? The will of man is free beyond doubt; and -its essence, immutable as the Divinity whence it emanates, -knows not how to be changed, but nothing is impossible for -God. The change which is effected in it, without which its -immutability may in no wise be altered, is the miracle of the -All-Powerful. It is a result of its own liberty, and if I dare -to say it, takes place by the coincidence of two movements, -whose impulse is given by Providence; by the first, it shows -to the will, goodness; by the second, it puts it in a fitting -position to meet this same goodness.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">35. <i>Nature serves them.…</i></p> - -<p>Lysis expresses it thus: Nature, by the homogeneity -which, as I have stated, constitutes its essence, teaches men -to see beyond the range of their senses, transports them by -analogy from one region to another and develops their ideas. -The perfectibility which is manifested through the grace of -time is called perfection; for the more a thing is perfected -the more perfect it becomes. The man who perceives this is -struck by it, and if he reflect he finds truth, as I have openly -stated, and to which Lysis was content with making allusion, -on account of the secret of the mysteries that he was forced -to respect.</p> - -<p>It is this perfectibility manifested in Nature, which gives -the affirmative proofs that I have promised, touching the -way in which Providence removes with time the evils which -afflict men. These are the proofs <i>de facto</i>. They cannot be -challenged without absurdity. I know well that there have -been men who, studying Nature within four walls, and -considering its operations through the extremely narrow -prism of their ideas, have denied that anything might be -perfectible, and have asserted that the Universe was immobile -because they have not seen it move; but there does -not exist today a genuine observer, a naturalist whose learning -is founded upon Nature, who does not invalidate the -decision of these pretended savants, and who does not put -perfectibility in the rank of the most rigorously demonstrated -truths.</p> - -<p>I shall not quote the ancients on a subject where their -authority would be challenged; I shall even limit myself, to -evade prolixities, to a small number of striking passages -among the moderns. Leibnitz, who ought less than any -other to admit perfectibility, since he had founded his system -upon the existence of the best of worlds possible, has, however, -recognized it in Nature, in advancing that all the -changes which are operated there are the consequence of -both; that everything tends toward its improvement, and -that therefore the present is already teeming with the -future.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_653" id="fnanchor_653"></a><a href="#footnote_653" class="fnanchor">[653]</a></span> -Buffon, inclining strongly toward the system of atoms, -ought also to be much opposed, and yet he has been unable -to see that Nature, in general, tends far more toward life -than toward death, and that it seems to be seeking to -organize bodies as much as is -possible.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_654" id="fnanchor_654"></a><a href="#footnote_654" class="fnanchor">[654]</a></span> -The school of -Kant has pushed the system of perfectibility as far as it -could go. Schelling, the disciple of most consequence of -this celebrated man, has followed the development of Nature -with a force of thought which has perhaps passed the mark. -The former, has ventured to say that Nature is a sort of -Divinity in germ, which tends to apotheosis, and is prepared -for existence with God, by the reign of Chaos, and by that -of Providence.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_655" id="fnanchor_655"></a><a href="#footnote_655" class="fnanchor">[655]</a></span> -But those are only speculative opinions. -Here are opinions founded upon facts.</p> - -<p>As soon as one considers the Earth observingly, the -naturalists say, one perceives striking traces of the revolutions -that it has sustained in anterior -times.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_656" id="fnanchor_656"></a><a href="#footnote_656" class="fnanchor">[656]</a></span></p> - -<p class="blockquote">The continents have not always been what they are today, -the waters of the globe have not always been distributed in the -same manner. The ocean changes insensibly its bed, undermines -the lands, divides them, rushes over some, and leaves others -dry. The islands have not always been islands. The continents -have been peopled, with living and vegetating beings, before -the present disposition of the waters upon the -globe.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_657" id="fnanchor_657"></a><a href="#footnote_657" class="fnanchor">[657]</a></span></p> - -<p>These observations confirm what Pythagoras and the ancient -sages have taught upon this -subject<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_658" id="fnanchor_658"></a><a href="#footnote_658" class="fnanchor">[658]</a></span>: -</p> - -<p class="blockquote">Besides [these same naturalists continue], the greater part -of the fossil bones that have been assembled and compared are -those of animals different from any of the species actually known; -has the kingdom of life therefore changed? This one cannot -refuse to believe.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_659" id="fnanchor_659"></a><a href="#footnote_659" class="fnanchor">[659]</a></span> -As Nature proceeds unceasingly from the -simple to the composite, it is probable that the most imperfect -animals should have been created before the tribes, higher in -the scale of life. It even seems that each of the animal classes -indicates a sort of suspension in the creative power, an intermission, -an era of repose, during which Nature prepared in -silence the germs of life which should come to light in the course -of the cycles. One might thus enumerate the epochs of living -Nature, epochs remote in the night of ages and which have been -obliged to precede the formation of mankind. A time may have -been when the insect, the shell, the unclean reptile, did not -recognize the master in the Universe and were placed at the head -of the organized -bodies.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_660" id="fnanchor_660"></a><a href="#footnote_660" class="fnanchor">[660]</a></span></p> - -<p>These observers add:</p> - -<p class="blockquote">It is certain that most perfect beings come from less perfect, -and that they are obliged to be perfected in the sequence of -generations. All animals tend towards man; all vegetables -aspire to animality; minerals seek to draw nearer to the vegetable.… -It is evident that Nature, having created a series of -plants and animals, and having stopped at man who forms the -superior extremity, has assembled in him all the vital faculties -that it had distributed among the inferior -races.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_661" id="fnanchor_661"></a><a href="#footnote_661" class="fnanchor">[661]</a></span></p> - -<p>These are the ideas of Leibnitz. This celebrated man -had said: “Men hold to animals; these to plants, and those -to fossils. It is necessary that all the natural orders form -only one sole chain, in which the different classes hold strictly -as if they were its links.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_662" id="fnanchor_662"></a><a href="#footnote_662" class="fnanchor">[662]</a></span> -Several philosophers have -adopted them,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_663" id="fnanchor_663"></a><a href="#footnote_663" class="fnanchor">[663]</a></span> -but none have expressed them with more -order and energy than the author of the article <cite>Nature</cite>, in -<cite>Le Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire naturelle</cite>.</p> - -<p class="blockquote">All animals, all plants are only the modifications of an animal, -of a vegetable origin.… Man is the knot which unites the -Divinity to matter, which links heaven and earth. This ray -of wisdom and intelligence which shines in his thoughts is -reflected upon all Nature. It is the chain of communication -between all beings. All the series of animals [he adds in another -place] present only a long degradation from the proper -nature of man. The monkey, considered either in his exterior -form or in his interior organization, resembles only a degraded -man; and the same suggestion of degradation is observed in -passing from monkeys to quadrupeds; so that the primitive -trend of the organization is recognized in all, and the principal -viscera, the principal members are identical -there.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_664" id="fnanchor_664"></a><a href="#footnote_664" class="fnanchor">[664]</a></span></p> - -<p class="blockquote">Who knows [observes elsewhere the same writer] who knows -if in the eternal night of time the sceptre of the world will not -pass from the hands of man into those of a being more worthy -of bearing it and more perfect? Perhaps the race of negroes, -today secondary in the human specie, has already been queen -of the earth before the white race was created.… If Nature -has successively accorded the empire to the species that it creates -more and more perfect, why should she cease today.… The -negro, already king of animals, has fallen beneath the yoke of -the European; will the latter bow the head in his turn before a -race more powerful and more intelligent when it enters into the -plans of Nature to ordain his existence? Where will his creation -stop? Who will place the limits of his power? God alone -raises it and it is His all-powerful hand which -governs.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_665" id="fnanchor_665"></a><a href="#footnote_665" class="fnanchor">[665]</a></span></p> - -<p>These striking passages full of forceful ideas, which -appear new, and which would merit being better known, -contain only a small part of the things taught in the ancient -mysteries, as I shall perhaps demonstrate later.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">36. … <i>Thou who fathomed it.<br /> -  O wise and happy man, rest in its haven.<br /> -  But observe my laws, abstaining from the things<br /> -  Which thy soul must fear, distinguishing them well;<br /> -  Letting intelligence o’er thy body reign.</i></p> - -<p>Lysis, speaking always in the name of Pythagoras, addressed -himself to those of the disciples of this theosophist, -who had reached the highest degree of perfection, or autopsy, -and the felicity of their welfare. I have said often enough in -the course of these Examinations, what should be understood -by this last degree, so that I need not refer to it here. I shall -not even pause upon what has reference to the symbolic -teachings of Pythagoras, the formularies and dietetics that -he gave to his disciples, and the abstinences that he prescribed -for them, my design being to give incidentally a -particular explanation of it, for the purpose of not further -prolonging this volume. It is well known that all of the -eminent men, as many among the ancients as among the -moderns, all the savants commendable for their labours or -their learning, are agreed in regarding the precepts of Pythagoras -as symbolical, that is, as containing figuratively, -a very different meaning from that which they would seem to -offer literally.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_666" id="fnanchor_666"></a><a href="#footnote_666" class="fnanchor">[666]</a></span> -It was the custom of the Egyptian priests -from whom he had imbibed -them,<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_667" id="fnanchor_667"></a><a href="#footnote_667" class="fnanchor">[667]</a></span> -to conceal their doctrine -beneath an outer covering of parables and -allegories.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_668" id="fnanchor_668"></a><a href="#footnote_668" class="fnanchor">[668]</a></span> -The world was, in their eyes, a vast enigma, whose mysteries, -clothed in a style equally enigmatical, ought never -to be openly divulged.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_669" id="fnanchor_669"></a><a href="#footnote_669" class="fnanchor">[669]</a></span> -These priests had three kinds of -characters, and three ways of expressing and depicting their -thoughts. The first manner of writing and of speaking was -clear and simple; the second, figurative; and the third, -symbolic. In the first, they employed characters used by -all peoples and took the words in their literal meaning; in -the second, they used hieroglyphic characters, and took the -words in an indirect and metaphorical meaning; finally in -the third, they made use of phrases with double meaning -of historic and astronomical fables, or of simple -allegories.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_670" id="fnanchor_670"></a><a href="#footnote_670" class="fnanchor">[670]</a></span> -The <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(chef-d’œuvre)</i> of the sacerdotal art was uniting these -three ways, and enclosing under the appearance of a clear -and simple style, the vulgar, figurative, and symbolic meaning. -Pythagoras has sought this kind of perfection in his -precepts and often he has succeeded; but the one of all the -theosophists instructed in the sanctuaries of Thebes or of -Memphis, who has pushed farthest, this marvellous art, is -beyond doubt Moses. The first part of his Sepher, vulgarly -called <cite>Genesis</cite>, and that should be called by its original name -of <cite>Bereshith</cite>, is in this style, the most admirable work, the -most astounding feat of strength that is possible for a man -to conceive and execute. This book, which contains all the -science of the ancient Egyptians, is still to be translated and -will only be translated when one will put oneself in a condition -to understand the language in which it has primitively -been composed.</p> - -<p class="p2 hanging">37. <i>So that, ascending into radiant Ether,<br /> -  Midst the Immortals, thou shalt be thyself a God.</i></p> - -<p>Here, said Hierocles, in terminating his commentaries, is -the blissful end of all efforts: here, according to Plato, is the -hope which enkindles, which sustains the ardour of him who -fights in the career of virtue: here, the inestimable prize -which awaits him.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_671" id="fnanchor_671"></a><a href="#footnote_671" class="fnanchor">[671]</a></span> -It was the great object of the mysteries, -and so to speak, the great work of initiation.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_672" id="fnanchor_672"></a><a href="#footnote_672" class="fnanchor">[672]</a></span> -The -initiate, said Sophocles, is not only happy during his life, -but even after his death he can promise himself an eternal -felicity.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_673" id="fnanchor_673"></a><a href="#footnote_673" class="fnanchor">[673]</a></span> -His soul purified by virtue, said Pindar, unfolds -in those blessed regions where reigns an eternal -springtime.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_674" id="fnanchor_674"></a><a href="#footnote_674" class="fnanchor">[674]</a></span> -It goes on, said Socrates, attracted by the celestial -element which has the greatest affinity with its nature, to -become united with the immortal Gods and to share their -glory and their -immortality.<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_675" id="fnanchor_675"></a><a href="#footnote_675" class="fnanchor">[675]</a></span> -This deification was, according -to Pythagoras, the work of divine love; it was -reserved for him who had acquired truth through his intellectual -faculties, virtue through his animistic faculties, -and purity through his instinctive faculties. This purity, -after the end of his material body, shone forth and made -itself known in the form of a luminous body, that the soul -had been given during its confinement in its gloomy body; -for as I finish these Examinations, I am seizing the only -occasion which may still be presented of saying that, this -philosopher taught that the soul has a body which is given -according to his good or bad nature, by the inner labour of -his faculties. He called this body the subtle chariot of the -soul, and said that the mortal body is only the gross exterior. -He adds, “The care of the soul and its luminous body is, in -practicing virtue, in embracing truth and abstaining from -all impure -things.”<span class="lock"><a name="fnanchor_676" id="fnanchor_676"></a><a href="#footnote_676" class="fnanchor">[676]</a></span></p> - -<p>This is the veritable aim of the symbolic abstinences that -he prescribes, even as Lysis insinuates moreover quite -clearly in the lines which make the subject of my preceding -Examination, when he said that it is necessary to abstain -from the things which are injurious to the development of -the soul and to distinguish clearly these things.</p> - -<p>Furthermore, Pythagoras believed that there existed -celestial goodness proportionate to each degree of virtue, -and that there is for the souls, different ranks according to -the luminous body with which they are clothed. The -supreme happiness, according to him, belongs only to the -soul which has learned how to recover itself, by its intimate -union with the intelligence, whose essence, changing its -nature, has become entirely spiritual. It is necessary that -this soul be raised to the knowledge of universal truths, and -that it should have found, as far as it is possible for it, the -Principle and the end of all things. Then having attained -to this high degree of perfection, being drawn into this immutable -region whose ethereal element is no more subjected -to the descending movement of generation, it can be united -by its knowledge to the Universal All, and reflect in all its -being the ineffable light with which the Being of beings, God -Himself, fills unceasingly the Immensity.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">Footnotes</h3> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_1" id="footnote_1"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_1"><span class="muchsmaller">[1]</span></a> - Addressé à la Classe de la Langue et de la Littérature françaises, et à -celle d’Histoire et de Littérature ancienne de l’Institut impérial de France.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_2" id="footnote_2"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_2"><span class="muchsmaller">[2]</span></a> - This expression will be explained in the progress of the discourse.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_3" id="footnote_3"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_3"><span class="muchsmaller">[3]</span></a> - <cite>De Dignit. et Increment. Scient.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_4" id="footnote_4"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_4"><span class="muchsmaller">[4]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_5" id="footnote_5"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_5"><span class="muchsmaller">[5]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="livre 6, chapter">l. vi., c.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_6" id="footnote_6"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_6"><span class="muchsmaller">[6]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite><abbr title="Dialogues">Dial.</abbr> Ion</cite>. - Aristotle, who was often opposed to Plato, did not dare -to be on this point. He agrees that verse alone does not constitute poetry, -and that the History of Herodotus, put into verse, would never be other -than history.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_7" id="footnote_7"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_7"><span class="muchsmaller">[7]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_8" id="footnote_8"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_8"><span class="muchsmaller">[8]</span></a> - <cite>De Dignit. et Increment. Scient.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_9" id="footnote_9"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_9"><span class="muchsmaller">[9]</span></a> - Leclerc, known by the multitude of his works; l’abbé Bannier, Warburton, -etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_10" id="footnote_10"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_10"><span class="muchsmaller">[10]</span></a> - <cite>De Dignit. et Increment. Scient.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 13. - Court de Gébelin cites -Chancellor Bacon as one of the first defenders of - allegory. (<cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Du Génie Allégorique">Génie allég.</abbr></cite>)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_11" id="footnote_11"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_11"><span class="muchsmaller">[11]</span></a> - Pausanias, <abbr title="livre 3, page">l. iii., p.</abbr> 93.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_12" id="footnote_12"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_12"><span class="muchsmaller">[12]</span></a> - Acron, <cite>In <abbr title="Epistles of Horace, one">Epist. Horat., i.</abbr>, 2.</cite> - Certain authors say that Penelope had -conceived this son when Mercury disguised as a goat had forced her virginity. -(Lucian, <cite><abbr title="Dialogi Deorum" lang="la" xml:lang="la">Dialog. Deor.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 176.)</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_13" id="footnote_13"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_13"><span class="muchsmaller">[13]</span></a> - Héraclides, entre les petits mythologues.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_14" id="footnote_14"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_14"><span class="muchsmaller">[14]</span></a> - <abbr title="Geography, livre 1"><cite>Geogr.</cite>, l. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_15" id="footnote_15"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_15"><span class="muchsmaller">[15]</span></a> - <abbr title="Antiquités romaines, livre 2"><cite>Antiq. rom.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_16" id="footnote_16"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_16"><span class="muchsmaller">[16]</span></a> - In his book entitled Περὶ τῆς τῶν θεῶν φύσεως, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 17.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_17" id="footnote_17"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_17"><span class="muchsmaller">[17]</span></a> - In his book entitled Περὶ θεῶν καὶ κόσμον, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 3. Court de Gébelin cites -these works. (<cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Du Génie Allégorique">Génie allég.</abbr></cite>)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_18" id="footnote_18"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_18"><span class="muchsmaller">[18]</span></a> -<abbr title="Praeparatio evangelica, livre 3, chapter"> <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_19" id="footnote_19"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_19"><span class="muchsmaller">[19]</span></a> - Court de Gébelin, <abbr title="Du Génie Allégorique, page"><cite>Génie allég.</cite>, p.</abbr> 149.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_20" id="footnote_20"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_20"><span class="muchsmaller">[20]</span></a> - Strabo positively assures it. See Bannier, <abbr title="Mythologie, 2, page"><cite>Mythol.</cite>, ii., p.</abbr> 252.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_21" id="footnote_21"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_21"><span class="muchsmaller">[21]</span></a> - Bailly, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Essai sur les Fables</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 14. - Pausanias, <abbr title="livre 9, page">l. ix., p.</abbr> 302.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_22" id="footnote_22"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_22"><span class="muchsmaller">[22]</span></a> - <dfn>Poetry</dfn>, in Greek ποίησις, derived from the Phœnician פאה (<dfn>phohe</dfn>), mouth, -voice, language, discourse; and from יש (<dfn>ish</dfn>), a superior being, a principle being, -figuratively God. This last word, spread throughout Europe, is found with certain -change of vowels and of aspirates, very common in the Oriental dialects; in -the Etruscan Æs, <dfn>Æsar</dfn>, in the Gallic Æs, in the Basque <dfn>As</dfn>, and in the Scandinavian -<dfn>Ase</dfn>; the Copts still say <dfn>Os</dfn>, the lord, and the Greeks have preserved it in -Αἶσα, the immutable Being, Destiny, and in ἄζω, I adore, and ἀξιόω, I revere.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><dfn>Thrace</dfn>, in Greek θρᾴκη, derived from the Phœnician רקיע (<dfn>rakiwha</dfn>), which -signifies the <dfn>ethereal space</dfn>, or, as one translates the Hebrew word which -corresponds to it, the <dfn>firmament</dfn>. This word is preceded in the Dorian θρακιᾴ, -by the letter θ, <dfn>th</dfn>, a kind of article which the Oriental grammarians range -among the <dfn>hémantique</dfn> letters placed at the beginning of words to modify -the sense, or to render it more emphatic.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><dfn>Olen</dfn>, in Greek ὤλεν, is derived from the Phœnician עולן (<dfn>whôlon</dfn>), and -is applied in the greater part of the Oriental dialects to all that which is -infinite, eternal, universal, whether in time or space. I ought to mention -as an interesting thing and but little known by mythologists, that it is from -the word אפ (<dfn>ab</dfn> or <dfn>ap</dfn>) joined to that of <dfn>whôlon</dfn>, that one formed <dfn>ap-whôlon</dfn>, -Apollon; namely, the Father universal, infinite, eternal. This is why the -invention of Poetry is attributed to Olen or to Apollo. It is the same mythological -personage represented by the sun. According to an ancient tradition, -Olen was native of Lycia, that is to say, of the light; for this is the meaning -of the Greek word λύκη.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_23" id="footnote_23"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_23"><span class="muchsmaller">[23]</span></a> - Strabo has judiciously observed that in Greece all the technical words -were foreign. (<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(Voyez)</i> Bailly, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Essai - sur les Fables</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 14, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 136.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_24" id="footnote_24"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_24"><span class="muchsmaller">[24]</span></a> - The Getæ, in Greek Γέται, were, according to Ælius Spartianus, and -according to the author of <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">le Monde primitif</cite> - (<abbr title="tome 9, page">t. ix., p.</abbr> 49), the same peoples -as the Goths. Their country called Getæ, which should be pronounced -<dfn>Ghœtie</dfn>, comes from the word <dfn>Goth</dfn>, which signifies God in most of the idioms -of the north of Europe. The name of the Dacians is only a softening of that -of the Thracians in a different dialect.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Mœsia, in Greek Μοίσια, is, in Phœnician, the interpretation of the name -given to Thrace. The latter means, as we have seen, <dfn>ethereal space</dfn>, and the -former signifies <dfn>divine abode</dfn>, being composed from the word א׳ש (<dfn>aïsh</dfn>), whose -rendering I have already given, before which is found placed the letter מ -(M), one of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(hémantiques)</i>, which according to the best grammarians serves -to express the proper place, the means, the local manifestation of a thing.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_25" id="footnote_25"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_25"><span class="muchsmaller">[25]</span></a> - <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(Voyez)</i> Court de Gébelin, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Monde - primitif</cite>, <abbr title="tome 9, page">t. ix., p.</abbr> 49.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_26" id="footnote_26"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_26"><span class="muchsmaller">[26]</span></a> - This mountain was called Kô-Kajôn, according to d’Anville. This -learned geographer has clearly seen that this name was the same as that of -Caucasus, a generic name given to all the sacred mountains. It is known that -<dfn>Caucasus</dfn> was for the Persians, what Mount Merou had been for the Indians -and what Mount Parnassus became afterwards for the Greeks, the central -place of their cult. The Tibetans have also their sacred mountain distinct -from that of the Indians, upon which still resides the God-Priest, or immortal -Man, similar to that of the Getæ. (<abbr title="Mémoire de l'Académie des Inscriptions, - tome 25, page"><cite>Mém. de l’Acad. des Inscript.</cite>, t. xxv., -p.</abbr> 45.)</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_27" id="footnote_27"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_27"><span class="muchsmaller">[27]</span></a> - Bailly, <cite>Essai sur les Fables</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 14. - Conférez avec Hérodote, <abbr title="livre 4">l. iv.</abbr>; et -Pausanias, <abbr title="livre 9, page">l. ix., p.</abbr> 302, <abbr title="livre 10, page">l. x., p.</abbr> 320.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_28" id="footnote_28"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_28"><span class="muchsmaller">[28]</span></a> - <i>Dionysus</i>, in Greek Διονύσος, comes from the word Διός, irregular genitive -of Ζεύς, the living God, and of Νόος, mind or understanding. The Phœnician -roots of these words are אש‎, ‎ יש‎, ‎or איש (<dfn>ash</dfn>, - <dfn>ish</dfn>, or <dfn>aïsh</dfn>), Unique Being, and נו -(<dfn>nô</dfn>) the motive principle, the movement. These two roots, contracted, form -the word <dfn>Nôos</dfn>, which signifies literally the principle of being, and figuratively, -the understanding.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><dfn>Demeter</dfn>, in Greek Δημήτερ, comes from the ancient Greek Δημ, <dfn>the earth</dfn>, -united to the word μήτερ, <dfn>mother</dfn>. The Phœnician roots are דמ (<dfn>dam</dfn>) and מט -(<dfn>môt</dfn>), the former expressing all that which is formed by aggregation of similar -parts; and the latter, all that which varies the form and gives it generative -movement.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_29" id="footnote_29"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_29"><span class="muchsmaller">[29]</span></a> - Bailly, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Essai sur les Fables</cite>, - <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 15. Court de Gébelin expressly says, -that the sacred mountain of Thrace was consecrated to Bacchus. - <abbr title="Monde primatif, tome 9, page" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><cite>(Monde -prim.)</cite>, t. ix., p.</abbr> 49. Now, it is generally known that Parnassus of the Greeks -was consecrated to Apollo.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_30" id="footnote_30"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_30"><span class="muchsmaller">[30]</span></a> - <abbr title="Theogony, verse"><cite>Theog.</cite>, v.</abbr> 500.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_31" id="footnote_31"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_31"><span class="muchsmaller">[31]</span></a> - The Greek word Θρᾴκη, Thrace, in passing into the Ionian dialect Θρῄξ, -has furnished the following expressions: θρῆσκος, a devotee, θρησκεία, devotion, -θρησκηύω, I adore with devotion. These words, diverted from their -real sense and used ironically after the cult of Thrace had yielded to that of -Delphi, were applied to ideas of superstition and even of fanaticism. The -point of considering the Thracians as schismatics was even reached, and the -word ἐθελοθρησκεία composed to express a heresy, a cult particular to those -who practised it, and separated from orthodoxy.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_32" id="footnote_32"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_32"><span class="muchsmaller">[32]</span></a> - Œtolinos is composed, by contraction, of two words which appear to -belong to one of the Thracian dialects. <dfn>Œto-Kyros</dfn> signifies the ruling sun, -among the Scythians, according to Herodotus (l. iv., 59). <dfn>Helena</dfn> signified -the moon, among the Dorians. It is from this last word, deprived of its -article <dfn>he</dfn>, that the Latins have made <i>Luna</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_33" id="footnote_33"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_33"><span class="muchsmaller">[33]</span></a> - Court de Gébelin, <abbr title="Monde primitif, tome 8, page"><cite>Monde primit.</cite>, t. viii., p.</abbr> 190. - Pausanias, <abbr title="livre 10">l. x.</abbr> -Conférez avec <abbr title="Æschylus">Æschyl.</abbr> <cite>In Choephori</cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 1036; - <abbr title="Euripides">Eurip.</abbr>, <abbr title="In Orestes, verse"><cite>In Orest.</cite>, v.</abbr> 1330; <abbr title="Plato, De Republica, livre 4">Plat., -<cite>De Rep.</cite>, l. iv.</abbr>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_34" id="footnote_34"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_34"><span class="muchsmaller">[34]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Musica">Plut., <cite>De Music.</cite></abbr> Tzetzes, <cite>Chiliads</cite>, - <abbr title="severn">vii.</abbr>; <abbr title="Histories"><cite>Hist.</cite></abbr>, 108.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_35" id="footnote_35"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_35"><span class="muchsmaller">[35]</span></a> - <dfn>Amphion</dfn>, in Greek Ἀμφίων, comes from the Phœnician words אמ (<dfn>am</dfn>), -a mother-nation, a metropolis, פי (<dfn>phi</dfn>), a mouth, a voice, and יון (<dfn>Jôn</dfn>), -Greece. Thence the Greeks have derived Ὀμφή, a <dfn>mother-voice</dfn>, that is, -orthodox, legal, upon which all should be regulated.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><dfn>Thamyris</dfn>, in Greek Θάμυρις, is composed of the Phœnician words תאמ -(<dfn>tham</dfn>), twin, אור (<dfn>aur</dfn>), light, יש (<dfn>ish</dfn>), of the being.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_36" id="footnote_36"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_36"><span class="muchsmaller">[36]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Musica">Plut., <cite>De Music.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_37" id="footnote_37"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_37"><span class="muchsmaller">[37]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 3">Diod. Sicul., l. iii.</abbr>, 35. - <abbr title="Pausanias, In Bœotia, page">Pausan., <cite>In Bœot.</cite>, p.</abbr> 585.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_38" id="footnote_38"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_38"><span class="muchsmaller">[38]</span></a> - <cite>Bibliotheca Græca</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_39" id="footnote_39"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_39"><span class="muchsmaller">[39]</span></a> - Duhalde, <abbr title="tome 4, in folio, page">t. iv., <i>in-fol.</i>, p.</abbr> 65. These Tartars had no idea of poetry before -their conquest of China; also they imagined that it was only in China where -the rules of this science had been formulated, and that the rest of the world -resembled them.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_40" id="footnote_40"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_40"><span class="muchsmaller">[40]</span></a> - Kien-long, one of the descendants of Kang-hi, has made good verse in -Chinese. This prince has composed an historical poem on the conquest of the -Eleuth, or <dfn>Oloth</dfn> people, who, after having been a long time tributary to China, -revolted. (<abbr title="Mémoire concernant les Choinoises, tome 1, page"><cite>Mém. concernant les Chin.</cite>, -t. i., p.</abbr> 329.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_41" id="footnote_41"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_41"><span class="muchsmaller">[41]</span></a> - The commencement of the Indian Kali-youg is placed 3101 or 3102 -years before our era. Fréret has fixed it, in his chronological researches, at -January 16, 3102, a half hour before the winter solstice, in the colure of which -was then found the first star of Aries. The Brahmans say that this age of -darkness and uncleanness must endure 432,000 years. <dfn>Kali</dfn> signifies in Sanskrit, -all that which is black, shadowy, material, bad. From there, the Latin -word <dfn>caligo</dfn>; and the French word <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(galimatias)</i>; the last part of this word comes -from the Greek word μῦθος, a discourse, which is itself derived from the -Phœnician מוט (<dfn>mot</dfn> or <dfn>myt</dfn>), which expresses all that moves, stirs up; a -motion, a word, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_42" id="footnote_42"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_42"><span class="muchsmaller">[42]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 2, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, - t. ii., p.</abbr> 140. The Brahmans say that their imperial -dynasties, pontifical as well as laic, or solar and lunar, became extinguished -a thousand years after the beginning of the <i>Kali-youg</i>, about 2000 <span class="sc lowercase">B.C.</span> It -was at this epoch that India was divided into many independent sovereignties -and that a powerful reformer of the cult appeared in Magadha, who took the -surname of <i>Buddha</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_43" id="footnote_43"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_43"><span class="muchsmaller">[43]</span></a> - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre 2">Herod., l. ii.</abbr> This historian said that in the early times all Egypt was -a morass, with the exception of the country of Thebes; that nothing was seen -of the land, which one saw there at the epoch in which he was writing, beyond -Lake Mœris; and that going up the river, during a seven days’ journey, all -seemed a vast sea. This same writer said in the beginning of book <abbr title="one">i.</abbr>, and -this is very remarkable, that the Phœnicians had entered from the Red Sea -into the Mediterranean, to establish themselves upon its shores, which they -would have been unable to do if the Isthmus of Suez had existed. See what -Aristotle says on this subject, <abbr title="Meteorologica, livre 1, chapter"><cite>Meteorolog.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 14.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_44" id="footnote_44"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_44"><span class="muchsmaller">[44]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 3, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, - t. iii., p.</abbr> 321. The excerpts that Wilford has made from -the <cite>Pourana</cite>, entitled <cite>Scanda</cite>, the God of War, prove that the <dfn>Palis</dfn>, called -Philistines, on account of their same country, <dfn>Palis-sthan</dfn>, going out from India, -established themselves upon the Persian Gulf and, under the name of Phœnicians, -came afterwards along the coast of Yemen, on the borders of the Red -Sea, whence they passed into the Mediterranean Sea, as Herodotus said, according -to the Persian traditions. This coincidence is of great historical interest.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_45" id="footnote_45"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_45"><span class="muchsmaller">[45]</span></a> - Niebuhr, <abbr title="Description de l'Arabie, page" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><cite>Descript. de l’Arab.</cite>, - p.</abbr> 164. Two powerful tribes became divided -in Arabia at this epoch: that of the Himyarites, who possessed the -meridional part, or Yemen, and that of the Koreishites, who occupied the septentrional -part, or Hejaz. The capital of the Himyarites was called <dfn>Dhofar</dfn>; -their kings took the title of <dfn>Tobba</dfn> and enjoyed an hereditary power. The -Koreishites possessed the sacred city of Arabia, Mecca, where was found the -ancient temple still venerated today by the Mussulmans.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_46" id="footnote_46"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_46"><span class="muchsmaller">[46]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 3, page 2"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 3, page">t. iii., p.</abbr> ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_47" id="footnote_47"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_47"><span class="muchsmaller">[47]</span></a> - Diodorus Siculus, <abbr title="livre 2">l. ii.</abbr>, 12. - Strabo, <abbr title="livre 16">l. xvi.</abbr> - Suidas, <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> <cite>Semiramis</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_48" id="footnote_48"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_48"><span class="muchsmaller">[48]</span></a> -<abbr title="Photius Codex">Phot., <cite>Cod.</cite></abbr>, 44. - <abbr title="from Diodorus, livre 40, Syncellus, page">Ex. Diodor., l. xl. Syncell., p.</abbr> 61. - <abbr title="Josephus, against Apion">Joseph., <cite>Contr. -Apion</cite></abbr>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_49" id="footnote_49"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_49"><span class="muchsmaller">[49]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hérodotus, livre 2">Hérod., l. ii.</abbr> - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 1, Section"> Diod. Siculus, l. i., §</abbr> 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_50" id="footnote_50"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_50"><span class="muchsmaller">[50]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diodorus siculus, livre 1, Section">Diodor. Sicul., l. i., §</abbr> - 2. Delille-de-Salles, <abbr title="Histoire des Hommes" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><cite>Hist. des Homm.</cite></abbr>, Egypte, -<abbr title="tome 3, page">t. iii., p.</abbr> 178.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_51" id="footnote_51"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_51"><span class="muchsmaller">[51]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, in <abbr title="Timaeus Dialogues"><cite>Tim. Dial.</cite></abbr> - <abbr title="Theopompus">Theopomp.</abbr> <cite>apud</cite> - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 10, chapter 10.">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evan.</cite>, l. x., c. 10.</abbr> - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 1">Diod. Sicul., l. i.</abbr>, <i>initio</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_52" id="footnote_52"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_52"><span class="muchsmaller">[52]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 1">Diodor. Sicul., l. i.</abbr>, <cite>initio</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_53" id="footnote_53"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_53"><span class="muchsmaller">[53]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pausanias, Bœotia, page">Pausan., <cite>Bœot.</cite>, p.</abbr> 768.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_54" id="footnote_54"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_54"><span class="muchsmaller">[54]</span></a> - This word is Egyptian and Phœnician alike. It is composed of the -words אור (<dfn>aur</dfn>), light, and רפא (<dfn>rophœ</dfn>), cure, salvation.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_55" id="footnote_55"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_55"><span class="muchsmaller">[55]</span></a> - Eurydice, in Greek Εὐρυδίκη, comes from the Phœnician words ראה -(<dfn>rohe</dfn>), vision, clearness, evidence, and דך (<dfn>dich</dfn>), that which demonstrates -or teaches: these two words are preceded by the Greek adverb εὖ, which -expresses all that is good, happy, and perfect in its kind.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_56" id="footnote_56"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_56"><span class="muchsmaller">[56]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In Phædon.</cite> <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, - <cite>In Panegyr.</cite> <abbr title="Aristotle, Rhetoric, livre 2, chapter">Aristot., <cite>Rhet.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 24. - <abbr title="Isocrates">Isocr.</abbr>, <cite>Paneg.</cite> - Cicero, <abbr title="De Legibus, livre 2"><cite>De Leg.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr> - <abbr title="Plutarch De Iside">Plutar., <cite>De Isid.</cite></abbr> - <abbr title="Pausanias in Phocion">Paus., <cite>In Phoc.</cite></abbr>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_57" id="footnote_57"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_57"><span class="muchsmaller">[57]</span></a> - Théodoret, <cite>Therapeut.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_58" id="footnote_58"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_58"><span class="muchsmaller">[58]</span></a> - Philo, <cite>De Vitâ Mosis</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_59" id="footnote_59"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_59"><span class="muchsmaller">[59]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras, chapter">Jamblic., <cite>De Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, c.</abbr> 2. - <abbr title="Apuleius">Apul.</abbr>, <cite>Florid.</cite>, <abbr title="2">ii.</abbr> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 8">Diog. Laërt., l. viii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_60" id="footnote_60"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_60"><span class="muchsmaller">[60]</span></a> - <cite>Voyage du jeune Anacharsis</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, Introduction, page">t. i., <i>Introd.</i>, p.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_61" id="footnote_61"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_61"><span class="muchsmaller">[61]</span></a> - <abbr title="Meursii"> Meurs.</abbr>, <cite>De Relig. Athen.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1, chapter">l. i., c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_62" id="footnote_62"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_62"><span class="muchsmaller">[62]</span></a> - <abbr title="Apollonius, livre 3, page">Apollon., l. iii., p.</abbr> 237.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_63" id="footnote_63"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_63"><span class="muchsmaller">[63]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hyginus, Fabulae">Hygin., <cite>Fabl.</cite></abbr>, 143.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_64" id="footnote_64"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_64"><span class="muchsmaller">[64]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pausanias, Arcadia, pages">Pausan., <cite>Arcad.</cite>, p.</abbr> 266, 268, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_65" id="footnote_65"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_65"><span class="muchsmaller">[65]</span></a> - Strabo, <abbr title="livre 10">l. x</abbr>; <abbr title="Meursii"> Meurs.</abbr>, - <abbr title="Eleusinia, chapter"><cite>Eleus.</cite>, c.</abbr> 21 <i>et seq.</i>; - <abbr title="Pausanias">Paus.</abbr>, <cite>Ath.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 28; - <abbr title="Fulgentius, Mythologies, livre 1">Fulgent., -<cite>Myth.</cite>, l. i.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Philostratus, In Apollonius, livre 2">Philostr., <cite>In Apollon.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr>; -Athen., <abbr title="livre 11">l. xi.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Proclus">Procl.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus Commentary">Tim. -Comment.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 5">l. v.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_66" id="footnote_66"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_66"><span class="muchsmaller">[66]</span></a> - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 13, chapter">Euseb., - <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. xiii., c.</abbr> 12.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_67" id="footnote_67"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_67"><span class="muchsmaller">[67]</span></a> - The unity of God is taught in an Orphic hymn of which Justin, Tatian, -Clement of Alexandria, Cyril, and Theodore have preserved fragments. (<cite>Orphei -Hymn. Edente Eschenbach.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 242.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_68" id="footnote_68"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_68"><span class="muchsmaller">[68]</span></a> - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite>Admon. ad Gent.</cite>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 48; <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="Stromata, livre 5, page"><cite>Strom.</cite>, - l. v., p.</abbr> 607.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_69" id="footnote_69"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_69"><span class="muchsmaller">[69]</span></a> -<abbr title="Apollonius"> Apoll.</abbr>, <cite>Arg.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 496; -<abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite><abbr title="Stromata">Strom.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 4, page">l. iv., p.</abbr> 475.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_70" id="footnote_70"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_70"><span class="muchsmaller">[70]</span></a> - Thimothée, cité par Bannier, <abbr title="Mythology, one page"><cite>Mythol.</cite>, i., p.</abbr> 104.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_71" id="footnote_71"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_71"><span class="muchsmaller">[71]</span></a> - Macrobius, <abbr title="Somnium Scipionis, livre 1, chapter"><cite>Somm. Scip.</cite>, - <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, c.</abbr> 12.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_72" id="footnote_72"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_72"><span class="muchsmaller">[72]</span></a> - <abbr title="Euripides, Hippolytus, verse">Eurip., <cite>Hippol.</cite>, v.</abbr> 948.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_73" id="footnote_73"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_73"><span class="muchsmaller">[73]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato, Laws, livre 6">Plat., <cite>De Leg.</cite>, l. vi.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras">Jambl., <cite>De Vitâ Pythag.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_74" id="footnote_74"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_74"><span class="muchsmaller">[74]</span></a> - <abbr title="Académie des Inscriptions, tome 5, page"><cite>Acad. des Insc.</cite>, - t. v., p.</abbr> 117.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_75" id="footnote_75"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_75"><span class="muchsmaller">[75]</span></a> - <abbr title="Proclus">Procl.</abbr>, <abbr title="In Timaeus, livre 5, page"><cite>In Tim.</cite>, l. v., p.</abbr> 330; - Cicero, <abbr title="Somnium Scipionis, chapters"><cite>Somm. Scip.</cite>, c.</abbr> 2, 3, 4, 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_76" id="footnote_76"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_76"><span class="muchsmaller">[76]</span></a> - Montesquieu and Buffon have been the greatest adversaries of poetry, -they were very eloquent in prose; but that does not prevent one from applying -to them, as did Voltaire, the words of Montaigne: “We cannot attain it, -let us avenge ourselves by slandering it.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_77" id="footnote_77"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_77"><span class="muchsmaller">[77]</span></a> - <abbr title="Horace, Arte Poetica">Horat., <cite>De Arte poét.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Strabo, livre 10">Strab., l. x.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_78" id="footnote_78"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_78"><span class="muchsmaller">[78]</span></a> - Origen, <abbr title="Contra Celsum, livre 1, page"><cite>Contr. Cels.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, p.</abbr> 12; - Dacier, <cite>Vie de Pythagore</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_79" id="footnote_79"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_79"><span class="muchsmaller">[79]</span></a> - Ἱερὸς λόγος.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_80" id="footnote_80"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_80"><span class="muchsmaller">[80]</span></a> - Θρονισμοὶ μητρῶοι.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_81" id="footnote_81"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_81"><span class="muchsmaller">[81]</span></a> - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, page">Fabric., <cite>Bibl. græc.</cite>, p.</abbr> 120, 129.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_82" id="footnote_82"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_82"><span class="muchsmaller">[82]</span></a> - <abbr title="Apollonius">Apollon</abbr>, <cite>Argon.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1, verse">l. i., v.</abbr> 496.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_83" id="footnote_83"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_83"><span class="muchsmaller">[83]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Placita Philosophorum, chapter">Plutar., <cite>De Placit. philos.</cite>, c.</abbr> 13; - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 15, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. xv., c.</abbr> 30; -Stobeus, <cite><abbr title="Ecloguea">Eclog.</abbr> phys.</cite>, 54. Proclus quotes the verses of Orpheus on this -subject, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 4, page">l. iv., p.</abbr> 283. -Voyez <cite><abbr title="La Bibliothèque grecque">La Biblioth. græc.</abbr></cite> de Fabricius, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 132.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_84" id="footnote_84"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_84"><span class="muchsmaller">[84]</span></a> - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, pages">Fabric., <cite>Bibliot. græc.</cite>, - p.</abbr> 4, 22, 26, 30, etc.; - <cite><abbr title="Voyage du jeune Anacharsis">Voyag. d’Anach.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 80.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_85" id="footnote_85"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_85"><span class="muchsmaller">[85]</span></a> - From the Greek word κύκλος: as one would say <dfn>circuit</dfn>, the circular -envelopment of a thing.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_86" id="footnote_86"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_86"><span class="muchsmaller">[86]</span></a> - Court de Gébelin, <abbr title="Génie Allégorique, page"><cite>Gén. allég.</cite>, p.</abbr> 119.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_87" id="footnote_87"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_87"><span class="muchsmaller">[87]</span></a> - Casaubon, <cite>In Athen.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 301; - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, livre 1, chapter">Fabric., - <cite>Bibl. græc.</cite> <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, c.</abbr> 17; - <cite><abbr title="Voyage du jeune Anacharsis">Voyag. -d’Anach.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 80; Proclus, cité par Court de Gébelin, <cite>ibid.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_88" id="footnote_88"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_88"><span class="muchsmaller">[88]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle, De Poëtica, chapters">Arist., - <cite>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, c.</abbr> 8, 16, 25, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_89" id="footnote_89"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_89"><span class="muchsmaller">[89]</span></a> - It is needless for me to observe that the birthplace of Homer has been -the object of a host of discussions as much among the ancients as among the -moderns. My plan here is not to put down again <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(en problème)</i>, nor to examine -anew the things which have been a hundred times discussed and that -I have sufficiently examined. I have chosen, from the midst of all the divergent -opinions born of these discussions, that which has appeared to me the -most probable, which agrees best with known facts, and which is connected -better with the analytical thread of my ideas. I advise my readers to do the -same. It is neither the birthplace of Homer nor the name of his parents that -is the important matter: it is his genius that must be fathomed. Those who -would, however, satisfy their curiosity regarding these subjects foreign to my -researches, will find in <cite>La Bibliothèque grecque de Fabricius</cite>, and in the book -by Léon Allatius entitled <cite>De Patriâ Homeri</cite>, enough material for all the systems -they may wish to build. They will find there twenty-six different locations -wherein they can, at their pleasure, place the cradle of the poet. The seven -most famous places indicated in a Greek verse by Aulus Gellius are, Smyrna, -Rhodes, Colophon, Salamis, Chios, Argos, and Athens. The nineteen indicated -by divers authors, are Pylos, Chios, Cyprus, Clazomenæ, Babylon, -Cumæ, Egypt, Italy, Crete, Ithaca, Mycenæ, Phrygia, Mæonia, Lucania, -Lydia, Syria, Thessaly, and finally Troy, and even Rome.</p> - -<p class="footnote">However, the tradition which I have followed, in considering Homer as -born not far from Smyrna, upon the borders of the river Meles, is not only -the most probable but the most generally followed; it has in its favour Pindar; -the first anonymous Life of Homer; the Life of this poet by Proclus; Cicero, -in his oration for Archias; Eustathius in his <cite>Prolégoménes sur l’Iliade</cite>; Aristotle, -<cite>Poétique</cite>, <abbr title="livre 3">l. iii.</abbr>; Aulus Gellius, Martial, and Suidas. It is known that -Smyrna, jealous of consecrating the glory that it attributed to itself, of having -given birth to Homer, erected to this great genius a temple with quadrangular -portico, and showed for a long time, near the source of the Meles, a grotto, -where a contemporaneous tradition supposes that he had composed his first -works. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez <cite>La Vie d’Homère</cite>, par Delille-de-Sales, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 49, et les ouvrages -qu’il cite: <cite>Voyage de Chandeler</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 162, - et <cite>Voyages pittoresques de Choiseul-Gouffier</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 200.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_90" id="footnote_90"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_90"><span class="muchsmaller">[90]</span></a> - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre 5">Hérod., l. v.</abbr>, 42; - <abbr title="Thucydides, livre 1">Thucyd., - l. i.</abbr>, 12.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_91" id="footnote_91"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_91"><span class="muchsmaller">[91]</span></a> - <cite>Marbres de Paros</cite>, <cite>Epoq.</cite> 28; - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre one">Hérod., l. i.</abbr>, 142, 145, 149; - <abbr title="Plato, Laws, livre 5">Plat., <cite>De Leg.</cite>, -l. v.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Strabo, livre 14">Strab., l. xiv.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Pausanias, livre 7">Pausan., l. vii.</abbr>, 2; -<abbr title="Ælianus, Varia Historia, livre 8, chapter"> Ælian., <cite>Var. Histor.</cite>, l. viii., c.</abbr> 5; -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Sainte-Croix, <cite>De l’état des Colon, - des <abbr title="anciens">anc.</abbr> Peuples</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 65; -Bourgainville, <cite>Dissert. -sur les Métrop. et les Colon.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 18</span>; - Spanheim, <cite>Præst.</cite>, num. <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 580.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_92" id="footnote_92"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_92"><span class="muchsmaller">[92]</span></a> - <cite>Bible</cite>, <abbr title="Chronicles 2, chapter">Chron. ii., ch.</abbr> 12 <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(et - <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr>)</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_93" id="footnote_93"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_93"><span class="muchsmaller">[93]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="Chronicles 2, chapters">Chron. ii., ch.</abbr> 32 et 36.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_94" id="footnote_94"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_94"><span class="muchsmaller">[94]</span></a> - Pausanias, <i>passim</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_95" id="footnote_95"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_95"><span class="muchsmaller">[95]</span></a> - <abbr title="Strabo, livre 14">Strab., l. xiv.</abbr>; <abbr title="Polybius, livre 5">Polyb., l. v.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Aulus Gellius">Aulu-Gell.</abbr>, <abbr title="livre 7, chapter">l. vii., c.</abbr> 3; - <abbr title="Meursii"> Meurs.</abbr>, <cite>In Rhod.</cite>, -<abbr title="livre 1, chapters">l. i., c.</abbr> 18 et 21; - <cite>Hist. univ. des Anglais</cite>, in-<abbr title="octavo, tome 2, page">8ᵒ, t. ii., p.</abbr> 493.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_96" id="footnote_96"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_96"><span class="muchsmaller">[96]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 1">Diod. Sicul., l. i.</abbr>, 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_97" id="footnote_97"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_97"><span class="muchsmaller">[97]</span></a> - In Phœnician מלך־אתע (<dfn>Melich-ærtz</dfn>), in Greek Μελικέρτης: a name given -to the Divinity whom the Thracians called <dfn>Hercules</dfn>, the Lord of the Universe: -from הרר or שרר (<dfn>harr</dfn> or <dfn>shar</dfn>), excellence, dominance, sovereignty; and כל (<dfn>col.</dfn>), -All. Notice that the Teutonic roots are not very different from the Phœnician: -<dfn>Herr</dfn> signifies lord, and <dfn>alles</dfn>, all; so that <dfn>Herr-alles</dfn> is, with the exception of the -guttural inflection which is effaced, the same word as that of <dfn>Hercules</dfn>, used -by the Thracians and the Etruscans. The Greeks have made a transposition -of letters in Ἡρακλῆς (<dfn>Heracles</dfn>) so as to evade the guttural harshness without -entirely losing it.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_98" id="footnote_98"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_98"><span class="muchsmaller">[98]</span></a> - Goguet, <cite>Origine des Lois et des Arts</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 359.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_99" id="footnote_99"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_99"><span class="muchsmaller">[99]</span></a> - <i>(Voyez)</i> Epiphane, <cite>Hæres</cite>, <abbr title="26">xxvi.</abbr>, - <i>(et conférez avec)</i> Beausobre, <cite><abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme">Hist. du Manich.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 328.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_100" id="footnote_100"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_100"><span class="muchsmaller">[100]</span></a> - I have followed the tradition most analogous to the development of my -ideas; but I am aware that, upon this point, as upon many others, I have only -to choose. The historic fact, in that which relates to the sacerdotal archives -which Homer consulted in composing his poems, is everywhere the same <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(au -fond)</i>; but the accessory details vary greatly according to the writers who relate -them. For example, one reads in a small fragment attributed to Antipater -of Sidon and preserved in Greece Anthology, that Homer, born at Thebes -in Egypt, drew his epic subjects from the archives of the temple of Isis; from -another source, Ptolemy <cite>Ephestion</cite>, cited by Photius, that the Greek poet had -received from a priest of Memphis, named <span class="person">Thamitès</span>, the original writings of -an inspired damsel, named <span class="person">Phancy</span>. Strabo, without mentioning any place -in particular, said in general, speaking of the long journeys of Homer, that -this poet went everywhere to consult the religious archives and the oracles -preserved in the temples; and Diodorus of Sicily gives evidence sometimes -that he borrowed many things from a sibyl by the name of <span class="person">Manto</span>, daughter -of Tiresias; and sometimes that he appropriated the verse of a pythoness of -Delphi, named Daphne. All these contradictory details prove, in reality, -the truth; for whether it be from Thebes, Memphis, Tyre, Delphi, or elsewhere -that Homer drew the subject of his chants, matters not with the subject -which occupies me: the important point, serving as proof of my assertions, is, -that they have been, in fact, drawn from a sanctuary; and what has determined -me to choose Tyre rather than Thebes or Memphis, is that Tyre was -the first mother city of Greece.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_101" id="footnote_101"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_101"><span class="muchsmaller">[101]</span></a> - I have said in the above that the name of <dfn>Helena</dfn> or <dfn>Selena</dfn> was that of -the moon in Greek. The root of this word is alike Celtic and Phœnician. -One finds it in Teutonic <dfn>hell</dfn>, which signifies clear, luminous, and in Hebrew הלל -(<dfn>hêll</dfn>), which contains the same sense of splendour, glory, and elevation. One -still says in German <dfn>heilig</dfn>, holy, and <dfn>selig</dfn>, blessed; also <dfn>selle</dfn>, soul, and <dfn>sellen</dfn>, -souls. And this is worthy of the closest attention, particularly when one -reflects that, following the doctrine of the ancients, the moon <dfn>helenê</dfn> or <dfn>selenê</dfn> -was regarded as the reservoir of the souls of those who descend from heaven -to pass into bodies by means of generation, and, purged by the fire of life, -escape from earth to ascend to heaven. See, concerning this doctrine, Plutarch -(<cite>De Facie in <abbr title="Orbe Lunae">Orb. Lun.</abbr></cite>), and confer - with Beausobre (<cite>Histoire du <abbr title="Manichéisme">Manich.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="tome 2, page">t, ii., p.</abbr> 311). The name of <i>Paris</i>, in Greek Πάρις, comes from the Phœnician -words בר or פר (<dfn>bar</dfn> or <dfn>phar</dfn>), all generation, propagation, extension, and יש (<dfn>ish</dfn>), -the Being-principle.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The name of <dfn>Menelaus</dfn>, in Greek Μενέλαος, comes from the Phœnician -words מן (<dfn>men</dfn>), all that which determines, regulates, or defines a thing, -properly, the <dfn>rational faculty</dfn>, the reason, the measure, in Latin <dfn>mens</dfn>, <dfn>mensura</dfn>; -and אוש (<dfn>aôsh</dfn>), the Being-principle acting, before which is placed the prefix ל (<dfn>l</dfn>), -to express the genitive case, in this manner, מנה־ל־אוש (<dfn>meneh-l-aôsh</dfn>), -the rational faculty or regulator of the being in general, and man in -particular: for אש‏, ‏אוש‏, ‏אש‏, ‏איש (<dfn>ash</dfn>, <dfn>aôsh</dfn>, -<dfn>ish</dfn>, <dfn>aîsh</dfn>), signifies equally <dfn>fire</dfn>, -<dfn>principle</dfn>, <dfn>being</dfn>, and <dfn>man</dfn>. The etymology of these three words can, as one -sees, throw great light upon the fable of the <cite>Iliad</cite>. Here is another remarkable -point on this subject. Homer has never used, to designate the Greeks, the -name of <dfn>Hellenes</dfn>, that is to say, the respondents, or the lunars: it was in his -time quite a new name, which the confederated Greeks had taken to resist -foreign attack; it is only in the <cite>Odyssey</cite>, and when he is already old, that he -employs the name <dfn>Hellas</dfn> to designate Greece. The name which he gives -constantly to this country, is that of Achaia (Ἀχαΐα), and he opposes it to -that of Troy (Τρωία): now, Achaia signifies the strong, the igneous, the -spiritual; and <dfn>Troy</dfn>, the terrestrial, the gross. The Phœnician roots are הוי (<dfn>ehôi</dfn>), -the exhaling force of fire, and טרו (<dfn>trô</dfn>) the balancing power of the -earth. Refer, in this regard, to Court de Gébelin -(<cite><abbr title="Monde primitif">Mond. prim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="tome 6, page">t. vi., p.</abbr> 64). -Pomponius Sabinus, in his <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Commentaires sur l’Enéïde</cite>, said that the name -of the city of Troy signified a sow, and he adds that the Trojans had for an -ensign a sow embroidered in gold.</p> - -<p class="footnote">As to the word <dfn>Ilion</dfn>, which was the sacred name of Troy, it is very easy -to recognize the name of the material principle, called ὕλη (<dfn>ulè</dfn>) by the Greeks -and <dfn>ylis</dfn> by the Egyptians. Iamblichus speaks of it at great length in his -<cite>Book on the Mysteries</cite> (<abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 7), as the principle from which all has birth: this was -also the opinion of Porphyry (<abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 9, chapters">Euseb., -<cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. ix., c.</abbr> 9 and 11).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_102" id="footnote_102"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_102"><span class="muchsmaller">[102]</span></a> - Metrodorus of Lampsacus cited by Tatian (<i>Adver. Gent.</i>, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 37). Plato, -<cite>In <abbr title="Alcibiades">Alcibiad.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="two">ii.</abbr>, Cronius, Porphyry, Phurnutus, Iamblichus, cited by Court -de Gébelin, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<abbr title="Du Génie Allégorique">Génie allég.</abbr>)</cite>, <abbr title="pages">p.</abbr> 36, 43; -Plato, <cite>In Ion.</cite>; -Cicero, <abbr title="De Natura Deorum, livre 2"><cite>De Natur. Deor.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr>; - Strabo, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>; - Origen, <cite><abbr title="Contra Celsum">Contr. Cels.</abbr></cite> - Among the moderns can be counted -Bacon, Blackwell, Basnage, Bergier, and Court de Gébelin himself, who has -given a list of eighty writers who have this opinion.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_103" id="footnote_103"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_103"><span class="muchsmaller">[103]</span></a> -<abbr title="Dionysius of Halicarnassus"> Dionys. Halic.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="compositione verborum">Comp. verb.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="tome 5, chapters">t. v., c.</abbr> 16, 26; - Quintil., <abbr title="livre 10, chapter">l. x., c.</abbr> 1; <abbr title="Longinus">Longin.</abbr>, -<cite>De <abbr title="sublimitate">Sublim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 13; -Ælian., <abbr title="Varia Historia, livre 8, chapter"><cite>Var. Hist.</cite>, l. viii., c.</abbr> 2; - <abbr title="Plato, Alcibiades, one">Plat., <cite>Alcibiad.</cite>, i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_104" id="footnote_104"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_104"><span class="muchsmaller">[104]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ <abbr title="Lycurgus">Lycurg.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_105" id="footnote_105"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_105"><span class="muchsmaller">[105]</span></a> - <abbr title="Allatius, De Patria Homeri, chapter">Allat., <cite>De Patr. Homer.</cite>, c.</abbr> 5; - <abbr title="Meursii, In Pisistratus, chapters"> Meurs., <cite>In Pisist.</cite>, c.</abbr> 9 et 12; - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In -<abbr title="Hipparchus">Hipparc.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_106" id="footnote_106"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_106"><span class="muchsmaller">[106]</span></a> - <abbr title="Seneca, Epistulae">Senec., <cite>Epist.</cite></abbr>, 117.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_107" id="footnote_107"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_107"><span class="muchsmaller">[107]</span></a> - <cite>Ibidem</cite>, 88.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_108" id="footnote_108"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_108"><span class="muchsmaller">[108]</span></a> -<abbr title="Dionysius of Halicarnassus"> Dionys. Halic.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ Homer.</cite>; -<abbr title="Eustathius">Eustath.</abbr>, <cite>In Iliad</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_109" id="footnote_109"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_109"><span class="muchsmaller">[109]</span></a> - Strabo, <abbr title="livre 14, page">l. xiv., p.</abbr> 646.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_110" id="footnote_110"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_110"><span class="muchsmaller">[110]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle, De Poetica, chapter 2, cited by Barthelemy, Voyage d'Anacharsis, tome 7, chapter 80, page 44">Arist., - <cite>De Poët.</cite>, c. 2, cit. par Barth., <cite>Voyag. d’Anach.</cite>, t. vii., c. 80, p. 44.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_111" id="footnote_111"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_111"><span class="muchsmaller">[111]</span></a> - The word <dfn>Epopœia</dfn> is taken from the Greek ἐπο-ποιός which designates -alike a poet and an epic poem. It is derived from the Phœnician words אפא -(<dfn>apho</dfn>) an impassioned transport, a vortex, an impulse, an enthusiasm; and פאה (<dfn>phohe</dfn>), -a mouth, a discourse. One can observe that the Latin word -<dfn>versus</dfn>, which is applied also to a thing which turns, which is borne along, and -to a poetic verse, translates exactly the Greek word ἔπος, whose root אוף -(<dfn>aôph</dfn>) expresses a <dfn>vortex</dfn>. The Hebrew אופן (<dfn>aôphon</dfn>) signifies properly a -<dfn>wheel</dfn>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_112" id="footnote_112"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_112"><span class="muchsmaller">[112]</span></a> - See in the collection of Meibomius, Aristides, Quintilianus, and <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(Les -<abbr title="Mémoires de l'Academie">Mém. de l’Acad.</abbr> des Belles-Lettres)</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 5, page">t. v., p.</abbr> 152.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_113" id="footnote_113"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_113"><span class="muchsmaller">[113]</span></a> - Voltaire, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<abbr title="Dictionnaire philosophique">Dict. philos.</abbr>)</cite>, - <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> <span class="sc">RIME</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_114" id="footnote_114"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_114"><span class="muchsmaller">[114]</span></a> - Refer to what I have already said in last footnote <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 40.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_115" id="footnote_115"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_115"><span class="muchsmaller">[115]</span></a> - Fréret said that the verses of the poet Eumelus engraven upon the arch -of the Cypselidæ were thus represented. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez sa - <cite>(<abbr title="Dissertation">Dissert.</abbr> sur l’Art de -l’Equitation)</cite>. Il cite Pausanias, <abbr title="livre 5, page">l. v., p.</abbr> 419.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_116" id="footnote_116"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_116"><span class="muchsmaller">[116]</span></a> - Court de Gébelin, <cite>(<abbr title="Monde primitif">Mond. primit.</abbr>)</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 9, page">t. ix., p.</abbr> 222. Conférez avec Aristotle, -<cite><abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="pages">p.</abbr> 20, 21, 22.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_117" id="footnote_117"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_117"><span class="muchsmaller">[117]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite><abbr title="Dialogues">Dial.</abbr> Ion</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_118" id="footnote_118"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_118"><span class="muchsmaller">[118]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <i>ut suprà</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_119" id="footnote_119"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_119"><span class="muchsmaller">[119]</span></a> - Ælian., <abbr title="Varia Historia, livre 13, chapter"><cite>Var. Hist</cite>., l. xiii., c.</abbr> 14; - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtius">Diog. Laërt.</abbr>, <cite>In Solon.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 57.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_120" id="footnote_120"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_120"><span class="muchsmaller">[120]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Hipparchus">Hipparc.</abbr></cite>; - Pausan, <abbr title="livre 7, chapter">l. vii., c.</abbr> 26; - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>De Orat.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 3">l. iii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_121" id="footnote_121"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_121"><span class="muchsmaller">[121]</span></a> - <abbr title="Eustathius">Eustath.</abbr>, <cite>In Iliad.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1, page">l. i., p.</abbr> 145; - <abbr title="livre 2, page">l. ii., p.</abbr> 263.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_122" id="footnote_122"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_122"><span class="muchsmaller">[122]</span></a> -<abbr title="Dionysius of Halicarnassus"> Dionys. Halic.</abbr>, - <cite>De <abbr title="compositione verborum">Comp. verb.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="tome 5, chapters">t. v., c.</abbr> 16 et 24; - <abbr title="Quintillus">Quintil.</abbr>, <cite>Instit.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 10, chapter">l. x., c.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_123" id="footnote_123"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_123"><span class="muchsmaller">[123]</span></a> - Athen., <abbr title="livre 15, chapter">l. xv., c.</abbr> 8; <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, - <cite>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 16; - Ælian., <cite><abbr title="Varia Historia">Var. Hist.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 15.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_124" id="footnote_124"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_124"><span class="muchsmaller">[124]</span></a> - <abbr title="Barthelemy">Barthel.</abbr>, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<abbr title="Voyage du jeune Anarcharsis">Voyag. d’Anarchar.</abbr>)</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 7, chapter">t. vii., ch.</abbr> 80, <abbr title="pages">p.</abbr> 46, 52.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_125" id="footnote_125"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_125"><span class="muchsmaller">[125]</span></a> - It can be seen that I have placed in the word Stesi[`c]horus, an <dfn>accent -grave</dfn> over the consonant <dfn>c</dfn>, and it will be noticed that I have used it thus -with respect to many similar words. It is a habit I have contracted in writing, so -as to distinguish, in this manner, the double consonant <dfn>ch</dfn>, in the foreign words, -or in their derivatives, when it should take the guttural inflexion, in place of -the hissing inflexion which we ordinarily give to it. Thus I accent the [<dfn>`c</dfn>] in -<dfn>Chio</dfn>, [<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hœur</dfn>, [<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>horus</dfn>, <dfn>é</dfn>[<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>ho</dfn>, [<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hlorose</dfn>, - [<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hiragre</dfn>, [<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hronique</dfn>, etc.; to indicate that -these words should be pronounced <dfn>Khio</dfn>, <dfn>khœur</dfn>, <dfn>khorus</dfn>, - <dfn>ékho</dfn>, <dfn>khlorose</dfn>, <dfn>khiragre</dfn>, -<dfn>khronique</dfn>, with the aspirate sound of <dfn>k</dfn>, and not with that of the hissing <dfn>c</dfn>, -as in <dfn>Chypre</dfn>, <dfn>chaume</dfn>, <dfn>échope</dfn>, <dfn>chaire</dfn>, etc. - This accentuation has appeared to -me necessary, especially when one is obliged to transcribe in modern characters -many foreign words which, lacking usage, one knows not, at first, how to -pronounce. It is, after all, a slight innovation in orthography, which I leave -to the decision of the grammarians. I only say that it will be very difficult -for them, without this accent, or any other sign which might be used, to know -how one should pronounce with a different inflexion, <dfn>A</dfn>[<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>haïe</dfn> and <dfn>Achéen</dfn>; -<dfn>Achille</dfn> and <dfn>A</dfn>[<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hilleïde; Achêron</dfn> and <dfn>a</dfn>[<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hérontique</dfn>; - <dfn>Bac</dfn>[<dfn>`c</dfn>]<dfn>hus</dfn> and <dfn>bachique</dfn>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_126" id="footnote_126"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_126"><span class="muchsmaller">[126]</span></a> - Vossius, <cite>De Inst. poët.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 3, chapter">l. iii., c.</abbr> 15; - <abbr title="Aristotle, Rhetoric, livre 2">Aristot., <cite>Rhet.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr>, 23; - <abbr title="Maximus Tyrius">Max. Tyr.</abbr> -<cite>Orat.</cite>, <abbr title="8, page">viii., p.</abbr> 86.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_127" id="footnote_127"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_127"><span class="muchsmaller">[127]</span></a> - Ælian., <abbr title="Varia Historia, livre 13, chapter"><cite>Var. Hist.</cite>, l. xiii., c.</abbr> 14, - Court de Gébelin, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<abbr title="Monde primitif">Mond. prim.</abbr>)</cite>, <abbr title="tome 8, page">t. viii., -p.</abbr> 202.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_128" id="footnote_128"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_128"><span class="muchsmaller">[128]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Theaetetus">Theæt.</abbr></cite>; <cite>ibid.</cite>, - <abbr title=" De Republica, livre 10"><cite>De Republ.</cite>, l. x.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Aristotle, De Poetica, chapter">Arist., <cite>De Poët.</cite>, c.</abbr> 4, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_129" id="footnote_129"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_129"><span class="muchsmaller">[129]</span></a> - The name of Homeridæ, given at first to all the disciples of Homer, was -afterwards usurped by certain inhabitants of Chios who called themselves -his descendants (<abbr title="Strabo, livre 14">Strab., l. xiv.</abbr>; <abbr title="Isocrates">Isocr.</abbr>, - <cite>Hellen. encom.</cite>). Also I should state -here that the name of Homer, Ὅμηρος, was never of Greek origin and has -not signified, as has been said, <em>blind</em>. The initial letter O is not a negation, -but an article added to the Phœnician word מרא (<dfn>mœra</dfn>), which signifies, -properly speaking, a centre of light, and figuratively, a master, a doctor.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_130" id="footnote_130"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_130"><span class="muchsmaller">[130]</span></a> - The surname Eumolpidæ, given to the hierophants, successors of Orpheus, -comes from the word Εὔμολπος, by which is designated the style of -poetry of this divine man. It signifies <dfn>the perfect voice</dfn>. It is derived from -the Phœnician words מלא (<dfn>mola</dfn>), perfected, and פאה (<dfn>phoh</dfn>), mouth, voice, -discourse. The adverb ἔυ, which precedes it, expresses whatever is beautiful, -holy, perfect.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_131" id="footnote_131"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_131"><span class="muchsmaller">[131]</span></a> - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, pages">Fabric., <cite>Bibl. Græc.</cite>, p.</abbr> 36, 105, 240, 469, <cite>passim</cite>; - <abbr title="Aristotle, Problems, 19">Arist., <cite>Probl.</cite>, xix.</abbr>, -28; <abbr title="Meursii"> Meurs.</abbr>, <cite>Bibl. Græc.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter 1">c. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_132" id="footnote_132"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_132"><span class="muchsmaller">[132]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle, De Poetica, chapter">Arist., <cite>De Poët.</cite>, c.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_133" id="footnote_133"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_133"><span class="muchsmaller">[133]</span></a> - Porphyre, <abbr title="In Vita Pythagoras, page"><cite>In Vitâ Pythagor.</cite>, p.</abbr> 21; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, livre 6, page">Clem. Alex., l. vi., p.</abbr> 658; Plato, -<abbr title="Laws, livre 3"><cite>De Leg.</cite>, l. iii.</abbr>; -<abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <abbr title="De Musica, page"><cite>De Music.</cite>, p.</abbr> 1141; -Poll., <abbr title="livre 4, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_134" id="footnote_134"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_134"><span class="muchsmaller">[134]</span></a> - I have placed the epoch of Orpheus, which coincides with that of the -arrival of the Egyptian colony conducted into Greece by Cecrops, at 1582 -B.C., according to the marbles of Paros.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_135" id="footnote_135"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_135"><span class="muchsmaller">[135]</span></a> - Schol. <abbr title="Aristophanes">Aristoph.</abbr>, <cite>In Nub.</cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 295.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_136" id="footnote_136"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_136"><span class="muchsmaller">[136]</span></a> - Athen., <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_137" id="footnote_137"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_137"><span class="muchsmaller">[137]</span></a> - Voyez <cite>(<abbr title="L'Histoire">L’Hist.</abbr> du Théâtre Français)</cite> de Fontenelle. Voici les titres des -premières pièces représentées dans le cours du <abbr title="14th">XIVᵉ</abbr> siècle: <cite>(L’Assomption de la -glorieuse Vierge Marie)</cite>, mystère à 38 personnages; <cite>(Le Mystère de la Sainte Hostie)</cite>, -à 26 personn.; <cite>(Le Mystère de Monseigneur <abbr title="Saint">S.</abbr> Pierre - et <abbr title="Saint">S.</abbr> Paul)</cite>, à 100 personn.; -<cite>(Les Mystères de la Conception de la Passion, de la Résurrection de Notre Seigneur -<abbr title="Jesus Christ">J. C.</abbr>)</cite>; etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_138" id="footnote_138"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_138"><span class="muchsmaller">[138]</span></a> - See <cite>Asiatic Researches</cite>, <abbr title="volume 3, pages">v. iii., p.</abbr> 427-431, - and 465-467. Also <cite>Grammar of -the Bengal Language</cite>, preface, <abbr title="page 5">p. v.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_139" id="footnote_139"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_139"><span class="muchsmaller">[139]</span></a> - See <cite>Interesting Historical Events</cite>, by Holwell, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_140" id="footnote_140"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_140"><span class="muchsmaller">[140]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle, Problems">Aristot., <cite>Probl.</cite></abbr>, 15, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 19; - <abbr title="Pausanias">Pausan.</abbr>, <abbr title="livre 1, chapter">l. i., c.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_141" id="footnote_141"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_141"><span class="muchsmaller">[141]</span></a> - See <cite>Asiatic Researches</cite>, <abbr title="volume 6, pages">vol. vi., p.</abbr> 300-308.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_142" id="footnote_142"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_142"><span class="muchsmaller">[142]</span></a> - Rama is, in Sanskrit, the name of that which is dazzling, elevated, white, -sublime, protective, beautiful, excellent. This word has exactly the same sense -in the Phœnician רמ (<dfn>ram</dfn>). Its primitive root, which is universalized by -the <dfn>hémantique</dfn> letter מ (<dfn>m</dfn>), is רא (<dfn>ra</dfn>), which has - reference to the harmonic -movement of good, of light, and of sight. The name of the adversary of -Rama, <dfn>Rawhan</dfn>, is formed from the root רע (<dfn>rawh</dfn>) which expresses, on the -contrary, the disordered movement of evil and of fire, and which, becoming -united with the augmentative syllable ון (<dfn>ôn</dfn>), depicts whatever ravages and -ruins; this is the signification which it has in Sanskrit.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_143" id="footnote_143"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_143"><span class="muchsmaller">[143]</span></a> - From the word רמא (<dfn>rama</dfn>) is formed in Phœnician the word דרמא -(<dfn>drama</dfn>) by the adjunction of the demonstrative article ד (<dfn>d’</dfn>); that is to say, -a thing which comes from Rama: an action well ordered, beautiful, sublime, -etc. Notice that the Greek verb δραεῖν, <dfn>to act</dfn>, whence is drawn very inappropriately -the word δρᾶμα, is always attached to the same root רא (<dfn>ra</dfn>) -which is that of harmonic movement.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_144" id="footnote_144"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_144"><span class="muchsmaller">[144]</span></a> - Athen., <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 3; <abbr title="Aristotle">Arist.</abbr>, - <cite>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapters">c.</abbr> 3, 4, 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_145" id="footnote_145"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_145"><span class="muchsmaller">[145]</span></a> - <dfn>Tragedy</dfn>, in Greek τραγῳδία, comes from the words τραχίς, austere, -severe, lofty, and ὠδή chant.</p> - -<p class="footnote"><dfn>Comedy</dfn>, in Greek κωμῳδία, is derived from the words κῶμος, joyful, lascivious, -and ὠδή, chant.</p> - -<p class="footnote">It is unnecessary for me to say that the etymologists who have seen in -<dfn>tragedy</dfn> a song of the goat, because τράγος signifies a goat in Greek, have -misunderstood the simplest laws of etymology. Τράγος signifies a goat only -by metaphor, because of the roughness and heights which this animal loves -to climb; as <dfn>caper</dfn>, in Latin, holds to the same root as <dfn>caput</dfn>; and <dfn>chèvre</dfn>, in -French, to the same root as <dfn>chef</dfn>, for a similar reason.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_146" id="footnote_146"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_146"><span class="muchsmaller">[146]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laertius, livre 1, section">Diog. Laërt., l. i., §</abbr> 59.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_147" id="footnote_147"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_147"><span class="muchsmaller">[147]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr> <cite>In Solon</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_148" id="footnote_148"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_148"><span class="muchsmaller">[148]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle">Arist.</abbr>, <i>De Mor.</i>, l. iii., c. 2; Ælian., - <abbr title="Varia Historia, livre 5, chapter"><cite>Var. Hist.</cite>, l. v., c.</abbr> 19; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, livre 2, chapter">Clem. Alex., -<cite>Strom.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 14.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_149" id="footnote_149"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_149"><span class="muchsmaller">[149]</span></a> - Plato, <abbr title="Laws, livre 3"><cite>De Legib.</cite>,l. iii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_150" id="footnote_150"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_150"><span class="muchsmaller">[150]</span></a> - Athen., <abbr title="livre 8, chapter">l. viii., c.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_151" id="footnote_151"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_151"><span class="muchsmaller">[151]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>De Music.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_152" id="footnote_152"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_152"><span class="muchsmaller">[152]</span></a> - <abbr title="Horace, Arte Poetica">Horat., <cite>De Art. poët</cite>, v.</abbr> 279; - Vitrav., <cite>In Prefac.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 7, page">l. vii., p.</abbr> 124.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_153" id="footnote_153"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_153"><span class="muchsmaller">[153]</span></a> - Æschylus, <cite>In <abbr title="Prometheus">Prometh.</abbr></cite>, - Act <abbr title="One, Scene One, and Act Five, scene ultimate">I., Sc. 1, et Act. V., Sc. ult.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_154" id="footnote_154"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_154"><span class="muchsmaller">[154]</span></a> - Æschylus, <cite>In <abbr title="Eumenides">Eumenid.</abbr></cite>, Act <abbr title="Five, Scene">V., Sc.</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_155" id="footnote_155"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_155"><span class="muchsmaller">[155]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristophanes">Aristoph.</abbr> <cite>In <abbr title="Plutarch">Plut.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 423; - <abbr title="Pausanias, livre 1, chapter">Pausan.,l. i., c.</abbr> 28; - <cite>Vitâ <abbr title="Æschylus">Æschyl.</abbr> apud.</cite>, Stanley, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 702.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_156" id="footnote_156"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_156"><span class="muchsmaller">[156]</span></a> - Dionys. Chrys., <cite>Orat.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 2">l. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_157" id="footnote_157"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_157"><span class="muchsmaller">[157]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristophanes">Aristoph.</abbr>, <cite>In Ran.</cite>; - <abbr title="Philostratus">Philostr.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ Apollon</cite>, <abbr title="livre 6, chapter">l. vi., c.</abbr> ii.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_158" id="footnote_158"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_158"><span class="muchsmaller">[158]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>In Cimon.</cite>; Athen., <abbr title="livre 8, chapter">l. viii., c.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_159" id="footnote_159"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_159"><span class="muchsmaller">[159]</span></a> - <abbr title="Philostratus">Philostr.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ <abbr title="Apollonius">Apoll.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 6, chapter 2">l. vi., c. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_160" id="footnote_160"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_160"><span class="muchsmaller">[160]</span></a> - Schol., <cite>In Vitâ Sophocl.</cite>; Suidas, <cite>In</cite> Σοφοκλ.; <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>De Profect. Vitæ</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_161" id="footnote_161"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_161"><span class="muchsmaller">[161]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, <abbr title="De Poetica, chapter"><cite>De Poët.</cite>, c.</abbr> 25.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_162" id="footnote_162"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_162"><span class="muchsmaller">[162]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristophanes">Aristoph.</abbr>, <cite>In Ran.</cite>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 874 et 1075.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_163" id="footnote_163"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_163"><span class="muchsmaller">[163]</span></a> - <abbr title="Philostratus">Philostr.</abbr>, <cite>Vitâ <abbr title="Apollonius">Apoll.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 2; <abbr title="livre 4, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 16; - <abbr title="livre 6, chapter">l. vi., c.</abbr> 11; <cite>Vitâ <abbr title="Æschylus">Æschyl.</abbr> -apud</cite>, Robort., <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_164" id="footnote_164"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_164"><span class="muchsmaller">[164]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristophanes">Aristoph.</abbr>, <cite>In Ran.</cite>; <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, - <cite>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 25.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_165" id="footnote_165"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_165"><span class="muchsmaller">[165]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>De <abbr title="Legibus">Legib.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 2 and 3">l. ii. et iii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_166" id="footnote_166"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_166"><span class="muchsmaller">[166]</span></a> - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre 6">Hérodot., l. vi.</abbr>, 21; Corsin., <cite>Fast. attic.</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 3, page">t. iii., p.</abbr> 172; - <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, -<abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_167" id="footnote_167"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_167"><span class="muchsmaller">[167]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, <i>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></i>, c. 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_168" id="footnote_168"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_168"><span class="muchsmaller">[168]</span></a> - Susarion appeared 580 <span class="sc lowercase">B.C.</span>, and Thespis some years after. The latter -produced his tragedy of Alcestis in 536 <span class="sc lowercase">B.C.</span>; and the condemnation of Socrates -occurred in 399 <span class="sc lowercase">B.C.</span> So that only 181 years elapsed between the initial presentation -of comedy and the death of this philosopher.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_169" id="footnote_169"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_169"><span class="muchsmaller">[169]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Poetica">Poët.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_170" id="footnote_170"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_170"><span class="muchsmaller">[170]</span></a> - Aristoph, <cite>In Pac.</cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 740; Schol., <cite>ibid.</cite>; - <abbr title="Epicharmus">Epicharm.</abbr>, <cite>In Nupt. Heb.</cite> -apud Athen., <abbr title="livre 3, page">l. iii., p.</abbr> 85.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_171" id="footnote_171"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_171"><span class="muchsmaller">[171]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In Argum.</cite>; <abbr title="Aristophanes, page 11">Aristoph. p. xi.</abbr>; - Schol., <cite>De Comœd.</cite>; <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page 12">p. xii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_172" id="footnote_172"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_172"><span class="muchsmaller">[172]</span></a> - Thence arises the epithet of <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Eumolpique</cite> that I give to the verses which -form the subject of this work.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_173" id="footnote_173"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_173"><span class="muchsmaller">[173]</span></a> - The proof that Rome was scarcely known in Greece, at the epoch of -Alexander, is that the historian Theopompus, accused by all critics of too -much prolixity, has said only a single word concerning this city, to announce -that she had been taken by the Gauls (Pliny, <abbr title="livre 3, chapter">l. iii., c.</abbr> 5). Bayle observes -with much sagacity, that however little Rome had been known at that -time, she would not have failed to furnish the subject of a long digression -for this historian, who would have delighted much in it. (<abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite>, art.</abbr> -<span class="sc">Theopompus</span>, <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> E.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_174" id="footnote_174"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_174"><span class="muchsmaller">[174]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laertes, livre 1, section">Diogen. Laërt., l. i., §</abbr> 116. - Pliny, <abbr title="livre 5, chapter">l. v., c.</abbr> 29. Suidas, <cite>In</cite> Φερεκύδης.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_175" id="footnote_175"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_175"><span class="muchsmaller">[175]</span></a> - Degerando, <abbr title="Histoire des Systems de Philosophie, tome 1, page"><cite >(Hist. des Systêm. de Phil.)</cite>, - t. i., p.</abbr> 128, à la note.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_176" id="footnote_176"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_176"><span class="muchsmaller">[176]</span></a> -<abbr title="Dionysius of Halicarnassus"> Dionys. Halic.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Thucidides">Thucid.</abbr> Judic.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_177" id="footnote_177"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_177"><span class="muchsmaller">[177]</span></a> - The real founder of the Atomic system such as has been adopted by -Lucretius (<cite>De Rerum Natura</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>), was Moschus, Phœnician philosopher -whose works threw light upon those of Leucippus (Posidonius cité par Strabon, -<abbr title="livre 16">l. xvi.</abbr>, <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Adversos Mathematicos, page">Sext. Empiric., - <cite>Adv. mathem.</cite>, p.</abbr> 367). This system well understood, -does not differ from that of the monads, of which Leibnitz was the inventor.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_178" id="footnote_178"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_178"><span class="muchsmaller">[178]</span></a> - Fréret, <cite>(<abbr title="Mythologie">Mytholog.</abbr> ou Religion des Grecs)</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_179" id="footnote_179"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_179"><span class="muchsmaller">[179]</span></a> - Voltaire, who has adopted this error, has founded it upon the signification -of the word <dfn>Epos</dfn>, which he has connected with that of Discourse (<cite><abbr title="Dictionnaire philosophique">Dictionn. -philos.</abbr></cite> au mot <span class="sc">Epopée</span>). But he is mistaken. The Greek word ἔπος -is translated accurately by <dfn>versus</dfn>. Thence the verb επεῖν, to follow in the -tracks, to turn, to go, in the same sense.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_180" id="footnote_180"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_180"><span class="muchsmaller">[180]</span></a> - The Greeks looked upon the Latin authors and artists as paupers enriched -by their spoils; also they learned their language only when forced to do -so. The most celebrated writers by whom Rome was glorified, were rarely -cited by them. Longinus, who took an example of the sublime in Moses, -did not seek a single one either in Horace or in Vergil; he did not even mention -their names. It was the same with other critics. Plutarch spoke of Cicero -as a statesman; he quoted many of his clever sayings, but he refrained from -comparing him with Demosthenes as an orator. He excuses himself on account -of having so little knowledge of the Latin tongue, he who had lived so -long in Rome! Emperor Julian, who has written only in Greek, cites only -Greek authors and not one Latin.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_181" id="footnote_181"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_181"><span class="muchsmaller">[181]</span></a> - <cite>(Apologie des hommes accusés de magie)</cite> l’ouvrage de Naudé, intitulé: <cite>(Apologie des hommes accusés de magie)</cite>. -Le nombre de ces hommes est très-considérable.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_182" id="footnote_182"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_182"><span class="muchsmaller">[182]</span></a> - Allard, <cite>(Bibl. du Dauphiné)</cite>, à la fin.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_183" id="footnote_183"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_183"><span class="muchsmaller">[183]</span></a> - Duplessis-Mornai, <cite>(Mystère d’iniquité)</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 279.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_184" id="footnote_184"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_184"><span class="muchsmaller">[184]</span></a> - This Ballad tongue, or rather Romance, was a mixture of corrupt Latin, -Teutonic, and ancient Gallic. It was called thus, in order to distinguish it -from the pure Latin and French. The principal dialects of the Romance -tongue were the <dfn>langue d’oc</dfn>, spoken in the south of France, and the <dfn>longue d’oïl</dfn>, -spoken in the north. It is from the <dfn>langue d’oïl</dfn> that the French descend. -The <dfn>langue d’oc</dfn>, prevailing with the troubadours who cultivated it, disappeared -with them in the fourteenth century and was lost in numberless obscure -provincial dialects. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez <cite>(Le Troubadour)</cite>, poésies occitaniques, à la Dissert., -<abbr title="volume 1">vol. i.</abbr></span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_185" id="footnote_185"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_185"><span class="muchsmaller">[185]</span></a> - Fontenelle, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<abbr title="Histoire">Hist.</abbr> du Théâtre Français)</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_186" id="footnote_186"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_186"><span class="muchsmaller">[186]</span></a> - Voyez Sainte-Palaye, <cite><abbr title="Mémoires sur l'ancienne chevalerie">(Mém. sur l’ancienne Cheval.</abbr>)</cite>; - Millot, <cite>(<abbr title="Histoire des Troubadours">Hist. des -Troubad.</abbr>)</cite> <abbr title="discussion préliminaire">Disc. prélim.</abbr>, on ce que j’ai dit moi-même dans le <cite>(Troubadour)</cite>, -comme ci-dessus.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_187" id="footnote_187"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_187"><span class="muchsmaller">[187]</span></a> - It is necessary to observe that <dfn>vau</dfn> or <dfn>val</dfn>, <dfn>bau</dfn> or <dfn>bal</dfn>, according to the -dialect, signifies equally a dance, a ball, and a folly, a fool. The Phœnician, -root רע (<dfn>whal</dfn>) expresses all that is elevated, exalted. The French words <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><dfn>(bal)</dfn>, -<dfn>vol</dfn>, <dfn>fol</dfn></span>, are here derived.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_188" id="footnote_188"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_188"><span class="muchsmaller">[188]</span></a> - The sonnets are of Oscan origin. The word <dfn>son</dfn> signifies a song in the -ancient <dfn lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">langue d’oc</dfn>. The word <dfn>sonnet</dfn> is applied to a little song, pleasing and -of an affected form.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The madrigals are of Spanish origin as their name sufficiently proves. -The word <dfn>gala</dfn> signifies in Spanish a kind of favour, an honour rendered, a -gallantry, a present. Thus <dfn>Madrid-gala</dfn> arises from a gallantry in the Madrid -fashion.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The sylves, called <dfn>sirves</dfn> or <dfn>sirventes</dfn> by the troubadours, were kinds of -serious poems, ordinarily satirical. These words come from the Latin <dfn>sylva</dfn> -which, according to Quintilius, is said of a piece of verse recited <dfn>ex-tempore</dfn> -(<abbr title="livre 10, chapter">l. x., c.</abbr> 3).</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_189" id="footnote_189"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_189"><span class="muchsmaller">[189]</span></a> - <cite>Voyez</cite> Laborde, <cite>Essai sur la Musique</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 112, - et <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 168. On -trouve, de la page 149 à la page 232 de ce même volume, un catalogue de tous -les anciens romanciers français. On peut voir, pour les Italiens, Crescembini, -<cite>Della Volgar Poësia</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_190" id="footnote_190"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_190"><span class="muchsmaller">[190]</span></a> - See Laborde. It is believed that this Guilhaume, bishop of Paris, is the -author of the hieroglyphic figures which adorn the portal of Notre-Dame, and -that they have some connection with the hermetic science. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<cite>(Biblioth. des -Phil. Chim.)</cite>., <abbr title="tome 4">t. iv.</abbr> Saint-Foix, Essai <cite>(sur Paris)</cite>.)</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_191" id="footnote_191"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_191"><span class="muchsmaller">[191]</span></a> - Perhaps one is astonished to see that I give the name of <dfn>sirventes</dfn>, or -sylves, to that which is commonly called the poems of Dante; but in order to -understand me, it is necessary to consider that these poems, composed -of stanzas of three verses joined in couplets, are properly only long songs on a -serious subject, which agrees with the <dfn>sirvente</dfn>. The poems of Bojardo, of -Ariosto, of Tasso, are, as to form, only long ballads. They are poems because -of the unity which, notwithstanding the innumerable episodes with which -they are filled, constitutes the principal subject.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_192" id="footnote_192"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_192"><span class="muchsmaller">[192]</span></a> - Pasquier, <abbr title="Histoire et Recherches des Antiquités, livre 7, chapter"><cite >(Hist. et Recherch. des Antiq.)</cite>, l. vii., ch.</abbr> 12. - Henri-Etienne, <cite>(Précellence du <abbr title="Langue Française">Lang. Franç.</abbr>)</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 12. - D’Olivet, <abbr title="Prosodie, article 1, section"><cite>(Prosod.)</cite>, <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> i., §</abbr> 2. - Delisle-de-Salles, <abbr title="Histoire de la Tragédie, tome 1, page"><cite>(Hist. de la Trag.)</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 154, à la note.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_193" id="footnote_193"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_193"><span class="muchsmaller">[193]</span></a> - D’Olivet, <abbr title="Prosodie, article 5, section"><cite>(Prosod.)</cite>, <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> V., §</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_194" id="footnote_194"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_194"><span class="muchsmaller">[194]</span></a> - <cite>Ibidem.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_195" id="footnote_195"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_195"><span class="muchsmaller">[195]</span></a> - William Jones, <cite>Asiatic Researches</cite>, <abbr title="volume 1">vol. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_196" id="footnote_196"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_196"><span class="muchsmaller">[196]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="volume 1, page">vol. i., p.</abbr> 425.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_197" id="footnote_197"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_197"><span class="muchsmaller">[197]</span></a> - William Jones, <cite>Asiatic Researches</cite>, <abbr title="volume 1, page">vol. i., p.</abbr> 430.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_198" id="footnote_198"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_198"><span class="muchsmaller">[198]</span></a> - Wilkin’s <cite>Notes on the Hitopadesa</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 249. Halled’s <cite>Grammar</cite>, in the preface. -The same, <cite>Code of the Gentoo-Laws</cite>. <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, volume 1, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, vol. 1, page</abbr> 423.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_199" id="footnote_199"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_199"><span class="muchsmaller">[199]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, volume 1, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, vol. 1, page</abbr> 346. - Also in same work, <abbr title="volume 1, page">vol. 1, page</abbr> 430.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_200" id="footnote_200"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_200"><span class="muchsmaller">[200]</span></a> - W. Jones has put into English a Natak entitled <cite>Sakuntala</cite> or <cite>The Fatal -Ring</cite>, of which the French translation has been made by Brugnières. Paris, -1803, chez Treuttel et Würtz.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_201" id="footnote_201"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_201"><span class="muchsmaller">[201]</span></a> - See <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, volume 3, pages"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, vol. iii., p.</abbr> 42, 47, 86, 185, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_202" id="footnote_202"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_202"><span class="muchsmaller">[202]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, volume 1, pages"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, vol. 1, page</abbr> 279, 357 et 360.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_203" id="footnote_203"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_203"><span class="muchsmaller">[203]</span></a> - <cite>Institut. of Hindus-Laws.</cite> W. Jones, <cite>Works</cite>, <abbr title="tome 3, page">t. iii., p.</abbr> 51. - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, volume 2, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, vol. ii., p.</abbr> 368.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_204" id="footnote_204"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_204"><span class="muchsmaller">[204]</span></a> - <cite>(<abbr title="Histoire générale">Hist. génér.</abbr> de la Chine)</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 19. - <cite>(<abbr title="Mémoire concernante">Mém. concern.</abbr> les Chinois)</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, pages">t. i., p.</abbr> 9, 104, 160. - <cite>Chou-King.</cite> Ch. <cite>Yu-Kong</cite>, etc., Duhalde, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 266. - <cite>(<abbr title="Mémoire concernante">Mém. concern.</abbr>)</cite>, etc., <abbr title="tome 13, page">t. xiii., p.</abbr> 190.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_205" id="footnote_205"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_205"><span class="muchsmaller">[205]</span></a> - The <cite>She-King</cite>, which contains the most ancient poetry of the Chinese, -is only a collection of odes and songs, of sylves, upon different historical -and moral subjects. (<cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(<abbr title="Mémoire concernante">Mém. concer.</abbr> les Chinois)</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 51, et <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 80.) -Besides, the Chinese had known rhyme for more than four thousand years. -(<cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 8, pages">t. viii., p.</abbr> 133-185.).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_206" id="footnote_206"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_206"><span class="muchsmaller">[206]</span></a> - Le <abbr title="Père">P.</abbr> Parennin says that the language of the Manchus has an enormous -quantity of words which express, in the most concise and most picturesque -manner, what ordinary languages can do only by aid of numerous epithets -or periphrases. (Duhalde, <cite>in-fol.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 4, page">t. iv., p.</abbr> 65.)</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_207" id="footnote_207"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_207"><span class="muchsmaller">[207]</span></a> - <cite>(Ci-dessus)</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 31.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_208" id="footnote_208"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_208"><span class="muchsmaller">[208]</span></a> - <cite>(Voyez)</cite> la traduction française des <abbr title="Recherches asiatiques, tome 2, page"><cite>Rech. asiatiq.</cite>, - t. ii., p.</abbr> 49, notes <i>a</i> et <i>b</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_209" id="footnote_209"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_209"><span class="muchsmaller">[209]</span></a> - <cite>Voyez</cite> ce que dit de Zend, Anquetil Duperron, et l’exemple qu’il donne -de cette ancienne langue. <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1">t. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_210" id="footnote_210"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_210"><span class="muchsmaller">[210]</span></a> - D’Herbelot, <abbr title="Bibliothèque orientale, page"><cite>Bibl. orient.</cite>, p.</abbr> 54. - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 2, page"> <cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 51.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_211" id="footnote_211"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_211"><span class="muchsmaller">[211]</span></a> - Anquetil Duperron, <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1">t. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_212" id="footnote_212"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_212"><span class="muchsmaller">[212]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 2, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 51.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_213" id="footnote_213"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_213"><span class="muchsmaller">[213]</span></a> - L’abbé Massieu, <abbr title="Histoire de la Poésie française, page"><cite>Histor. de la Poésie franç.</cite>, p.</abbr> 82.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_214" id="footnote_214"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_214"><span class="muchsmaller">[214]</span></a> - In Arabic ديوان (<dfn>diwan</dfn>). ןאויד</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_215" id="footnote_215"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_215"><span class="muchsmaller">[215]</span></a> - D’Herbelot, <abbr title="Bibliothèque orientale"><cite>Bibl. orient.</cite></abbr>, au mot <span class="sc">Divan</span>. - <abbr title="Asiatique Researches, tome 2, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_216" id="footnote_216"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_216"><span class="muchsmaller">[216]</span></a> - It must be remarked that the word <dfn>Diw</dfn>, which is also Persian, was alike -applied in Persia to the Divine Intelligence, before Zoroaster had changed -the signification of it by the establishment of a new doctrine, which, replacing -the <dfn>Diws</dfn> by the <dfn>Iseds</dfn>, deprived them of the dominion of Heaven, and represented -them as demons of the earth. See Anquetil Duperron, <cite>Vendidad-Sadè</cite>, -<abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 133, <cite>Boun-Dehesh.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 355. It is thus that Christianity has changed -the sense of the Greek word Δαίμων (Demon), and rendered it synonymous -with the devil; whereas it signified in its principle, divine spirit and genius.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_217" id="footnote_217"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_217"><span class="muchsmaller">[217]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatique Researches, tome 2, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_218" id="footnote_218"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_218"><span class="muchsmaller">[218]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez</cite> Anquetil Duperron, <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 3, pages">t. iii., p.</abbr> 527 et <abbr title="suivantes">suiv.</abbr> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez</cite> aussi un ouvrage allemand de Wahl, sur l’état de la Perse: - <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Pragmatische-Geografische -und Statische Schilderung</cite> … etc. Leipzig, 1795, <abbr title="tome 1, pages">t. i., p.</abbr> 198 -à 204.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_219" id="footnote_219"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_219"><span class="muchsmaller">[219]</span></a> - Voyez plusieurs de leurs chansons rapportées par Laborde, <cite>Essai sur la -Musique</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 398.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_220" id="footnote_220"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_220"><span class="muchsmaller">[220]</span></a> - Laborde, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 425.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_221" id="footnote_221"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_221"><span class="muchsmaller">[221]</span></a> - I will give, later on, a strophe from <cite>Voluspa</cite>, a Scandinavian ode of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">eumolpique</i> -style, very beautiful, and of which I will, perhaps, one day make an -entire translation.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_222" id="footnote_222"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_222"><span class="muchsmaller">[222]</span></a> - It was said long ago that a great number of rhymed verses were found in -the Bible, and Voltaire even has cited a ridiculous example in his <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dictionnaire -philosophique</cite> (<abbr title="article">art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Rime</span>): -but it seems to me that before concerning oneself -so much as one still does, whether the Hebraic text of the <cite>Sepher</cite> is in prose or -in verse, whether or not one finds there rhymed verses after the manner of -the Arabs, or measured after the manner of the Greeks, it would be well to -observe whether one understands this text. The language of Moses has been -lost entirely for more than two thousand four hundred years, and unless it -be restored with an aptitude, force, and constancy which is nowadays unusual, -I doubt whether it will be known exactly what the legislator of the Hebrews -has said regarding the principles of the Universe, the origin of the earth, and -the birth and vicissitudes of the beings who people it. These subjects are, -however, worth the pains if one would reflect upon them; I cannot prevent -myself from thinking that it would be more fitting to be occupied with the -meaning of the words, than their arrangements by long and short syllables, -by regular or alternate rhymes, which is of no importance whatever.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_223" id="footnote_223"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_223"><span class="muchsmaller">[223]</span></a> - Vossius, <cite>De Poematum cantu et viribus rhythmi</cite>; cité par J. J. Rousseau, -<cite>Dictionnaire de Musique</cite>, <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Rythme</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_224" id="footnote_224"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_224"><span class="muchsmaller">[224]</span></a> - Nearly all of the Italian words terminate with one of four vowels, <dfn>a</dfn>, <dfn>e</dfn>, <dfn>i</dfn>, <dfn>o</dfn>, -without accent: it is very rare that the vowels are accentuated, as the vowel -<dfn>ù</dfn>. When this occurs as in <dfn>cità</dfn>, <dfn>perchè</dfn>, <dfn>dì</dfn>, <dfn>farò</dfn>, etc., then, only, is the final -masculine. Now here is what one of their best rhythmic poets, named Tolomèo, -gives as an hexameter verse:</p> -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="i0"><i>Questa, per affeto, tenerissima lettera mando</i></div> -<div class="i0"><i>A te</i> …</div> -</div><!--end fnpoem--> - -<p class="footnote">To make this line exact, one feels that the word <dfn>mando</dfn>, which terminates it, -should be composed of two longs, that is to say, that it should be written -<dfn>mandò</dfn>, which could not be without altering the sense entirely. Marchetti -has translated into blank verse the Latin poem of Lucretius. I will quote the -opening lines. Here is evident the softness to which I take exception and -which prevents them from being really eumolpique, according to the sense -that I have attached to this word.</p> -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem" lang="it" xml:lang="it"> -<div class="i0"><cite>Alma figlia di Giove, inclita madre</cite></div> -<div class="i0"><cite>Del gran germe d’Enea, Venere bella,</cite></div> -<div class="i0"><cite>Degli uomini piacere e degli Dei:</cite></div> -<div class="i0"><cite>Tu, che sotto il volubili e lucenti</cite></div> -<div class="i0"><cite>Segni del cielo, il mar profundo, e tutta</cite></div> -<div class="i0"><cite>D’animai d’ogni specie orni la terra:</cite></div> -<div class="i0">... etc.</div> -</div><!--end fnpoem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_225" id="footnote_225"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_225"><span class="muchsmaller">[225]</span></a> - One must not believe that the mute <dfn>e</dfn> with which many English words -terminate represents the French feminine final, expressed by the same vowel. -This mute <dfn>e</dfn> is in reality mute in English; ordinarily it is only used to give a -more open sound to the vowel which precedes it, as in <dfn>tale</dfn>, <dfn>scene</dfn>, <dfn>bone</dfn>, <dfn>pure</dfn>, -<dfn>fire</dfn>. Besides it is never taken into account, either in the measure or in the -prosody of the lines. Thus these two lines of Dryden rhyme exactly:</p> -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="i0a">“Now scarce the Trojan fleet with sails and oars</div> -<div class="i0">Had left behind the fair Sicilian shores.…”</div> -<div class="i10"><cite>Æneid</cite>, <abbr title="book one, verse">b. i., v.</abbr> 50.</div> -</div><!--end footnote poem--> - -<p class="footnote">It is the same in these of Addison:</p> - -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="i0a">“Tune ev’ry string and ev’ry tongue,</div> -<div class="i0">Be thou the Muse and subject of our song.…”</div> -<div class="i10"><cite>St. Cecilia’s Day</cite>, <abbr title="one">i.</abbr>, 10.</div> -</div><!--end footnote poem--> - -<p class="footnote">or these from Goldsmith:</p> - -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="i0a">“How often have I loiter’d o’er thy green,</div> -<div class="i0">Where humble happiness endeared each scene.”</div> -<div class="i10"><cite>The Deserted Village</cite>, i., 7.</div> -</div><!--end footnote poem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_226" id="footnote_226"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_226"><span class="muchsmaller">[226]</span></a> - There remains to us of this poetry the very precious fragments contained -in the <cite>Edda</cite> and in <cite>Voluspa</cite>. The <cite>Edda</cite>, whose name signifies great-grandmother, -is a collection, fairly ample, of Scandinavian traditions. <cite>Voluspa</cite> is -a sort of Sibylline book, or cosmogonic oracle, as its name indicates. I am -convinced that if the poets of the north, the Danes, Swedes, and Germans, -had oftener drawn their subjects from these indigenous sources, they would -have succeeded better than by going to Greece to seek them upon the summits -of Parnassus. The mythology of Odin, descended from the Rhipæan mountains, -suits them better than that of the Greeks, whose tongue furthermore is -not conformable here. When one makes the moon and the wife (<span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><dfn>der Mond</dfn>, -<dfn>das Weib</dfn></span>) of masculine and neuter gender; when one makes the sun, the air, -time, love (<span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><dfn>die Sonne</dfn>, <dfn>die Luft</dfn>, <dfn>die Zeit</dfn>, - <dfn>die Liebe</dfn></span>) of feminine gender, one -ought wisely to renounce the allegories of Parnassus. It was on account of -the sex given to the sun and the moon that the schism arose, of which I have -spoken, in explaining the origin of the temple of Delphi.</p> - -<p class="footnote">The Scandinavian allegories, however, that I consider a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">débris</i> of Thracian -allegories, furnishing subjects of a very different character from those of the -Greeks and Latins, might have varied the poetry of Europe and prevented -the Arabesque fiction from holding there so much ascendancy. The Scandinavian -verses, being without rhyme, hold moreover, to eumolpœia. The -following is a strophe from <cite>Voluspa</cite>:</p> -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i0a">“Avant que le temps fût, Ymir avait été;</div> -<div class="i0">Ni la mer, ni nes vents n’existaient pas encore;</div> -<div class="i0">Il n’était de terre, il n’était point de ciel:</div> -<div class="i0" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Tout n’était qu’un abîme immense, sans verdure.”</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0a">“In the beginning, when naught was, there</div> -<div class="i0">Was neither sand nor sea nor the cold waves,</div> -<div class="i0">Nor was earth to be seen nor heaven above.</div> -<div class="i0">There was a Yawning Chasm [chaos] but grass nowhere.…”</div> -</div><div class="stanza" lang="is" xml:lang="is"> -<div class="i0"><i>Ár vas aida pat-es ekki vas;</i></div> -<div class="i0"><i>vasa sandr né sær né svalar unnir,</i></div> -<div class="i0"><i>iœr[=x]o fansk æva né upp-himinn;</i></div> -<div class="i0"><i>Gap vas Ginnunga, enn gras ekki,</i> …</div> -</div><!--end stanza"--> -</div><!--end footnote poem--> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez Mallet, <cite>Monuments celtiques</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 135; - et pour le texte, le poëme même -de la Voluspa, <cite>in Edda islandorum</cite>, Mallet paraît avoir suivi un texte erroné.</p> - -<p class="footnote">As to the Gallic poetry of the Scotch bards, that Macpherson has made -known to us under the name of <cite>Ossian</cite>, much is needed that they may have a -sufficient degree of authenticity for them to be cited as models, and placed -parallel with those of Homer, as has been done without reflection. These -poems, although resting for the greater part upon a true basis, are very far -from being veritable as to form. The Scotch bards, like the Oscan troubadours, -must be restored and often entirely remade, if they are to be read. -Macpherson, in composing his <cite>Ossian</cite>, has followed certain ancient traditions, -has put together certain scattered fragments; but has taken great liberties -with all the rest. He was, besides, a man endowed with creative genius and -he might have been able to attain to epopœia if he had been better informed. -His lack of knowledge has left a void in his work which demonstrates its -falsity. There is no mythology, no allegory, no cult in <cite>Ossian</cite>. There are -some historic or romanesque facts joined to long descriptions; it is a style -more emphatic than figurative, more bizarre than original. Macpherson, -in neglecting all kinds of mythological and religious ideas, in even mocking -here and there the <em>stone of power</em> of the Scandinavians, has shown that he -was ignorant of two important things: the one, that the allegorical or religious -genius constitutes the essence of poetry; the other, that Scotland was at a -very ancient period the hearth of this same genius whose interpreters were -the druids, bards, and scalds. He should have known that, far from being -without religion, the Caledonians possessed in the heart of their mountains, -the Gallic Parnassus, the sacred mountain of the Occidental isles; and that -when the antique cult began to decline in Gaul, it was in Albion, reckoned -among the holy isles by even the Indians, that the druids went to study. -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez <cite>Les Commentaires de César</cite>, <abbr title="four">iv.</abbr>, 20; - <cite>L’Introduction de l’histoire de Danemark</cite>, -par Mallet; <cite>L’Histoire des Celtes</cite>, par Pelloutier; et enfin les <cite>Recherches -asiatiques</cite> (<cite><abbr title="Asiatic Researches">Asiat. Research.</abbr></cite>), - <abbr title="tome 6, pages">t. vi., p.</abbr> 490 et 502.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote">In order to seize the occasion of applying eumolpique lines to a greater -number of subjects, I am going to quote a sort of exposition of Ossian, the -only one I believe, which is found in his poems; because Macpherson, for more -originality, neglected nearly always to announce the subject of his songs. -I will not give the text, because the English translation whence I obtained it -does not give it. It concerns the battle of Lora. After a kind of exordium -addressed to the son of the stranger, dweller of the silent cavern, Ossian said -to him:</p> - -<br /> -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="stanza" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> -<div class="i2">Le chant plaît-il à ton oreille?</div> -<div class="i0">Ecoute le récit du combat de Lora.</div> -<div class="i0">Il est bien ancien, ce combat! Le tumulte</div> -<div class="i0">Des armes, et les cris furieux des guerriers,</div> -<div class="i2">Sont couverts par un long silence;</div> -<div class="i2">Ils sont éteints depuis longtemps:</div> -<div class="i0">Ainsi sur des rochers retentissants, la foudre</div> -<div class="i2">Roule, gronde, éclate et n’est plus;</div> -<div class="i0">Le soleil reparaît, et la cime brillante</div> -<div class="i0">Des coteaux verdoyants, sourit à ses rayons.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">Son of the secret cell! dost thou delight in songs?</div> -<div class="i0">Hear the battle of Lora.</div> -<div class="i0">The sound of its steel is long since past.</div> -<div class="i0">So thunder on the darkened hill roars, and is no more.</div> -<div class="i0">The sun returns with his silent beams,</div> -<div class="i0">The glittering rocks, and green heads of the mountains smile.</div> -</div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote">This example serves to prove that eumolpique lines might easily adapt -themselves to the dithyramb.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_227" id="footnote_227"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_227"><span class="muchsmaller">[227]</span></a> - The tragedy of the <cite>Cid</cite>, given by Pierre Corneille in 1626, upon which -were based the grandeur and dominant character of the Théâtre Français, -as well as the renown of the author, is taken from a Spanish ballad very celebrated -in Spain. The Cid, who is the hero of it, lived towards the close of the -eleventh century. He was a type of the paladins and knights errant of the -romanesque traditions. He enjoyed a wide reputation and attained a high -degree of fortune. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Voyez</i> Monte-Mayor, <cite>Diana</cite>, - <abbr title="livre 2">l. ii.</abbr>; et Voltaire, <cite>Essai sur -les Mœurs</cite>, <abbr title="tome 3">t. iii.</abbr>, stéréotype, <abbr title="age">p.</abbr> 86.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote">In the course of the sixteenth century, the Spanish held a marked superiority -over the other peoples: their tongue was spoken at Paris, Vienna, Milan, -Turin. Their customs, their manners of thought and of writing, subjugated -the minds of the Italians, and from Charles <abbr title="Five">V.</abbr> to the commencement of the -reign of Philip <abbr title="Three">III.</abbr>, Spain enjoyed an importance that the other peoples never -had. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Voyez</i> Robertson, <cite>Introduction à l’Histoire de Charles-Quint</cite>.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote">It would be necessary to overstep considerably the ordinary limits of a -footnote, if I should explain how it happens that Spain has lost this supremacy -acquired by her, and why her tongue, the only one capable of rivalling and -perhaps effacing the French, has yielded to it in all ways, and by which it was -eclipsed. This explanation would demand for itself alone a very lengthy -work. Among the writers who have sought for the cause of the decadence -of the Spanish monarchy, some have believed to discover it in the increase of -its wealth, others, in the too great extent of its colonies, and the greater part, -in the spirit of its government and its superstitious cult. They have all -thought that the tribunal of the Inquisition alone was capable of arresting the -impulse of genius and of stifling the development of learning. In this they -have taken effects for causes, and consequences for principles. They have -not seen that the spirit of the government and the cult is always not the motive, -but the result of the national spirit, and that the wealth and the colonies, -indifferent in themselves, are only instruments that this spirit employs for -good or evil, according to its character. I can only indicate the first cause -which has prevented Spain from reaching the culminating point which France -is very near to attaining. This cause is pride. Whilst Europe, enveloped -in darkness, was, so to speak, in the fermentation of ignorance, Spain, conquered -by the Arabs, received a germ of science which, developing with rapidity, -produced a precocious fruit, brilliant, but like hot-house fruit lacking -internal force and generative vigour. This premature production having -raised Spain abruptly above the other European nations, inspired in her that -pride, that excessive <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">amour propre</i>, which, making her treat with contempt -all that did not belong to her, hindered her from making any change in her -usual customs, carried her with complacency in her mistakes, and when other -peoples came to bring forth fruits in their season, corrupted hers and stamped -her with a stationary movement, which becoming necessarily retrogressive, -must ruin her, and did ruin her.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_228" id="footnote_228"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_228"><span class="muchsmaller">[228]</span></a> - In comparing the first lines of Homer with those of Klopstock, it is seen -that the Greek contains 29 letters, 18 of which are vowels; and the German -48 letters, 31 of which are consonants. It is difficult with such disparity in -the elements to make the harmony the same.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_229" id="footnote_229"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_229"><span class="muchsmaller">[229]</span></a> - GOLDEN VERSES OF THE PYTHAGOREANS (1)</p> - -<p class="footnote poemtitle center">PREPARATION</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="i0">Render to the Immortal Gods the consecrated cult;</div> -<div class="i0">Guard then thy faith (2): Revere the memory</div> -<div class="i0">Of the Illustrious Heroes, of Spirits demi-Gods (3).</div> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="footnote poemtitle center"> <a name="footnote_230" id="footnote_230"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_230"><span class="muchsmaller">[230]</span></a> - PURIFICATION</p> - -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Be a good son, just brother, spouse tender and good father (4)</div> -<div class="i0">Choose for thy friend, the friend of virtue;</div> -<div class="i0">Yield to his gentle counsels, profit by his life,</div> -<div class="i0">And for a trifling grievance never leave him (5);</div> -<div class="i0">If thou canst at least: for a most rigid law</div> -<div class="i0">Binds Power to Necessity (6).</div> -<div class="i0">Still it is given thee to fight and overcome</div> -<div class="i0">Thy foolish passions: learn thou to subdue them (7).</div> -<div class="i0">Be sober, diligent, and chaste; avoid all wrath.</div> -<div class="i0">In public or in secret ne’er permit thou</div> -<div class="i0">Any evil; and above all else respect thyself (8).</div> -</div><!--end stanza--><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Speak not nor act before thou hast reflected.</div> -<div class="i0">Be just (9). Remember that a power invincible</div> -<div class="i0">Ordains to die (10); that riches and the honours</div> -<div class="i0">Easily acquired, are easy thus to lose (11).</div> -<div class="i0">As to the evils which Destiny involves,</div> -<div class="i0">Judge them what they are: endure them all and strive,</div> -<div class="i0">As much as thou art able, to modify the traits:</div> -<div class="i0">The Gods, to the most cruel, have not exposed the Sage (12).</div> -</div><!--end stanza--><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Even as Truth, does Error have its lovers:</div> -<div class="i0">With prudence the Philosopher approves or blames;</div> -<div class="i0">If Error triumph, he departs and waits (13).</div> -<div class="i0">Listen and in thine heart engrave my words;</div> -<div class="i0">Keep closed thine eye and ear ’gainst prejudice;</div> -<div class="i0">Of others the example fear; think always for thyself (14):</div> -<div class="i0">Consult, deliberate, and freely choose (15).</div> -<div class="i0">Let fools act aimlessly and without cause.</div> -<div class="i0">Thou shouldst, in the present, contemplate the future (16).</div> -</div><!--end stanza--><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">That which thou dost not know, pretend not that thou dost.</div> -<div class="i0">Instruct thyself: for time and patience favour all (17).</div> -<div class="i0">Neglect not thy health (18): dispense with moderation,</div> -<div class="i0">Food to the body and to the mind repose (19).</div> -<div class="i0">Too much attention or too little shun; for envy</div> -<div class="i0">Thus, to either excess is alike attached (20).</div> -<div class="i0">Luxury and avarice have similar results.</div> -<div class="i0">One must choose in all things a mean just and good (21).</div> -</div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote poemtitle center"> <a name="footnote_231" id="footnote_231"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_231"><span class="muchsmaller">[231]</span></a> - <br />PERFECTION</p> - -<div class="fnpoem"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">Let not sleep e’er close thy tired eyes</div> -<div class="i0">Without thou ask thyself: What have I omitted and what done? (22).</div> -<div class="i0">Abstain thou if ’tis evil; persevere if good (23).</div> -<div class="i0">Meditate upon my counsels; love them; follow them;</div> -<div class="i0">To the divine virtues will they know how to lead thee (24).</div> -<div class="i0">I swear it by the one who in our hearts engraved</div> -<div class="i0">The sacred Tetrad, symbol immense and pure,</div> -<div class="i0">Source of Nature and model of the Gods (25).</div> -<div class="i0">But before all, thy soul to its faithful duty,</div> -<div class="i0">Invoke these Gods with fervour, they whose aid,</div> -<div class="i0">Thy work begun, alone can terminate (26).</div> -<div class="i0">Instructed by them, naught shall then deceive thee:</div> -</div><!--end stanza--><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">Of diverse beings thou shalt sound the essence;</div> -<div class="i0">And thou shalt know the principle and end of All (27).</div> -<div class="i0">If Heaven wills it, thou shalt know that Nature,</div> -<div class="i0">Alike in everything, is the same in every place (28):</div> -<div class="i0">So that, as to thy true rights enlightened,</div> -<div class="i0">Thine heart shall no more feed on vain desires (29).</div> -<div class="i0">Thou shalt see that the evils which devour men</div> -<div class="i0">Are of their choice the fruit (30); that these unfortunates</div> -<div class="i0">Seek afar the goodness whose source within they bear (31).</div> -<div class="i0">For few know happiness: playthings of the passions,</div> -<div class="i0">Hither, thither tossed by adverse waves,</div> -<div class="i0">Upon a shoreless sea, they blinded roll,</div> -<div class="i0">Unable to resist or to the tempest yield (32).</div> -</div><!--end stanza--><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i2">God! Thou couldst save them by opening their eyes (33).</div> -<div class="i0">But no: ’tis for the humans of a race divine</div> -<div class="i0">To discern Error and to see the Truth (34).</div> -<div class="i0">Nature serves them (35). Thou who fathomed it,</div> -<div class="i0">O wise and happy man, rest in its haven.</div> -<div class="i0">But observe my laws, abstaining from the things</div> -<div class="i0">Which thy soul must fear, distinguishing them well;</div> -<div class="i0">Letting intelligence o’er thy body reign (36);</div> -<div class="i0">So that, ascending into radiant Ether,</div> -<div class="i0">Midst the Immortals, thou shalt be thyself a God.</div> -</div><!--end stanza--> -</div><!--end poem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_232" id="footnote_232"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_232"><span class="muchsmaller">[232]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis in Aureum Carmen Commentarius">Hiérocl., <cite>Comment. in Aur. Carmin. Proem.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_233" id="footnote_233"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_233"><span class="muchsmaller">[233]</span></a> - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, page">Fabric., <cite>Bibl. græc.</cite>, p.</abbr> 460; - Dacier, <abbr title="Remarques sur les Commentaires d'Hierocles"><cite>Remarq. sur les Comm. d’Hiéroclès</cite></abbr>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_234" id="footnote_234"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_234"><span class="muchsmaller">[234]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras, chapters">Jamblic., <cite>De Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, c.</abbr> 30 et 33; - Plutarch, <cite>De Gen. Socrat.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_235" id="footnote_235"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_235"><span class="muchsmaller">[235]</span></a> - Plutarch, <abbr title="De Stoicorum repugnantiis"><cite>De Repug. stoïc.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Diogenes Laertius, livre 8, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. viii., §</abbr> 39; - <abbr title="Polybius, livre 2">Polyb., l. ii.</abbr>; - Justin., <abbr title="livre 20, chapter">l. xx., c.</abbr> 4; - Vossius, <abbr title="De Philosophorum Sectis, chapter"><cite>De Phil. sect.</cite>, c.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_236" id="footnote_236"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_236"><span class="muchsmaller">[236]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 71.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_237" id="footnote_237"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_237"><span class="muchsmaller">[237]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> Dacier, <cite><abbr title="Remarques sur les Commentaires d'Hierocles">Rem. sur le Comment. d’Hiérocl.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_238" id="footnote_238"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_238"><span class="muchsmaller">[238]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plut.</abbr>, <cite>De Gen. Socr.</cite>; - <abbr title="Ælianus, Varia Historia, livre 2, chapter">Ælian., <cite>Var. Hist.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_239" id="footnote_239"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_239"><span class="muchsmaller">[239]</span></a> - Bacon, <cite>Novum Organum, <abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 65 et 71.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_240" id="footnote_240"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_240"><span class="muchsmaller">[240]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 3, pages"><cite>Asiat. Res.</cite>, t. iii., p.</abbr> 371 à 374.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_241" id="footnote_241"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_241"><span class="muchsmaller">[241]</span></a> - <abbr title="Mémoires concernant les Chinois, tome 2, page"><cite>Mém. concern. les Chin.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 26.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_242" id="footnote_242"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_242"><span class="muchsmaller">[242]</span></a> - <cite>Eulma Esclam. Note du Boun-Dehesh</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 344.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_243" id="footnote_243"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_243"><span class="muchsmaller">[243]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, De Antrim Nympharum, page">Porphyr., <cite>De Antr. Nymph.</cite>, p.</abbr> 126.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_244" id="footnote_244"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_244"><span class="muchsmaller">[244]</span></a> - <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">Αὐτὸν δ’ οὐχ ὁράω περὶ γὰρ νέφος ἐστήρικται.</span> <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez</i> Dacier, dans ses <cite>Remarques -sur les <abbr title="Commentaires d'Hierocles">Comment. d’Hiérocl.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_245" id="footnote_245"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_245"><span class="muchsmaller">[245]</span></a> - <cite>Vitâ <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythagor.</abbr></cite>; - <abbr title="Photius, Codices">Phot., <cite>Cod.</cite></abbr>, 259; - <abbr title="Macrobius, Somnium Scipionis, livre 1, chapter 6, livre 2, chapter">Macrob., <cite>Somn. Scip.</cite>, l. i., c. 6, l. ii., c.</abbr> 12; - <abbr title="Augustine, De Civitate Dei">August., <cite>De Civit. Dei</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="livre 4, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 9 et 11; - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 3, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 9; - <abbr title="Lactantius, De falsa religione">Lactant., <cite>De Fals. Relig.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="livre 1, chapters">l. i., c.</abbr> 6 et 7; - <abbr title="Poltinus">Plot.</abbr>, <abbr title="Enneads, Three, livre 2"><cite>Ennead.</cite>, iii., l. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_246" id="footnote_246"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_246"><span class="muchsmaller">[246]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Iside et Osiride">Isid. et Osirid.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 377.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_247" id="footnote_247"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_247"><span class="muchsmaller">[247]</span></a> - The priests of the Burmans, called <dfn>Rahans</dfn>, but whose generic name is -that of <dfn>Sramana</dfn>, whence came to them that of Sramaneras, which the ancients -gave them, carry the spirit of tolerance as far as possible. They visit -with the same devotion pagodas, mosques, and churches; never does one see -them being persecuted, nor persecuting others in the cause of religion. The -Brahmans, Mussulmans, and Christians occupy important posts among them -without their being scandalized. They regard all men as brothers. (<abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 6, pages"><cite>Asiat. -Research.</cite>, t. vi., pp.</abbr> 274-279). The Brahmans are of the same mind. One -reads these wonderful words in the <cite>Bhaghavad Gita</cite>: “A great diversity of -cults, similar as to substance but varying in forms, are manifested by the will -of the Supreme Being. Some follow one cult, others attach themselves to -another: all of these worshippers are purified from their offences by their -particular cult.… God is the gift of charity, God is the offering, God -is the fire upon the altar; it is God even, who makes the sacrifice, and God will -be obtained by him who makes God the sole object of his labours.” (<cite>Lect.</cite> <abbr title="4">iv.</abbr>)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_248" id="footnote_248"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_248"><span class="muchsmaller">[248]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen, volume">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite>, v.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_249" id="footnote_249"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_249"><span class="muchsmaller">[249]</span></a> - The Greek word κόσμος expresses a thing put in order, arranged according -to a fixed and regular principle. Its primitive root is in the Phœnician אוש -(<dfn>aôsh</dfn>) a principle Being, <dfn>the fire</dfn>. The Latin word <dfn>mundus</dfn> renders the Greek -sense very imperfectly. It signifies exactly, that which is made neat and -clean by means of water. Its nearest root is <dfn>unda</dfn>, and its remotest root is -found in the Phœnician אוד (<dfn>aôd</dfn>), an emanation, a vapour, a source. One -can see, according to this etymology, that the Greeks drew the idea of order -and beauty from fire, and the Latins from water.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_250" id="footnote_250"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_250"><span class="muchsmaller">[250]</span></a> -<abbr title="Diogenes Laertius, livre 8, Section"> Diogen. Laërt., l. viii., §</abbr> 25; - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>De Decret. philos.</cite>, <abbr title="2, chapter 6">ii., c. 6</abbr>; -<abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Adversos Mathematicos, 10, Section">Sext. Empir., <cite>Adv. Math.</cite>, x., §</abbr> 249; -<abbr title="Stobaeus, Eclogarum physicarum"> Stob., <cite>Eccl. phys.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 468.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_251" id="footnote_251"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_251"><span class="muchsmaller">[251]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>In Numa</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_252" id="footnote_252"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_252"><span class="muchsmaller">[252]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras, chapters">Jambl., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, c.</abbr> 28, 32 et 35.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_253" id="footnote_253"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_253"><span class="muchsmaller">[253]</span></a> - Εν, δύο. The symbol of Fo-Hi, so celebrated among the Chinese, is -the same and is expressed by a whole line —​ 1, and a broken line - - 2. I shall -make myself better understood upon this subject, in speaking as I intend to -do upon music and upon what the ancients understood by the language of -Numbers.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_254" id="footnote_254"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_254"><span class="muchsmaller">[254]</span></a> - <cite>Vitâ <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite>; - <abbr title="Photius, Bibliotheca Codex">Phot., <cite>Bibl. Codex</cite></abbr>, 259.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_255" id="footnote_255"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_255"><span class="muchsmaller">[255]</span></a> - <cite>Vie de <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite> par Dacier.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_256" id="footnote_256"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_256"><span class="muchsmaller">[256]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aurea Carmin.</cite>,</abbr> <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_257" id="footnote_257"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_257"><span class="muchsmaller">[257]</span></a> - Ci-devant, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 81.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_258" id="footnote_258"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_258"><span class="muchsmaller">[258]</span></a> - Timée de Locres, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 3; <cite><abbr title="edition">Edit.</abbr> de Batteux</cite>, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 8; - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 2, page">Diod. Sicul., l. ii., p.</abbr> 83; - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre 2, chapter">Herod., l. ii., c.</abbr> 4; - Hyde, <abbr title="Historia religionis veterum Persarum, chapter"><cite>De vet. Pers. Relig.</cite>, c.</abbr> 19; - Plato, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, <cite>In <abbr title="Phædo">Phæd.</abbr></cite>, -<cite>In <abbr title="Legibus">Legib.</abbr></cite>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_259" id="footnote_259"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_259"><span class="muchsmaller">[259]</span></a> - Bailly, <abbr title="Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne, livre 3, Section"><cite>Hist. de l’Astr. anc.</cite>, l. iii., §</abbr> 10.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_260" id="footnote_260"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_260"><span class="muchsmaller">[260]</span></a> - Pythagoras, at an early age, was taken to Tyre by Mnesarchus, his -father, in order to study there the doctrine of the Phœnicians; later he visited -Egypt, Arabia, and Babylon, in which last city he remained twelve years. -It was while there that he had frequent conferences concerning the principle -of things with a very learned magian whom Porphyry names Zabratos; -Plutarch, Zaratas; and Theodoret, Zaradas. (<abbr title="Porphyry, Vita Phythagoras">Porphyr., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite></abbr>) Plutarch -is inclined to believe that this magian is the same as Zardusht, or Zoroaster, -and the chronology is not here entirely contrary. -(<abbr title="Plutarch, De animae procreatione">Plutar., <cite>De Procreat. anim.</cite></abbr>; -Hyde, <abbr title="Historia religionis veterum Persarum, chapter"><cite>De Relig. vet. Pers.</cite>, - c.</abbr> 24, o. 309 et c. 31, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 379.)</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_261" id="footnote_261"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_261"><span class="muchsmaller">[261]</span></a> -<abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 6, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, t. vi., p.</abbr> 174.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_262" id="footnote_262"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_262"><span class="muchsmaller">[262]</span></a> - Holwell’s, <cite><abbr title="Interesting Historical">Histor. Interest.</abbr> Events</cite>, - <abbr title="chapter four Section">ch.iv., §</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_263" id="footnote_263"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_263"><span class="muchsmaller">[263]</span></a> - Beausobre, <cite><abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme">Hist. du Manich.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 164.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_264" id="footnote_264"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_264"><span class="muchsmaller">[264]</span></a> - <abbr title="Macrobius, Somnium Scipionis, livre 1, chapter 11">Macrob., <cite>Somn. Scip.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_265" id="footnote_265"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_265"><span class="muchsmaller">[265]</span></a> - Böhme, <cite>Les Six Points</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_266" id="footnote_266"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_266"><span class="muchsmaller">[266]</span></a> - The word קבל signifies, in Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldean, that which -is anterior, that which one receives from the ancients by tradition.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_267" id="footnote_267"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_267"><span class="muchsmaller">[267]</span></a> - <cite>Aurea <abbr title="Carmen">Carm.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 48.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_268" id="footnote_268"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_268"><span class="muchsmaller">[268]</span></a> - Synes, <cite>Hymn.</cite>, <abbr title="three, verse">iii., v.</abbr> 174; <cite>Hymn.</cite>, - <abbr title="four, verse">iv., v.</abbr> 68.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_269" id="footnote_269"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_269"><span class="muchsmaller">[269]</span></a> - Beausobre, <cite><abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme">Hist. du Manich.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 572.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_270" id="footnote_270"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_270"><span class="muchsmaller">[270]</span></a> - The word <dfn>Eon</dfn>, in Greek Αἰών, is derived from the Egyptian or Phœnician -אי (<dfn>aï</dfn>), a principle of will, a central point of development, and יון (<dfn>ion</dfn>), -the generative faculty. This last word has signified, in a restricted sense, a -dove, and has been the symbol of Venus. It is the famous <dfn>Yoni</dfn> of the Indians -and even the <dfn>Yn</dfn> of the Chinese: that is to say, the plastic nature of the Universe. -From there, the name of <dfn>Ionia</dfn>, given to Greece.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_271" id="footnote_271"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_271"><span class="muchsmaller">[271]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hermes Trismegistus, chapter">Herm. Trismég., c.</abbr> 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_272" id="footnote_272"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_272"><span class="muchsmaller">[272]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr> cité par le père Petau. <cite>Notes in Synes</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 42.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_273" id="footnote_273"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_273"><span class="muchsmaller">[273]</span></a> - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, Eclogae Theodoto, Section">Clem. Alex., <cite>Eclog. Theod.</cite>, §</abbr> 30.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_274" id="footnote_274"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_274"><span class="muchsmaller">[274]</span></a> - <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 1, page"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 572.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_275" id="footnote_275"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_275"><span class="muchsmaller">[275]</span></a> - Gods, Heroes, and Demons signify in the Greek words Θεός, Ἥρωες, -Δαίμων, whence they are derived, the Principle-Beings attained to perfection; -the ruling Principle-Beings; Terrestrial Existences. The word Θεός is formed -from the word אוש (<dfn>aôs</dfn>), a Principle-Being, preceded by the <dfn>hemantique</dfn> -letter ת (θ, <dfn>th</dfn>), which is the sign of perfection. The word Ἥρωες is composed -of the same word אוש (<dfn>aôs</dfn>), preceded by the word הרר (<dfn>herr</dfn>), expressing -all that rules. The word Δαίμων comes from the ancient word Δῆμ, -land, united with the word ὤν, existence.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> <a name="footnote_276" id="footnote_276"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_276"><span class="muchsmaller">[276]</span></a> - Κάθαρσις καὶ τελειότης.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_277" id="footnote_277"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_277"><span class="muchsmaller">[277]</span></a> - Lil. Greg. Gyral., <cite>Pythag. Symb. Interpret.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 92.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_278" id="footnote_278"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_278"><span class="muchsmaller">[278]</span></a> - <cite>Apud <abbr title="Photius Codex">Phot. Cod.</abbr></cite>, 249.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_279" id="footnote_279"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_279"><span class="muchsmaller">[279]</span></a> - <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. Crit.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Pythagoras</span>, - <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> Q.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_280" id="footnote_280"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_280"><span class="muchsmaller">[280]</span></a> - Not long since, a man rather well organized mentally, but very slightly -enlightened by the true science, brought out a book entitled <cite>Ruverabhoni</cite>, in -which, heaping up all the ancient and modern sophisms pronounced against -the social organization founded upon the establishment of the family, he -aspired to change the instinct of nature, in this respect, and to found <em>true -happiness</em> upon the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">débris</i> of all the ties of blood, of all the affections of the -soul, and of all the duties of consanguinity.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_281" id="footnote_281"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_281"><span class="muchsmaller">[281]</span></a> - As I give the same meaning as did Moses and not that of the <cite>Septuagint</cite> -copied by the <cite>Vulgate</cite>, I transcribe here the original text, so that those who -understand Hebrew may see that I have not deviated from it.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="he" xml:lang="he">כבד את־אביך ואת־אמך למען יאר כון ימיך על האדמה אשר־יהוה אלהיך נתן לך</p> - -<p class="footnote"><cite>Exodus</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 20, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 12.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_282" id="footnote_282"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_282"><span class="muchsmaller">[282]</span></a> - <cite>This country of Adam</cite>, in Hebrew האדמה (<dfn>ha-adamah</dfn>), <dfn>adaméenne</dfn>. -This word, which has been vulgarly translated by <dfn>the Earth</dfn>, signifies it only -by metaphor. Its proper sense, which is very difficult to grasp, depends -always on that which is attached to the name of Adam, whence it is derived. -<dfn>Jhôah</dfn>, in Hebrew יהוה , pronounced very improperly <dfn>Jehovah</dfn>, on account of -a defective punctuation of the Masoretes, is the proper name of <span class="sc">God</span>. This -name was formed by Moses in a manner as ingenious as sublime, by means of -the contraction of the three tenses of the verb הוה (<dfn>hôeh</dfn>), to be. It signifies -exactly <dfn>will be-being-been</dfn>; that which is, was, and shall be. One renders -it well enough by <dfn>Eternal</dfn>. It is Eternity, or the Time-without-Limit of -Zoroaster. This name is quite generally followed, as it is here, with the words אלהיך -(<dfn>Ælohî-cha</dfn>), thy Gods, in order to express that the Unity contained in -Jhôah, comprehends the infinity of the gods, and takes the place of it with -the people of Israel.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_283" id="footnote_283"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_283"><span class="muchsmaller">[283]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mémoires <abbr title="concernant">concern.</abbr> les Chinois</cite>, <abbr title="tome 4, page">t. iv., p.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_284" id="footnote_284"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_284"><span class="muchsmaller">[284]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Memoire concernant">Mém. concern.</abbr> les Chinois</cite>, ibid.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_285" id="footnote_285"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_285"><span class="muchsmaller">[285]</span></a> - Nemesis, in Greek Νέμεσις, is derived from the Phœnician words נאמ -(<dfn>nam</dfn> or <dfn>næm</dfn>), expressing every judgment, every order, every decree announced -by word of mouth; and אשיש (<dfn>æshish</dfn>), all that serves for principle, as foundation. -This last word has root אש (<dfn>as</dfn>, <dfn>os</dfn>, or <dfn>æs</dfn>).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_286" id="footnote_286"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_286"><span class="muchsmaller">[286]</span></a> - <cite>Hiao-King</cite>, ou <cite>Livre de la Piété filiale</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_287" id="footnote_287"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_287"><span class="muchsmaller">[287]</span></a> - Kong-Tzée, dans le <cite>Hiao-King</cite> qui contient sa doctrine.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_288" id="footnote_288"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_288"><span class="muchsmaller">[288]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen Commentarius">Hiérocl., <cite>Comment. Aurea. carmin.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_289" id="footnote_289"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_289"><span class="muchsmaller">[289]</span></a> - Hiéroclès, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 7.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_290" id="footnote_290"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_290"><span class="muchsmaller">[290]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, Vita Phythagoras, page">Porphyr., <cite>in Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, p.</abbr> 37.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_291" id="footnote_291"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_291"><span class="muchsmaller">[291]</span></a> - Dacier, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vie de <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_292" id="footnote_292"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_292"><span class="muchsmaller">[292]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 5, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. v., §</abbr> 21.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_293" id="footnote_293"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_293"><span class="muchsmaller">[293]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aurea. carm.</cite>,</abbr> <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_294" id="footnote_294"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_294"><span class="muchsmaller">[294]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Evangéliste de saint Matthieu">Evang. de S. Math.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 22.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_295" id="footnote_295"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_295"><span class="muchsmaller">[295]</span></a> - <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, 30ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 164; <cite>ibid.</cite>, - 34ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 174; <cite>ibid.</cite>, 72ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 258.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_296" id="footnote_296"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_296"><span class="muchsmaller">[296]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Vie de Confucius</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 139.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_297" id="footnote_297"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_297"><span class="muchsmaller">[297]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hermes Trismegistus">Herm. Trismeg.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Pœmander">Pœmand.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_298" id="footnote_298"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_298"><span class="muchsmaller">[298]</span></a> - Senac., <cite>De Sen.</cite>, <abbr title="six">vi.</abbr>, 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_299" id="footnote_299"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_299"><span class="muchsmaller">[299]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 6, chapter">Aul. Gell., l. vi., c.</abbr> 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_300" id="footnote_300"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_300"><span class="muchsmaller">[300]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <abbr title="De Stoicorum repugnantiis"><cite>De repugn. Stoïc. de Fato.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_301" id="footnote_301"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_301"><span class="muchsmaller">[301]</span></a> - Chalcidius, <cite>in <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="note">not.</abbr> 295, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 387.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_302" id="footnote_302"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_302"><span class="muchsmaller">[302]</span></a> - <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, livre 5, chapter"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, - t. ii., l. v., ch.</abbr> 6, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 250.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_303" id="footnote_303"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_303"><span class="muchsmaller">[303]</span></a> - <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite></abbr>, <span class="sc">Manicheens</span>, <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> D.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_304" id="footnote_304"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_304"><span class="muchsmaller">[304]</span></a> - Cicéron, <cite>Tuscul.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <abbr title="Stromata, livre 5, page"><cite>Strom.</cite>, l. v., p.</abbr> 501.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_305" id="footnote_305"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_305"><span class="muchsmaller">[305]</span></a> - Justin., <cite>Cohort ad Gent.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6; - Cyrill., <cite><abbr title="contra">Contr.</abbr> Julien</cite>; - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, tome 1, page">Fabric., <cite>Bibl. græc.</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 472.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_306" id="footnote_306"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_306"><span class="muchsmaller">[306]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, De animae procreatione">Plutar., <cite>De Procr. anim.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_307" id="footnote_307"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_307"><span class="muchsmaller">[307]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite><abbr title="Epistles">Epist.</abbr></cite>, 2 et 7, - <abbr title="tome 3, pages">t. iii., p.</abbr> 312, 313, 341, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_308" id="footnote_308"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_308"><span class="muchsmaller">[308]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> l’excellent ouvrage de Beausobre à ce sujet, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">L’Histoire du Manichéisme</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_309" id="footnote_309"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_309"><span class="muchsmaller">[309]</span></a> - When Zoroaster spoke of this Cause, he gave it the name of <cite>Time -without Limit</cite>, following the translation of Anquetil Duperron. This Cause -does not still appear absolute in the doctrine of this theosophist; because in a -passage of the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, where in contemplation of the Supreme Being, -producer of Ormuzd, he calls this Being, <i>the Being absorbed in excellence</i>, -and says that Fire, acting from the beginning, is the principle of union between -this Being and Ormuzd (36ᵉ <cite>hâ du Vendidad Sadé</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 180, - 19ᵉ <cite>fargard</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 415). -One finds in another book, called <cite>Sharistha</cite>, that when this Supreme Being -organized the matter of the Universe, he projected his Will in the form of a -resplendent light (<i>Apud</i> Hyde, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 22, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 298).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_310" id="footnote_310"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_310"><span class="muchsmaller">[310]</span></a> - <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="note">not.</abbr> 295.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_311" id="footnote_311"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_311"><span class="muchsmaller">[311]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> Photius, <abbr title="Codex"><cite>Cod.</cite></abbr>, 251. Plotin, Porphyre, Jamblique, Proclus et -Symplicius ont été du même sentiment qu’ Hiéroclès, ainsi que le dit le savant -Fabricius, <abbr title="La Bibliothèque grecque, tome 1, page">"<cite>Bibl. græc.</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 472.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_312" id="footnote_312"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_312"><span class="muchsmaller">[312]</span></a> - <cite>Iliad, <abbr title="livre ultime">L. ult.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 663.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_313" id="footnote_313"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_313"><span class="muchsmaller">[313]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter">Cicér., <cite>de Natur. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 15.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_314" id="footnote_314"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_314"><span class="muchsmaller">[314]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicér.</abbr>, <cite>de Fato</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 17.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_315" id="footnote_315"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_315"><span class="muchsmaller">[315]</span></a> - <cite>Axiômes de Pythagore conservés par Stobée</cite>, <abbr title="Sermons">Serm.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_316" id="footnote_316"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_316"><span class="muchsmaller">[316]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 10 et 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_317" id="footnote_317"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_317"><span class="muchsmaller">[317]</span></a> - <abbr title="Strabo, 1, 16, page">Strab., 1. xvi., p.</abbr> 512; - <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Adversos Mathematicos, page">Sext. Empir., <cite>Adv. Mathem.</cite>, p.</abbr> 367.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_318" id="footnote_318"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_318"><span class="muchsmaller">[318]</span></a> - <dfn>Atom</dfn>, in Greek ἄτομος, is formed from the word τόμος, <dfn>a part</dfn>, to which -is joined the <dfn>a</dfn> privative.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_319" id="footnote_319"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_319"><span class="muchsmaller">[319]</span></a> - Huet, <abbr title="Censura philosophiae Cartesianae, chapter"><cite>Cens. Phil. Cartesian.</cite>, - c.</abbr> 8, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 213. If one carefully examines the -systems of Descartes, Leibnitz, and Newton, one will see that, after all, they -are reduced either to atoms, or to inherent forces which move them.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_320" id="footnote_320"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_320"><span class="muchsmaller">[320]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicér.</abbr>, <cite>de Fato</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 17.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_321" id="footnote_321"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_321"><span class="muchsmaller">[321]</span></a> - <abbr title="Augustine, Epistles">August., <cite>Epist.</cite>,</abbr> 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_322" id="footnote_322"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_322"><span class="muchsmaller">[322]</span></a> - <abbr title="Augustine, Epistles">August., <cite>Epist.</cite>,</abbr> 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_323" id="footnote_323"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_323"><span class="muchsmaller">[323]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter">Cicér., <cite>de Nat. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 19; - <abbr title="Quæstiones Academica, livre 4, chapter"><cite>Quæst. Acad.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 13; <cite>de Fato</cite>, c. 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_324" id="footnote_324"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_324"><span class="muchsmaller">[324]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 10, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. x., §</abbr>123; - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter">Cicér., <cite>de Nat. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 30.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_325" id="footnote_325"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_325"><span class="muchsmaller">[325]</span></a> - <abbr title="Seneca, Epistulae">Senec., <cite>Epist.</cite></abbr>, 88; - <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Adversos Mathematicos, livre 7, chapter">Sext. Empir., <cite>Adv. Math.</cite>, l. vii., c.</abbr> 2; - <abbr title="Aristotle, Metaphysics, livre 3, chapter">Arist., <cite>Métaphys.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_326" id="footnote_326"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_326"><span class="muchsmaller">[326]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle, Physics, livre 6, chapter">Arist., <cite>Physic.</cite>, l. vi., c.</abbr> 9; - <i>voyez</i> Bayle, <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite>, - art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Zenon</span>, <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> F.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_327" id="footnote_327"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_327"><span class="muchsmaller">[327]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter">Cicér., <cite>de Natur. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 15.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_328" id="footnote_328"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_328"><span class="muchsmaller">[328]</span></a> - <cite>Semel jussit, semper paret</cite>, Seneca has said. “The laws which God has -prescribed for Himself,” he adds, “He will never revoke, because they have -been dictated by His own perfections; and that the same plan, the same design -having pleased Him once, pleases Him eternally” (<abbr title="Seneca, Naturales>">Senec., <cite> -nat.</cite></abbr>).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_329" id="footnote_329"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_329"><span class="muchsmaller">[329]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>De Fato</cite>, cap. 17.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_330" id="footnote_330"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_330"><span class="muchsmaller">[330]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_331" id="footnote_331"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_331"><span class="muchsmaller">[331]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 6, chapter">Aul. Gell., l. vi., c.</abbr> 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_332" id="footnote_332"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_332"><span class="muchsmaller">[332]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter">Cicer., <cite>De Nat. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 9; - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Stoicorum repugnantiis">Plutar., <cite>De repug. Stoïc.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Diogenianus">Diogenian.</abbr> <i>Apud.</i>; - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 6, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. vi., c.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_333" id="footnote_333"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_333"><span class="muchsmaller">[333]</span></a> - <abbr title="Herodotus, Euterpe, Section">Herodot., <cite>Euterp.</cite>, §</abbr> 171; Julian Firm., - <cite>De Error, prof.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 45.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_334" id="footnote_334"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_334"><span class="muchsmaller">[334]</span></a> - <abbr title="Meursii, Graecia feriata, livre 1"> Meurs., <cite>Græc. Feriat.</cite>, l. i.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Aliciades">Alcibiad.</abbr></cite>; - <abbr title="Porphyry, De Abstinentia, livre 2, Section">Porphyr., <cite>De Abst.</cite>, l. ii., §</abbr> 36; - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 1, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 1; - Schol. Apoll., <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 917; - <abbr title="Pausanius">Pausan.</abbr>, <cite>Corinth</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 73.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_335" id="footnote_335"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_335"><span class="muchsmaller">[335]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, Vita Phyhtagorus, page">Porphyr., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, p.</abbr> 10.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_336" id="footnote_336"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_336"><span class="muchsmaller">[336]</span></a> - The doctrine of Krishna is found especially recorded in the <cite>Bhaghavad -Gita</cite>, one of the Pouranas most esteemed by the Brahmans; in the <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite> -and in the <cite>Boun-Dehesh</cite>, that of Zoroaster. The Chinese have the -<cite>Tchun-Tsieou</cite> of Kong-Tse, historic monument raised to the glory of Providence; -in the <cite>Pœmander</cite> and <cite>Æsculapius</cite>, the ideas of Thoth. The book of -Synesius upon Providence contains the dogmas of the Mysteries. Finally one -can consult in the course of the <cite>Edda</cite>, the sublime discourse of Odin, entitled -<cite>Havamâl</cite>. The basis of all these works is the same.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_337" id="footnote_337"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_337"><span class="muchsmaller">[337]</span></a> - This, as I observed in my Second Examination, should be understood -only by the vulgar. The savant and the initiate easily restored to Unity -this infinity of gods, and understood or sought the origin of evil, without the -knowledge of which, divine Unity is inexplicable.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_338" id="footnote_338"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_338"><span class="muchsmaller">[338]</span></a> - Talès, cité par Platon, <abbr title="De Republica, livre 10"><cite>De Republ.</cite>, l. x.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Aristotle, Metaphysics, livre 3">Aristot., <cite>Metaph.</cite>, l. iii.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Cicero, Quæstiones Academica, four, chapter">Cicer., <cite>Acad. Quæst.</cite>, iv., c.</abbr> 37.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_339" id="footnote_339"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_339"><span class="muchsmaller">[339]</span></a> - Anaximandre, cité par <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, <cite>Phys.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrhonism, 3">Sext. Empir., <cite>Pyrr.</cite>, iii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_340" id="footnote_340"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_340"><span class="muchsmaller">[340]</span></a> - Anaximène, cité par <abbr title="Aristotle, Metaphysics, livre 1, chapter">Arist., <cite>Metaph.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 3; - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Placita Philosophorum, 1">Plutar., <cite>De Placit. Phil.</cite>, i.</abbr>, 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_341" id="footnote_341"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_341"><span class="muchsmaller">[341]</span></a> - Héraclite, cité par Platon, <abbr title="Theaetetus"><cite>Theætet.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Aristotle, Metaphysics, livre 1, chapter">Arist., <cite>Metaph.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 6; - <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Adversos Mathematicos, livre 7">Sext. Empir., <cite>Adv. Math.</cite>, l. vii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_342" id="footnote_342"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_342"><span class="muchsmaller">[342]</span></a> - De Gérando, <abbr title="Histoire des Systems de Philosophie, tome 3, page"><cite>Hist. des Syst. de Phil.</cite>, t. iii., p.</abbr> 283; - <abbr title="Aristotle, Metaphysics, livre 1, chapter">Arist., <cite>Metaph.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 6; - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 9, chapter">Diog. Laërt., l. ix., c.</abbr> 19.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_343" id="footnote_343"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_343"><span class="muchsmaller">[343]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter">Cicer., <cite>De Nat. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_344" id="footnote_344"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_344"><span class="muchsmaller">[344]</span></a> - <abbr title="Boethius, de Consolatione philosophiae, livre 1">Boët., <cite>De Consol.</cite>, l. i.</abbr>, prosa 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_345" id="footnote_345"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_345"><span class="muchsmaller">[345]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, Adversus Stoicos">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>Adv. Stoïc.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 1075.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_346" id="footnote_346"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_346"><span class="muchsmaller">[346]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>De Fato</cite>, c. 10; - <abbr title="Lucretius, livre 2, verses">Lucret., l. ii., v.</abbr> 216, 251, 284.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_347" id="footnote_347"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_347"><span class="muchsmaller">[347]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>De Fato</cite>, c. 9 et 17; - <abbr title="Diogenianus">Diogenian.</abbr>, <cite>Apud.</cite>; - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 6, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evan.</cite>, l. vi., c.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_348" id="footnote_348"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_348"><span class="muchsmaller">[348]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 3, chapters">Cicer., <cite>De Natur. Deor.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 38 et 39.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_349" id="footnote_349"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_349"><span class="muchsmaller">[349]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 6, chapter">Aul. Gell., l. vi., c.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_350" id="footnote_350"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_350"><span class="muchsmaller">[350]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch Adversus Stoicos">Plutar., <cite>Adv. Stoïc.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_351" id="footnote_351"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_351"><span class="muchsmaller">[351]</span></a> - The name given to the sect of the Pharisees signifies, in general, that -which is enlightened, illumined, glorified, illustrious. It is derived from the -root אור (<dfn>aor</dfn>), the light, governed by the article פה (<dfn>phe</dfn>), which expresses -the emphasis; thence פאר (<dfn>phær</dfn>), an aureola, a tiara, and פרתמים (<dfn>pharethmim</dfn>), -men illustrious, sublime. The name given to the sect of the Sadducees -is derived from the word שד (<dfn>shad</dfn>) which, expressing all diffusion, -all propagation, is applied to productive nature in general, and in particular -to a mammal, its symbol among the Egyptians; it signifies properly the -Physicists, or the Naturalists.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_352" id="footnote_352"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_352"><span class="muchsmaller">[352]</span></a> - The original name of the Book of Moses is ספר (<dfn>sepher</dfn>); the name of -the <cite>Bible</cite>, that we attribute to it, is derived from the Greek Βίβλος, adopted -by the so-called translators of the Septuagint.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_353" id="footnote_353"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_353"><span class="muchsmaller">[353]</span></a> - <abbr title="Josephus, Antiquities, livre 12, chapter">Joseph., <cite>Antiq.</cite>, l. xii., c.</abbr> 22; - <abbr title="livre 13, chapters">l. xiii., c.</abbr> 9 et 23; - <abbr title="livre 17, chapter"> l. xvii., c.</abbr> 3; - Budd, <abbr title="Introduction to Hebrew Philosophy"><cite>Introd. ad Phil. Hebr.</cite></abbr>; - Basnage, <cite>Histoire des Juifs</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1">t. i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_354" id="footnote_354"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_354"><span class="muchsmaller">[354]</span></a> - This is founded upon a great number of passages, of which it will suffice -to cite the following. One finds in Amos, <abbr title="chapter 3, verse">ch. iii., v.</abbr> 6: “Shall there be evil in -a city which the Lord hath not done?” And in Ezekiel, <abbr title="chapter 21, verse">ch. xxi., v.</abbr> 3: “And -say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against -thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off in thee -the just, and the wicked … against all flesh, from the south even to the -north.… That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn my sword.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_355" id="footnote_355"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_355"><span class="muchsmaller">[355]</span></a> - Mohammed said of himself, that he possessed no heavenly treasures, -that he was ignorant of the mysteries, that he could say nothing of the essence -of the soul (<cite>Koran</cite>, <abbr title="chapters">ch.</abbr> 6 and 17); -and as he admitted the literal text of the -<cite>Sepher</cite>, he could not do otherwise than announce predestination. “God,” -he said, “holds in his hands the keys of the future. He alone knows it.… -The nations know not how to retard or to hasten the moment of their downfall” -(<cite>Koran</cite>, <abbr title="chapters">ch.</abbr> 6 and 23).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_356" id="footnote_356"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_356"><span class="muchsmaller">[356]</span></a> - <cite>Vitâ <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite>; - Photius, <abbr title="Bibliotheca Codex"><cite>Bibl. Cod.</cite></abbr>, 259.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_357" id="footnote_357"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_357"><span class="muchsmaller">[357]</span></a> - Kircher, <abbr title="Œdipus, tome 1, page"><cite>Œdip.</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 411; - <cite>Edda Island Fabl.</cite>; - <abbr title="Macrobius, Saturnalia, livre 1, chapter">Macrob., <cite>Saturn.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 20.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_358" id="footnote_358"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_358"><span class="muchsmaller">[358]</span></a> - Plotin, <abbr title="Enneads, 3"><cite>Ennead.</cite>, iii.,</abbr> 1. 2; - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 3, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Prœp. Evan.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 9; - <abbr title="Macrobius, Somnium Scipionis, livre 2, chapter">Macrob., <cite>Somn. Schip.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 12; - <abbr title="Marcus Aurelius, livre 4, chapter">Marc. Aurell., l. iv., c.</abbr> 34.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_359" id="footnote_359"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_359"><span class="muchsmaller">[359]</span></a> - Pan, in Greek πᾶν, signifies the All, and Phanes is derived from the -Phœnician word אנש (<dfn>ânesh</dfn>), man, preceded by the emphatic article פ (<dfn>ph</dfn>). -It must be observed that these two names spring from the same root אן (<dfn>ân</dfn>), -which, figuratively, expresses the sphere of activity, and literally, the limitation -of the being, its body, its capacity. Hence אני (<dfn>âni</dfn>), me, and אניו (<dfn>aniha</dfn>), -a vessel.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_360" id="footnote_360"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_360"><span class="muchsmaller">[360]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="Mémoire concernante">Mém. concern.</abbr> les Chinois</cite>, - <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 174 et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr>; - <cite>Edda Island</cite>; - Beausobre, <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 784; - Bœhme, <cite>De la triple Vie de l’Homme</cite>, <abbr title="chapter 9, Section">c. ix., §</abbr> 35 et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> <a name="footnote_361" id="footnote_361"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_361"><span class="muchsmaller">[361]</span></a> -Παντὶ ἐν Κόσμῳ λάμπει τριὰς· ἧς Μονὰς ἄρχει. — <abbr title="Zoroaster, Oracules">Zoroast. <cite>Oracul.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_362" id="footnote_362"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_362"><span class="muchsmaller">[362]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aurea Carmin.</cite>,</abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 14.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_363" id="footnote_363"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_363"><span class="muchsmaller">[363]</span></a> - Hermès, <cite>In Pœmander.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_364" id="footnote_364"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_364"><span class="muchsmaller">[364]</span></a> - <abbr title="Evangéliste de saint Matthieu"><cite>Evang. St. Math.</cite>, ch.</abbr> 18.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_365" id="footnote_365"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_365"><span class="muchsmaller">[365]</span></a> - <cite>Vendidad Sadé</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 89.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_366" id="footnote_366"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_366"><span class="muchsmaller">[366]</span></a> - 34ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 174.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_367" id="footnote_367"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_367"><span class="muchsmaller">[367]</span></a> - 3ᵉ <cite>fargard.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 284.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_368" id="footnote_368"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_368"><span class="muchsmaller">[368]</span></a> - <cite>Jeshts Sadès</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 151.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_369" id="footnote_369"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_369"><span class="muchsmaller">[369]</span></a> - Hafiz, cité par les auteurs <cite>Des Recherches asiatiques</cite>, <abbr title="tome 4, page">t. iv., p.</abbr> 167.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_370" id="footnote_370"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_370"><span class="muchsmaller">[370]</span></a> - <cite>L’Arya</cite>, cité comme ci-dessus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="fnpoem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><br /> -<div class="i0a">“L’homme de bien, paisable au moment qu’il expire,</div> -<div class="i0">Tourne sur ses bourreaux un œil religieux,</div> -<div class="i0">Et bénit jusqu’au bras qui cause son martyre:</div> -<div class="i0">Tel l’arbre de Sandal que frappe un furieux,</div> -<div class="i0">Couvre de ses parfums le fer qui le dechire.”</div> -</div><br /><!--end footnote poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_371" id="footnote_371"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_371"><span class="muchsmaller">[371]</span></a> - <cite>Edda Island; Hâvamâl</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_372" id="footnote_372"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_372"><span class="muchsmaller">[372]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes">Diogen. Laërt.</abbr>, <cite>In Prœm.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_373" id="footnote_373"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_373"><span class="muchsmaller">[373]</span></a> - <cite>Pœmander</cite> et <cite>Asclepius</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_374" id="footnote_374"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_374"><span class="muchsmaller">[374]</span></a> - This is the vast collection of Brahmanic morals. One finds there many -of the lines repeated word for word in the Sepher of Moses.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_375" id="footnote_375"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_375"><span class="muchsmaller">[375]</span></a> - In them, antiquity goes back three thousand years before our era. -There is mention of an eclipse of the sun, verified for the year 2155 <span class="sc lowercase">B.C.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_376" id="footnote_376"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_376"><span class="muchsmaller">[376]</span></a> - <abbr title="Seneca">Senec.</abbr>, <cite>De Sen.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 6, chapter">l. vi., c.</abbr> 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_377" id="footnote_377"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_377"><span class="muchsmaller">[377]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. carmin.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 18.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_378" id="footnote_378"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_378"><span class="muchsmaller">[378]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras">Jamblic., <cite>De Vitâ Pythag.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Porphyry">Porphyr.</abbr>, ibid., <cite>et de <abbr title="Abstenentia">Abstin.</abbr>; - Vitâ <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr> apud</cite>; - <abbr title="Photius, Codex">Phot., Cod.</abbr>, 259; - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes">Diog. Laërt.</abbr>, - <cite>In <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 8">l. viii.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Hieroclis in Aureum Carmen Commentarius">Hierocl., <cite>Comment. in Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>; - ibid., <cite>De Provident.</cite>; - <abbr title="Philostratus">Philost.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ Apollon</cite>; - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Placita Philosophorum">Plutar., <cite>De Placit. philos.</cite></abbr>; - ibid., <abbr title="De animae procreatione"><cite>De Procreat. anim.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Apuleius">Apul.</abbr>., <cite>In <abbr title="Florida">Florid.</abbr></cite>; - <abbr title="Macrobius">Macrob.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Saturnalia">Saturn.</abbr></cite>, et <abbr title="Somnium Scipionis">"<cite>Somn. Scip.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque">Fabric., <cite>Bibl. græc. in Pythag.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, Stromata">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite>Strom.</cite>, passim., etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_379" id="footnote_379"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_379"><span class="muchsmaller">[379]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 14; - <abbr title="Photius, Codex"> Phot., <cite>Cod.</cite></abbr>, 242 et 214.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_380" id="footnote_380"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_380"><span class="muchsmaller">[380]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes">Diog. Laërt.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite>; - ibid., <cite>In <abbr title="Empedocles">Emped.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_381" id="footnote_381"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_381"><span class="muchsmaller">[381]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis">Hiérocl.</abbr>, Pont. <i>apud</i> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 8, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. viii., §</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_382" id="footnote_382"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_382"><span class="muchsmaller">[382]</span></a> - Maximus Tyrius has made a dissertation upon the origin of Evil, in -which he asserts that the prophetic oracles, having been consulted on this -subject, responded by these two lines from Homer:</p> - -<div class="fnpoem"><br /> - <div class="i0a">“We accuse the gods of our evils, while we ourselves</div> - <div class="i0">By our own errors, are responsible for them.”</div> -</div><!--end fnpoem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_383" id="footnote_383"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_383"><span class="muchsmaller">[383]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 18.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_384" id="footnote_384"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_384"><span class="muchsmaller">[384]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Stoicorum repugnantiis">Plutar., <cite>De Repugn. Stoïc.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_385" id="footnote_385"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_385"><span class="muchsmaller">[385]</span></a> - <cite>In <abbr title="Gorgias">Gorgi.</abbr></cite> et <cite><abbr title="Philebus">Phileb.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_386" id="footnote_386"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_386"><span class="muchsmaller">[386]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carmin.</cite></abbr>, v., 18.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_387" id="footnote_387"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_387"><span class="muchsmaller">[387]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carmin.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 18, 49 et 62.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_388" id="footnote_388"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_388"><span class="muchsmaller">[388]</span></a> - <cite>In Phédon</cite>; <cite>In <abbr title="Hipparchus">Hipp.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="2">ii.</abbr>; - <cite>In <abbr title="Theaetetus">Theæt.</abbr></cite>; <cite>De <abbr title="Republica">Rep.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 4">l. iv.</abbr>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_389" id="footnote_389"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_389"><span class="muchsmaller">[389]</span></a> - Hyde, <abbr title="Historia religionis veterum Persarum, page"><cite>De Relig. Vet. Pers.</cite>, p.</abbr> 298.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_390" id="footnote_390"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_390"><span class="muchsmaller">[390]</span></a> - <abbr title="Evangéliste de Saint Matthieu, chapter 17, verse"><cite>Evan. S. Math.</cite>, ch. xvii., v.</abbr> 19.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_391" id="footnote_391"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_391"><span class="muchsmaller">[391]</span></a> - <cite>Vie de Kong-Tzée</cite> (<cite>Confucius</cite>), <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 324.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_392" id="footnote_392"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_392"><span class="muchsmaller">[392]</span></a> - Meng-Tzée, cité par Duhalde, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 334.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_393" id="footnote_393"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_393"><span class="muchsmaller">[393]</span></a> - Krishna, <cite>Bhagavad-Gita</cite>, <abbr title="lecture 2">lect. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_394" id="footnote_394"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_394"><span class="muchsmaller">[394]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="40">XL</abbr> Questions sur l’Ame</cite> (<i lang="de" xml:lang="de">Viertzig - Fragen von der Sellen Orstand, Essentz, -Wesen, Natur und Eigenschafft</i>, etc. Amsterdam, 1682). <abbr title="Question">Quest.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_395" id="footnote_395"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_395"><span class="muchsmaller">[395]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_396" id="footnote_396"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_396"><span class="muchsmaller">[396]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="9">IX</abbr> Textes</cite>, text. 1 et 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_397" id="footnote_397"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_397"><span class="muchsmaller">[397]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="40">XL</abbr> Questions</cite>, <abbr title="Question">quest.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_398" id="footnote_398"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_398"><span class="muchsmaller">[398]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>In <abbr title="Theages">Theag.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_399" id="footnote_399"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_399"><span class="muchsmaller">[399]</span></a> - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite><abbr title="Stromata">Strom.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 4, page">l. iv., p.</abbr> 506; - Beausobre, <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 28.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_400" id="footnote_400"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_400"><span class="muchsmaller">[400]</span></a> - This is the signification of the Greek word φιλόσοφος.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_401" id="footnote_401"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_401"><span class="muchsmaller">[401]</span></a> - Dans le <cite>Tchong-Yong</cite>, ou le Principe central, immuable, appelé <cite>Le -Livre de la grande Science</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_402" id="footnote_402"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_402"><span class="muchsmaller">[402]</span></a> - <abbr title="Evangéliste de saint Matthieu, chapter 7, verse"><cite>Evan. S. Math.</cite>, ch. vii., v.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_403" id="footnote_403"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_403"><span class="muchsmaller">[403]</span></a> - <cite>Bhagavad-Gita</cite>, <abbr title="lectures">lect.</abbr> 8 et 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_404" id="footnote_404"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_404"><span class="muchsmaller">[404]</span></a> - <abbr title="Evangeliste Saint Luc, chapter 14, verse"><cite>Evang. S. Luc.</cite>, ch. xiv., v.</abbr> 26.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_405" id="footnote_405"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_405"><span class="muchsmaller">[405]</span></a> - 50ᵉ <cite>hâ Zend-Avesta</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 217; - 45ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 197.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_406" id="footnote_406"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_406"><span class="muchsmaller">[406]</span></a> - <cite>Nombres</cite>, <abbr title="chapter 31">ch. xxxi.</abbr>; - <cite>Deutéronome</cite>, <abbr title="chapters 3, 20">ch. iii., xx.</abbr>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_407" id="footnote_407"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_407"><span class="muchsmaller">[407]</span></a> - <cite>Exode</cite>, <abbr title="chapter 34, verse">ch. xxxiv., v.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_408" id="footnote_408"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_408"><span class="muchsmaller">[408]</span></a> - <cite>Koran</cite>, <abbr title="1, chapters">i., ch.</abbr> 4, 22, 23, 24, 25, 50, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_409" id="footnote_409"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_409"><span class="muchsmaller">[409]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> la fin du dernier Examen.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_410" id="footnote_410"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_410"><span class="muchsmaller">[410]</span></a> - <abbr title="Saint Matthieu, chapter 5, verse"><cite>S. Math.</cite>, ch. v., v.</abbr> 44.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_411" id="footnote_411"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_411"><span class="muchsmaller">[411]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="chapter 7, verse">ch. xii., v.</abbr> 20, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_412" id="footnote_412"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_412"><span class="muchsmaller">[412]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="chapter 10, verse">ch. x., v.</abbr> 34.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_413" id="footnote_413"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_413"><span class="muchsmaller">[413]</span></a> - <abbr title="Saint Luc, chapter 12, verses"><cite>S. Luc</cite>, ch. xii., v.</abbr> 52, 53.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_414" id="footnote_414"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_414"><span class="muchsmaller">[414]</span></a> - <abbr title="Saint Matthieu, chapter 12, verse"><cite>S. Math.</cite>, ch. xii., v.</abbr> 30.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_415" id="footnote_415"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_415"><span class="muchsmaller">[415]</span></a> - Bacon, <cite>Novum Organum</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_416" id="footnote_416"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_416"><span class="muchsmaller">[416]</span></a> - <cite>Novum <abbr title="Organum">Organ.</abbr></cite>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aphor.</abbr></cite>, 38 <i>et seq.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_417" id="footnote_417"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_417"><span class="muchsmaller">[417]</span></a> - Voyez <cite>La Vie de Kong-Tzée</cite> et le <cite>Ta-Hio</cite>, cité dans les - <cite><abbr title="Memoires concernant">Mém. concern.</abbr> -les Chinois</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 432.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_418" id="footnote_418"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_418"><span class="muchsmaller">[418]</span></a> - <abbr title="Mémoire concernant les Chinois, tome 4, page"><cite>Mém. concern. les Chin.</cite>, t. iv., p.</abbr> 286.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_419" id="footnote_419"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_419"><span class="muchsmaller">[419]</span></a> - <cite>Novum Organum in <abbr title="Præfacio">Præf.</abbr> et <abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_420" id="footnote_420"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_420"><span class="muchsmaller">[420]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_421" id="footnote_421"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_421"><span class="muchsmaller">[421]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_422" id="footnote_422"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_422"><span class="muchsmaller">[422]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 14 et 15.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_423" id="footnote_423"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_423"><span class="muchsmaller">[423]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 38 <i>et seq.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_424" id="footnote_424"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_424"><span class="muchsmaller">[424]</span></a> - <cite>Novum Organum in <abbr title="Præfacio">Præf.</abbr> et <abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 73.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_425" id="footnote_425"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_425"><span class="muchsmaller">[425]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 63.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_426" id="footnote_426"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_426"><span class="muchsmaller">[426]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <cite><abbr title="Aphorisms">Aph.</abbr></cite>, 65.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_427" id="footnote_427"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_427"><span class="muchsmaller">[427]</span></a> - <cite>Aurea <abbr title="Carmen">Carm.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 25.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_428" id="footnote_428"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_428"><span class="muchsmaller">[428]</span></a> - <cite>Aurea <abbr title="Carmen">Carm.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 27.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_429" id="footnote_429"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_429"><span class="muchsmaller">[429]</span></a> - Hermes, <cite>In Asclepio</cite>; <abbr title="Porphyry, De Antrim Nympharum, page">Porphyr., <cite>De Antr. Nymph.</cite>, p.</abbr> 106; - Origen, <cite><abbr title="Contra Celsum">Contr. Cels.</abbr></cite>, 1. <abbr title="6, page">vi., p.</abbr> 298; - <abbr title="Hyde, Historia religionis veterum Persarum, page">Hyd., <cite>De Vet. Pers. Relig.</cite>, p.</abbr> 16; - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, chapter">Jamblic., <cite>De Myster-Egypt.</cite>, c.</abbr> 37.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_430" id="footnote_430"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_430"><span class="muchsmaller">[430]</span></a> - <abbr title="Histoire des Voyages, tome 52, page"><cite>Hist. des Voyag.</cite>, t. lii., p.</abbr> 72; - Divd., 1. <abbr title="4, chapter">iv., c.</abbr> 79; - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ <abbr title="Numa">Num.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_431" id="footnote_431"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_431"><span class="muchsmaller">[431]</span></a> - Boulanger, <abbr title="Antiquité Dévoilée, livre 3, chapter"><cite>Antiq. dévoil.</cite>, l. iii., ch.</abbr> 5, - <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_432" id="footnote_432"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_432"><span class="muchsmaller">[432]</span></a> -<abbr title="Mémoire de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tome 1, page"><cite>Mém. de l’Acad. des Insc.</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 67; -Tit.-Liv., <cite>Decad.</cite>, <span class="sc">I</span>, l. ix.; -<abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 6, chapter">Aul. Gell., l. vi., c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_433" id="footnote_433"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_433"><span class="muchsmaller">[433]</span></a> - <abbr title="Duhanlde, tome 2, page">Duhald., t. ii., p.</abbr> 578; <abbr title="tome 3, pages">t. iii., p.</abbr> 336, 342; - <abbr title="Contant">Const.</abbr> d’Orville, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_434" id="footnote_434"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_434"><span class="muchsmaller">[434]</span></a> - <abbr title="Philostratus">Philostr.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ <abbr title="Apollonius">Apoll.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 3, chapter">l. iii., c.</abbr> 13.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_435" id="footnote_435"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_435"><span class="muchsmaller">[435]</span></a> - Dans mon 21ᵉ Examen, où j’ai cité particulièrement Diogène Laërce, -<abbr title="livre 8, Section">l. viii., §</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_436" id="footnote_436"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_436"><span class="muchsmaller">[436]</span></a> - <abbr title="Syncellus, page">Syncell., p.</abbr> 35.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_437" id="footnote_437"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_437"><span class="muchsmaller">[437]</span></a> - <abbr title="Seneca, Quæstiones Naturales, livre 3, chapter">Senec., <cite>Quæst. Nat.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 30; - <abbr title="Synesius, upon Providence, livre 2,">Synes., <cite>De Provid.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr>, <i>sub fin.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_438" id="footnote_438"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_438"><span class="muchsmaller">[438]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>; - Ovid, <abbr title="Metamorphoses, livre 15, fable 5"><cite>Metam.</cite>, l. xv., fab. v.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Seneca, Epistualae">Senec., <cite>Epist.</cite></abbr>, 35; - <abbr title="Macrobius, Somnium Scipionis, livre 2, chapter">Macrob., <cite>In Somn. Scip.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 2; - <cite><abbr title="Historie">Hist.</abbr> des Voyages</cite>, <abbr title="tome 12, page">t. xii., p.</abbr> 529; - Dupuis, <cite><abbr title="Origine">Orig.</abbr> des Cultes</cite>, <abbr title="livre t">l. v.</abbr>, - <i>in</i> 12, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 474; - Bailly, <abbr title="Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne, livre 9, Section"><cite>Hist. de l’Astr. Anc.</cite>, - l. ix., §</abbr> 15.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_439" id="footnote_439"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_439"><span class="muchsmaller">[439]</span></a> - Ciceron, <abbr title="De Divinatione, livre 2, chapter"><cite>De Divin.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 97.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_440" id="footnote_440"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_440"><span class="muchsmaller">[440]</span></a> -<abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 2, chapter">Cicer., <cite>De Natur. Deor.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 20; - ibid., <abbr title="De Divinatione, livre 2, chapter"><cite>De Divin.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 97.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_441" id="footnote_441"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_441"><span class="muchsmaller">[441]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_442" id="footnote_442"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_442"><span class="muchsmaller">[442]</span></a> - <cite>Souryâ-Siddhanta.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_443" id="footnote_443"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_443"><span class="muchsmaller">[443]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 2, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 378.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_444" id="footnote_444"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_444"><span class="muchsmaller">[444]</span></a> - Biot., <abbr title="Astronomie Physique, chapter 14, page"><cite>Astr. Phys.</cite>, ch. xiv., p.</abbr> 291.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_445" id="footnote_445"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_445"><span class="muchsmaller">[445]</span></a> - <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>; - <abbr title="Photius, Bibliotheca Codex">Phot., <cite>Bibl. Cod.</cite>,</abbr> 259; - Plato, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>; - <abbr title="Macrobius, Somnium Scipionis">Macrob., <cite>In Somn. Scip.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Virgil">Virg.</abbr>, <cite>Æneid</cite>, <abbr title="livre 6, verse">l. vi., v.</abbr> 724; - Sevius, <abbr title="Commentary"><cite>Comm.</cite></abbr>, <cite>ibid.</cite>; - <abbr title="Cicero, De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapters">Cicer., <cite>De Nat. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 5, 11, 14, et 15; - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes">Diog. Laërt.</abbr>, <cite>In Zon.</cite>; - Batteux, <cite>Causes premières</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 116; - <abbr title="Beausobre, Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, livre 6, chapter">Beausob., <cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, - t. ii., l. vi., c.</abbr> 6, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 14.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_446" id="footnote_446"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_446"><span class="muchsmaller">[446]</span></a> - Stanley, <abbr title="De Philosophie Chaldaique, page"><cite>De Phil. Chald.</cite>, p.</abbr> 1123.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_447" id="footnote_447"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_447"><span class="muchsmaller">[447]</span></a> - Kircher, <abbr title="Œdipus, tome 1, page"><cite>Ædip.</cite>, t. i., p.</abbr> 172, et <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 200.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_448" id="footnote_448"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_448"><span class="muchsmaller">[448]</span></a> - <abbr title="Maimonides, More Nevochim, one">Maimon., <cite>More Nevoch.</cite>, i.</abbr>, part., c. 70.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_449" id="footnote_449"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_449"><span class="muchsmaller">[449]</span></a> - Salmas, <cite>Ann. Climat.</cite>, <abbr title="Præfacio, page">Præf., p.</abbr> 32.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_450" id="footnote_450"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_450"><span class="muchsmaller">[450]</span></a> - Homer, <abbr title="Odyssey"><cite>Odyss.</cite></abbr>, K. <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 494; - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 5, chapter"> Diodor. Sic., l. v., c.</abbr> 6; - <abbr title="Pliny, livre 7, chapter">Plin., l. vii., c.</abbr> 56; - <abbr title="Plutarch, De Defectu Oraculorum, page">Plutar., <cite>De Oracul. Defect.</cite>, p.</abbr> 434.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_451" id="footnote_451"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_451"><span class="muchsmaller">[451]</span></a> - <abbr title="Horace, Satires, 5, livre 2, verse">Horat., <cite>Sat.</cite>, v., l. ii., v.</abbr> 59.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_452" id="footnote_452"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_452"><span class="muchsmaller">[452]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen, verse">Hierocl., <cite>In Aurea Carm.</cite>, v.</abbr> 31.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_453" id="footnote_453"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_453"><span class="muchsmaller">[453]</span></a> - <abbr title="Alcibiades, 1 and 2"><cite>Alcibiad.</cite>, i. et ii.</abbr>; - <cite>Lachès</cite>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_454" id="footnote_454"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_454"><span class="muchsmaller">[454]</span></a> - <abbr title="In Aliciades, one"><cite>In Alcibiad.</cite>, i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_455" id="footnote_455"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_455"><span class="muchsmaller">[455]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> Burette, <abbr title="Mémoire de l'Academie des Belles-Lettres, tome 5"><cite>Mém. de l’Acad. des Belles-Lett.</cite>, t. v.</abbr>; - Laborde, <cite>Essai sur la Musique</cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, introduction, page">t. i., introd., p.</abbr> 20.</p> - -<p class="footnote">Our painters have hardly treated Greek painting better; and perhaps if -the Pythian Apollo and the Chaste Venus had not again astonished Europe, -but had disappeared as did the masterpieces of Polygnotus and of Zeuxis, -the modern sculptors would have said that the ancients failed as much in -pattern as in colouring.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_456" id="footnote_456"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_456"><span class="muchsmaller">[456]</span></a> - Wood, <cite>Essai sur le Génie <abbr title="original">orig.</abbr> d’Homère</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 220.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_457" id="footnote_457"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_457"><span class="muchsmaller">[457]</span></a> - Bryant, cité par Desalles, <cite><abbr title="Histoire">Hist.</abbr> d’Homère</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 18.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_458" id="footnote_458"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_458"><span class="muchsmaller">[458]</span></a> - Wolf et Klotz, cités par le même. <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="pages">p.</abbr> 36 et 117.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_459" id="footnote_459"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_459"><span class="muchsmaller">[459]</span></a> - Paw, <cite>Recherches sur les Grecs</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 355.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_460" id="footnote_460"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_460"><span class="muchsmaller">[460]</span></a> - C’est un certain Grégoire, cité par Leo Allazi, dans son Livre <cite>de Patriâ -Homeri</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote sigright p0" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voltaire, <abbr title="Dictionnaire - philosophique, article"><cite>Dict. philos.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Epopée</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_461" id="footnote_461"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_461"><span class="muchsmaller">[461]</span></a> - The name of <dfn>Pagan</dfn> is an injurious and ignoble term derived from the -Latin <dfn>Paganus</dfn>, which signifies a rustic, a peasant. When Christianity had -entirely triumphed over Greek and Roman polytheism, and when by the order -of the Emperor Theodosius, the last temple dedicated to the gods of the -nations had been destroyed in the cities, it was found that the people in the -country still persisted a considerable time in the ancient cult, which caused -them and all their imitators to be called derisively <dfn>Pagans</dfn>. This appellation, -which could suit the Greeks and Romans in the fifth century who refused to -submit to the dominating religion in the Empire, is false and ridiculous when -one extends it to other times, and to other peoples. It cannot be said without -at once offending chronology and common sense, that the Romans or Greeks -of the time of Cæsar, of Alexander, or of Pericles; the Persians, Arabs, Egyptians, -Indians, the Chinese, ancient or modern, were <dfn>Pagans</dfn>; that is to say, -peasants disobedient to the laws of Theodosius. These are polytheists, monotheists, -mythologists, whatever one wishes, idolaters perhaps, but not <dfn>Pagans</dfn>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_462" id="footnote_462"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_462"><span class="muchsmaller">[462]</span></a> - <cite>Novum <abbr title="Organum">Organ.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="aphorism">aph.</abbr> 48.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_463" id="footnote_463"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_463"><span class="muchsmaller">[463]</span></a> - <cite>De <abbr title="Dignitate et Augmentis scientiarum,">Dign. et Increm. Science</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 3, chapter">l. iii., c.</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_464" id="footnote_464"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_464"><span class="muchsmaller">[464]</span></a> - <i>Ut supra.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_465" id="footnote_465"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_465"><span class="muchsmaller">[465]</span></a> - Bacon, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">de la Vie et de la Mort</cite>; - <abbr title="Seutonius, In Tiberius, Section">Sueton., <cite>in Tiber.</cite>, §</abbr> 66.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_466" id="footnote_466"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_466"><span class="muchsmaller">[466]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes">Diogen. Laërt.</abbr>, <cite>in <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_467" id="footnote_467"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_467"><span class="muchsmaller">[467]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 33.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_468" id="footnote_468"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_468"><span class="muchsmaller">[468]</span></a> - Bacon assures, following the ancients, that the envious eye is dangerous -and that it has been observed that after great triumphs, illustrious personages -having been the object of an envious eye have found themselves ill-disposed -for some days following (<cite>Sylva Sylvarum</cite>, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 944).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_469" id="footnote_469"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_469"><span class="muchsmaller">[469]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 4, chapter">Aul. Gell., l. iv., c.</abbr> 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_470" id="footnote_470"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_470"><span class="muchsmaller">[470]</span></a> - Athen., <abbr title="livre 7, chapter">l. vii., c.</abbr> 16; - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras, chapter">Jambl., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, c.</abbr> 30.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_471" id="footnote_471"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_471"><span class="muchsmaller">[471]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus">Jambl.</abbr>, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 24.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_472" id="footnote_472"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_472"><span class="muchsmaller">[472]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 8, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. viii., §</abbr> 9; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, Pædagogus, livre 2, page">Clem. Alex., <cite>Pæd.</cite>, l. ii., p.</abbr> 170.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_473" id="footnote_473"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_473"><span class="muchsmaller">[473]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus">Jambl.</abbr>, <cite>ibid.</cite>, c. 21; - Porphyre, <abbr title="De Vita Pythagoras, page">"<cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, p.</abbr> 37; - Athen., <abbr title="livre 10, page">l. x., p.</abbr> 418; -<abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 4, chapter">Aul. Gell., l. iv., c.</abbr> 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_474" id="footnote_474"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_474"><span class="muchsmaller">[474]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 8, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. viii., §</abbr> 19.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_475" id="footnote_475"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_475"><span class="muchsmaller">[475]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 32.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_476" id="footnote_476"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_476"><span class="muchsmaller">[476]</span></a> - <cite>Proverbes du Brahme Barthrovhari.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_477" id="footnote_477"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_477"><span class="muchsmaller">[477]</span></a> - <cite>Chou-King</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> <cite>Yu-Mo.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_478" id="footnote_478"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_478"><span class="muchsmaller">[478]</span></a> - On trouve ce passages dans le <cite>Tchong-Yong</cite>, ou Livre du Juste-Milieu; -ouvrage très célèbre parmi les Chinois.</p> - -<div class="fnpoem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><a name="footnote_479" id="footnote_479"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_479"><span class="muchsmaller">[479]</span></a> -<div class="i0">A la persévérance il n’est rien qui résiste:</div> -<div class="i0">Quelques soient ses desseins, si le Sage y persiste,</div> -<div class="i0">Nul obstacle si grand dont il ne vienne à bout:</div> -<div class="i0">La constance et le temps sont les maîtres de tout.</div> -</div> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_480" id="footnote_480"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_480"><span class="muchsmaller">[480]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, Vita Pythagoras, page">Porphyr., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, p.</abbr> 27.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_481" id="footnote_481"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_481"><span class="muchsmaller">[481]</span></a> - <cite>Institutes of Manu</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 1, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_482" id="footnote_482"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_482"><span class="muchsmaller">[482]</span></a> - Xénophon, <abbr title="Mémoires, livre 4, page"><cite>Mém.</cite>, l. iv., p.</abbr> 796; - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <abbr title="in Alcibiadies, one"><cite>in Alcib.</cite>, i.</abbr>; - <cite>ibid.</cite>, <cite>in <abbr title="Charmides">Charm.</abbr></cite>; - <abbr title="Pausanias, livre 10">Pausan., l. x.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Pliny, livre 7, chapter">Plin., l. vii., c.</abbr> 32.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_483" id="footnote_483"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_483"><span class="muchsmaller">[483]</span></a> - <cite>In <abbr title="Alicibiades">Alcibiad.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="one">i.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_484" id="footnote_484"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_484"><span class="muchsmaller">[484]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero, Quæstiones Academica, livre 4, chapter">Cicér., <cite>Acad. Quæst.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 24; - <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus"> Sext. Empir.</abbr>, <cite>Hypotyp.</cite>, - <abbr title="livre 1, chapters">l. i., c.</abbr> 4 et 12.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_485" id="footnote_485"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_485"><span class="muchsmaller">[485]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 4, Section">Diog. Laërt., l. iv., §</abbr> 10; - <abbr title="Cicero, Quæstiones Academica, livre 4, chapter">Cicer., <cite>Acad. Quæst.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 18.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_486" id="footnote_486"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_486"><span class="muchsmaller">[486]</span></a> - Desland, <abbr title="Histoire critique de la philosophie, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. Critiq. de la Philosoph.</cite>, - t. ii., p.</abbr> 258.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_487" id="footnote_487"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_487"><span class="muchsmaller">[487]</span></a> - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 14, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evan.</cite>, l. xiv., c.</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_488" id="footnote_488"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_488"><span class="muchsmaller">[488]</span></a> - The Greek word is derived from the verb καλύπτειν, to cover with a veil.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_489" id="footnote_489"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_489"><span class="muchsmaller">[489]</span></a> - Bayle, <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Arcésilas</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_490" id="footnote_490"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_490"><span class="muchsmaller">[490]</span></a> - Sextus Empiricus, who was not a man to advance anything thoughtlessly, -alleges that Arcesilaus was only a skeptic in semblance and that the -doubts which he proposed to his listeners had no other aim than that of seeing -if they had enough genius to understand the dogmas of Plato. When he -found a disciple who evinced the necessary force of mind, he initiated him -into the true doctrine of the Academy (<abbr title="Pyrrhonism hypotyposeis, livre 1, chapter"><cite>Pyrrh. hypotyp.</cite>, - l. i., c.</abbr> 33).</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_491" id="footnote_491"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_491"><span class="muchsmaller">[491]</span></a> - <abbr title="Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrhonism hypotyposeis, livre 1, chapters">Sext. Empir., <cite>Pyrrh. hypotyp.</cite>, - l. i., c.</abbr> 4, 12, 15; <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 4, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_492" id="footnote_492"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_492"><span class="muchsmaller">[492]</span></a> - <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">οἵη περ φύλλων γενεή, τοίη δὲ καὶ ἀνδρῶν.</span> <cite>Iliad</cite>, - <abbr title="livre 6, verse">l. vi., v.</abbr> 146.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_493" id="footnote_493"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_493"><span class="muchsmaller">[493]</span></a> - The Brahmans call the illusion which results from this veil <dfn>maya</dfn>. -According to them, there is only the Supreme Being who really and absolutely -exists; all the rest is <dfn>maya</dfn>, that is to say, phenomenal, even the trinity -formed by Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_494" id="footnote_494"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_494"><span class="muchsmaller">[494]</span></a> - De Gérando, <abbr title="Histoire Comparée des Systems de Philosophie, tome 3, page"><cite>Hist. comp. des Systèmes de philos.</cite>, - t. iii., p.</abbr> 360.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_495" id="footnote_495"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_495"><span class="muchsmaller">[495]</span></a> - De Gérando, <abbr title="Histoire Comparée des Systems de Philosophie, tome 3, page"><cite>Hist. comp. des Systèmes de philos.</cite>, - t. iii., p.</abbr> 361.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_496" id="footnote_496"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_496"><span class="muchsmaller">[496]</span></a> - Zeno having been thrown by a storm into the port of Piræus at Athens, -all his life regarded this accident as a blessing from Providence, which had -enabled him to devote himself to philosophy and to obey the voice of an -oracle which had ordered him to assume “the colour of the dead”; that is, -to devote himself to the study of the ancients and to sustain their doctrine.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_497" id="footnote_497"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_497"><span class="muchsmaller">[497]</span></a> - Plutarch, <cite>in Catone majore</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_498" id="footnote_498"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_498"><span class="muchsmaller">[498]</span></a> - Plutarch, <cite>ibid.</cite>; - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicér.</abbr>, <abbr title="de Republica, livre 2"><cite>de Rep.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr>; - Apud Nonium <i>voce</i> Calumnia. <abbr title="Lactantius, livre 5, chapter">Lactant., l. v., c.</abbr> 14.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_499" id="footnote_499"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_499"><span class="muchsmaller">[499]</span></a> - C’était à quoi se bornaient les sceptiques anciens. <i>Voyez</i> Sextus -Empiricus, <abbr title="Pyrrhonism hypotyposeis, livre 1, chapter"><cite>Pyrrh. hypotyp.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 15, - et <abbr title="livre 2, chapters">l. ii., c.</abbr> 4, 12, etc., cité par De Gérando, -<abbr title="Histoire comparée des Systèmes, tome 3, page"><cite>Hist. Comp. des Syst.</cite>, t. iii., p.</abbr> 395.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_500" id="footnote_500"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_500"><span class="muchsmaller">[500]</span></a> - <cite lang ="de" xml:lang="de">Kritik der Reinen Vernunft</cite> (Critique de la Raison pure), <abbr title="seite">s.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_501" id="footnote_501"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_501"><span class="muchsmaller">[501]</span></a> - Du mot grec κριτικός, <dfn lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">celui qui est apt à juger</dfn>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_502" id="footnote_502"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_502"><span class="muchsmaller">[502]</span></a> - <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><cite>L’Histoire comparée des Systèmes de <abbr title="Philosophie">Philos.</abbr></cite>, - par De Gérando, et des -<cite>Mélanges de <abbr title="Philosophie">Phil.</abbr></cite>, par - Ancillon de Berlin.</span> These two writers, whatever one -may say, have analysed very well the logical part of Kantism, and have -penetrated, especially the former, into the rational part, as far as it was possible, -for men who write upon the system of a philosopher without adopting -the principles and making themselves his followers.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_503" id="footnote_503"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_503"><span class="muchsmaller">[503]</span></a> - <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de"><abbr title="Kritik">Krit.</abbr> der Reinen Vernunft</cite>; - <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">çà et là, en plusieurs endroits.</span></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_504" id="footnote_504"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_504"><span class="muchsmaller">[504]</span></a> - This is taken from the <cite>Vedanta</cite>, a metaphysical treatise attributed to -Vyasa and commented upon by Sankarâchârya.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_505" id="footnote_505"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_505"><span class="muchsmaller">[505]</span></a> - Justin, <cite>Cohort. ad Gent.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 6; - Cyrill., <cite>Contr. Julian</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_506" id="footnote_506"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_506"><span class="muchsmaller">[506]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch, De animae procreatione">Plutar., <cite>de Procr. anim.</cite></abbr>; - <abbr title="Chalcidius">Chalcid.</abbr>, <cite>in <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="note">n.</abbr> 293.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_507" id="footnote_507"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_507"><span class="muchsmaller">[507]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>in <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>; - ibid., <cite>in <abbr title="Theaetetus">Theet.</abbr></cite>; - ibid., <abbr title="de Republica, livre 4"><cite>de Rep.</cite>, l. iv.</abbr> Conférez avec Proclus, - <cite>Comment. in <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>; -<abbr title="Marcus Aurelius, livre 4, livre 9 and livre 10"> Marc-Aurel., l. iv., l. ix., et l. x.</abbr>; -et Beausobre, <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 175, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_508" id="footnote_508"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_508"><span class="muchsmaller">[508]</span></a> - The idea of making the quaternary spring from the unity, and the -decade from the quaternary is expressed literally in the following lines of -Pythagoras, preserved by Proclus:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="fnpoem" lang="el" xml:lang="el"><br /> -<div class="i0"> … Πρόεισιν ὁ θεῖος ἀριθμὸς</div> -<div class="i0">Μονάδος ἐκ κευθμῶνος ἀκηράτου, ἔς τ’ ἂν ἵκηται</div> -<div class="i0">Τετράδ’ ἑπὶ ζαθέην, ἣ δὴ τέκε μητέρα πάντων,</div> -<div class="i0">Πανδοχέα, πρέσβειραν, ὅρον περὶ πᾶσι τιθεῖσαν,</div> -<div class="i0">Ἄτροπον, ἀκαμάτην, δεκάδα κλείουσί μιν ἁγνήν·</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">The Monad, of Number is the sacred source;</div> -<div class="i0">From it Number emanates and holds the virtues</div> -<div class="i0">With which shines the Tetrad, Universal Mother,</div> -<div class="i0">Which produces all things and conceals in its depths</div> -<div class="i0">The immortal Decade, honoured in all places.</div> -</div><!--end stanza--><br /> -</div><!--end poem--> -</div><!--end container--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_509" id="footnote_509"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_509"><span class="muchsmaller">[509]</span></a> - The nearest root of this word is <dfn>find</dfn>, whence is derived <dfn>finden</dfn>, to find; -its remote root is <dfn>hand</dfn>, the seat of touch, whence comes <dfn>finger</dfn>, that which -feels; its primitive root is אד or יד (<dfn>âd</dfn> or <dfn>id</dfn>), the hand in Phœnician. This -last root, becoming nasal at the final and aspirate at the initial, has produced -<dfn>hand</dfn>; <dfn>fang</dfn>, a capture, and <dfn>find</dfn>, a discovery. The syllable <dfn>emp</dfn>, which precedes -the root <dfn>find</dfn>, expresses the movement which lifts up from below; <dfn>lich</dfn> designates -that which disqualifies by identity, and <dfn>keit</dfn>, that which substantiates.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_510" id="footnote_510"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_510"><span class="muchsmaller">[510]</span></a> - The root of this word is <dfn>stand</dfn>, a fixed thing, a state; its remote root is -<dfn>stat</dfn>, that which is permanent. Its primitive root is שדד (<dfn>shdad</dfn>), firmness, -force, constancy. The initial syllable <dfn>ver</dfn> expresses the movement which -carries far away, which transports from the place where one is, to that where -one is not.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_511" id="footnote_511"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_511"><span class="muchsmaller">[511]</span></a> - The nearest root of this word, as well as its remote root, has disappeared -from the modern German, where one finds only its derivatives. Its primitive -root is in the Latin word <dfn>opt</dfn>, whence comes <dfn>opto</dfn>, I choose: and <dfn>optime</dfn>, best. -This root is attached to the Phœnician עיף (<dfn>whôph</dfn>), anything which is raised -above another thing. It becomes nasal in the German word and has changed -the <dfn>ph</dfn> to <dfn>ft</dfn>. From it is derived the Saxon, English, Belgian, and Danish word -<dfn>up</dfn>, which expresses the movement of everything which tends above. Also -from it, the German word <dfn>luft</dfn>, air, and the English word <dfn>aloft</dfn>, that which is -elevated. The preposition <dfn>ver</dfn> has taken the final <dfn>n</dfn>, placing it before <dfn>unft</dfn>, -as it carries it constantly in its analogue <dfn>fern</dfn>, that which is distant. Likewise -one says <dfn>fernglass</dfn>, a telescope with which one sees at a distance.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_512" id="footnote_512"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_512"><span class="muchsmaller">[512]</span></a> - De Gérando, <abbr title="Histoire comparée des Systèmes Philosophie, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. des Systèmes de Philos.</cite>, - t. ii., p.</abbr> 193.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="de" xml:lang="de"> <a name="footnote_513" id="footnote_513"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_513"><span class="muchsmaller">[513]</span></a> - <abbr title="Kritik der Reinen Vernunft"><cite>Krit. der Rein. Vernunft</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="seite">s.</abbr> 24.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_514" id="footnote_514"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_514"><span class="muchsmaller">[514]</span></a> - In the Oriental languages רו (<dfn>rou</dfn>) indicates the visual ray, and רד (<dfn>rad</dfn>), -all movement which is determined upon a straight line. This root, -accompanied by a guttural inflection, is called <dfn>recht</dfn>, in German, and <dfn>right</dfn> -in English and Saxon. The Latins made of it <dfn>rectum</dfn>, that which is straight. -In French <dfn>rature</dfn> and <dfn>rateau</dfn>. The Teutons, taking right in a figurative sense, -have drawn from this same root, <dfn>rath</dfn>, a council, and <dfn>richter</dfn>, a judge.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_515" id="footnote_515"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_515"><span class="muchsmaller">[515]</span></a> - <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, cité par Beausobre, - <cite><abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme">Hist. du Manich.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 174.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_516" id="footnote_516"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_516"><span class="muchsmaller">[516]</span></a> - The word intelligence, in Latin <dfn>intelligentia</dfn>, is formed of two words, -<dfn>inter eligere</dfn> or <dfn>elicere</dfn>, to choose, to attract to self interiorly, and by sympathy. -The etymology of the word expresses exactly the use of the faculty.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_517" id="footnote_517"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_517"><span class="muchsmaller">[517]</span></a> - <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Kritik der Reinen Vernunft</cite>, <abbr title="seiten">s.</abbr> 662, 731; - De Gérando, <abbr title="Histoire des Systèmes, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. des Systèm.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 230.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="de" xml:lang="de"> <a name="footnote_518" id="footnote_518"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_518"><span class="muchsmaller">[518]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="Kritik">Krit.</abbr> der Reinen Vernunft</cite>, <abbr title="seiten">s.</abbr> 306, 518, 527, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_519" id="footnote_519"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_519"><span class="muchsmaller">[519]</span></a> - <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="seiten">s.</abbr> 135, 137. 399. etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="de" xml:lang="de"> <a name="footnote_520" id="footnote_520"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_520"><span class="muchsmaller">[520]</span></a> - <cite>Kritik der praktischen Vernunft</cite> <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">(Critique de la Raison pratique)</span>, -<abbr title="seiten">s.</abbr> 5, 22, 219, 233, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_521" id="footnote_521"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_521"><span class="muchsmaller">[521]</span></a> - <cite>Characteristics</cite>, London, 1737.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_522" id="footnote_522"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_522"><span class="muchsmaller">[522]</span></a> - <cite>A System of Moral Philosophy</cite>, <abbr title="tone 1, chapter">t. i., ch.</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_523" id="footnote_523"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_523"><span class="muchsmaller">[523]</span></a> - <cite>Enquiry into the Human Mind, on the Principle of Common Sense.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_524" id="footnote_524"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_524"><span class="muchsmaller">[524]</span></a> - <cite>An Appeal to Common Sense</cite>, etc., Edinburgh, 1765.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_525" id="footnote_525"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_525"><span class="muchsmaller">[525]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Pensées</cite>, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 21.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_526" id="footnote_526"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_526"><span class="muchsmaller">[526]</span></a> - In Greek <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">τὸ ἡγεμονικόν</span>, that which dominates and rules, that which -is intelligible.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_527" id="footnote_527"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_527"><span class="muchsmaller">[527]</span></a> - In Greek <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">τὸ φυσικόν</span>, that which pertains to generative nature, that -which is physical, and sentient.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_528" id="footnote_528"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_528"><span class="muchsmaller">[528]</span></a> - In Greek <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">τὸ λογικόν</span>, that which pertains to reasonable nature, that -which is logical, the thing which proves that another thing is. <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez</i> Platon, -<cite>in <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, et conférez avec Beausobre, -<abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 174.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_529" id="footnote_529"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_529"><span class="muchsmaller">[529]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>de Facie in <abbr title="Orbe Lunae">Orb. lun.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 943.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_530" id="footnote_530"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_530"><span class="muchsmaller">[530]</span></a> - The first kind of virtue is called <span lang="el" xml:lang="el">ἀνθρωπίνη</span>, human, and the second -<span lang="el" xml:lang="el">ἡρωικὴ καὶ δία</span>, heroic and divine. Attention should be given to these epithets -which are related to the three principal faculties of man. -<abbr title="Aristotle, ad Nicomachum, livre 7, chapter">Aristot., <cite>ad Nicom.</cite>, l. vii., c.</abbr> 1; -Plato, <cite>in <abbr title="Theaetetus">Theæt.</abbr></cite>; -Gallien, <cite>in Cognit et <abbr title="Curatione morbidis animae">Curat. morb. anim.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 1, chapters">l. i., c.</abbr> 3, et 6; -Theod. Marcil, <cite>in <abbr title="Aureum Carmen">Aur. Carmin.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_531" id="footnote_531"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_531"><span class="muchsmaller">[531]</span></a> - <cite>In <abbr title="Somnium Scipionis">Somn. Scip.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 8.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_532" id="footnote_532"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_532"><span class="muchsmaller">[532]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle">Aristot.</abbr>, <cite>de Cælo et Mundo</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>; - Philo, <abbr title="De opificio mundi"><cite>de Mund. opific.</cite></abbr>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_533" id="footnote_533"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_533"><span class="muchsmaller">[533]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pausanias">Pausan.</abbr>, <cite>in Corinth.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 72; - <abbr title="Tzetzes">Tzetz.</abbr>, <cite>in <abbr title="Scholia">Schol.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_534" id="footnote_534"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_534"><span class="muchsmaller">[534]</span></a> - Suidas, <cite>in</cite> Εποπ; - Harpocr., <cite>ibid</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_535" id="footnote_535"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_535"><span class="muchsmaller">[535]</span></a> - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <abbr title="livre 5, page">l. v., p.</abbr> 582.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_536" id="footnote_536"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_536"><span class="muchsmaller">[536]</span></a> - Psellus, <cite>Ad <abbr title="Oracules of Zoroaster">Oracul. Zoroastr.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_537" id="footnote_537"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_537"><span class="muchsmaller">[537]</span></a> - <abbr title="Meursii Eleusinia"> Meurs. <cite>Eleus.</cite></abbr> 12; - <abbr title="Dion Chrysostomos, Orations, 12">Dion. Chrysost., <cite>Orat.</cite> xii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_538" id="footnote_538"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_538"><span class="muchsmaller">[538]</span></a> - <abbr title="Sophocles">Sophocl.</abbr> <cite>apud</cite> <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, - <cite>De <abbr title="Audiendis Poetis">Audiend. Poet.</abbr> Schol.</cite>; - <abbr title="Aristophanes">Aristoph.</abbr>, <cite>De Pace.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_539" id="footnote_539"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_539"><span class="muchsmaller">[539]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, Vita Pythagoras, page">Porphyr., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, p.</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="el" xml:lang="el"> <a name="footnote_540" id="footnote_540"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_540"><span class="muchsmaller">[540]</span></a> - γνῶσις, <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">savant</i>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_541" id="footnote_541"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_541"><span class="muchsmaller">[541]</span></a> - <abbr title="Epiphane, livre 1">Epiph., l. i.</abbr>; - Plucquet, <abbr title="Dictionnaire des Hérésies, tome 2, page"><cite>Dictionn. des Hérésies</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 72.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_542" id="footnote_542"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_542"><span class="muchsmaller">[542]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diodorus Siculus, livre 1">Diod. Sicul., l. i.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre 2">Herodot., l. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_543" id="footnote_543"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_543"><span class="muchsmaller">[543]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aristotle, Politics, livre 2">Aristot., <cite>Polit.</cite>, l. ii.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Strabo, livre 8">Strab., l. viii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_544" id="footnote_544"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_544"><span class="muchsmaller">[544]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> <span class="sc">Daniel</span>, et conférez avec Court de Gébelin, <cite>Monde primitif</cite>, <abbr title="tome 8, page">t. -viii., p.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_545" id="footnote_545"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_545"><span class="muchsmaller">[545]</span></a> - <cite>Zend-Avesta</cite>, 14ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 127.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_546" id="footnote_546"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_546"><span class="muchsmaller">[546]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pomponius">Pomp.</abbr> Mela, <abbr title="3, chapter">iii., c.</abbr> 2; - César, <abbr title="livre 6, chapter">l. vi., c.</abbr> 14; - Pelloutier, <cite><abbr title="Histoire">Hist.</abbr> des Celtes</cite>, <abbr title="livre 4, chapter">l. iv., ch.</abbr> 1, - <abbr title="Sections">§</abbr> 27 et 30.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_547" id="footnote_547"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_547"><span class="muchsmaller">[547]</span></a> - The first <cite>Shastra</cite> is entitled <cite>Djatimala</cite>. I am ignorant of the title of the -other, that I cite from Henry Lord: <cite>Discovery of the Banian Religion</cite>, in Church, -<abbr title="Collection, volume 6"><cite>Collect.</cite>, vol. vi.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_548" id="footnote_548"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_548"><span class="muchsmaller">[548]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 6, page"><cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, tom. vi., p.</abbr> 254.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_549" id="footnote_549"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_549"><span class="muchsmaller">[549]</span></a> - <abbr title="Mémoire concernant les Chinois, tome 2, page"><cite>Mémoir. concern. les Chin.</cite>, t. ii., - p.</abbr> 174 <i>et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr></i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_550" id="footnote_550"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_550"><span class="muchsmaller">[550]</span></a> - <cite>Vie de Kong-Tzée</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 237 et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_551" id="footnote_551"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_551"><span class="muchsmaller">[551]</span></a> - <i>Voyez</i> le 12ᵉ Examen.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_552" id="footnote_552"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_552"><span class="muchsmaller">[552]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, Vita Pythagoras">Porphyr., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_553" id="footnote_553"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_553"><span class="muchsmaller">[553]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>ut suprà.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_554" id="footnote_554"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_554"><span class="muchsmaller">[554]</span></a> - <abbr title="Synesius, upon Providence, chapter">Synes., <cite>De Provident.</cite>, c.</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_555" id="footnote_555"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_555"><span class="muchsmaller">[555]</span></a> - Beausobre, <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, page"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 33.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_556" id="footnote_556"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_556"><span class="muchsmaller">[556]</span></a> - Tatian, <abbr title="Oratio ad Graecos, page"><cite>Orat. contr. Græc.</cite>, p.</abbr> 152.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_557" id="footnote_557"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_557"><span class="muchsmaller">[557]</span></a> - Plato, <cite>In Gorgia</cite>; - ibid., <cite>In <abbr title="Phædrus">Phæd.</abbr></cite>; - ibid., <abbr title="De Republica, livre 7"><cite>De Rep.</cite>, l. vii.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Austine, De Civitas Dei, livre 3, chapter"> August., <cite>De Civit. Dei</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 1, - et <abbr title="livre 10, chapter">l. x., c.</abbr> 29.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_558" id="footnote_558"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_558"><span class="muchsmaller">[558]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 10, Section">Diogen. Laërt., l. x., §</abbr> 123; - Cicero, <abbr title="De Natura Deorum, livre 1, chapter"><cite>De Nat. Deor.</cite>, l. i., c.</abbr> 30.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_559" id="footnote_559"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_559"><span class="muchsmaller">[559]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 8 <i>et seq.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_560" id="footnote_560"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_560"><span class="muchsmaller">[560]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <cite>ut suprà.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_561" id="footnote_561"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_561"><span class="muchsmaller">[561]</span></a> - <abbr title="Diogenes Laërtes, livre 10, Section">Diogen. Laërt., l. x., §</abbr> 123.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_562" id="footnote_562"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_562"><span class="muchsmaller">[562]</span></a> - <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. critiq.</cite>, art.</abbr> - <span class="sc">Epicure</span>, <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> T.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_563" id="footnote_563"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_563"><span class="muchsmaller">[563]</span></a> - <abbr title="Memoire concernant les Chinoise, tome 1, pages"><cite>Mém. concern. les Chin.</cite>, - t. i., p.</abbr> 102 et 138.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_564" id="footnote_564"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_564"><span class="muchsmaller">[564]</span></a> - <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, volume 6, page">"<cite>Asiat. Research.</cite>, vol. vi., p.</abbr> 215. - <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez</i> les Pouranas intitulés, <cite>Bhagavad-Vedam</cite> -et <cite>Bhagavad-Gita</cite>, et conférez avec les <cite>Recherches <abbr title="asiatique">asiatiq.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="tome 5, page">t. v., p.</abbr> 350 -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr></i>, - et avec l’ouvrage de Holwell (<cite><abbr title="Interesting Historical">Interest. Hist.</abbr> Events</cite>), <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 4, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 5, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_565" id="footnote_565"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_565"><span class="muchsmaller">[565]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, cité par <abbr title="Saint Augustine, Contra Pelagius, livre 4">S. August., - <cite>Contr. Pelag.</cite>, l. iv.</abbr>; - Pindar, <abbr title="Olympian, 2, verse"><cite>Olymp.</cite>, ii., v.</abbr> 122.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_566" id="footnote_566"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_566"><span class="muchsmaller">[566]</span></a> - <abbr title="Meursii, Eleusinia, chapter"> Meurs., <cite>Eleus.</cite></abbr> 11; - <abbr title="Dion Chrysostomos, Orations, 12">Dion. Chrysost., <cite>Orat.</cite> 12.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_567" id="footnote_567"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_567"><span class="muchsmaller">[567]</span></a> - <cite>Boun-Dehesh</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 347.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_568" id="footnote_568"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_568"><span class="muchsmaller">[568]</span></a> - <cite>Vendidad-Sadé</cite>, 30ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_569" id="footnote_569"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_569"><span class="muchsmaller">[569]</span></a> - <abbr title="Homily of Clement, 19, Section"><cite>Homil. Clement.</cite>, xix., §</abbr> 4, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 744.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_570" id="footnote_570"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_570"><span class="muchsmaller">[570]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, cité par Beausobre, <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme">Hist. - du Manich.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="tome 1, page">t. i., p.</abbr> 38.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_571" id="footnote_571"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_571"><span class="muchsmaller">[571]</span></a> - It is necessary before all, to restore the language of Moses, lost, as I -have said, for more than twenty-four centuries; it must be restored with the -aid of Greek and Latin which chain it to the illusory versions; it is necessary -to go back to its original source and find its true roots: this enormous work -that I have undertaken, I have accomplished.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_572" id="footnote_572"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_572"><span class="muchsmaller">[572]</span></a> - Fortun. <i>apud</i> <abbr title="Augustine">August.</abbr>, <cite>Disput.</cite>, <abbr title="2">ii.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Augustine">August.</abbr>, <abbr title="Contra Faustum, livre 21, ultimate chapter"><cite>Contr. Faust.</cite>, - l. xxi., c. <i>ult.</i></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_573" id="footnote_573"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_573"><span class="muchsmaller">[573]</span></a> - Origène, cité par Beausobre, <abbr title="Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, 5, chapter"><cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, - t. ii., v., ch.</abbr> 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_574" id="footnote_574"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_574"><span class="muchsmaller">[574]</span></a> - Beausobre, <cite>ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 346.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_575" id="footnote_575"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_575"><span class="muchsmaller">[575]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carmin.</cite></abbr> <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 49 et 50.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_576" id="footnote_576"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_576"><span class="muchsmaller">[576]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <i>In</i> <abbr title="Two Alcibiades">II. <cite>Alcibiad.</cite></abbr></p> - -<div class="fnpoem" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><br /> - <div class="i0a">“Accordez-moi, grands Dieux, ce qui m’est nécessaire,</div> - <div class="i0">Soit que je pense ou non à vous le demander;</div> - <div class="i0">Et si de mes désirs l’objet m’était contraire,</div> - <div class="i0">Daignez, grands Dieux, daignez ne pas me l’accorder.”</div> -</div><!--end fn poem--> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_577" id="footnote_577"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_577"><span class="muchsmaller">[577]</span></a> - <cite>Vendidad-Sadê</cite>, 68ᵉ <cite>hâ</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 242.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_578" id="footnote_578"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_578"><span class="muchsmaller">[578]</span></a> - <cite>Zend-Avesta, Jeshts-Sadés</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 113.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_579" id="footnote_579"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_579"><span class="muchsmaller">[579]</span></a> - Hermès, <cite>In <abbr title="Asclepio">Asclep.</abbr></cite>, c. 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_580" id="footnote_580"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_580"><span class="muchsmaller">[580]</span></a> - Origen., <cite><abbr title="Contra Celsum">Contr. Cels.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 19.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_581" id="footnote_581"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_581"><span class="muchsmaller">[581]</span></a> - <abbr title="Synesius, De Insomnia, page">Synes., <cite>De Insomn.</cite>, p.</abbr> 134 <i>et seq.</i>; - <abbr title="Nicephorus Gregoras">Niceph. Greg.</abbr>, <cite>Schol. in <abbr title="Synesius">Synes.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 360 <i>et seq.</i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_582" id="footnote_582"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_582"><span class="muchsmaller">[582]</span></a> - Voyez Naudé, <cite><abbr title="Apologie">Apolog.</abbr> des grands Hommes accusés de Magie.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_583" id="footnote_583"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_583"><span class="muchsmaller">[583]</span></a> - <abbr title="Contra Celsum">Corn. Cels.</abbr>, <cite>De Re Medic.</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1, Præfacio">l. i., <i>Præf.</i></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_584" id="footnote_584"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_584"><span class="muchsmaller">[584]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 48 et 49, et <cite>ibid.</cite>, - <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 46.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_585" id="footnote_585"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_585"><span class="muchsmaller">[585]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In Georgiâ, In Phæd.</cite>; - Ibid., <cite>De Rep.</cite>, l. vii.; - <abbr title="Augustine">August.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Civitas">Civit.</abbr> -Dei</cite>, <abbr title="livre 3, chapter">l. iii., c.</abbr> 1 et <abbr title="livre 10, chapter">l. x., c.</abbr> 29.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_586" id="footnote_586"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_586"><span class="muchsmaller">[586]</span></a> - <abbr title="Académie des Inscriptions, tome 31, page"><cite>Acad. des Inscript.</cite>, t. xxxi., p.</abbr> 319.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_587" id="footnote_587"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_587"><span class="muchsmaller">[587]</span></a> - <abbr title="Proclus">Procl.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="Libre 5, page">l. v., p.</abbr> 330; - <abbr title="Cicero, Somnium Scipionis, chapters">Cicer., <cite>Somn. Scip.</cite>, c.</abbr> 2, 3, 4, et 6; - <abbr title="Hieroclis, In Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>In Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, - <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 70.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_588" id="footnote_588"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_588"><span class="muchsmaller">[588]</span></a> - <cite>Veda</cite>, cité par W. Jones, <abbr title="Asiatic Researches, tome 4, page"><cite>Asiat. Resear.</cite>, - t. iv., p.</abbr> 173.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_589" id="footnote_589"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_589"><span class="muchsmaller">[589]</span></a> - <cite>Premier Pourâna</cite>, intitulé <cite>Matsya</cite>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_590" id="footnote_590"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_590"><span class="muchsmaller">[590]</span></a> - <cite>Boushznda-Ramayan.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_591" id="footnote_591"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_591"><span class="muchsmaller">[591]</span></a> - <cite>Institut. of Menou</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 1, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 1.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_592" id="footnote_592"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_592"><span class="muchsmaller">[592]</span></a> - <cite>Shanda-Pourâna.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_593" id="footnote_593"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_593"><span class="muchsmaller">[593]</span></a> - <cite>Ekhamesha.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_594" id="footnote_594"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_594"><span class="muchsmaller">[594]</span></a> - <cite>Aurore naissante (Morgens röte im Aufgang: durch Jacob Böhmen zu</cite> -Amsterdam, 1682), <abbr title="chapter">ch.</abbr> 14, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 41.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_595" id="footnote_595"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_595"><span class="muchsmaller">[595]</span></a> - Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_596" id="footnote_596"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_596"><span class="muchsmaller">[596]</span></a> - Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_597" id="footnote_597"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_597"><span class="muchsmaller">[597]</span></a> - In the <cite>Tao-te-King</cite> of Lao-Tse, a work which has held a high reputation -among the numerous followers of this theosophist, one finds that the absolute, -universal Being which he declares can neither be named, nor defined, is triple. -“The first,” he said, “has engendered the second; the two have produced the -third; and the three have made all things. That which the mind perceives -and the eye cannot see is named <dfn>Y</dfn>, the absolute Unity, the central point; -that which the heart understands and the ear cannot hear is named <dfn>Hi</dfn>, the -universal Existence; that which the soul feels and the hand cannot touch is -named <dfn>Ouei</dfn>, the individual Existence. Seek not to penetrate the depths of -this Trinity; its incomprehensibility comes from its Unity.” “This Unity,” -adds Lao-Tse, in another passage, “is named <dfn>Tao</dfn>, the Truth; <dfn>Tao</dfn> is Life; -<dfn>Tao</dfn> is to itself both rule and model. It is so lofty that it cannot be attained; -so profound that it cannot be fathomed; so great that it contains the Universe; -when one looks on high one sees no beginning; when one follows it in its productions, -one finds in it no end.”</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_598" id="footnote_598"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_598"><span class="muchsmaller">[598]</span></a> - One of the principal dogmas of Fo-Hi is the existence of one God in -three persons, whose image is man. All his doctrine is limited to leading, by -meditation and repression of the passions, the human ternary to its perfection. -This ternary is composed, according to him, of <dfn>Ki</dfn>, <dfn>Tsing</dfn>, and <dfn>Chen</dfn>, -that is to say, of the material, animistic, and spiritual principle. It is necessary -that, being joined together, this ternary should make but One. Then -its duration will have no limit and its faculties will be indestructible. <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez</i> -Duhalde, <abbr title="tome 3, in folio, page">t. iii., <i>in fol.</i>, p.</abbr> 50.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_599" id="footnote_599"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_599"><span class="muchsmaller">[599]</span></a> - This is noticeable particularly in Bayle.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_600" id="footnote_600"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_600"><span class="muchsmaller">[600]</span></a> - <abbr title="Herodotus">Herod.</abbr>, <cite>In Clio</cite>, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 131; - <abbr title="Strabo, livre 15">Strab., l. xv.</abbr>; - Boehm., <cite>Mores Gentium.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_601" id="footnote_601"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_601"><span class="muchsmaller">[601]</span></a> - Pelloutier, <abbr title="Histoire des Celtes, tome 5, chapter"><cite>Hist. des Celtes</cite>, t. v., c.</abbr> 3.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_602" id="footnote_602"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_602"><span class="muchsmaller">[602]</span></a> - <abbr title="Tacitus, De moribus Germania, chapter">Tacit., <cite>De Morib. Germ.</cite>, c.</abbr> 9; - <abbr title="Lactantius, Præmiis">Lactant., <cite>Præm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 5.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_603" id="footnote_603"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_603"><span class="muchsmaller">[603]</span></a> - <abbr title="Augustine">August.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Civitate">Civit.</abbr> Dei</cite>, - <abbr title="livre 4, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 31; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, livre 1, page">Clem. Alex., l. i., p.</abbr> 304; - <cite><abbr title="Stromata">Strom.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_604" id="footnote_604"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_604"><span class="muchsmaller">[604]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>In Vitâ Numa</cite>; - ibid., <cite>In Mar.</cite>; - Pelloutier, <abbr title="Histoire des Celtes, livre 4, chapter 1"><cite>Hist. des Celt.</cite>, l. iv., c. i.</abbr>; - Lucan., <abbr title="Pharsalia, livre 3, verse"><cite>Phars.</cite>, l. iii., v.</abbr> 412; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite>Cohort. ad Gent.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 57.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_605" id="footnote_605"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_605"><span class="muchsmaller">[605]</span></a> - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 13, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Prœp. Evang.</cite>, l. xiii., c.</abbr> 12; - <!--Henrik Steffans?-->Henric. Steph., <cite>Poes. philosop.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 78.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_606" id="footnote_606"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_606"><span class="muchsmaller">[606]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry, Sententiae, number">Porphyr., <cite>Sent.</cite>, no.</abbr> 10, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 221; - <abbr title="Stanley">Stanl.</abbr>, <cite>In Pythag.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 775.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_607" id="footnote_607"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_607"><span class="muchsmaller">[607]</span></a> - Stanley, <abbr title="De Philosophie Chaldaique, page"><cite>De Phil. chald.</cite>, p.</abbr> 1123; - <abbr title="Beausobre, Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, livre 9, chapter">Beausob., <cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, - t. ii., l. ix., c.</abbr> 1, <abbr title="Section">§</abbr> 10.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_608" id="footnote_608"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_608"><span class="muchsmaller">[608]</span></a> - Τρισμέγιστος, thrice greatest.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_609" id="footnote_609"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_609"><span class="muchsmaller">[609]</span></a> - It is said that this famous table of Emerald was found in the valley -of Hebron, in a sepulchre where it was between the hands of the cadaver of -Thoth himself. Krigsmann, who assures us that this table must have read -in Phœnician and not in Greek, quotes it a little differently from what one -reads in the ordinary versions. <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Voyez Tabula Smaragdina</cite>, - citée par <abbr title="Fabricius, La Bibliothèque grecque, page">Fabric., -<cite>Bibl. Græc.</cite>, p.</abbr> 68.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_610" id="footnote_610"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_610"><span class="muchsmaller">[610]</span></a> - Hermès, <cite>In <abbr title="Asclepio">Asclep.</abbr></cite>, c. 9; - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, chapter">Jambl., <cite>De Myst. Egypt.</cite>, c.</abbr> 30; - <abbr title="Maimonides, More Nevochim, part 2, chapter">Maimon., <cite>Mor. Nevoch.</cite>, part ii., c.</abbr> 10; - Origen, <cite><abbr title="Contra Celsum">Contr. Cels.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 1">l. i.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Beausobre, Histoire du Manichisme, tome 2, page">Beausob., <cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 49.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_611" id="footnote_611"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_611"><span class="muchsmaller">[611]</span></a> - Homère, cité par Maxime de <abbr title="Tyrius">Tyr.</abbr>; - Pline, <abbr title="livre 2, chapter">l. ii., c.</abbr> 7; - <span class="sc">Bible</span>, psalm. 73 et 93; - Job, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 23; - <abbr title="Habakkuk, chapter">Habacuc, c.</abbr> 1; - <abbr title="Malachi, chapter">Malach., c.</abbr> 3; - Balzac, <cite>Socrate chrétien</cite>, p. 237.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_612" id="footnote_612"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_612"><span class="muchsmaller">[612]</span></a> - Plucquet, <abbr title="Dictionnaire des Hérésies, article"><cite>Dict. des Hérés.</cite>, art.</abbr> - <span class="sc">Prédestinatiens</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_613" id="footnote_613"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_613"><span class="muchsmaller">[613]</span></a> - Noris., <abbr title="Historia Pelagiana, livre 2, chapter"><cite>Hist. pelag.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 15.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_614" id="footnote_614"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_614"><span class="muchsmaller">[614]</span></a> - Origen, <cite><abbr title="Commentary">Comment.</abbr> in Psalm.</cite>, <abbr title="pages">p.</abbr> 38 et 39.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_615" id="footnote_615"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_615"><span class="muchsmaller">[615]</span></a> - <abbr title="Saint Leo">S. Léon.</abbr>, <cite>Epist. Decret.</cite>, <abbr title="2">ii.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Nicephorus, livre 17, chapter"> Niceph., l. xvii., c.</abbr> 27.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_616" id="footnote_616"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_616"><span class="muchsmaller">[616]</span></a> - <cite>Conc. Rom.</cite>, <abbr title="Gelasius, tome 3">Gelas., t. iii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_617" id="footnote_617"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_617"><span class="muchsmaller">[617]</span></a> - <abbr title="Dictionnaire des Hérésies, article"><cite>Dict. des Hérés.</cite>, - art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Pélagiens</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_618" id="footnote_618"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_618"><span class="muchsmaller">[618]</span></a> - Plucquet, <cite>comme ci-dessus</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 454.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_619" id="footnote_619"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_619"><span class="muchsmaller">[619]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pelagius">Pelag.</abbr>, <cite>apud</cite> <abbr title="Saint Augustine">S. August.</abbr>, - <abbr title="De Natura et Gratia, livre 3, chapter"><cite>De Nat. et Grat.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 9.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_620" id="footnote_620"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_620"><span class="muchsmaller">[620]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pelagius">Pelag.</abbr>, <i>apud</i> <abbr title="Augustine, De Gratia Christi, chapter">August., - <cite>De Grat. Christ.</cite>, c.</abbr> 4.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_621" id="footnote_621"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_621"><span class="muchsmaller">[621]</span></a> - <cite>Comment. in <abbr title="Aureum Carmen">Aur. Carm.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 62.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_622" id="footnote_622"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_622"><span class="muchsmaller">[622]</span></a> -<abbr title="Saint Augustine, De Gratia Christi">S. August.</abbr>, <cite>De Grat. Christ.</cite>, - cité par Plucquet, <abbr title="Dictionnaire des Hérésies, article">"<cite>Dict. des Hérés.</cite>, art.</abbr> -<span class="sc">Pélagiens</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_623" id="footnote_623"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_623"><span class="muchsmaller">[623]</span></a> - Calvin, <abbr title="Institutio, livre 2, chapters"><cite>Institut.</cite>, l. ii., c.</abbr> 1 et 2.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_624" id="footnote_624"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_624"><span class="muchsmaller">[624]</span></a> - <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2">t. ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_625" id="footnote_625"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_625"><span class="muchsmaller">[625]</span></a> - Maimbourg, <cite><abbr title="Histoire">Hist.</abbr> du Calvinisme</cite>, <abbr title="livre 1, page">l. i., p.</abbr> 73.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_626" id="footnote_626"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_626"><span class="muchsmaller">[626]</span></a> - Origen., <cite><abbr title="Contra Celsum">Contr. Cels.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 4, page">l. iv., p.</abbr> 207.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_627" id="footnote_627"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_627"><span class="muchsmaller">[627]</span></a> - Plato, <abbr title="Alcibiades, 2"><cite>In Alcibiad.</cite>, ii.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_628" id="footnote_628"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_628"><span class="muchsmaller">[628]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_629" id="footnote_629"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_629"><span class="muchsmaller">[629]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis">Hiérol.</abbr>, <cite>In Præm.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_630" id="footnote_630"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_630"><span class="muchsmaller">[630]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_631" id="footnote_631"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_631"><span class="muchsmaller">[631]</span></a> - <i>Ut suprà</i>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 10 et 11.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_632" id="footnote_632"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_632"><span class="muchsmaller">[632]</span></a> - <cite>Ut suprà</cite>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 22 et 24.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_633" id="footnote_633"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_633"><span class="muchsmaller">[633]</span></a> - <cite>Ut suprà</cite>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 54 et 55.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_634" id="footnote_634"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_634"><span class="muchsmaller">[634]</span></a> - Burnet, <abbr title="Archaeologiae, livre 1"><cite>Archæolog.</cite>, l. i.</abbr>, c. 14.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_635" id="footnote_635"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_635"><span class="muchsmaller">[635]</span></a> - <cite>De la Triple Vie de l’Homme</cite>, <abbr title="chapter 6, Section">ch. vi., §</abbr> 53.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_636" id="footnote_636"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_636"><span class="muchsmaller">[636]</span></a> - <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ibid.</i>, <abbr title="chapter 5, Section">ch. v., §</abbr> 56.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_637" id="footnote_637"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_637"><span class="muchsmaller">[637]</span></a> - <abbr title="Proclus">Procl.</abbr>, <cite>In <abbr title="Timaeus">Tim.</abbr></cite>, - <abbr title="livre 5, page">l. v., p.</abbr> 330; - Plethon, <cite>Schol. ad. Oracl. magic. Zoroast.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_638" id="footnote_638"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_638"><span class="muchsmaller">[638]</span></a> - March., <cite>Chron. Can.</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 258; - <abbr title="Beausobre, Histoire du Manichéisme, tome 2, page">Beausob., <cite>Hist. du Manich.</cite>, t. ii., p.</abbr> 495; -Huet. <cite>Origenian</cite>, <abbr title="livre 2">l. ii.</abbr>, q. 6.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_639" id="footnote_639"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_639"><span class="muchsmaller">[639]</span></a> - <abbr title="Aureum Carmen"><cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verses">v.</abbr> 62-77.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_640" id="footnote_640"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_640"><span class="muchsmaller">[640]</span></a> - <abbr title="Lactantius">Lactant.</abbr>, <cite>De Irâ Dei</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 13, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 548.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_641" id="footnote_641"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_641"><span class="muchsmaller">[641]</span></a> - <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Manichéens</span>, - <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> D.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_642" id="footnote_642"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_642"><span class="muchsmaller">[642]</span></a> - <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite> art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Marcionites</span>, - <abbr title="remarques">rem.</abbr> E et G.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_643" id="footnote_643"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_643"><span class="muchsmaller">[643]</span></a> - <cite>Ibid.</cite>, <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Pauliciens</span>, <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> E.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_644" id="footnote_644"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_644"><span class="muchsmaller">[644]</span></a> - Bayle, <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Pauliciens</span>, - <abbr title="remarque">rem.</abbr> E.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_645" id="footnote_645"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_645"><span class="muchsmaller">[645]</span></a> - <cite>De Irâ Dei</cite>, <abbr title="chapter">c.</abbr> 13, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 548.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_646" id="footnote_646"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_646"><span class="muchsmaller">[646]</span></a> - Basilius, <abbr title="tome one">t. i.</abbr>, <cite lang="la" xml:lang="la">In Homil. quod Deus non sit auctor mali</cite>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 369; - Bayle. <abbr title="Dictionnaire Critique, article"><cite>Dict. crit.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Marcionites</span>, - <abbr title="remarques">rem.</abbr> E et G.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_647" id="footnote_647"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_647"><span class="muchsmaller">[647]</span></a> - <cite>Traité de Morale.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_648" id="footnote_648"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_648"><span class="muchsmaller">[648]</span></a> - <cite>Réponse à deux object. de M. Bayle</cite>, par Delaplacette, <i>in</i>-12, 1707.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_649" id="footnote_649"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_649"><span class="muchsmaller">[649]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Essai de Théodicée</cite>, part <abbr title="three, Number">iii., - No.</abbr> 405 <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr></i></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_650" id="footnote_650"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_650"><span class="muchsmaller">[650]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Essai de Théodicée</cite>, part. <abbr title="three, Number">iii., - No.</abbr> 405 <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">et <abbr title="suivant">suiv.</abbr></i></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_651" id="footnote_651"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_651"><span class="muchsmaller">[651]</span></a> - Ci-dessus, 25ᵉ Examen.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_652" id="footnote_652"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_652"><span class="muchsmaller">[652]</span></a> - <abbr title="Mémoires de l'Academie des Sciences, annum"><cite>Mém. de l’Acad. des Sciences</cite>, ann.</abbr>, - 1765, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 439.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_653" id="footnote_653"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_653"><span class="muchsmaller">[653]</span></a> - Cité par De Gérando, <cite><abbr title="Histoire">Hist.</abbr> des Systèmes</cite>, <abbr title="tome 2, page">t. ii., p.</abbr> 100.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_654" id="footnote_654" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_654"><span class="muchsmaller">[654]</span></a> - <cite><abbr title="Historire">Hist.</abbr> des Animaux</cite>, <i>in</i>-4, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 37.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_655" id="footnote_655"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_655"><span class="muchsmaller">[655]</span></a> - <cite lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">System des transcendental Idalimus</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 441; - <cite lang="de" xml:lang="de">Zeitschrift für die speculative Physick.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_656" id="footnote_656"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_656"><span class="muchsmaller">[656]</span></a> - Buffon, <cite>Théorie de la Terre</cite>; - Linné, <cite>De Telluris habitab. Increment</cite>; - Burnet, <abbr title="Archaeologiae"><cite>Archæolog.</cite></abbr>, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_657" id="footnote_657"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_657"><span class="muchsmaller">[657]</span></a> - <abbr title="Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire naturelle, article"><cite>Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. nat.</cite>, - art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Quadrupède</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_658" id="footnote_658"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_658"><span class="muchsmaller">[658]</span></a> - Ovid., <abbr title="Metamorphoses, livre 15"><cite>Metamorph.</cite>, l. xv.</abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_659" id="footnote_659"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_659"><span class="muchsmaller">[659]</span></a> - <abbr title="Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire naturelle, article"><cite>Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. nat.</cite>, - art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Quadrupède</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_660" id="footnote_660"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_660"><span class="muchsmaller">[660]</span></a> - <abbr title="Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire naturelle, article"><cite>Nouv. Dict. d’Hist nat.</cite>, - art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Animal</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_661" id="footnote_661"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_661"><span class="muchsmaller">[661]</span></a> - <abbr title="Nouveau Dictionnaire, article"><cite>Nouv. Dict.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Nature</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"> <a name="footnote_662" id="footnote_662"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_662"><span class="muchsmaller">[662]</span></a> - Lettre à Hermann.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_663" id="footnote_663"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_663"><span class="muchsmaller">[663]</span></a> - Charles Bonnet, <abbr title="Contemplation de la nature"><cite>Contempl. de la Nat.</cite></abbr>, - <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 16; - Lecat., <cite>Traité du Mouvement musculaire</cite>, <abbr title="page">p.</abbr> 54, <abbr title="article">art.</abbr> iii.; - Robinet, <cite>De la Nature</cite>, <abbr title="tome 4, page">t. iv., p.</abbr> 17, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_664" id="footnote_664"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_664"><span class="muchsmaller">[664]</span></a> - <abbr title="Nouveau Dictionnaire, article"><cite>Nouv. Dict.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Quadrupède</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_665" id="footnote_665"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_665"><span class="muchsmaller">[665]</span></a> - <abbr title="Nouveau Dictionnaire, article"><cite>Nouv. Dict.</cite>, art.</abbr> <span class="sc">Animal</span>.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_666" id="footnote_666"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_666"><span class="muchsmaller">[666]</span></a> - <abbr title="Cicero">Cicer.</abbr>, <abbr title="De Finibus, livre 5, chapter"><cite>De Finib.</cite>, l. v., c. 5</abbr>; - <abbr title="Aulus Gellius, livre 20, chapter"> Aul. Gell., l. xx., c.</abbr> 5; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite><abbr title="Stromata">Strom.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 5">l. v.</abbr>; - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 68; - <abbr title="Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus">Lil. Gregor. Gyrald.</abbr>, <cite>Pythag. Symbol. Interpret.</cite>; - Dacier, <cite>Vie de <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite>; - Barthelemi, <cite>Voyage du Jeune <abbr title="Anarcharsis">Anarch.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="tome 6, chapter">t. vi., ch.</abbr> 75, etc.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_667" id="footnote_667"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_667"><span class="muchsmaller">[667]</span></a> - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Vita Pythagoras, chapters">Jambl., <cite>Vitâ Pythag.</cite>, c.</abbr> 29, 34, et 35.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_668" id="footnote_668"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_668"><span class="muchsmaller">[668]</span></a> - <abbr title="Porphyry">Porphyr.</abbr> <cite>apud</cite> - <abbr title="Eusebius, Præparatio evangelica, livre 3, chapter">Euseb., <cite>Præp. Evang.</cite>, l. iii., c.</abbr> 7; - ibid., <cite>De <abbr title="Abstenentia">Abstinent.</abbr></cite>, <abbr title="livre 4, page">l. iv., p.</abbr> 308; - <abbr title="Jamblichus, De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, chapter">Jambl., <cite>De Myst. Egypt.</cite>, c.</abbr> 37.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_669" id="footnote_669"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_669"><span class="muchsmaller">[669]</span></a> - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, livre 5, page">Clem. Alex., - <cite>Stromat.</cite>, l. v., p.</abbr> 556.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_670" id="footnote_670"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_670"><span class="muchsmaller">[670]</span></a> - <abbr title="Herodotus, livre 2, Section">Hérod., l. ii., §</abbr> 36; - <abbr title="Clement of Alexandria">Clem. Alex.</abbr>, <cite>ut suprà</cite>; - Dacier, <cite>Vie de <abbr title="Pythagoras">Pythag.</abbr></cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_671" id="footnote_671"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_671"><span class="muchsmaller">[671]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 70.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_672" id="footnote_672"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_672"><span class="muchsmaller">[672]</span></a> - <abbr title="Proclus">Procl.</abbr>, <abbr title="Timaeus, livre 5, page"><cite>In Tim.</cite>, l. v., p.</abbr> 330.</p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_673" id="footnote_673"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_673"><span class="muchsmaller">[673]</span></a> - <i>Apud</i> <abbr title="Plutarch">Plutar.</abbr>, <cite>De <abbr title="Audiendis">Audiend.</abbr> Pœtis.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_674" id="footnote_674"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_674"><span class="muchsmaller">[674]</span></a> - <abbr title="Pindar, Olympian, 3">Pind., <cite>Olymp.</cite>, iii.</abbr>; - <cite>Apud</cite>, <abbr title="Plutarch, Consolatio ad Apollonium">Plutar., <cite>Consol. ad Apoll.</cite></abbr></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_675" id="footnote_675"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_675"><span class="muchsmaller">[675]</span></a> - <abbr title="Plato">Plat.</abbr>, <cite>In Phædon.</cite></p> - -<p class="footnote"> <a name="footnote_676" id="footnote_676"></a> -<a href="#fnanchor_676"><span class="muchsmaller">[676]</span></a> - <abbr title="Hieroclis, Aureum Carmen">Hiérocl., <cite>Aur. Carm.</cite></abbr>, <abbr title="verse">v.</abbr> 68.</p> -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="p4 h3head">Transcriber’s Note</h3> - -<p>Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent -hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged unless -indicated below.</p> - -<p>Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the -end of the book. Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside -down, or partially printed letters, were corrected. Final stops -missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added. -Duplicate letters at line endings or page breaks were removed. Minor -adjustments to punctuation and diacriticals were made for consistency.</p> - -<p>The Golden Verses, midway through the book, were formated in the -original on facing pages, with Greek, verso, and French, recto; -translation in English was presented as footnotes. The text of the -Greek and French was consolidated as units, the English retained as -footnotes. The numbers (1) through (36) in the English footnotes -relate to the numbered sections of the discussion of the Golden Verses -that follow the poem.</p> - -<p>In footnote <a href="#footnote_125">[125]</a>, accent grave over the letter c is noted within -brackets, thus: [`c]. In footnote <a href="#footnote_226">[226]</a>, the x above -the o in the third line of the poem verse in Icelandic is indicated as -[=x]o. Anchors were missing to footnotes [371], [539], and [656]; they -were added where they likely belong.</p> - -<p>Corrections to Greek: <br /> -ἄγχις to ἄγχιστ<br /> - ὅϛις to ὅστις</p> - -<p>Corrections to Phoenician/Hebrew:<br /> -יוך to יון<br /> -<a href="#footnote_282">[282]</a>: אשר־יהזה to אשר־יהוה</p> - -</div><!--end chapter--> - -<!--hide text -Obsolete and misspelled words and abbreviations not corrected: -Neverthless / Nevertheless, pg 81 -poursuive / poursuivre, pg 89 -terrestial / terrestrial, pg 134 -c. / ch., footnote g, 176 -Cicer / Cicér., footnote e and f, pg 154 -Cræc. / Græc., footnote b, pg 230 -incorporal / incorporeal, 244 -Morgens röte / Morgenröte, footnote a, pg 246 -Idalimus / Idealismus, footnote pg 272 -De Audiend. Pœtis. / Poetis, pg 276--> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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