diff options
Diffstat (limited to '31275-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 31275-8.txt | 7681 |
1 files changed, 7681 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/31275-8.txt b/31275-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6363047 --- /dev/null +++ b/31275-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7681 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters to Eugenia, by Baron d'Holbach + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Letters to Eugenia + or, a Preservative Against Religious Prejudices + +Author: Baron d'Holbach + +Translator: Anthony C. Middleton + +Release Date: February 14, 2010 [EBook #31275] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO EUGENIA *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + LETTERS TO EUGENIA; + + OR, + + A PRESERVATIVE + AGAINST RELIGIOUS PREJUDICES. + + + BY BARON D'HOLBACH, + AUTHOR OF THE SYSTEM OF NATURE, THE SOCIAL SYSTEM, + GOOD SENSE, CHRISTIANITY UNVEILED, ECCE HOMO, + UNIVERSAL MORALITY, RELIGIOUS CRUELTY, &c., &c., &c. + + + TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, BY + ANTHONY C. MIDDLETON, M. D. + + + ... "Arctis + Religionum animos nodis exsolvere pergo." + LUCRETII _De Rerum Natura_, lib. iv. _v._ 6, 7. + + + BOSTON: + PUBLISHED BY JOSIAH P. MENDUM, + AT THE OFFICE OF THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR. + 1857. + + + + +NAIGEON'S PREFACE. + +1768. + + +For many years this work has been known under the title of _Letters to +Eugenia_. The secretive character of those, however, into whose hands +the manuscript at first fell; the singular and yet actual pleasure +that is caused generally enough in the minds of all men by the +exclusive possession of any object whatever; that kind of torpor, +servitude, and terror in which the tyrannical power of the priests +then held all minds--even those who by the superiority of their +talents ought naturally to be the least disposed to bend under the +odious yoke of the clergy,--all these circumstances united contributed +so much to stifle in its birth, if I may so express myself, this +important manuscript, that for a long time it was supposed to be lost; +so much did those who possessed it keep it carefully concealed, and so +constantly did they refuse to allow a copy to be taken. The +manuscripts, indeed, were so scarce, even in the libraries of the +curious, that the late M. De Boze, whose pleasure it was to collect +the rarest works belonging to every species of literature, could never +succeed in acquiring a copy of the _Letters to Eugenia_, and in his +time there were only three in Paris; it may have been from design, +_propter metum Judĉorum_;[1] it may have been there were actually no +more known. + +[1] _On account of fear of the Jews_, or, in other words, the +intolerant clergy of the despotic government. + +It is not till within five or six years that MSS. of these letters +have become more common; and there is reason to believe that they are +now considerably multiplied, since the copy from which this edition is +printed has been revised and corrected by collation with six others, +that have been collected without any great difficulty. Unhappily, all +these copies swarm with faults, which corrupt the sense, and +comprehend many variations, but which also, to use the language of the +Biblical critics, have served sometimes to discover and to fix the +true reading! More often, however, they have rendered it more +uncertain than it was before what one ought to be followed--a new +proof of the multiplicity of copies, because the more numerous are the +manuscripts of a work, the more they differ from each other, as any +one may be fully convinced by consulting those of the _Letter of +Thrasybulus to Leucippus_, and the various readings of the New +Testament collected by the learned Mill, and which amount to more than +thirty thousand. + +However this may be, we have spared no pains to reëstablish the text +in all its purity; and we venture to say, that, with the exception of +four or five passages, which we found corrupted in all the manuscripts +that we had an opportunity to collate, and which we have amended to +the best of our ability, the edition of these letters that we now +offer to the reader will probably conform almost exactly with the +original manuscript of the author. + +With regard to the author's name and quality we can offer nothing but +conjectures. The only particulars of his life upon which there is a +general agreement are, that he lived upon terms of great intimacy with +the Marquis de la Fare, the Abbé de Chaulieu, the Abbé Terrasson, +Fontenelle, M. de Lasseré, &c. The late MM. Du Marsais and Falconnet +have often been heard to declare that these letters were composed by +some one belonging to the school of Seaux. All that we can pronounce +with certainty is the fact, that it is only necessary to read the +work to be entirely convinced the author was a man of extensive +knowledge, and one who had meditated profoundly concerning the matters +upon which he has treated. His style is clear, simple, easy, and in +which we may remark a certain urbanity, that leads us to be sure that +he was not an obscure individual, nor one to whom good company and +polished society were unfamiliar. But what especially distinguishes +this work, and which should endear it to all good and virtuous people, +is the signal honesty which pervades and characterizes it from the +very beginning to the end. It is impossible to read it without +conceiving the highest idea of the author's probity, whoever he may +have been--without desiring to have had him for a friend, to have +lived with him, and, in a word, without rendering justice to the +rectitude of his intentions, even when we do not approve of his +sentiments. The love of virtue, universal benevolence, respect to the +laws, an inviolable attachment to the duties of morality, and, in +fine, all that can contribute to render men better, is strongly +recommended in these Letters. If, on the one hand, he completely +overthrows the ruinous edifice of Christianity, it is to erect, on the +other hand, the immovable foundations of a system of morality +legitimately established upon the nature of man, upon his physical +wants, and upon his social relations--a base infinitely better and +more solid than that of religion, because sooner or later the lie is +discovered, rejected, and necessarily drags with it what served to +sustain it. On the contrary, the truth subsists eternally, and +consolidates itself as it grows old: _Opinionum commenta delet dies, +naturĉ judicia confirmat_.[2] + +[2] "Time effaces the comments of opinion, but it confirms the +judgments of nature."--CICERO. + +The motto affixed to many of the manuscript copies of these letters +proves that the worthy man to whom we owe them did not desire to be +known as their author, and that it was neither the love of reputation, +nor the thirst of glory, nor the ambition of being distinguished by +bold opinions, which the priests, and the satellites subjected to them +by ignorance, denominate _impieties_, which guided his pen. It was +only the desire of doing good to his fellow-beings by enlightening +them, which actuated him, and the wish to uproot, so to speak, +religion itself, as being the source of all the woes which have +afflicted mankind for so many ages. This is the motto of which we +spoke:-- + + "Si j'ai raison, qu'importe à qui je suis?" + (If reason's mine, no matter who I am.) + +It is a verse of Corneille, whose application is exceedingly +appropriate, and which should be upon the frontispiece of all books of +this nature. + +We are unable to say any thing more certain concerning the person to +whom our author has addressed his work. It appears, however, from many +circumstances in these Letters, that she was not a supposititious +marchioness, like her of the _Worlds_ of M. de Fontenelle, and that +they have really been written to a woman as distinguished by her rank +as by her manners. Perhaps she was a lady of the school of the Temple, +or of Seaux. But these details, in reality, as well as those which +concern the name and the life of our author, the date of his birth, +that of his death, &c., are of little importance, and could only serve +to satisfy the vain curiosity of some idle readers, who avidiously +collect these kind of anecdotes, who receive from them a kind of +existence in the world, and who feel more satisfaction from being +instructed in them than from the discovery of a truth. I know that +they endeavor to justify their curiosity by saying that when a person +reads a book which creates a public sensation, and with which he is +himself much pleased, it is natural he should desire to know to whom a +grateful homage should be addressed. In this case the desire is so +much the more unreasonable because it cannot be satisfied; first, +because when death and proscription is the penalty, there has never +been and there never will be a man of letters so imprudent, and, to +speak plainly, so strangely daring, as to publish, or during his life +to allow a book to be printed, in which he tramples under foot +temples, altars, and the statues of the gods, and where he attacks +without any disguise the most consecrated religious opinions; +secondly, because it is a matter of public notoriety that all the +works of this character which have appeared for many years are the +secret testaments of numbers of great men, obliged during their lives +to conceal their light under a bushel, whose heads death has withdrawn +from the fury of persecutors, and whose cold ashes, consequently, do +not hear in the tomb either the importunate and denunciatory cries of +the superstitious, or the just eulogiums of the friends of truth; +thirdly and lastly, _because this curiosity, so unfortunately +entertained, may compromise in the most cruel manner the repose, the +fortune, and the liberty of the relatives and friends of the authors +of these bold books!_ This single consideration ought, then, to +determine those hazarders of conjectures, if they have really good +intentions, to wrap in the inmost folds of their hearts whatever +suspicions they may entertain concerning the author, however true or +false they may be, and to turn their inquiring spirits to a use more +beneficial for both themselves and others. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + + +In 1819 an anonymous translation of the LETTERS TO EUGENIA was +published in London by Richard Carlile. This translation in some of +its parts was sufficiently complete and correct, but in others it was +at absolute variance with the original work; in other parts, also, it +was interlarded with matter not written by d'Holbach; and in others, +large portions of the original Letters were entirely omitted, as were +likewise a number of notes and the whole of the preliminary +observations, with which the volume was introduced to the public by +Naigeon, so long the intimate friend of both d'Holbach and Diderot. In +again presenting the work in an English dress, the London translation +has been made the foundation of this, but the whole has been +thoroughly revised and collated with the original. The omitted +portions have been translated and inserted in their proper places, and +though some passages of the London work, not entirely faithful to the +original, have been allowed to stand, yet the book, as it now +appears, is essentially a new one, and is the most accurate and +complete translation of the LETTERS TO EUGENIA which has ever been +made into the English language. + +The work at first came anonymously from the press, and the mystery of +its authorship was sedulously maintained in the introductory +observations of Naigeon, in consequence of the danger which then +attended the issue of Infidel productions, not only in France but +throughout Christendom. The book was printed in Amsterdam, at +d'Holbach's own expense, by Marc-Michael Rey, a noble printer, to whom +the world is greatly indebted for the inestimable aid he rendered the +philosophers. But bold as he was, and then living in a country the +most free of any in the world, he dared not openly send these LETTERS +from his own press. They were issued in 1768, in two duodecimo +volumes, without any publisher's name, and with the imprint of +_London_ on the title page, in order to set those persecutors at bay +who were prowling for victims, and who sought to burn author, printer, +and book at the same pile. The prudence of the author and printer +saved _them_ from this fate; but the book had hardly reached France +before its sale was forbidden under penalty of fines and imprisonment, +and it was condemned by an act of Parliament to be burnt by the +public executioner in the streets of Paris, all of which particulars +will be narrated in the BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF BARON D'HOLBACH, which +I am now preparing for the press. + +Of the excellence of the LETTERS TO EUGENIA, nothing need here be +said. The work speaks for itself, and abounds in that eloquence +peculiar to its author, and overflows with kindly sentiments of +humanity, benevolence and virtue. Like d'Holbach's other works, it is +distinguished by an ardent love of liberty, and an invincible hatred +of despotism; by an unanswerable logic, by deep thought, and by +profound ideas. The tyrant and the priest are both displayed in their +true colors; but while the author shows himself inexorable as fate +towards oppressive hierarchies and false ideas, he is tender as an +infant to the unfortunate, to those overburdened with unreasonable +impositions, to those who need consolation and guidance, and to those +searching after truth. Addressed, as the LETTERS were, to a lady +suffering from religious falsehoods and terrors, the object of the +writer is set forth in the motto from Lucretius which he placed on the +title page, and which may thus be expressed in English:-- + + "Reason's pure light I seek to give the mind, + And from Religion's fetters free mankind." + + A. C. M. + +The name of the lady was designedly kept in secrecy, and was unknown, +except to _a very few_, till some years after d'Holbach's death. We +now know from the _Feuilles Posthumes_ of Lequinio, who had it from +Naigeon, that the _Letters_ were written several years before their +publication, for the instruction of a lady formerly distinguished at +the French Court for her graces and virtues. They were addressed to +the charming Marguerite, Marchioness de Vermandois. Her husband held +the lucrative post of farmer-general to the king, and besides +inherited large estates. He possessed excellent natural abilities, and +his mind was strengthened and adorned by culture and letters. Had his +modesty permitted him to appear as such, he would now be known as a +poet of genius and merit, for he wrote some poems and plays that were +much admired by all who were allowed to peruse them. He was married in +1763, on the day he completed his twenty-first year, to Marguerite +Justine d'Estrades, then only nineteen years of age, and whom he saw +for the first time in his life only six weeks before they became +husband and wife. Like most of the matches then made among the higher +classes in France, this was one of a purely mercenary character. The +father of the Marquis de Vermandois, and the father of Marguerite, as +a means of joining their estates, contracted their children without +deigning to consult the wishes of the parties, and obedience or +disinheritance was the only alternative. When the compact was +concluded, Marguerite was taken from the convent where for five years +she had lived as a boarder and scholar, and commenced her married life +and her course in the fashionable world at the same time. The match +was far more fortunate than such matches then generally proved to be. +Marguerite's husband was passionately attached to her, and that +attachment was returned. The Marquis was a friend of Baron d'Holbach, +and soon after his marriage introduced his wife to him. Among all the +beauties of Paris the Marchioness was one of the most lovely and +fascinating. Her features were remarkably beautiful, and the bloom and +clearness of her complexion were such as absolutely to render +necessary the old comparison of the rose and the lily to do them +justice. To these were added a voluptuous figure, agreeable manners, +the graces and vivacity of wit, and the still more enduring +attractions of good humor, purity, and benevolence. A female like her +could not but be dear to all who enjoyed her intimacy, and a strong +friendship sprang up between her and Baron d'Holbach. Greatly pleased +with him at first, Marguerite was afterwards as greatly shocked. When +their intercourse had become so familiar as to permit that frankness +and freedom of conversation which prevails among intimate friends, she +discovered that the Baron was an unbeliever in the Christian dogmas +which she had learned at the convent, where, in consequence of her +mother's death, she had been educated. She had been taught that an +Infidel was a monster in all respects, and she was astounded to find +unbelievers in men so agreeable in manners and person, and so profound +in learning, as d'Holbach, Diderot, d'Alembert, and others. She could +deny neither their goodness nor their intellectual qualities, and +while she admired the individuals she shuddered at their incredulity. +Especially did she mourn over Baron d'Holbach. He had a wife as +charming as herself, formerly the lovely Mademoiselle d'Aïne, whose +beautiful features and seductive figure presented + + "A combination, and a form, indeed, + Where every god did seem to set his seal." + +Nothing was more natural than that two such women should imbibe the +deepest tenderness for each other. But alas! the Baron's wife was +tainted with her husband's heresies; and yet in their home did the +Marchioness see all the domestic virtues exemplified, and beheld that +sweet harmony and unchangeable affection for which the d'Holbachs +were eminently distinguished among their acquaintances, and which was +remarkable from its striking contrast with the courtly and Christian +habits of the day. At a loss what to do, the Marchioness consulted her +confessor, and was advised to withdraw entirely from the society of +the Baron and his wife, unless she was willing to sacrifice all her +hopes of heaven, and to plunge headlong down to hell. Her natural good +sense and love of her friends struggled with her monastic education +and reverence for the priests. The conflict rendered her miserable; +and unable to enjoy happiness, she brooded over her wishes and her +terrors. In this state of mind she at length wrote a touching letter +to the Baron, and laid open her situation, requesting him to comfort, +console, and enlighten her. Such was the origin of the book now +presented in an English dress to the reader. It accomplished its +purpose with the Marchioness de Vermandois, and afterwards its author +concluded to publish the work, in hopes it might be equally useful to +others. + +The _Letters_ were _written_ in 1764, when d'Holbach was in the +forty-second year of his age. Twelve different works he had before +written and published, and all without the affix of his name. _Eleven_ +were upon mineralogy, the arts and the sciences, and _one_ only upon +theology. That _one_ had been secretly printed in 1761, at Nancy, with +the imprint of London, and was _honored_ with a parliamentary statute +condemning its publication and forbidding its sale or circulation. +Christian hatred bestowed upon it the additional honor of causing it +to be burned in the streets of Paris by the public executioner. But +the prudence of the author protected his life. He attributed the book +to a dead man, who had been known to entertain sceptical views. It was +entitled CHRISTIANITY UNVEILED, and bore on its title page the name of +BOULANGER. This was d'Holbach's first contribution to Infidel +literature, and the second similar work written by him was the LETTERS +TO EUGENIA. These were the preludes to more than a quarter of a +hundred different productions numbering among them such books as _Good +Sense_, _The System of Nature_, _Ecce Homo_, _Priests Unmasked_, &c., +&c., all printed anonymously or pseudonymously at his own expense, +without a possibility of pecuniary advantage, and with such +extraordinary secrecy as to show that he was actuated by no desire of +literary fame. It was love of truth alone that impelled d'Holbach to +write. Brilliant, profound, eloquent and excellent as were his +writings, attracting notice as they did from the civil and religious +powers, commented upon as they were by such men as Voltaire and +Frederick the Great, admired as they were by that class who felt and +combated the evils of tyranny as well as of religion, of kings as well +as of priests,--that class who almost drew their life from the books +of him and his compeers,--he was never seduced from the rule he +originally laid down for his literary conduct. + +A very few persons he was obliged to trust in order to get his +writings printed, and but for that fact Baron d'Holbach would now only +be known as a gentleman of great wealth, extensive benevolence, and +uncommon liberality, as a man of profound learning and agreeable +colloquial powers, as the bountiful friend of men of letters, as the +soother of the distressed, as the protector of the miserable, and as +the affectionate husband and father. So much of him we should have +known; but that he was the author of those books which roused +intolerant priests and corrupt magistrates, consistories and +parliaments, monarchs and philosophers, the people and their +oppressors,--that he was the Archimedes that thus moved the +world,--would not have been known had he not employed another +philosopher, by the name of Naigeon, to carry his manuscripts to +Amsterdam, and to direct their printing by Marc-Michel Rey. It was +Naigeon who carried the manuscript of the LETTERS TO EUGENIA to +Holland, together with a number of others by the same author, which +also appeared during the year 1768,--an eventful year in the history +of Infidel progress. The _Letters_ were carefully revised by d'Holbach +before they were sent to press. All the passages of a purely personal +character were omitted, some new matter was incorporated, and some +sentences were added purposely to keep the author and the lady he +addressed in impenetrable obscurity. To raise the veil from a man of +so much worth and genius, as well as to carry out his idea of doing +good, is one of the reasons which have led to the present preparation +and publication of this book. + + A. C. M. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + LETTER I. + + Of the Sources of Credulity, and of the Motives which should + lead to an Examination of Religion, Page 1 + + + LETTER II. + + Of the Ideas which Religion gives us of the Divinity, 29 + + + LETTER III. + + An Examination of the Holy Scriptures, of the Nature of the + Christian Religion, and of the Proofs upon which Christianity is + founded, 46 + + + LETTER IV. + + Of the fundamental Dogmas of the Christian Religion, 76 + + + LETTER V. + + Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of the Dogma of another + Life, 91 + + + LETTER VI. + + Of the Mysteries, Sacraments, and Religious Ceremonies of + Christianity, 120 + + + LETTER VII. + + Of the pious Rites, Prayers, and Austerities of Christianity, 136 + + + LETTER VIII. + + Of Evangelical Virtues and Christian Perfection, 154 + + + LETTER IX. + + Of the Advantages contributed to Government by Religion, 184 + + + LETTER X. + + Of the Advantages Religion confers on those who profess it, 211 + + + LETTER XI. + + Of Human or Natural Morality, 233 + + + LETTER XII. + + Of the small Consequence to be attached to Men's Speculations, + and the Indulgence which should be extended to them, 255 + + + + +LETTERS TO EUGENIA. + + + + +LETTER I. + + Of the Sources of Credulity, and of the Motives which should lead + to an Examination of Religion. + + +I am unable, Madam, to express the grievous sentiments that the +perusal of your letter produced in my bosom. Did not a rigorous duty +retain me where I am, you would see me flying to your succor. Is it, +then, true that Eugenia is miserable? Is even she tormented with +chagrin, scruples, and inquietudes? In the midst of opulence and +grandeur; assured of the tenderness and esteem of a husband who adores +you; enjoying at court the advantage, so rare, of being sincerely +beloved by every one; surrounded by friends who render sincere homage +to your talents, your knowledge, and your tastes,--how can you suffer +the pains of melancholy and sorrow? Your pure and virtuous soul can +surely know neither shame nor remorse. Always so far removed from the +weaknesses of your sex, on what account can you blush? Agreeably +occupied with your duties, refreshed with useful reading and +entertaining conversation, and having within your reach every +diversity of virtuous pleasures, how happens it that fears, distastes, +and cares come to assail a heart for which every thing should procure +contentment and peace? Alas! even if your letter had not confirmed it +but too much, from the trouble which agitates you I should have +recognized without difficulty the work of superstition. This fiend +alone possesses the power of disturbing honest souls, without calming +the passions of the corrupt; and when once she gains possession of a +heart, she has the ability to annihilate its repose forever. + +Yes, Madam, for a long time I have known the dangerous effects of +religious prejudices. I was myself formerly troubled with them. Like +you I have trembled under the yoke of religion; and if a careful and +deliberate examination had not fully undeceived me, instead of now +being in a state to console you and to reassure you against yourself, +you would see me at the present moment partaking your inquietudes, and +augmenting in your mind the lugubrious ideas with which I perceive you +to be tormented. Thanks to Reason and Philosophy, an unruffled +serenity long ago irradiated my understanding, and banished the +terrors with which I was formerly agitated. What happiness for me if +the peace which I enjoy should put it in my power to break the charm +which yet binds you with the chains of prejudice? + +Nevertheless, without your express orders, I should never have dared +to point out to you a mode of thinking widely different from your +own, nor to combat the dangerous opinions to which you have been +persuaded your happiness is attached. But for your request I should +have continued to enclose in my own breast opinions odious to the most +part of men accustomed to see nothing except by the eyes of judges +visibly interested in deceiving them. Now, however, a sacred duty +obliges me to speak. Eugenia, unquiet and alarmed, wishes me to +explore her heart; she needs assistance; she wishes to fix her ideas +upon an object which interests her repose and her felicity. I owe her +the truth. It would be a crime longer to preserve silence. Although my +attachment for her did not impose the necessity of responding to her +confidence, the love of truth would oblige me to make efforts to +dissipate the chimeras which render her unhappy. + +I shall proceed then, Madam, to address you with the most complete +frankness. Perhaps at the first glance my ideas may appear strange; +but on examining them with still further care and attention, they will +cease to shock you. Reason, good faith, and truth cannot do otherwise +than exert great influence over such an intellect as yours. I appeal, +therefore, from your alarmed imagination to your more tranquil +judgment; I appeal from custom and prejudice to reflection and reason. +Nature has given you a gentle and sensible soul, and has imparted an +exquisitely lively imagination, and a certain admixture of melancholy +which disposes to despondent revery. It is from this peculiar mental +constitution that arise the woes that now afflict you. Your goodness, +candor, and sincerity preclude your suspecting in others either fraud +or malignity. The gentleness of your character prevents your +contradicting notions that would appear revolting if you deigned to +examine them. You have chosen rather to defer to the judgment of +others, and to subscribe to their ideas, than to consult your own +reason and rely upon your own understanding. The vivacity of your +imagination causes you to embrace with avidity the dismal delineations +which are presented to you; certain men, interested in agitating your +mind, abuse your sensibility in order to produce alarm; they cause you +to shudder at the terrible words, _death_, _judgment_, _hell_, +_punishment_, and _eternity_; they lead you to turn pale at the very +name of an inflexible _judge_, whose absolute decrees nothing can +change; you fancy that you see around you those demons whom he has +made the ministers of his vengeance upon his weak creatures; thus is +your heart filled with affright; you fear that at every instant you +may offend, without being aware of it, a capricious God, always +threatening and always enraged. In consequence of such a state of +mind, all those moments of your life which should only be productive +of contentment and peace, are constantly poisoned by inquietudes, +scruples, and panic terrors, from which a soul as pure as yours ought +to be forever exempt. The agitation into which you are thrown by these +fatal ideas suspends the exercise of your faculties; your reason is +misled by a bewildered imagination, and you are afflicted with +perplexities, with despondency, and with suspicion of yourself. In +this manner you become the dupe of those men who, addressing the +imagination and stifling reason, long since subjugated the universe, +and have actually persuaded reasonable beings that their reason is +either useless or dangerous. + +Such is, Madam, the constant language of the apostles of superstition, +whose design has always been, and will always continue to be, to +destroy human reason in order to exercise their power with impunity +over mankind. Throughout the globe the perfidious ministers of +religion have been either the concealed or the declared enemies of +reason, because they always see reason opposed to their views. Every +where do they decry it, because they truly fear that it will destroy +their empire by discovering their conspiracies and the futility of +their fables. Every where upon its ruins they struggle to erect the +empire of fanaticism and imagination. To attain this end with more +certainty, they have unceasingly terrified mortals with hideous +paintings, have astonished and seduced them by marvels and mysteries, +embarrassed them by enigmas and uncertainties, surcharged them with +observances and ceremonies, filled their minds with terrors and +scruples, and fixed their eyes upon a future, which, far from +rendering them more virtuous and happy here below, has only turned +them from the path of true happiness, and destroyed it completely and +forever in their bosoms. + +Such are the artifices which the ministers of religion every where +employ to enslave the earth and to retain it under the yoke. The human +race, in all countries, has become the prey of the priests. The +priests have given the name of _religion_ to systems invented by them +to subjugate men, whose imagination they had seduced, whose +understanding they had confounded, and whose reason they had +endeavored to extinguish. + +It is especially in infancy that the human mind is disposed to receive +whatever impression is made upon it. Thus our priests have prudently +seized upon the youth to inspire them with ideas that they could never +impose upon adults. It is during the most tender and susceptible age +of men that the priests have familiarized the understanding of our +race with monstrous fables, with extravagant and disjointed fancies, +and with ridiculous chimeras, which, by degrees, become objects that +are respected and that are feared during life. + +We need only open our eyes to see the unworthy means employed by +_sacerdotal policy_ to stifle the dawning reason of men. During their +infancy they are taught tales which are ridiculous, impertinent, +contradictory, and criminal, and to these they are enjoined to pay +respect. They are gradually impregnated with inconceivable mysteries +that are announced as sacred truths, and they are accustomed to +contemplate phantoms before which they habitually tremble. In a word, +measures are taken which are the best calculated to render those +blind who do not consult their reason, and to render those base who +constantly shudder whenever they recall the ideas with which their +priests infected their minds at an age when they were unable to guard +against such snares. + +Recall to mind, Madam, the dangerous cares which were taken in the +convent where you were educated, to sow in your mind the germs of +those inquietudes that now afflict you. It was there that they began +to speak to you of fables, prodigies, mysteries, and doctrines that +you actually revere, while, if these things were announced to-day for +the first time, you would regard them as ridiculous, and as entirely +unworthy of attention. I have often witnessed your laughter at the +simplicity with which you formerly credited those tales of sorcerers +and ghosts, that, during your childhood, were related by the nuns who +had charge of your education. When you entered society where for a +long time such chimeras have been disbelieved, you were insensibly +undeceived, and at present you blush at your former credulity. Why +have you not the courage to laugh, in a similar manner, at an infinity +of other chimeras with no better foundation, which torment you even +yet, and which only appear more respectable, because you have not +dared to examine them with your own eyes, or because you see them +respected by a public who have never explored them? If my Eugenia is +enlightened and reasonable upon all other topics, why does she +renounce her understanding and her judgment whenever religion is in +question? In the mean time, at this redoubtable word her soul is +disturbed, her strength abandons her, her ordinary penetration is at +fault, her imagination wanders, she only sees through a cloud, she is +unquiet and afflicted. On the watch against reason, she dares not call +that to her assistance. She persuades herself that the best course for +her to take is to allow herself to follow the opinions of a multitude +who never examine, and who always suffer themselves to be conducted by +blind or deceitful guides. + +To reëstablish peace in your mind, dear Madam, cease to despise +yourself; entertain a just confidence in your own powers of mind, and +feel no chagrin at finding yourself infected with a general and +involuntary epidemic from which it did not depend on you to escape. +The good Abbé de St. Pierre had reason when he said that _devotion was +the small pox of the soul_. I will add that it is rare the disease +does not leave its pits for life. Indeed, see how often the most +enlightened persons persist forever in the prejudices of their +infancy! These notions are so early inculcated, and so many +precautions are continually taken to render them durable, that if any +thing may reasonably surprise us, it is to see any one have the +ability to rise superior to such influences. The most sublime geniuses +are often the playthings of superstition. The heat of their +imagination sometimes only serves to lead them the farther astray, and +to attach them to opinions which would cause them to blush did they +but consult their reason. Pascal constantly imagined that he saw hell +yawning under his feet; Mallebranche was extravagantly credulous; +Hobbes had a great terror of phantoms and demons;[3] and the immortal +Newton wrote a ridiculous commentary on the vials and visions of the +Apocalypse. In a word, every thing proves that there is nothing more +difficult than to efface the notions with which we are imbued during +our infancy. The most sensible persons, and those who reason with the +most correctness upon every other matter, relapse into their infancy +whenever religion is in question. + +[3] On this subject see Bayle's _Dict. Crit._, art. _Hobbes_, Rem. N. + +Thus, Madam, you need not blush for a weakness which you hold in +common with almost all the world, and from which the greatest men are +not always exempt. Let your courage then revive, and fear not to +examine with perfect composure the phantoms which alarm you. In a +matter which so greatly interests your repose, consult that +enlightened reason which places you as much above the vulgar, as it +elevates the human species above the other animals. Far from being +suspicious of your own understanding and intellectual faculties, turn +your just suspicion against those men, far less enlightened and honest +than you, who, to vanquish you, only address themselves to your lively +imagination; who have the cruelty to disturb the serenity of your +soul; who, under the pretext of attaching you only to heaven, insist +that you must sunder the most tender and endearing ties; and in fine, +who oblige you to proscribe the use of that beneficent reason whose +light guides your conduct so judiciously and so safely. + +Leave inquietude and remorse to those corrupt women who have cause to +reproach themselves, or who have crimes to expiate. Leave superstition +to those silly and ignorant females whose narrow minds are incapable +of reasoning or reflection. Abandon the futile and trivial ceremonies +of an objectionable devotion to those idle and peevish women, for +whom, as soon as the transient reign of their personal charms is +finished, there remains no rational relaxation to fill the void of +their days, and who seek by slander and treachery to console +themselves for the loss of pleasures which they can no longer enjoy. +Resist that inclination which seems to impel you to gloomy meditation, +solitude, and melancholy. Devotion is only suited to inert and +listless souls, while yours is formed for action. You should pursue +the course I recommend for the sake of your husband, whose happiness +depends upon you; you owe it to the children, who will soon, +undoubtedly, need all your care and all your instructions for the +guidance of their hearts and understandings; you owe it to the friends +who honor you, and who will value your society when the beauty which +now adorns your person and the voluptuousness which graces your figure +have yielded to the inroads of time; you owe it to the circle in which +you move, and to the world which has a right to your example, +possessing as you do virtues that are far more rare to persons of your +rank than devotion. In fine, you owe happiness to yourself; for, +notwithstanding the promises of religion, you will never find +happiness in those agitations into which I perceive you cast by the +lurid ideas of superstition. In this path you will only encounter +doleful chimeras, frightful phantoms, embarrassments without end, +crushing uncertainties, inexplicable enigmas, and dangerous reveries, +which are only calculated to disturb your repose, to deprive you of +happiness, and to render you incapable of occupying yourself with that +of others. It is very difficult to make those around us happy when we +are ourselves miserable and deprived of peace. + +If you will even slightly make observations upon those about you, you +will find abundant proofs of what I advance. The most religious +persons are rarely the most amiable or the most social. Even the most +sincere devotion, by subjecting those who embrace it to wearisome and +crippling ceremonies, by occupying their imaginations with lugubrious +and afflicting objects, by exciting their zeal, is but little +calculated to give to devotees that equality of temper, that sweetness +of an indulgent disposition, and that amenity of character, which +constitute the greatest charms of personal intercourse. A thousand +examples might be adduced to convince you that devotees who are the +most occupied in superstitious observances to please God are not +those women who succeed best in pleasing those by whom they are +surrounded. If there seems to be occasionally an exception to this +rule, it is on the part of those who have not all the zeal and fervor +which is exacted by their religion. Devotion is either a morose and +melancholy passion, or it is a violent and obstinate enthusiasm. +Religion imposes an exclusive and entire regard upon its slaves. All +that an acceptable Christian gives to a fellow-creature is a robbery +from the Creator. A soul filled with religious fervor fears to attach +itself to things of the earth, lest it should lose sight of its +jealous God, who wishes to engross constant attention, who lays it +down as a duty to his creatures that they should sacrifice to him +their most agreeable and most innocent inclinations, and who orders +that they should render themselves miserable here below, under the +idea of pleasing him. In accordance with such principles, we generally +see devotees executing with much fidelity the duty of tormenting +themselves and disturbing the repose of others. They actually believe +they acquire great merit with the Sovereign of heaven by rendering +themselves perfectly useless, or even a scourge to the inhabitants of +the earth. + +I am aware, Madam, that devotion in you does not produce effects +injurious to others; but I fear that it is only more injurious to +yourself. The goodness of your heart, the sweetness of your +disposition, and the beneficence which displays itself in all your +conduct, are all so great that even religion does not impel you to +any dangerous excesses. Nevertheless, devotion often causes strange +metamorphoses. Unquiet, agitated, miserable within yourself, it is to +be feared that your temperament will change, that your disposition +will become acrimonious, and that the vexatious ideas over which you +have so long brooded will sooner or later produce a disastrous +influence upon those who approach you. Does not experience constantly +show us that religion effects changes of this kind? What are called +_conversions_, what devotees regard as special acts of divine grace, +are very often only lamentable revolutions by which real vices and +odious qualities are substituted for amiable and useful +characteristics. By a deplorable consequence of these pretended +miracles of grace we frequently see sorrow succeed to enjoyment, a +gloomy and unhappy state to one of innocent gayety, lassitude and +chagrin to activity and hilarity, and slander, intolerance, and zeal +to indulgence and gentleness; nay, what do I say? cruelty itself to +humanity. In a word, superstition is a dangerous leaven, that is +fitted to corrupt even the most honest hearts. + +Do you not see, in fact, the excesses to which fanaticism and zeal +drive the wisest and best meaning men? Princes, magistrates, and +judges become inhuman and pitiless as soon as there is a question of +the interests of religion. Men of the gentlest disposition, the most +indulgent, and the most equitable, upon every other matter, religion +transforms to ferocious beasts. The most feeling and compassionate +persons believe themselves in conscience obliged to harden their +hearts, to do violence to their better instincts, and to stifle +nature, in order to show themselves cruel to those who are denounced +as enemies to their own manner of thinking. Recall to your mind, +Madam, the cruelties of nations and governments in alternate +persecutions of Catholics or Protestants, as either happened to be in +the ascendant. Can you find reason, equity, or humanity in the +vexations, imprisonments, and exiles that in our days are inflicted +upon the Jansenists? And these last, if ever they should attain in +their turn the power requisite for persecution, would not probably +treat their adversaries with more moderation or justice. Do you not +daily see individuals who pique themselves upon their sensibility +unblushingly express the joy they would feel at the extermination of +persons to whom they believe they owe neither benevolence nor +indulgence, and whose only crime is a disdain for prejudices that the +vulgar regard as sacred, or that an erroneous and false policy +considers useful to the state? Superstition has so greatly stifled all +sense of humanity in many persons otherwise truly estimable, that they +have no compunctions at sacrificing the most enlightened men of the +nation because they could not be the most credulous or the most +submissive to the authority of the priests. + +In a word, devotion is only calculated to fill the heart with a bitter +rancor, that banishes peace and harmony from society. In the matter +of religion, every one believes himself obliged to show more or less +ardor and zeal. Have I not often seen you uncertain yourself whether +you ought to sigh or smile at the self-depreciation of devotees +ridiculously inflamed by that religious vanity which grows out of +sectarian conventionalities? You also see them participating in +theological quarrels, in which, without comprehending their nature or +purport, they believe themselves conscientiously obliged to mingle. I +have a hundred times seen you astounded with their clamors, indignant +at their animosity, scandalized at their cabals, and filled with +disdain at their obstinate ignorance. Yet nothing is more natural than +these outbreaks; ignorance has always been the mother of devotion. To +be a devotee has always been synonymous to having an imbecile +confidence in priests. It is to receive all impulsions from them; it +is to think and act only according to them; it is blindly to adopt +their passions and prejudices; it is faithfully to fulfil practices +which their caprice imposes. + +Eugenia is not formed to follow such guides. They would terminate by +leading her widely astray, by dazzling her vivid imagination, by +infecting her gentle and amiable disposition with a deadly poison. To +master with more certainty her understanding, they would render her +austere, intolerant, and vindictive. In a word, by the magical power +of superstition and supernatural notions, they would succeed, perhaps, +in transforming to vices those happy dispositions that nature has +given you. Believe me, Madam, you would gain nothing by such a +metamorphosis. Rather be what you really are. Extricate yourself as +soon as possible from that state of incertitude and languor, from that +alternative of despondency and trouble, in which you are immersed. If +you will only take your reason and virtue for guides, you will soon +break the fetters whose dangerous effects you have begun to feel. + +Assume the courage, then, I repeat it, to examine for yourself this +religion, which, far from procuring you the happiness it promised, +will only prove an inexhaustible source of inquietudes and alarms, and +which will deprive you, sooner or later, of those rare qualities which +render you so dear to society. Your interest exacts that you should +render peace to your mind. It is your duty carefully to preserve that +sweetness of temper, that indulgence, and that cheerfulness, by which +you are so much endeared to all those who approach you. You owe +happiness to yourself, and you owe it to those who surround you. Do +not, then, abandon yourself to superstitious reveries, but collect all +the strength of your judgment to combat the chimeras which torment +your imagination. They will disappear as soon as you have considered +them with your ordinary sagacity. + +Do not tell me, Madam, that your understanding is too weak to sound +the depths of theology. Do not tell me, in the language of our +priests, that the truths of religion are mysteries that we must adopt +without comprehending them, and that it is necessary to adore in +silence. By expressing themselves in this manner, do you not see they +really proscribe and condemn the very religion to which they are so +solicitous you should adhere? Whatever is supernatural is unsuited to +man, and whatever is beyond his comprehension ought not to occupy his +attention. To adore what we are not able to know, is to adore nothing. +To believe in what we cannot conceive, is to believe in nothing. To +admit without examination every thing we are directed to admit, is to +be basely and stupidly credulous. To say that religion is above +reason, is to recognize the fact that it was not made for reasonable +beings; it is to avow that those who teach it have no more ability to +fathom its depths than ourselves; it is to confess that our reverend +doctors do not themselves understand the marvels with which they daily +entertain us. + +If the truths of religion were, as they assure us, necessary to all +men, they would be clear and intelligible to all men. If the dogmas +which this religion teaches were as important as it is asserted, they +would not only be within the comprehension of the doctors who preach +them, but of all those who hear their lessons. Is it not strange that +the very persons whose profession it is to furnish themselves with +religions knowledge, in order to impart it to others, should recognize +their own dogmas as beyond their own understanding, and that they +should obstinately inculcate to the people what they acknowledge they +do not comprehend themselves? Should we have much confidence in a +physician, who, after confessing that he was utterly ignorant of his +art, should nevertheless boast of the excellence of his remedies? +This, however, is the constant practice of our spiritual quacks. By a +strange fatality, the most sensible people consent to be the dupes of +these empirics who are perpetually obliged to avow their own profound +ignorance. + +But if the mysteries of religion are incomprehensible for even those +who inculcate it,--if among those who profess it there is no one who +knows precisely what he believes, or who can give an account of either +his conduct or belief,--this is not so in regard to the difficulties +with which we oppose this religion. These objections are simple, +within the comprehension of all persons of ordinary ability, and +capable of convincing every man who, renouncing the prejudices of his +infancy, will deign to consult the good sense that nature has bestowed +upon all beings of the human race. + +For a long period of time, subtle theologians have, without +relaxation, been occupied in warding off the attacks of the +incredulous, and in repairing the breaches made in the ruinous edifice +of religion by adversaries who combated under the flag of reason. In +all times there have been people who felt the futility of the titles +upon which the priests have arrogated the right of enslaving the +understandings of men, and of subjugating and despoiling nations. +Notwithstanding all the efforts of the interested and frequently +hypocritical men who have taken up the defence of religion, from which +they and their confederates alone are profited, these apologists have +never been able to vindicate successfully their _divine_ system +against the attacks of incredulity. Without cessation they have +replied to the objections which have been made, but never have they +refuted or annihilated them. Almost in every instance the defenders of +Christianity have been sustained by oppressive laws on the part of the +government; and it has only been by injuries, by declamations, by +punishments and persecutions, that they have replied to the +allegations of reason. It is in this manner that they have apparently +remained masters of the field of battle which their adversaries could +not openly contest. Yet, in spite of the disadvantages of a combat so +unequal, and although the partisans of religion were accoutred with +every possible weapon, and could show themselves openly, in accordance +with _law_, while their adversaries had no arms but those of reason, +and could not appear personally but at the peril of fines, +imprisonment, torture, and death, and were restricted from bringing +all their arsenal into service, yet they have inflicted profound, +immedicable, and incurable wounds upon superstition. Still, if we +believe the mercenaries of religion, the excellence of their system +makes it absolutely invulnerable to every blow which can be inflicted +upon it; and they pretend they have a thousand times in a victorious +manner answered the objections which are continually renewed against +them. In spite of this great security, we see them excessively alarmed +every time a new combatant presents himself, and the latter may well +and successfully use the most common objections, and those which have +most frequently been urged, since it is evident that up to the present +moment the arguments have never been obviated or opposed with +satisfactory replies. To convince you, Madam, of what I here advance, +you need only compare the most simple and ordinary difficulties which +good sense opposes to religion, with the pretended solutions that have +been given. You will perceive that the difficulties, evident even to +the capacities of a child, have never been removed by divines the most +practised in dialectics. You will find in their replies only subtle +distinctions, metaphysical subterfuges, unintelligible verbiage, which +can never be the language of truth, and which demonstrates the +embarrassment, the impotence, and the bad faith of those who are +interested by their position in sustaining a desperate cause. In a +word, the difficulties which have been urged against religion are +clear, and within the comprehension of every one, while the answers +which have been given are obscure, entangled, and far from +satisfactory, even to persons most versed in such jargon, and plainly +indicating that the authors of these replies do not themselves +understand what they say. + +If you consult the clergy, they will not fail to set forth the +antiquity of their doctrine, which has always maintained itself, +notwithstanding the continual attacks of the Heretics, the Mecreans, +and the Impious generally, and also in spite of the persecutions of +the Pagans. You have, Madam, too much good sense not to perceive at +once that the antiquity of an opinion proves nothing in its favor. If +antiquity was a proof of truth, Christianity must yield to Judaism, +and that in its turn to the religion of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, +or, in other words, to the idolatry which was greatly anterior to +Moses. For thousands of years it was universally believed that the sun +revolved round the earth, which remained immovable; and yet it is not +the less true that the sun is fixed, and the earth moves around that. +Besides, it is evident that the Christianity of to-day is not what it +formerly was. The continual attacks that this religion has suffered +from heretics, commencing with its earliest history, proves that there +never could have existed any harmony between the partisans of a +pretended divine system, which offended all rules of consistency and +logic in its very first principles. Some parts of this celestial +system were always denied by devotees who admitted other parts. If +infidels have often attacked religion without apparent effect, it is +because the best reasons become useless against the blindness of a +superstition sustained by the public authority, or against the torrent +of opinion and custom which sways the minds of most men. With regard +to the persecutions which the church suffered on the part of the +pagans, he is but slightly acquainted with the effects of fanaticism +and religious obstinacy who does not perceive that tyranny is +calculated to excite and extend what it persecutes most violently. + +You are not formed to be the dupe of names and authorities. The +defenders of the popular superstition will endeavor to overwhelm you +by the multiplied testimony of many illustrious and learned men, who +not only admitted the Christian religion, but who were also its most +zealous supporters. They will adduce holy divines, great philosophers, +powerful reasoners, fathers of the church, and learned interpreters, +who have successively advocated the system. I will not contest the +understanding of the learned men who are cited, which, however, was +often faulty, but will content myself with repeating that frequently +the greatest geniuses are not more clear sighted in matters of +religion than the people themselves. They did not examine the +religious opinions they taught; it may be because they regarded them +as sacred, or it may be because they never went back to first +principles, which they would have found altogether unsound, if they +had considered them without prejudice. It may also have happened +because they were interested in defending a cause with which their own +position was allied. Thus their testimony is exceptionable, and their +authority carries no great weight. + +With regard to the interpreters and commentators, who for so many +ages have painfully toiled to elucidate the divine laws, to explain +the sacred books, and to fix the dogmas of Christianity, their very +labors ought to inspire us with suspicion concerning a religion which +is founded upon such books and which preaches such dogmas. They prove +that works emanating from the Supreme Being are obscure, +unintelligible, and need human assistance in order to be understood by +those to whom the Divinity wished to reveal his will. The laws of a +wise God would be simple and clear. Defective laws alone need +interpreters. + +It is not, then, Madam, upon these interpreters that you should rely; +it is upon yourself; it is your own reason that you should consult. It +is _your_ happiness, it is _your_ repose, that is in question; and +these objects are too serious to allow their decision to be delegated +to any others than yourself. If religion is as important as we are +assured, it undoubtedly merits the greatest attention. If it is upon +this religion that depends the happiness of men both in this world and +in another, there is no subject which interests us so strongly, and +which consequently demands a more thorough, careful, and considerate +examination. Can there be any thing, then, more strange than the +conduct of the great majority of men? Entirely convinced of the +necessity and importance of religion, they still never give themselves +the trouble to examine it thoroughly; they follow it in a spirit of +routine and from habit; they never give any reason for its dogmas; +they revere it, they submit to it, and they groan under its weight, +without ever inquiring wherefore. In fine, they rely upon others to +examine it; and they whose judgment they so blindly receive are +precisely those persons upon whose opinions they should look with the +most suspicion. The priests arrogate the possession of judging +exclusively and without appeal of a system evidently invented for +their own utility. And what is the language of these priests? Visibly +interested in maintaining the received opinions, they exhibit them as +necessary to the public good, as useful and consoling for us all, as +intimately connected with morality, as indispensable to society, and, +in a word, as of the very greatest importance. After having thus +prepossessed our minds, they next prohibit our examining the things so +important to be known. What must be thought of such conduct? You can +only conclude that they desire to deceive you, that they fear +examination only because religion cannot sustain it, and that they +dread reason because it is able to unveil the incalculably dangerous +projects of the priesthood against the human race. + +For these reasons, Madam, as I cannot too often repeat, examine for +yourself; make use of your own understanding; seek the truth in the +sincerity of your heart; reduce prejudice to silence; throw off the +base servitude of custom; be suspicious of imagination; and with these +precautions, in good faith with yourself, you can weigh with an +impartial hand the various opinions concerning religion. From +whatever source an opinion may come, acquiesce only in that which +shall be convincing to your understanding, satisfactory to your heart, +conformable to a healthy morality, and approved by virtue. Reject with +disdain whatever shocks your reason, and repulse with horror those +notions so criminal and injurious to morality which religion endeavors +to palm off for supernatural and divine virtues. + +What do I say? Amiable and wise Eugenia, examine rigorously the ideas +that, by your own desire, I shall hereafter present you. Let not your +confidence in me, or your deference to my weak understanding, blind +you in regard to my opinions. I submit them to your judgment. Discuss +them, combat them, and never give them your assent until you are +convinced that in them you recognize the truth. My sentiments are +neither divine oracles nor theological opinions which it is not +permitted to canvass. If what I say is true, adopt my ideas. If I am +deceived, point out my errors, and I am ready to recognize them and to +subscribe my own condemnation. It will be very pleasant, Madam, to +learn truths of you which, up to the present time, I have vainly +sought in the writings of our divines. If I have at this moment any +advantage over you, it is due entirely to that tranquillity which I +enjoy, and of which at present you are unhappily deprived. The +agitations of your mind, the inquietudes of your body, and the +attacks of an exacting and ceremonious devotion, with which your soul +is perplexed, prevent you, for the moment, from seeing things coolly, +and hinder you from making use of your own understanding; but I have +no doubt that soon your intellect, strengthened by reason against vain +chimeras, will regain its natural vigor and the superiority which +belongs to it. In awaiting this moment that I foresee and so much +desire, I shall esteem myself extremely happy if my reflections shall +contribute to render you that tranquillity of spirit so necessary to +judge wisely of things, and without which there can be no true +happiness. + +I perceive, Madam, though rather tardily, the length of this letter; +but I hope you will pardon it, as well as my frankness. They will at +least prove the lively interest I take in your painful situation, the +sincere desire I feel to bring it to a termination, and the strong +inclination which actuates me to restore you to your accustomed +serenity. Less pressing motives would never have been sufficient to +make me break silence. Your own positive orders were necessary to lead +me to speak of objects which, once thoroughly examined, give no +uneasiness to a healthy mind. It has been a law with me never to +explain myself upon the subject of religion. Experience has often +convinced me that the most useless of enterprises is to seek to +undeceive a prejudiced mind. I was very far from believing that I +ought ever to write upon these subjects. You alone, Madam, had the +power to conquer my indolence, and to impel me to change my +resolution. Eugenia afflicted, tormented with scruples, and ready to +plunge herself into gloomy austerities and superstitions, calculated +to render her unamiable to others, without contributing happiness to +herself, honored me with her confidence, and requested counsel of her +friend. She exacted that I should speak. "It is enough," I said; "let +me write for Eugenia; let me endeavor to restore the repose she has +lost; let me labor with ardor for her upon whose happiness that of so +many others is dependent." + +Such, Madam, are the motives which induce me to take my pen in hand. +In looking forward to the time when you will be undeceived, I shall +dare at least to flatter myself that you will not regard me with the +same eyes with which priests and devotees look upon every one who has +the temerity to contradict their ideas. To believe them, every man who +declares himself against religion is a bad citizen, a madman armed to +justify his passions, a perturbator of the public repose, and an enemy +of his fellow-citizens, that cannot be punished with too much rigor. +My conduct is known to you; and the confidence with which you honor me +is sufficient for my apology. It is for you alone that I write. It is +to dissipate the clouds that obscure your mental horizon that I +communicate reflections which, but for reasons so pressing, I should +have always enclosed in my own bosom. If by chance they shall +hereafter fall into other hands than yours, and be found of some +utility, I shall felicitate myself for having contributed to the +establishment of happiness by leading back to reason minds which had +wandered from it, by making truth to be felt and known, and by +unmasking impostures which have caused so many misfortunes upon the +earth. + +In a word, I submit my reasoning to your judgment, I confide fully in +your discretion, and I allow myself to conclude that my ideas, after +you are disabused of the vain terrors with which you are now +oppressed, will fully convince you that this religion, which is +exhibited to men as a concern the most important, the most true, the +most interesting, and the most useful, is only a tissue of +absurdities, is calculated to confound reason, to disturb the +understanding, and can be advantageous to none save those who make use +of it to govern the human race. I shall acknowledge myself in the +wrong if I do not prove, in the clearest manner, that religion is +false, useless, and dangerous, and that morality, in its stead, should +occupy the spirits and animate the souls of all men. + +I shall enter more particularly into the subject in my next letter. I +shall go back to first principles, and in the course of this +correspondence I flatter myself I shall completely demonstrate that +these objects, which theology endeavors to render intricate, and to +envelop with clouds, in order to make them more respectable and +sacred, are not only entirely susceptible of being understood by you, +but that they are likewise within the comprehension of every one who +possesses even an ordinary share of good sense. If my frankness shall +appear too undisguised, I beg you to consider, Madam, that it is +necessary I should address you explicitly and clearly. I now consider +it my duty to administer an energetic and prompt remedy for the malady +with which I perceive you to be attacked. Besides, I venture to hope +that in a short time you will feel gratified that I have shown you the +truth in all its integrity and brilliancy. You will pardon me for +having dissipated the unreal and yet harassing phantoms which infested +your mind. But let my success be what it may, my efforts to confer +tranquillity upon you will at least be evidences of the interest I +take in your happiness, of my zeal to serve you, and of the respect +with which I am your sincere and attached friend. + + + + +LETTER II. + + Of the Ideas which Religion gives us of the Divinity. + + +Every religion is a system of opinions and conduct founded upon the +notions, true or false, that we entertain of the Divinity. To judge of +the truth of any system, it is requisite to examine its principles, to +see if they accord, and to satisfy ourselves whether all its parts +lend a mutual support to each other. A religion, to be _true_, should +give us _true_ ideas of God; and it is by our reason alone that we are +able to decide whether what theology asserts concerning this being and +his attributes is true or otherwise. Truth for men is only conformity +to reason; and thus the same reason which the clergy proscribe is, in +the last resort, our only means of judging the system that religion +proposes for our assent. That God can only be the true God who is most +conformable to our reason, and the true worship can be no other than +that which reason approves. + +Religion is only important in accordance with the advantages it +bestows upon mankind. The best religion must be that which procures +its disciples the most real, the most extensive, and the most durable +advantages. A false religion must necessarily bestow upon those who +practise it only a false, chimerical, and transient utility. Reason +must be the judge whether the benefits derived are real or imaginary. +Thus, as we constantly see, it belongs to reason to decide whether a +religion, a mode of worship, or a system of conduct is advantageous or +injurious to the human race. + +It is in accordance with these incontestable principles that I shall +examine the religion of the Christians. I shall commence by analyzing +the ideas which their system gives us of the Divinity, which it boasts +of presenting to us in a more perfect manner than all other religions +in the world. I shall examine whether these ideas accord with each +other, whether the dogmas taught by this religion are conformable to +those fundamental principles which are every where acknowledged, +whether they are consonant with them, and whether the conduct which +Christianity prescribes answers to the notions which itself gives us +of the Divinity. I shall conclude the inquiry by investigating the +advantages that the Christian religion procures the human +race--advantages, according to its partisans, that infinitely surpass +those which result from all the other religions of the earth. + +The Christian religion, as the basis of its belief, sets forth an only +God, which it defines as a pure spirit, as an eternal intelligence, as +independent and immutable, who has infinite power, who is the cause of +all things, who foresees all things, who fills immensity, who created +from nothing the world and all it encloses, and who preserves and +governs it according to the laws of his infinite wisdom, and the +perfections of his infinite goodness and justice, which are all so +evident in his works. + +Such are the ideas that Christianity gives us of the Divinity. Let us +now see whether they accord with the other notions presented to us by +this religious system, and which it pretends were revealed by God +himself; or, in other words, that these truths were received directly +from the Deity, who concealed them from the remainder of mankind, and +deprived them of a knowledge of his essence. Thus the Christian +religion is founded upon a special revelation. And to whom was the +revelation made? At first to Abraham, and then to his posterity. The +God of the universe, then, the Father of all men, was only willing to +be known to the descendants of a Chaldean, who for a long series of +years were the exclusive possessors of the knowledge of the true God. +By an effect of his special kindness, the Jewish people was for a long +time the only race favored with a revelation equally necessary for all +men. This was the only people which understood the relations between +man and the Supreme Being. All other nations wandered in darkness, or +possessed no ideas of the Sovereign of nature but such as were crude, +ridiculous, or criminal. + +Thus, at the very first step, do we not see that Christianity impairs +the goodness and justice of its God? A revelation to a particular +people only announces a partial God, who favors a portion of his +children, to the prejudice of all the others; who consults only his +caprice, and not real merit; who, incapable of conferring happiness +upon all men, shows his tenderness solely to some individuals, who +have, however, no titles upon his consideration not possessed by the +others. What would you say of a father who, placed at the head of a +numerous family, had no eyes but for a single one of his children, and +who never allowed himself to be seen by any of them except that +favored one? What would you say if he was displeased with the rest for +not being acquainted with his features, notwithstanding he would never +allow them to approach his person? Would you not accuse such a father +of caprice, cruelty, folly, and a want of reason, if he visited with +his anger the children whom he had himself excluded from his presence? +Would you not impute to him an injustice of which none but the most +brutal of our species could be guilty if he actually punished them for +not having executed orders which he was never pleased to give them? + +Conclude, then, with me, Madam, that the revelation of a religion to +only a single tribe or nation sets forth a God neither good, +impartial, nor equitable, but an unjust and capricious tyrant, who, +though he may show kindness and preference to some of his creatures, +at any rate acts with the greatest cruelty towards all the others. +This admitted, revelation does not prove the goodness, but the caprice +and partiality of the God that religion represents to us as full of +sagacity, benevolence, and equity, and that it describes as the common +father of all the inhabitants of the earth. If the interest and +self-love of those whom he favors makes them admire the profound views +of a God because he has loaded them with benefits to the prejudice of +their brethren, he must appear very unjust, on the other hand, to all +those who are the victims of his partiality. A hateful pride alone +could induce a few persons to believe that they were, to the exclusion +of all others, the cherished children of Providence. Blinded by their +vanity, they do not perceive that it is to give the lie to universal +and infinite goodness to suppose that God was capable of favoring with +his preference some men or nations, to the exclusion of others. All +ought to be equal in his eyes if it is true they are all equally the +work of his hands. + +It is, nevertheless, upon partial revelations that are founded all the +religions of the world. In the same manner that every individual +believes himself the most important being in the universe, every +nation entertains the idea that it ought to enjoy the peculiar +tenderness of the Sovereign of nature, to the exclusion of all the +others. If the inhabitants of Hindostan imagine that it was for them +alone that Brama spoke, the Jews and the Christians have persuaded +themselves that it was only for them that the world was created, and +that it is solely for them that God was revealed. + +But let us suppose for a moment that God has really made himself +known. How could a pure spirit render himself sensible? What form did +he take? Of what material organs did he make use in order to speak? +How can an infinite Being communicate with those which are finite? I +may be assured that, to accommodate himself to the weakness of his +creatures, he made use of the agency of some chosen men to announce +his wishes to all the rest, and that he filled these agents with his +spirit, and spoke by their mouths. But can we possibly conceive that +an infinite Being could unite himself with the finite nature of man? +How can I be certain that he who professes to be inspired by the +Divinity does not promulgate his own reveries or impostures as the +oracles of heaven? What means have I of recognizing whether God really +speaks by his voice? The immediate reply will be, that God, to give +weight to the declarations of those whom he has chosen to be his +interpreters, endowed them with a portion of his own omnipotence, and +that they wrought miracles to prove their divine mission. + +I therefore inquire, What is a miracle? I am told that it is an +operation contrary to the laws of nature, which God himself has fixed; +to which I reply, that, according to the ideas I have formed of the +divine wisdom, it appears to me impossible that an immutable God can +change the wise laws which he himself has established. I thence +conclude that miracles are impossible, seeing they are incompatible +with our ideas of the wisdom and immutability of the Creator of the +universe. Besides, these miracles would be useless to God. If he be +omnipotent, can he not modify the minds of his creatures according to +his own will? + +To convince and to persuade them, he has only to will that they shall +be convinced and persuaded. He has only to tell them things that are +clear and sensible, things that may be demonstrated; and to evidence +of such a kind they will not fail to give their assent. To do this, he +will have no need either of miracles or interpreters; truth alone is +sufficient to win mankind. + +Supposing, nevertheless, the utility and possibility of these +miracles, how shall I ascertain whether the wonderful operation which +I see performed by the interpreter of the Deity be conformable or +contrary to the laws of nature? Am I acquainted with all these laws? +May not he who speaks to me in the name of the Lord execute by natural +means, though to me unknown, those works which appear altogether +extraordinary? How shall I assure myself that he does not deceive me? +Does not my ignorance of the secrets and shifts of his art expose me +to be the dupe of an able impostor, who might make use of the name of +God to inspire me with respect, and to screen his deception? Thus his +pretended miracles ought to make me suspect him, even though I were a +witness of them; but how would the case stand, were these miracles +said to have been performed some thousands of years before my +existence? I shall be told that they were attested by a multitude of +witnesses; but if I cannot trust to myself when a miracle is +performing, how shall I have confidence in others, who may be either +more ignorant or more stupid than myself, or who perhaps thought +themselves interested in supporting by their testimony tales entirely +destitute of reality? + +If, on the contrary, I admit these miracles, what do they prove to me? +Will they furnish me with a belief that God has made use of his +omnipotence to convince me of things which are in direct opposition +to the ideas I have formed of his essence, his nature, and his divine +perfections? If I be persuaded that God is immutable, a miracle will +not force me to believe that he is subject to change. If I be +convinced that God is just and good, a miracle will never be +sufficient to persuade me that he is unjust and wicked. If I possess +an idea of his wisdom, all the miracles in the world would not +persuade me that God would act like a madman. Shall I be told that he +would consent to perform miracles that destroy his divinity, or that +are proper only to erase from the minds of men the ideas which they +ought to entertain of his infinite perfections? This, however, is what +would happen were God himself to perform, or to grant the power of +performing, miracles in favor of a particular revelation. He would, in +that case, derange the course of nature, to teach the world that he is +capricious, partial, unjust, and cruel; he would make use of his +omnipotence purposely to convince us that his goodness was +insufficient for the welfare of his creatures; he would make a vain +parade of his power, to hide his inability to convince mankind by a +single act of his will. In short, he would interfere with the eternal +and immutable laws of nature, to show us that he is subject to change, +and to announce to mankind some important news, which they had +hitherto been destitute of, notwithstanding all his goodness. + +Thus, under whatever point of view we regard revelation, by whatever +miracles we may suppose it attested, it will always be in +contradiction to the ideas we have of the Deity. They will show us +that he acts in an unjust and an arbitrary manner, consulting only his +own whims in the favors he bestows, and continually changing his +conduct; that he was unable to communicate all at once to mankind the +knowledge necessary to their existence, and to give them that degree +of perfection of which their natures were susceptible. Hence, Madam, +you may see that the supposition of a revelation can never be +reconciled with the infinite goodness, justice, omnipotence, and +immutability of the Sovereign of the universe. + +They will not fail to tell you that the Creator of all things, the +independent Monarch of nature is the master of his favors; that he +owes nothing to his creatures; that he can dispose of them as he +pleases, without any injustice, and without their having any right of +complaint; that man is incapable of sounding the profundity of his +decrees; and that his justice is not the justice of men. But all these +answers, which divines have continually in their mouths, serve only to +accelerate the destruction of those sublime ideas which they have +given us of the Deity. The result appears to be, that God conducts +himself according to the maxims of a fantastic sovereign, who, +satisfied in having rewarded some of his favorites, thinks himself +justified in neglecting the rest of his subjects, and to leave them +groaning in the most deplorable misery. + +You must acknowledge, Madam, it is not on such a model that we can +form a powerful, equitable, and beneficent God, whose omnipotence +ought to enable him to procure happiness to all his subjects, without +fear of exhausting the treasures of his goodness. + +If we are told that divine justice bears no resemblance to the justice +of men, I reply, that in this case we are not authorized to say that +God is _just_; seeing that by justice it is not possible for us to +conceive any thing except a similar quality to that called justice by +the beings of our own species. If divine justice bears no resemblance +to human justice,--if, on the contrary, this justice resembles what we +call injustice,--then all our ideas confound themselves, and we know +not either what we mean or what we say when we affirm that God is +just. According to human ideas, (which are, however, the only ones +that men are possessed of,) justice will always exclude caprice and +partiality; and never can we prevent ourselves from regarding as +iniquitous and vicious a sovereign who, being both able and willing to +occupy himself with the happiness of his subjects, should plunge the +greatest number of them into misfortune, and reserve his kindness for +those to whom his whims have given the preference. + +With respect to telling us that _God owes nothing to his creatures_, +such an atrocious principle is destructive of every idea of justice +and goodness, and tends visibly to sap the foundation of all religion. +A God that is just and good owes happiness to every being to whom he +has given existence; he ceases to be just and good if he produce them +only to render them miserable; and he would be destitute of both +wisdom and reason were he to give them birth only to be the victims of +his caprice. What should we think of a father bringing children into +the world for the sole purpose of putting their eyes out and +tormenting them at his ease? + +On the other hand, all religions are entirely founded upon the +reciprocal engagements which are supposed to exist between God and his +creatures. If God owes nothing to the latter, if he is not under an +obligation to fulfil his engagements to them when they have fulfilled +theirs to him, of what use is religion? What motives can men have to +offer their homage and worship to the Divinity? Why should they feel +much desire to love or serve a master who can absolve himself of all +duty towards those who entered his service with an expectation of the +recompense promised under such circumstances? + +It is easy to see that the destructive ideas of divine justice which +are inculcated are only founded upon a fatal prejudice prevalent among +the generality of men, leading them to suppose that unlimited power +must inevitably exempt its possessor from an accordance with the laws +of equity; that force can confer the right of committing bad actions; +and that no one could properly demand an account of his conduct of a +man sufficiently powerful to carry out all his caprices. These ideas +are evidently borrowed from the conduct of tyrants, who no sooner +find themselves possessed of absolute power than they cease to +recognize any other rules than their own fantasies, and imagine that +justice has no claims upon potentates like them. + +It is upon this frightful model that theologians have formed that God +whom they, notwithstanding, assert to be a just being, while, if the +conduct they attribute to him was true, we should be constrained to +regard him as the most unjust of tyrants, as the most partial of +fathers, as the most fantastic of princes, and, in a word, as a being +the most to be feared and the least worthy of love that the +imagination could devise. We are informed that the God who created all +men has been unwilling to be known except to a very small number of +them, and that while this favored portion exclusively enjoyed the +benefits of his kindness, all the others were objects of his anger, +and were only created by him to be left in blindness for the very +purpose of punishing them in the most cruel manner. We see these +pernicious characteristics of the Divinity penetrating the entire +economy of the Christian religion; we find them in the books which are +pretended to be inspired, and we discover them in the dogmas of +predestination and grace. In a word, every thing in religion announces +a despotic God, whom his disciples vainly attempt to represent to us +as just, while all that they declare of him only proves his injustice, +his tyrannical caprices, his extravagances, so frequently cruel, and +his partiality, so pernicious to the greater portion of the human +race. When we exclaim against conduct which, in the eyes of all +reasonable men, must appear so excessively capricious, it is expected +that our mouths will be closed by the assertion that God is +omnipotent, that it is for him to determine how he will bestow +benefits, and that he is under no obligations to any of his creatures. +His apologists end by endeavoring to intimidate us with the frightful +and iniquitous punishments that he reserves for those who are so +audacious as to murmur. + +It is easy to perceive the futility of these arguments. Power, I do +contend, can never confer the right of violating equity. Let a +sovereign be as powerful as he may, he is not on that account less +blamable when in rewards and punishments he follows only his caprice. +It is true, we may fear him, we may flatter him, we may pay him +servile homage; but never shall we love him sincerely; never shall we +serve him faithfully; never shall we look up to him as the model of +justice and goodness. If those who receive his kindness believe him to +be just and good, those who are the objects of his folly and rigor +cannot prevent themselves from detesting his monstrous iniquity in +their hearts. + +If we be told that we are only as worms of earth relatively to God, or +that we are only like a vase in the hands of a potter, I reply in this +case, that there can neither be connection nor moral duty between the +creature and his Creator; and I shall hence conclude that religion is +useless, seeing that a worm of earth can owe nothing to a man who +crushes it, and that the vase can owe nothing to the potter that has +formed it. In the supposition that man is only a worm or an earthen +vessel in the eyes of the Deity, he would be incapable either of +serving him, glorifying him, honoring him, or offending him. We are, +however, continually told that man is capable of merit and demerit in +the sight of his God, whom he is ordered to love, serve, and worship. +We are likewise assured that it was man alone whom the Deity had in +view in all his works; that it is for him alone the universe was +created; for him alone that the course of nature was so often +deranged; and, in short, it was with a view of being honored, +cherished, and glorified by man that God has revealed himself to us. +According to the principles of the Christian religion, God does not +cease, for a single instant, his occupations for man, this _worm of +earth_, this _earthen vessel_, which he has formed. Nay, more: man is +sufficiently powerful to influence the honor, the felicity, and the +glory of his God; it rests with man to please him or to irritate him, +to deserve his favor or his hatred, to appease him or to kindle his +wrath. + +Do you not perceive, Madam, the striking contradictions of those +principles which, nevertheless, form the basis of all revealed +religions? Indeed, we cannot find one of them that is not erected on +the reciprocal influence between God and man, and between man and God. +Our own species, which are annihilated (if I may use the expression) +every time that it becomes necessary to whitewash the Deity from some +reproachful stain of injustice and partiality,--these miserable +beings, to whom it is pretended that God owes nothing, and who, we are +assured, are unnecessary to him for his own felicity,--the human race, +which is nothing in his eyes, becomes all at once the principal +performer on the stage of nature. We find that mankind are necessary +to support the glory of their Creator; we see them become the sole +objects of his care; we behold in them the power to gladden or afflict +him; we see them meriting his favor and provoking his wrath. According +to these contradictory notions concerning the God of the universe, the +source of all felicity, is he not really the most wretched of beings? +We behold him perpetually exposed to the insults of men, who offend +him by their thoughts, their words, their actions, and their neglect +of duty. They incommode him, they irritate him, by the capriciousness +of their minds, by their actions, their desires, and even by their +ignorance. If we admit those Christian principles which suppose that +the greater portion of the human race excites the fury of the Eternal, +and that very few of them live in a manner conformable to his views, +will it not necessarily result therefrom, that in the immense crowd of +beings whom God has created for his glory, only a very small number of +them glorify and please him; while all the rest are occupied in vexing +him, exciting his wrath, troubling his felicity, deranging the order +that he loves, frustrating his designs, and forcing him to change his +immutable intentions? + +You are, undoubtedly, surprised at the contradictions to be +encountered at the very first step we take in examining this religion; +and I take upon myself to predict that your embarrassment will +increase as you proceed therein. If you coolly examine the ideas +presented to us in the revelation common both to Jews and Christians, +and contained in the books which they tell us are _sacred_, you will +find that the Deity who speaks is always in contradiction with +himself; that he becomes his own destroyer, and is perpetually +occupied in undoing what he has just done, and in repairing his own +workmanship, to which, in the first instance, he was incapable of +giving that degree of perfection he wished it to possess. He is never +satisfied with his own works, and cannot, in spite of his omnipotence, +bring the human race to the point of perfection he intended. The books +containing the revelation, on which Christianity is founded, every +where display to us a God of goodness in the commission of wickedness; +an omnipotent God, whose projects unceasingly miscarry; an immutable +God, changing his maxims and his conduct; an omniscient God, +continually deceived unawares; a resolute God, yet repenting of his +most important actions; a God of wisdom, whose arrangements never +attain success. He is a great God, who occupies himself with the most +puerile trifles; an all-sufficient God, yet subject to jealousy; a +powerful God, yet suspicious, vindictive, and cruel; and a just God, +yet permitting and prescribing the most atrocious iniquities. In a +word, he is a perfect God, yet displaying at the same time such +imperfections and vices that the most despicable of men would blush to +resemble him. + +Behold, Madam, the God whom this religion orders you to adore _in +spirit and in truth_. I reserve for another letter an analysis of the +holy books which you are taught to respect as the oracles of heaven. I +now perceive for the first time that I have perhaps made too long a +dissertation; and I doubt not you have already perceived that a system +built on a basis possessing so little solidity as that of the God whom +his devotees raise with one hand and destroy with the other, can have +no stability attached to it, and can only be regarded as a long tissue +of errors and contradictions. + + I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER III. + + An Examination of the Holy Scriptures, of the Nature of the + Christian Religion, and of the Proofs upon which Christianity is + founded. + + +You have seen, Madam, in my preceding letter, the incompatible and +contradictory ideas which this religion gives us of the Deity. You +will have seen that the revelation which is announced to us, instead +of being the offspring of his goodness and tenderness for the human +race, is really only a proof of injustice and partiality, of which a +God who is equally just and good would be entirely incapable. Let us +now examine whether the ideas suggested to us by these books, +containing the divine oracles, are more rational, more consistent, or +more conformable to the divine perfections. Let us see whether the +statements related in the Bible, whether the commands prescribed to us +in the name of God himself, are really worthy of God, and display to +us the characters of infinite wisdom, goodness, power, and justice. + +These inspired books go back to the origin of the world. Moses, the +confidant, the interpreter, the historian of the Deity, makes us (if +we may use such an expression) witnesses of the formation of the +universe. He tells us that the Eternal, tired of his inaction, one +fine day took it into his head to create a world that was necessary to +his glory. To effect this, he forms matter out of nothing; a pure +spirit produces a substance which has no affinity to himself; although +this God fills all space with his immensity, yet still he found room +enough in it to admit the universe, as well as all the material bodies +contained therein. + +These, at least, are the ideas which divines wish us to form +respecting the creation, if such a thing were possible as that of +possessing a clear idea of a pure spirit producing matter. But this +discussion is throwing us into metaphysical researches, which I wish +to avoid. It will be sufficient to you that you may console yourself +for not being able to comprehend it, seeing that the most profound +thinkers, who talk about the creation or the eduction of the world +from nothing, have no ideas on the subject more precise than those +which you form to yourself. As soon, Madam, as you take the trouble to +reflect thereon, you will find that divines, instead of explaining +things, have done nothing but invent words, in order to render them +dubious, and to confound all our natural conceptions. + +I will not, however, tire you by a fastidious display of the blunders +which fill the narrative of Moses, which they announce to us as being +dictated by the Deity. If we read it with a little attention, we shall +perceive in every page philosophical and astronomical errors, +unpardonable in an inspired author, and such as we should consider +ridiculous in any man, who, in the most superficial manner, should +have studied and contemplated nature. + +You will find, for example, light created before the sun, although +this star is visibly the source of light which communicates itself to +our globe. You will find the evening and the morning established +before the formation of this same sun, whose presence alone produces +day, whose absence produces night, and whose different aspects +constitute morning and evening. You will there find that the moon is +spoken of as a body possessing its own light, in a similar manner as +the sun possesses it, although this planet is a dark body, and +receives its light from the sun. These ignorant blunders are +sufficient to show you that the Deity who revealed himself to Moses +was quite unacquainted with the nature of those substances which he +had created out of nothing, and that you at present possess more +information respecting them than was once possessed by the Creator of +the world. + +I am not ignorant that our divines have an answer always ready to +those difficulties which would attack their divine science, and place +their knowledge far below that of Galileo, Descartes, Newton, and even +below that of young people who have scarcely studied the first +elements of natural philosophy. They will tell us that God, in order +to render himself intelligible to the savage and ignorant Jews, spoke +in conformity to their imperfect notions, in the false and incorrect +language of the vulgar. We must not be imposed upon by this solution, +which our doctors regard as triumphant, and which they so frequently +employ when it becomes necessary to justify the Bible against the +ignorance and vulgarities contained therein. We answer them, that a +God who knows every thing, and can perform every thing, might by a +single word have rectified the false notions of the people he wished +to enlighten, and enabled them to know the nature of bodies more +perfectly than the most able men who have since appeared. If it be +replied that revelation is not intended to render men learned, but to +make them pious, I answer that revelation was not sent to establish +false notions; that it would be unworthy of God to borrow the language +of falsehood and ignorance; that the knowledge of nature, so far from +being an injury to piety, is, by the avowal of divines, the most +proper study to display the greatness of God. They tell us that +religion would be unmovable, were it conformable to true knowledge; +that we should have no objections to make to the recital of Moses, nor +to the philosophy of the Holy Scriptures, if we found nothing but what +was continually confirmed by experience, astronomy, and the +demonstrations of geometry. + +To maintain a contrary opinion, and to say that God is pleased in +confounding the knowledge of men and in rendering it useless, is to +pretend that he is pleased with making us ignorant and changeable, and +that he condemns the progress of the human mind, although we ought to +suppose him the author of it. To pretend that God was obliged in the +Scriptures to conform himself to the language of men, is to pretend +that he withdrew his assistance from those he wished to enlighten, and +that he was unable of rendering them susceptible of comprehending the +language of truth. This is an observation not to be lost sight of in +the examination of revelation, where we find in each page that God +expresses himself in a manner quite unworthy of the Deity. Could not +an omnipotent God, instead of degrading himself, instead of +condescending to speak the language of ignorance, so far enlighten +them as to make them understand a language more true, more noble, and +more conformable to the ideas which are given us of the Deity? An +experienced master by degrees enables his scholars to understand what +he wishes to teach them, and a God ought to be able to communicate to +them immediately all the knowledge he intended to give them. + +However, according to Genesis, God, after creating the world, produced +man from the dust of the earth. In the mean while we are assured that +he created him _in his own image_; but what was the image of God? How +could man, who is at least partly material, represent a pure spirit, +which excludes all matter? + +How could his imperfect mind be formed on the model of a mind +possessing all perfection, like that which we suppose in the Creator +of the universe? What resemblance, what proportion, what affinity +could there be between a finite mind united to a body, and the +infinite spirit of the Creator? These, doubtless, are great +difficulties; hitherto it has been thought impossible to decide them; +and they will probably for a long time employ the minds of those who +strive to understand the incomprehensible meaning of a book which God +provided for our instruction. + +But why did God create man? Because he wished to people the universe +with intelligent beings, who would render him homage, who should +witness his wonders, who should glorify him, who should meditate and +contemplate his works, and merit his favors by their submission to his +laws. + +Here we behold man becoming necessary to the dignity of his God, who +without him would live without being glorified, who would receive no +homage, and who would be the melancholy Sovereign of an empire without +subjects--a condition not suited to his vanity. I think it useless to +remark to you what little conformity we find between those ideas and +such as are given us of a self-sufficient being, who, without the +assistance of any other, is supremely happy. All the characters in +which the Bible portrays the Deity are always borrowed from man, or +from a proud monarch; and we every where find that instead of having +made man after his own image, it is man that has always made God after +the image of himself, that has conferred on him his own way of +thinking, his own virtues, and his own vices. + +But did this man whom the Deity has created for his glory faithfully +fulfil the wishes of his Creator? This subject that he has just +acquired--will he be obedient? will he render homage to his power? +will he execute his will? He has done nothing of the kind. Scarcely is +he created when he becomes rebellious to the orders of his Sovereign; +he eats a forbidden fruit which God has placed in his way in order to +tempt him, and by this act draws the divine wrath not only on himself, +but on all his posterity. Thus it is that he annihilates at one blow +the great projects of the Omnipotent, who had no sooner made man for +his glory than he becomes offended with that conduct which he ought to +have foreseen. + +Here he finds himself obliged to change his projects with regard to +mankind; he becomes their enemy, and condemns them and the whole of +the race (who had not yet the power of sinning) to innumerable +penalties, to cruel calamities, and to death! What do I say? To +punishments which death itself shall not terminate! Thus God, who +wished to be glorified, is not glorified; he seems to have created man +only to offend him, that he might afterwards punish the offender. + +In this recital, which is founded on the Bible, can you recognize, +Madam, an omnipotent God, whose orders are always accomplished, and +whose projects are all necessarily executed? In a God who tempts us, +or who permits us to be tempted, do you behold a being of beneficence +and sincerity? In a God who punishes the being he has tempted, or +subjected to temptation, do you perceive any equity? In a God who +extends his vengeance even to those who have not sinned, do you behold +any shadow of justice? In a God who is irritated at what he knew must +necessarily happen, can you imagine any foresight? In the rigorous +punishments by which this God is destined to avenge himself of his +feeble creatures, both in this world and the next, can you perceive +the least appearance of goodness? + +It is, however, this history, or rather this fable, on which is +founded the whole edifice of the Christian religion. + +If the first man had not been disobedient, the human race had not been +the object of the divine wrath, and would have had no need of a +Redeemer. If this God, who knows all things, foresees all things, and +possesses all power, had prevented or foreseen the fault of Adam, it +would not have been necessary for God to sacrifice his own innocent +Son to appease his fury. Mankind, for whom he created the universe, +would then have been always happy; they would not have incurred the +displeasure of that Deity who demanded their adoration. In a word, if +this apple had not been imprudently eaten by Adam and his spouse, +mankind would not have suffered so much misery, man would have enjoyed +without interruption the immortal happiness to which God had destined +him, and the views of Providence towards his creatures would not have +been frustrated. + +It would be useless to make reflections on notions so whimsical, so +contrary to the wisdom, the power, and the justice of the Deity. It is +doing quite enough to compare the different objects which the Bible +presents to us, to perceive their inutility, absurdities, and +contradictions. We there see, continually, a wise God conducting +himself like a madman. He defeats his own projects that he may +afterwards repair them, repents of what he has done, acts as if he had +foreseen nothing, and is forced to permit proceedings which his +omnipotence could not prevent. In the writings revealed by this God, +he appears occupied only in blackening his own character, degrading +himself, vilifying himself, even in the eyes of men whom he would +excite to worship him and pay him homage; overturning and confounding +the minds of those whom he had designed to enlighten. What has just +been said might suffice to undeceive us with respect to a book which +would pass better as being intended to destroy the idea of a Deity, +than as one containing the oracles dictated and revealed by him. +Nothing but a heap of absurdities could possibly result from +principles so false and irrational; nevertheless, let us take another +glance at the principal objects which this divine work continually +offers to our consideration. Let us pass on to the Deluge. The holy +books tell us, that in spite of the will of the Almighty, the whole +human race, who had already been punished by infirmities, accidents, +and death, continued to give themselves up to the most unaccountable +depravity. God becomes irritated, and repents having created them. +Doubtless he could not have foreseen this depravity; yet, rather than +change the wicked disposition of their hearts, which he holds in his +own hands, he performs the most surprising, the most impossible of +miracles. He at once drowns all the inhabitants, with the exception of +some favorites, whom he destines to re-people the earth with a chosen +race, that will render themselves more agreeable to their God. But +does the Almighty succeed in this new project? The chosen race, saved +from the waters of the deluge, on the wreck of the earth's +destruction, begin again to offend the Sovereign of nature, abandon +themselves to new crimes, give themselves up to idolatry, and +forgetting the recent effects of celestial vengeance, seem intent only +on provoking heaven by their wickedness. In order to provide a remedy, +God chooses for his favorite the idolater Abraham. To him he discovers +himself; he orders him to renounce the worship of his fathers, and +embrace a new religion. To guarantee this covenant, the Sovereign of +nature prescribes a melancholy, ridiculous, and whimsical ceremony, to +the observance of which a God of wisdom attaches his favors. The +posterity of this chosen man are consequently to enjoy, for +everlasting, the greatest advantages; they will always be the most +partial objects of tenderness, with the Almighty; they will be happier +than all other nations, whom the Deity will abandon to occupy himself +only for them. + +These solemn promises, however, have not prevented the race of Abraham +from becoming the slaves of a vile nation, that was detested by the +Eternal; his dear friends experienced the most cruel treatment on the +part of the Egyptians. God could not guarantee them from the +misfortune that had befallen them; but in order to free them again, he +raised up to them a liberator, a chief, who performed the most +astonishing miracles. At the voice of Moses all nature is confounded; +God employs him to declare his will; yet he who could create and +annihilate the world could not subdue Pharaoh. The obstinacy of this +prince defeats, in ten successive trials, the divine omnipotence, of +which Moses is the depositary. After having vainly attempted to +overcome a monarch whose heart God had been pleased to harden, God has +recourse to the most ordinary method of rescuing his people; he tells +them to run off, after having first counselled them to rob the +Egyptians. The fugitives are pursued; but God, who protects these +robbers, orders the sea to swallow up the miserable people who had the +temerity to run after their property. + +The Deity would, doubtless, have reason to be satisfied with the +conduct of a people that he had just delivered by such a great number +of miracles. Alas! neither Moses nor the Almighty could succeed in +persuading this obstinate people to abandon the false gods of that +country where they had been so miserable; they preferred them to the +living God who had just saved them. All the miracles which the Eternal +was daily performing in favor of Israel could not overcome their +stubbornness, which was still more inconceivable and wonderful than +the greatest miracles. These wonders, which are now extolled as +convincing proofs of the divine mission of Moses, were by the +confession of this same Moses, who has himself transmitted us the +accounts, incapable of convincing the people who were witnesses of +them, and never produced the good effects which the Deity proposed to +himself in performing them. + +The credulity, the obstinacy, the continual depravity of the Jews, +Madam, are the most indubitable proofs of the falsity of the miracles +of Moses, as well as those of all his successors, to whom the +Scriptures attribute a supernatural power. If, in the face of these +facts, it be pretended that these miracles are attested, we shall be +compelled, at least, to agree that, according to the Bible account, +they have been entirely useless, that the Deity has been constantly +baffled in all his projects, and that he could never make of the +Hebrews a people submissive to his will. + +We find, however, God continues obstinately employed to render his +people worthy of him; he does not lose sight of them for a moment; he +sacrifices whole nations to them, and sanctions their rapine, +violence, treason, murder, and usurpation. In a word, he permits them +to do any thing to obtain his ends. He is continually sending them +chiefs, prophets, and wonderful men, who try in vain to bring them to +their duty. The whole history of the Old Testament displays nothing +but the vain efforts of God to vanquish the obstinacy of his people. +To succeed in this, he employs kindnesses, miracles, and severity. +Sometimes he delivers up to them whole nations, to be hated, pillaged, +and exterminated; at other times he permits these same nations to +exercise over his favorite people the greatest of cruelties. He +delivers them into the hands of their enemies, who are likewise the +enemies of God himself. Idolatrous nations become masters of the Jews, +who are left to feel the insults, the contempt, and the most +unheard-of severities, and are sometimes compelled to sacrifice to +idols, and to violate the law of their God. The race of Abraham +becomes the prey of impious nations. The Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, +and Romans make them successively undergo the most cruel treatment and +suffer the most bloody outrages, and God even permits his temple to be +polluted in order to punish the Jews. + +To terminate, at length, the troubles of his cherished people, the +pure Spirit that created the universe sends his own Son. It is said +that he had already been announced by his prophets, though this was +certainly done in a manner admirably adapted to prevent his being +known on his arrival. This Son of God becomes a man through his +kindness for the Jews, whom he came to liberate, to enlighten, and to +render the most happy of mortals. Being clothed with divine +omnipotence, he performs the most astonishing miracles, which do not, +however, convince the Jews. He can do every thing but convert them. +Instead of converting and liberating the Jews, he is himself +compelled, notwithstanding all his miracles, to undergo the most +infamous of punishments, and to terminate his life like a common +malefactor. God is condemned to death by the people he came to save. +The Eternal hardened and blinded those among whom he sent his own +Son; he did not foresee that this Son would be rejected. What do I +say? He managed matters in such a way as not to be recognized, and +took such steps that his favorite people derived no benefit from the +coming of the Messiah. In a word, the Deity seems to have taken the +greatest care that his projects, so favorable to the Jews, should be +nullified and rendered unprofitable! + +When we expostulate against a conduct so strange and so unworthy of +the Deity, we are told it was necessary for every thing to take place +in such a manner, for the accomplishment of prophecies which had +announced that the Messiah should be disowned, rejected, and put to +death. But why did God, who knows all, and who foresaw the fate of his +dear Son, form the project of sending him among the Jews, to whom he +must have known that his mission would be useless? Would it not have +been easier neither to announce him nor send him? Would it not have +been more conformable to divine omnipotence to spare himself the +trouble of so many miracles, so many prophecies, so much useless +labor, so much wrath, and so many sufferings to his own Son, by giving +at once to the human race that degree of perfection he intended for +them? + +We are told it was necessary that the Deity should have a victim; that +to repair the fault of the first man, no expedient would be sufficient +but the death of another God; that the only God of the universe could +not be appeased but by the blood of his own Son. I reply, in the first +place, that God had only to prevent the first man from committing a +fault; that this would have spared him much chagrin and sorrow, and +saved the life of his dear Son. I reply, likewise, that man is +incapable of offending God unless God either permitted it or consented +to it. I shall not examine how it is possible for God to have a Son, +who, being as much a God as himself, can be subject to death. I reply, +also, that it is impossible to perceive such a grave fault and sin in +taking an apple, and that we can find very little proportion between +the crime committed against the Deity by eating an apple and his Son's +death. + +I know well enough I shall be told that these are all mysteries; but +I, in my turn, shall reply, that mysteries are imposing words, +imagined by men who know not how to get themselves out of the +labyrinth into which their false reasonings and senseless principles +have once plunged them. + +Be this as it may, we are assured that the Messiah, or the deliverer +of the Jews, had been clearly predicted and described by the +prophecies contained in the Old Testament. In this case, I demand why +the Jews have disowned this wonderful man, this God whom God sent to +them. They answer me, that the incredulity of the Jews was likewise +predicted, and that divers inspired writers had announced the death of +the Son of God. To which I reply, that a sensible God ought not to +have sent him under such circumstances, that an omnipotent God ought +to have adopted measures more efficacious and certain to bring his +people into the way in which he wished them to go. If he wished not to +convert and liberate the Jews, it was quite useless to send his Son +among them, and thereby expose him to a death that was both certain +and foreseen. + +They will not fail to tell me, that in the end the divine patience +became tired of the excesses of the Jews; that the immutable God, who +had sworn an eternal alliance with the race of Abraham, wished at +length to break the treaty, which he had, however, assured them should +last forever. It is pretended that God had determined to reject the +Hebrew nation, in order to adopt the Gentiles, whom he had hated and +despised nearly four thousand years. I reply, that this discourse is +very little conformable to the ideas we ought to have of a God who +_changes not_, whose mercy is _infinite_, and whose goodness is +_inexhaustible_. I shall tell them, that in this case the Messiah +announced by the Jewish prophets was destined for the Jews, and that +he ought to have been their liberator, instead of destroying their +worship and their religion. If it be possible to unravel any thing in +these obscure, enigmatical, and symbolical oracles of the prophets of +Judea, as we find them in the Bible,--if there be any means of +guessing the meaning of the obscure riddles, which have been decorated +with the pompous name of prophecies, we shall perceive that the +inspired writers, when they are in a good humor, always promised the +Jews a man that will redress their grievances, restore the kingdom of +Judah, and not one that should destroy the religion of Moses. If it +were for the Gentiles that the Messiah should come, he is no longer +the Messiah promised to the Jews and announced by their prophets. If +Jesus be the Messiah of the Jews, he could not be the destroyer of +their nation. + +Should I be told that Jesus himself declared that he came to fulfil +the law of Moses, and not to abolish it, I ask why Christians do not +observe the law of the Jews? + +Thus, in whatever light we regard Jesus Christ, we perceive that he +could not be the man whom the prophets have predicted, since it is +evident that he came only to destroy the religion of the Jews, which, +though instituted by God himself, had nevertheless become disagreeable +to him. If this inconstant God, who was wearied with the worship of +the Jews, had at length repented of his injustice towards the +Gentiles, it was to them that he ought to have sent his Son. By acting +in this way he would at least have saved his old friends from a +frightful _deicide_, which he forced them to commit, because they were +not able to recognize the God he sent amongst them. Besides, the Jews +were very pardonable in not acknowledging their expected Messiah in an +artisan of Galilee, who was destitute of all the characteristics which +the prophets had related, and during whose lifetime his +fellow-citizens were neither liberated nor happy. + +We are told that he performed miracles. He healed the sick, caused the +lame to walk, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. At length +he accomplished his own resurrection. It might be so believed; yet he +has visibly failed in that miracle for which alone he came upon earth. +He was never able either to persuade or to convert the Jews, who +witnessed all the daily wonders that he performed. Notwithstanding +those prodigies, they placed him ignominiously on the cross. In spite +of his divine power, he was incapable of escaping punishment. He +wished to die, to render the Jews culpable, and to have the pleasure +of rising again the third day, in order to confound the ingratitude +and obstinacy of his fellow-citizens. What is the result? Did his +fellow-citizens concede to this great miracle, and have they at length +acknowledged him? Far from it; they never saw him. The Son of God, who +arose from the dead in secrecy, showed himself only to his adherents. +They alone pretend to have conversed with him; they alone have +furnished us with the particulars of his life and miracles; and yet by +such suspicious testimony they wish to convince us of the divinity of +his mission eighteen hundred years after the event, although he could +not convince his contemporaries, the Jews. + +We are then told that many Jews have been converted to Jesus Christ; +that after his death many others were converted; that the witnesses +of the life and miracles of the Son of God have sealed their testimony +with their blood; that men will not die to attest falsehood; that by a +visible effect of the divine power, the people of a great part of the +earth have adopted Christianity, and still persist in the belief of +this divine religion. + +In all this I perceive nothing like a miracle. I see nothing but what +is conformable to the ordinary progress of the human mind. An +enthusiast, a dexterous impostor, a crafty juggler, can easily find +adherents in a stupid, ignorant, and superstitious populace. These +followers, captivated by counsels, or seduced by promises, consent to +quit a painful and laborious life, to follow a man who gives them to +understand that he will make them _fishers of men_; that is to say, he +will enable them to subsist by his cunning tricks, at the expense of +the multitude who are always credulous. The juggler, with the +assistance of his remedies, can perform cures which seem miraculous to +ignorant spectators. These simple creatures immediately regard him as +a supernatural being. He adopts this opinion himself, and confirms the +high notions which his partisans have formed respecting him. He feels +himself interested in maintaining this opinion among his sectaries, +and finds out the secret of exciting their enthusiasm. To accomplish +this point, our empiric becomes a preacher; he makes use of riddles, +obscure sentences, and parables to the multitude, that always admire +what they do not understand. To render himself more agreeable to the +people, he declaims among poor, ignorant, foolish men, against the +rich, the great, the learned; but above all, against the _priests_, +who in all ages have been _avaricious_, _imperious_, _uncharitable_, +and _burdensome_ to the people. If these discourses be eagerly +received among the vulgar, who are always morose, envious, and +jealous, they displease all those who see themselves the objects of +the invective and satire of the popular preacher. + +They consequently wish to check his progress, they lay snares for him, +they seek to surprise him in a fault, in order that they may unmask +him and have their revenge. By dint of imposture, he outwits them; +yet, in consequence of his miracles and illusions, he at length +discovers himself. He is then seized and punished, and none of his +adherents abide by him, except a few idiots, that nothing can +undeceive; none but partisans, accustomed to lead with him a life of +idleness; none but dexterous knaves, who wish to continue their +impositions on the public, by deceptions similar to those of their old +master, by obscure, unconnected, confused, and fanatical harangues, +and by declamations against _magistrates_ and _priests_. These, who +have the power in their own hands, finish by persecuting them, +imprisoning them, flogging them, chastising them, and putting them to +death. Poor wretches, habituated to poverty, undergo all these +sufferings with a fortitude which we frequently meet with in +malefactors. In some we find their courage fortified by the zeal of +fanaticism. This fortitude surprises, agitates, excites pity, and +irritates the spectators against those who torment men whose constancy +makes them looked upon as being innocent, who, it is supposed, may +possibly be right, and for whom compassion likewise interests itself. +It is thus that enthusiasm is propagated, and that persecution always +augments the number of the partisans of those who are persecuted. + +I shall leave to you, Madam, the trouble of applying the history of +our juggler, and his adherents, to that of the founder, the apostles, +and the martyrs of the Christian religion. + +With whatever art they have written the life of Jesus Christ, which we +hold only from his apostles, or their disciples, it furnishes a +sufficiency of materials on which to found our conjectures. I shall +only observe to you, that the Jewish nation was remarkable for its +credulity; that the companions of Jesus were chosen from among the +dregs of the people; that Jesus always gave a preference to the +populace, with whom he wished, undoubtedly, to form a rampart against +the _priests_; and that, at last, Jesus was seized immediately after +the most splendid of his miracles. We see him put to death immediately +after the resurrection of Lazarus, which, even according to the gospel +account, bears the most evident characters of fraud, which are visible +to every one who examines it without prejudice. + +I imagine, Madam, that what I have just stated will suffice to show +you what opinion you ought to entertain respecting the founder of +Christianity and his first sectaries. These have been either dupes or +fanatics, who permitted themselves to be seduced by deceptions, and by +discourses conformable to their desires, or by dexterous impostors, +who knew how to make the best of the tricks of their old master, to +whom they have become such able successors. In this way did they +establish a religion which enabled them to live at the people's +expense, and which still maintains in abundance those we pay, at such +a high rate, for transmitting from father to son the fables, visions, +and wonders which were born and nursed in Judea. The propagation of +the Christian faith, and the constancy of their martyrs, have nothing +surprising in them. The people flock after all those that show them +wonders, and receive without reasoning on it every thing that is told +them. They transmit to their children the tales they have heard +related, and by degrees these opinions are adopted by kings, by the +great, and even by the learned. + +As for the martyrs, their constancy has nothing supernatural in it. +The first Christians, as well as all new sectaries, were treated, by +the Jews and pagans, as disturbers of the public peace. They were +already sufficiently intoxicated with the fanaticism with which their +religion inspired them, and were persuaded that God held himself in +readiness to crown them, and to receive them into his eternal +dwelling. In a word, seeing the heavens opened, and being convinced +that the end of the world was approaching, it is not surprising that +they had courage to set punishment at defiance, to endure it with +constancy, and to despise death. To these motives, founded on their +religious opinions, many others were added, which are always of such a +nature as to operate strongly upon the minds of men. Those who, as +Christians, were imprisoned and ill-treated on account of their faith, +were visited, consoled, encouraged, honored, and loaded with +kindnesses by their brethren, who took care of and succored them +during their detention, and who almost adored them after their death. +Those, on the other hand, who displayed weakness, were despised and +detested, and when they gave way to repentance, they were compelled to +undergo a rigorous penitence, which lasted as long as they lived. Thus +were the most powerful motives united to inspire the martyrs with +courage; and this courage has nothing more supernatural about it than +that which determines us daily to encounter the most perilous dangers, +through the fear of dishonoring ourselves in the eyes of our +fellow-citizens. Cowardice would expose us to infamy all the rest of +our days. There is nothing miraculous in the constancy of a man to +whom an offer is made, on the one hand, of eternal happiness and the +highest honors, and who, on the other hand, sees himself menaced with +hatred, contempt, and the most lasting regret. + +You perceive, then, Madam, that nothing can be easier than to +overthrow the proofs by which Christian doctors establish the +revelation which they pretend is so well authenticated. Miracles, +martyrs, and prophecies prove nothing. + +Were all the wonders true that are related in the Old and New +Testament, they would afford no proof in favor of divine omnipotence, +but, on the contrary, would prove the inability under which the Deity +has continually labored, of convincing mankind of the truths he wished +to announce to them. On the other hand, supposing these miracles to +have produced all the effects which the Deity had a right to expect +from them, we have no longer any reason to believe them, except on the +tradition and recitals of others, which are often suspicious, faulty, +and exaggerated. The miracles of Moses are attested only by Moses, or +by Jewish writers interested in making them believed by the people +they wished to govern. The miracles of Jesus are attested only by his +disciples, who sought to obtain adherents, in relating to a credulous +people prodigies to which they pretended to have been witnesses, or +which some of them, perhaps, believed they had really seen. All those +who deceive mankind are not always cheats; they are frequently +deceived by those who are knaves in reality. Besides, I believe I have +sufficiently proved, that miracles are repugnant to the essence of an +immutable God, as well as to his wisdom, which will not permit him to +alter the wise laws he has himself established. In short, miracles are +useless, since those related in Scripture have not produced the +effects which God expected from them. + +The proof of the Christian religion taken from prophecy has no better +foundation. Whoever will examine without prejudice these oracles +pretended to be divine will find only an ambiguous, unintelligible, +absurd, and unconnected jargon, entirely unworthy of a God who +intended to display his prescience, and to instruct his people with +regard to future events. There does not exist in the Holy Scriptures a +single prophecy sufficiently precise to be literally applied to Jesus +Christ. To convince yourself of this truth, ask the most learned of +our doctors which are the formal prophecies wherein they have the +happiness to discover the Messiah. You will then perceive that it is +only by the aid of forced explanations, figures, parables, and +mystical interpretations, by which they are enabled to bring forward +any thing sensible and applicable to the _god-made-man_ whom they tell +us to adore. It would seem as if the Deity had made predictions only +that we might understand nothing about them. + +In these equivocal oracles, whose meaning it is impossible to +penetrate, we find nothing but the language of intoxication, +fanaticism, and delirium. When we fancy we have found something +intelligible, it is easy to perceive that the prophets intended to +speak of events that took place in their own age, or of personages who +had preceded them. It is thus that our doctors apply gratuitously to +Christ prophecies or rather narratives of what happened respecting +David, Solomon, Cyrus, &c. + +We imagine we see the chastisement of the Jewish people announced in +recitals where it is evident the only matter in question was the +Babylonish captivity. In this event, so long prior to Jesus Christ, +they have imagined finding a prediction of the dispersion of the Jews, +supposed to be a visible punishment for their _deicide_, and which +they now wish to pass off as an indubitable proof of the truth of +Christianity. + +It is not, then, astonishing that the ancient and modern Jews do not +see in the prophets what our doctors teach us, and what they +themselves imagine they have seen. Jesus himself has not been more +happy in his predictions than his predecessors. In the gospel he +announces to his disciples in the most formal manner the destruction +of the world and the last judgment, as events that were at hand, and +which must take place before the existing generation had passed away. +Yet the world still endures, and appears in no danger of finishing. It +is true, our doctors pretend that, in the prediction of Jesus Christ, +he spoke of the ruin of Jerusalem by Vespasian and Titus; but none but +those who have not read the gospel would submit to such a change, or +satisfy themselves with such an evasion. Besides, in adopting it we +must confess at least that the Son of God himself was unable to +prophesy with greater precision than his obscure predecessors. + +Indeed, at every page of these sacred books, which we are assured were +inspired by God himself, this God seems to have made a revelation only +to conceal himself. He does not speak but to be misunderstood. He +announces his oracles in such a way only that we can neither +comprehend them nor make any application of them. He performs miracles +only to make unbelievers. He manifests himself to mankind only to +stupefy their judgment and bewilder the reason he has bestowed on +them. The Bible continually represents God to us as a seducer, an +enticer, a suspicious tyrant, who knows not what kind of conduct to +observe with respect to his subjects; who amuses himself by laying +snares for his creatures, and who tries them that he may have the +pleasure of inflicting a punishment for yielding to his temptations. +This God is occupied only in building to destroy, in demolishing to +rebuild. Like a child disgusted with its playthings, he is continually +undoing what he has done, and breaking what was the object of his +desires. We find no foresight, no constancy, no consistency in his +conduct; no connection, no clearness in his discourses. When he +performs any thing, he sometimes approves what he has done, and at +other times repents of it. He irritates and vexes himself with what he +has permitted to be done, and, in spite of his infinite power, he +suffers man to offend him, and consents to let Satan, his creature, +derange all his projects. In a word, the revelations of the Christians +and Jews seem to have been imagined only to render uncertain and to +annihilate the qualities attributed to the Deity, and which are +declared to constitute his essence. The whole Scripture, the entire +system of the Christian religion, appears to be founded only on the +incapability of God, who was unable to render the human race as wise, +as good, and as happy as he wished them. The death of his innocent +Son, who was immolated to his vengeance, is entirely useless for the +most numerous portion of the earth's inhabitants; almost the whole +human race, in spite of the continual efforts of the Deity, continue +to offend him, to frustrate his designs, resist his will, and to +persevere in their wickedness. + +It is on notions so fatal, so contradictory, and so unworthy of a God +who is just, wise, and good, of a God that is rational, independent, +immutable, and omnipotent, on whom the Christian religion is founded, +and which religion is said to be established forever by God, who, +nevertheless, became disgusted with the religion of the Jews, with +whom he had made and sworn an eternal covenant. + +Time must prove whether God be more constant and faithful in +fulfilling his engagements with the Christians than he has been to +fulfil those he made with Abraham and his posterity. I confess, Madam, +that his past conduct alarms me as to what he may finally perform. If +he himself acknowledged by the mouth of Ezekiel that the laws he had +given to the Jews _were not good_, he may very possibly, some day or +other, find fault with those which he has given to Christians. + +Our priests themselves seem to partake of my suspicions, and to fear +that God will be wearied of that protection which he has so long +granted to his church. The inquietudes which they evince, the efforts +which they make to hinder the civilization of the world, the +persecutions which they raise against all those who contradict them, +seem to prove that they mistrust the promises of Jesus Christ, and +that they are not certainly convinced of the eternal durability of a +religion which does not appear to them divine, but because it gives +them the right to command like gods over their fellow-citizens. They +would undoubtedly consider the destruction of their empire a very +grievous thing; but yet if the sovereigns of the earth and their +people should once grow weary of the sacerdotal yoke, we may be sure +the Sovereign of heaven would not require a longer time to become +equally disgusted. + +However this may be, Madam, I venture to hope the perusal of this +letter will fully undeceive you of a blind veneration for books which +are called _divine_, although they appear as if invented to degrade +and destroy the God who is asserted to be their author. My first +letter, I feel confident, enabled you to perceive that the dogmas +established by these same books, or subsequently fabricated to justify +the ideas thus given of God, are not less contrary to all notions of a +Deity infinitely perfect. A system which in the outset is based upon +false principles can never become any thing else than a mass of +falsehoods. + + I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER IV. + + Of the fundamental Dogmas of the Christian Religion. + + +You are aware, Madam, that our theological doctors pretend these +revealed books, which I summarily examined in my preceding letter, do +not include a single word that was not inspired by the Spirit of God. +What I have already said to you is sufficient to show that in setting +out with this supposition, the Divinity has formed a work the most +shapeless, imperfect, contradictory, and unintelligible which ever +existed; a work, in a word, of which any man of sense would blush with +shame to be the author. If any prophecy hath verified itself for the +Christians, it is that of Isaiah, which saith, "Hearing ye shall hear, +but shall not understand." But in this case we reply that it was +sufficiently useless to speak not to be comprehended; to reveal _that_ +which cannot be comprehended is to reveal _nothing_. + +We need not, then, be surprised if the Christians, notwithstanding the +revelation of which they assure us they have been the favorites, have +no precise ideas either of the Divinity, or of his will, or the way in +which his oracles are to be interpreted. The book from which they +should be able to do so serves only to confound the simplest notions, +to throw them into the greatest incertitude, and create eternal +disputations. If it was the project of the Divinity, it would, +without doubt, be attended with perfect success. The teachers of +Christianity never agree on the manner in which they are to understand +the truths that God has given himself the trouble to reveal; all the +efforts which they have employed to this time have not yet been +capable of making any thing clear, and the dogmas which they have +successively invented have been insufficient to justify to the +understanding of one man of good sense the conduct of an infinitely +perfect Being. + +Hence, many among them, perceiving the inconveniences which would +result from the reading of the holy books, have carefully kept them +out of the hands of the vulgar and illiterate; for they plainly +foresaw that if they were read by such they would necessarily bring on +themselves reproach, since it would never fail that every honest man +of good sense would discover in those books only a crowd of +absurdities. Thus the oracles of God are not even made for those for +whom they are addressed; it is requisite to be initiated in the +mysteries of a priesthood, to have the privilege of discerning in the +holy writings the light which the Divinity destined to all his dear +children. But are the theologians themselves able to make plain the +difficulties which the sacred books present in every page? By +meditating on the mysteries which they contain, have they given us +ideas more plain of the intentions of the Divinity? No; without doubt +they explain one mystery by citing another; they scatter new +obscurities on previous obscurities; rarely do they agree among +themselves; and when by chance their opinions coincide, _we_ are not +more enlightened, nor is our judgment more convinced; on the other +hand, our reason is the more confounded. + +If they do agree on some point, it is only to tell us that human +reason, of which God is the author, is depraved; but what is the +purport of this coincidence in their opinions, if it be not to tax the +Deity with imbecility, injustice, and malignity? For why should God, +in creating a reasonable being, not have given him an understanding +which nothing could corrupt? They reply to us by saying "that the +reason of man is necessarily limited; that perfection could not be the +portion of a _creature_; that the designs of God are not like those of +man." But, in this case, why should the Divinity be offended by the +necessary imperfections which he discovers in his creatures? How can a +just God require that our mind must admit what it was not made to +comprehend? Can he who is above our reason be understood by us, whose +reason is so limited? If God be infinite, how can a finite creature +reason respecting him? If the mysteries and hidden designs of the +Divinity are of such a nature as not to be comprehended by man, what +good can we derive from their investigation? Had God designed that we +should occupy our thoughts with his purposes, would he not have given +us an understanding proportionate to the things he wished us to +penetrate? + +You see, then, Madam, that in depressing our reason, in supposing it +corrupted, our priests, at the same time, annihilate even the +necessity of religion, which cannot be either useful or important to +us, if above our comprehension. They do more in supposing human reason +depraved; they accuse God of injustice, in requiring that our reason +should conceive what cannot be conceived. They accuse him of +imbecility in not rendering this reason more perfect. In a word, in +degrading man they degrade God, and rob him of those attributes which +compose his essence. Would you call him a just and good parent, who, +wishing that his children should walk by an obscure route, filled with +difficulties, would only give them for their conduct a light too weak +to find their way, and to avoid the continual dangers by which they +are surrounded? Should you consider that the father had adequately +provided for their security by giving them in writing unintelligible +instructions, which they could not decipher by the weak light he had +given them? + +Our spiritual directors will not fail to tell us that the corruption +of reason and the weakness of the human understanding are the +consequences of sin. But why has man become sinful? How has the good +God permitted his dear children, for whom he created the universe, and +of whom he exacts obedience, to offend him, and thereby extinguish, +or, at least, weaken the light he had given them? On the other hand, +the reason of Adam ought to be, without doubt, completely perfect +before his fall. In this case, why did it not prevent that fall and +its consequences? Was the reason of Adam corrupted even beforehand by +incurring the wrath of his God? Was it depraved before he had done any +thing to deprave it? + +To justify this strange conduct of Providence, to clear him from +passing as the author of sin, to save him the ridicule of being the +cause or the accomplice of offences which he did against himself, the +theologians have imagined a _being_ subordinate to the divine power. +It is the secondary being they make the author of all the evil which +is committed in the universe. In the impossibility of reconciling the +continual disorders of which the world is the theatre with the +purposes of a Deity replete with goodness, the Creator and Preserver +of the universe, who delights in order, and who seeks only the +happiness of his creatures, they have trumped up a destructive genius, +imbued with wickedness, who conspires to render men miserable, and to +overthrow the beneficent views of the Eternal. This bad and perverse +being they call _Satan_, the _Devil_, the _Evil One_; and we see him +play a great game in all the religions of the world, the founders of +which have found in the impotence of Deity the sources of both good +and evil. By the aid of this imaginary being they have been enabled to +resolve all their difficulties; yet they could not foresee that this +invention, which went to annihilate or abridge the power of Deity, was +a system filled with palpable contradictions, and that if the Devil +were really the author of sin, it would be he, in all justice, who +ought to undergo all its punishment. + +If God is the author of all, it is he who created the Devil; if the +Devil is wicked, if he strives to counteract the projects of the +Divinity, it is the Divinity who has allowed the overthrow of his +projects, or who has not had sufficient authority to prevent the Devil +from exercising his power. If God had wished that the Devil should not +have existed, the Devil would not have existed. God could annihilate +him at one word, or, at least, God could change his disposition if +injurious to us, and contrary to the projects of a beneficent +Providence. Since, then, the Devil does exist, and does such +marvellous things as are attributed to him, we are compelled to +conclude that the Divinity has found it good that he should exist and +agitate, as he does, all his works by a perpetual interruption and +perversion of his designs. + +Thus, Madam, the invention of the Devil does not remedy the evil; on +the contrary, it but entangles the priests more and more. By placing +to Satan's account all the evil which he commits in the world, they +exculpate the Deity of nothing; all the power with which they have +supposed the Devil invested is taken from that assigned to the +Divinity; and you know very well that according to the notions of the +Christian religion, the Devil has more adherents than God himself; +they are always stirring their fellow-creatures up to revolt against +God; without ceasing, in despite of God, Satan leads them into +perdition, except one man only, who refused to follow him, and who +found grace in the eyes of the Lord. You are not ignorant that the +millions that follow the standard of Beelzebub are to be plunged with +him into eternal misery. + +But then has Satan himself incurred the disgrace of the All-powerful? +By what forfeit has he merited becoming the eternal object of the +anger of that God who created him? The Christian religion will explain +all. It informs us that the Devil was in his origin an angel; that is +to say, a pure spirit, full of perfections, created by the Divinity to +occupy a distinguishing situation in the celestial court, destined, +like the other ministers of the Eternal, to receive his orders, and to +enjoy perpetual blessedness. But he lost himself through ambition; his +pride blinded him, and he dared to revolt against his Creator; he +engaged other spirits, as pure as himself, in the same senseless +enterprise; in consequence of his rashness, he was hurled headlong out +of heaven, his miserable adherents were involved in his fall, and, +having been hardened by the divine pleasure in their foolish +dispositions, they have no other occupation assigned them in the +universe than to tempt mankind, and endeavor to augment the number of +the enemies of God, and the victims of his wrath. + +It is by the assistance of this fable that the Christian doctors +perceive the fall of Adam, prepared by the Almighty himself anterior +to the creation of the world. Was it necessary that the Divinity +should entertain a great desire that man might sin, since he would +thereby have an opportunity of providing the means of making him +sinful? In effect, it was the Devil who, in process of time, covered +with the skin of a serpent, solicited the mother of the human race to +disobey God, and involve her husband in her rebellion. But the +difficulty is not removed by these inventions. If Satan, in the time +he was an angel, lived in innocence, and merited the good will of his +Maker, how came God to suffer him to entertain ideas of pride, +ambition, and rebellion? How came this angel of light so blind as not +to see the folly of such an enterprise? Did he not know that his +Creator was all-powerful? Who was it that tempted Satan? What reason +had the Divinity for selecting him to be the object of his fury, the +destroyer of his projects, the enemy of his power? If pride be a sin, +if the idea itself of rebellion is the greatest of crimes, _sin was, +then, anterior to sin_, and Lucifer offended God, even in his state of +purity; for, in fine, a being pure, innocent, agreeable to his God, +who had all the perfections of which a creature could be susceptible, +ought to be exempt from ambition, pride, and folly. We ought, also, to +say as much for our first parent, who, notwithstanding his wisdom, his +innocence, and the knowledge infused into him by God himself, could +not prevent himself from falling into the temptation of a demon. + +Hence, in every shift, the priests invariably make God the author of +sin. It was God who tempted Lucifer before the creation of the world; +Lucifer, in his turn, became the tempter of man and the cause of all +the evil our race suffers. It appears, therefore, that God created +both angels and men to give them an opportunity of sinning. + +It is easy to perceive the absurdity of this system, to save which the +theologians have invented another still more absurd, that it might +become the foundation of all their religious revelations, and by means +of which they idly imagine they can fully justify the divine +providence. The system of truth supposes the _free will_ of man--that +he is his own master, capable of doing good or ill, and of directing +his own plans. At the words _free will_, I already perceive, Madam, +that you tremble, and doubtless anticipate a metaphysical +dissertation. Rest assured of the contrary; for I flatter myself that +the question will be simplified and rendered clear, I shall not merely +say for you, but for all your sex who are not resolved to be wilfully +blind. + +To say that man is a free agent is to detract from the power of the +Supreme Being; it is to pretend that God is not the master of his own +will; it is to advance that a weak creature can, when it pleases him, +revolt against his Creator, derange his projects, disturb the order +which he loves, render his labors useless, afflict him with chagrin, +cause him sorrow, act with effect against him, and arouse his anger +and his passions. Thus, at the first glance, you perceive that this +principle gives rise to a crowd of absurdities. If God is the friend +of order, every thing performed by his creatures would necessarily +conduce to the maintenance of this order, because otherwise the divine +will would fail to have its effect. If God has plans, they must of +necessity be always executed; if man can afflict his God, man is the +master of this God's happiness, and the league he has formed with the +Devil is potent enough to thwart the plans of the Divinity. In a word, +if man is free to sin, God is no longer Omnipotent. + +In reply, we are told that God, without detriment to his Omnipotence, +might make man a free agent, and that this liberty is a benefit by +which God places man in a situation where he may merit the heavenly +bounty; but, on the other hand, this liberty likewise exposes him to +encounter God's hatred, to offend him, and to be overwhelmed by +infinite sufferings. From this I conclude that this liberty is _not_ a +benefit, and that it evidently is inconsistent with divine goodness. +This goodness would be more real if men had always sufficient +resolution to do what is pleasing to God, conformably to order, and +conducive to the happiness of their fellow-creatures. If men, in +virtue of their liberty, do things contrary to the will of God, God, +who is supposed to have the prescience of foreseeing all, ought to +have taken measures to prevent men from abusing their liberty; if he +foresaw they would sin, he ought to have given them the means of +avoiding it; if he could not prevent them from doing ill, he has +consented to the ill they have done; if he has consented, he should +not be offended; if he is offended, or if he punish them for the evil +they have done with his permission, he is unjust and cruel; if he +suffer them to rush on to their destruction, he is bound afterwards to +take them to himself; and he cannot with reason find fault with them +for the abuse of their liberty, in being deceived or seduced by the +objects which he himself had placed in their way to seduce them, to +tempt them, and to determine their wills to do evil.[4] + +[4] See what Bayle says, _Dict. Crit._, art. _Origène_, Rem. E., art. +_Pauliciens_, Rem. E., F., M., and tom. iij. of the _Réponses aux +Questions d'un Provincial_. + +What would you say of a father who should give to his children, in the +infancy of age, and when they were without experience, the liberty of +satisfying their disordered appetites, till they should convince +themselves of their evil tendency? Would not such a parent be in the +right to feel uneasy at the abuse which they should make of their +liberty which he had given them? Would it not be accounted malice in +this parent, who should have foreseen what was to happen, not to have +furnished his children with the capacity of directing their own +conduct so as to avoid the evils they might be assailed with? Would it +not show in him the height of madness were he to punish them for the +evil which he had done, and the chagrin which they occasioned him? +Would it not be to himself that we should ascribe the sottishness and +wickedness of his children? + +You see, then, the points of view under which this system of men's +free will shows us the Deity. This free will becomes a present the +most dangerous, since it puts man in the condition of doing evil that +is truly frightful. We may thence conclude that this system, far from +justifying God, makes him capable of malice, imprudence, and +injustice. But this is to overturn all our ideas of a being perfectly, +nay, infinitely wise and good, consenting to punish his creatures for +sins which he gave them the power of committing, or, which is the +same, suffering the Devil to inspire them with evil. All the +subtilties of theology have really only a tendency to destroy the very +notions itself inculcates concerning the Divinity. This theology is +evidently the tub of the Danaides. + +It is a fact, however, that our theologians have imagined expedients +to support their ruinous suppositions. You have often heard mention +made of _predestination_ and _grace_--terrible words, which constantly +excite disputes among us, for which reason would be forced to blush if +Christians did not make it a duty to renounce reason, and which +contests are attended with consequences very dangerous to society. But +let not this surprise you; these false and obscure principles have +even among the theologians produced dissensions; and their quarrels +would be indifferent if they did not attach more importance to them +than they really deserve. + +But to proceed. The system of predestination supposes that God, in his +eternal secrets, has resolved that some men should be elected, and, +being thus his favorites, receive special grace. By this grace they +are supposed to be made agreeable to God, and meet for eternal +happiness. But then an infinite number of others are destined to +perdition, and receive not the grace necessary to eternal salvation. +These contradictory and opposite propositions make it pretty evident +that the system is absurd. It makes God, a being infinitely perfect +and good, a partial tyrant, who has created a vast number of human +beings to be the sport of his caprice and the victims of his +vengeance. It supposes that God will punish his creatures for not +having received that grace which he did not deign to give them; it +presents this God to us under traits so revolting that the theologians +are forced to avow that the whole is a profound mystery, into which +the human mind cannot penetrate. But if man is not made to lift his +inquisitive eye on this frightful mystery, that is to say, on this +astonishing absurdity, which our teachers have idly endeavored to +square to their views of Deity, or to reconcile the atrocious +injustice of their God with his infinite goodness, by what right do +they wish us to adore this mystery which they would compel us to +believe, and to subscribe to an opinion that saps the divine goodness +to its very foundation? How do they reason upon a dogma, and quarrel +with acrimony about a system of which even themselves can comprehend +nothing? + +The more you examine religion, the more occasion you will have to be +convinced that those things which our divines call _mysteries_ are +nothing else but the difficulties with which they are themselves +embarrassed, when they are unable to avoid the absurdities into which +their own false principles necessarily involve them. Nevertheless, +this word is not enough to impose upon us; the reverend doctors do not +themselves understand the things about which they incessantly speak. +They invent words from an inability to explain things, and they give +the name of _mysteries_ to what they comprehend no better than +ourselves. + +All the religions in the world are founded upon predestination, and +all the pretended revelations among men, as has been already pointed +out to you, inculcate this odious dogma, which makes Providence an +unjust mother-in-law, who shows a blind preference for some of her +children to the prejudice of all the others. They make God a tyrant, +who punishes the inevitable faults to which he has impelled them, or +into which he has allowed them to be seduced. This dogma, which served +as the foundation of Paganism, is now the grand pivot of the Christian +religion, whose God should excite no less hatred than the most wicked +divinities of idolatrous people. With such notions, is it not +astonishing that this God should appear, to those who meditate on his +attributes, an object sufficiently terrible to agitate the +imagination, and to lead some to indulge in dangerous follies? + +The dogma of another life serves also to exculpate the Deity from +these apparent injustices or aberrations, with which he might +naturally be accused. It is pretended that it has pleased him to +distinguish his friends on earth, seeing he has amply provided for +their future happiness in an abode prepared for their souls. But, as I +believe I have already hinted, these proofs that God makes some good, +and leaves others wicked, either evince injustice on his part, at +least temporary, or they contradict his omnipotence. If God can do all +things, if he is privy to all the thoughts and actions of men, what +need has he of any proofs? If he has resolved to give them grace +necessary to save them, has he not assured them they will not perish? +If he is unjust and cruel, this God is not immutable, and belies his +character; at least for a time he derogates from the perfections which +we should expect to find in him. What would you think of a king, who, +during a particular time, would discover to his favorites traits the +most frightful, in order that they might incur his disgrace, and who +should afterwards insist on their believing him a very good and +amiable man, to obtain his favor again? Would not such a prince be +pronounced wicked, fanciful, and tyrannical? Nevertheless, this +supposed prince might be pardoned by some, if for his own interest, +and the better to assure himself of the attachment of his friends, he +might give them some smiles of his favor. It is not so God, who knows +all, who can do all, who has nothing to fear from the dispositions of +his creatures. From all these reasonings, we may see that the Deity, +whom the priests have conjured up, plays a great game, very +ridiculous, very unjust, on the supposition that he tries his +servants, and that he allows them to suffer in this world, to prepare +them for another. The theologians have not failed to discover motives +in this conduct of God which they can as readily justify; but these +pretended motives are borrowed from the omnipotence of this being, by +his absolute power over his creatures, to whom he is not obliged to +render an account of his actions; but especially in this theology, +which professes to justify God, do we not see it make him a despot and +tyrant more hateful than any of his creatures? + + I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER V. + + Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of the Dogma of another Life. + + +We, have now, Madam, come to the examination of the dogma of a future +life, in which it is supposed that the Divinity, after causing men to +pass through the temptations, the trials, and the difficulties of +this life, for the purpose of satisfying himself whether they are +worthy of his love or his hatred, will bestow the recompenses or +inflict the chastisements which they deserved. This dogma, which is +one of the capital points of the Christian religion, is founded on a +great many hypotheses or suppositions, which we have already glanced +at, and which we have shown to be absurd and incompatible with the +notions which the same religion gives us of the Deity. In effect, it +supposes us capable of offending or pleasing the Author of Nature, of +influencing his humor, or exciting his passions; afflicting, +tormenting, resisting, and thwarting the plans of Deity. It supposes, +moreover, the free-will of man--a system which we have seen +incompatible with the goodness, justice, and omnipotence of the Deity. +It supposes, further, that God has occasion of proving his creatures, +and making them, if I may so speak, pass a novitiate to know what they +are worth when he shall square accounts with them. It supposes in God, +who has created men for happiness only, the inability to put, by one +grand effort, all men in the road, whence they may infallibly arrive +at permanent felicity. It supposes that man will survive himself, or +that the same being, after death, will continue to think, to feel, and +act as he did in this life. In a word, it supposes the immortality of +the soul--an opinion unknown to the Jewish lawgiver, who is totally +silent on this topic to the people to whom God had manifested himself; +an opinion which even in the time of Jesus Christ one sect at +Jerusalem admitted, while another sect rejected; an opinion about +which the Messiah, who came to instruct them, deigned to fix the ideas +of those who might deceive themselves in this respect; an opinion +which appears to have been engendered in Egypt, or in India, anterior +to the Jewish religion, but which was unknown among the Hebrews till +they took occasion to instruct themselves in the Pagan philosophy of +the Greeks, and doctrines of Plato. + +Whatever might be the origin of this doctrine, it was eagerly adopted +by the Christians, who judged it very convenient to their system of +religion, all the parts of which are founded on the marvellous, and +which made it a crime to admit any truths agreeable to reason and +common sense. Thus, without going back to the inventors of this +inconceivable dogma, let us examine dispassionately what this opinion +really is; let us endeavor to penetrate to the principles on which it +is supported; let us adopt it, if we shall find it an idea conformable +to reason; let us reject it, if it shall appear destitute of proof, +and at variance with common sense, even though it had been received as +an established truth in all antiquity, though it may have been adopted +by many millions of mankind. + +Those who maintain the opinion of the soul's immortality, regard +it--that is, the soul--as a being distinct from the body, as a +substance, or essence, totally different from the corporeal frame, and +they designate it by the name of _spirit_. If we ask them what a +spirit is, they tell us it is not matter; and if we ask them what they +understand by that which is not matter, which is the only thing of +which we cannot form an idea, they tell us it is a spirit. In general, +it is easy to see that men the most savage, as well as the most subtle +thinkers, make use of the word _spirit_ to designate all the causes of +which they cannot form clear notions; hence the word spirit hath been +used to designate a being of which none can form any idea. + +Notwithstanding, the divines pretend that this unknown being, entirely +different from the body, of a substance which has nothing conformable +with itself, is, nevertheless, capable of setting the body in motion; +and this, doubtless, is a mystery very inconceivable. We have noticed +the alliance between this spiritual substance and the material body, +whose functions it regulates. As the divines have supposed that matter +could neither think, nor will, nor perceive, they have believed that +it might conceive much better those operations attributed to a being +of which they had ideas less clear than they can form of matter. In +consequence, they have imagined many gratuitous suppositions to +explain the union of the soul with the body. In fine, in the +impossibility of overcoming the insurmountable barriers which oppose +them, the priests have made man twofold, by supposing that he contains +something distinct from himself; they have cut through all +difficulties by saying that this union is a great mystery, which man +cannot understand; and they have everlasting recourse to the +omnipotence of God, to his supreme will, to the miracles which he has +always wrought; and those last are never-failing, final resources, +which the theologians reserve for every case wherein they can find no +other mode of escaping gracefully from the argument of their +adversaries. + +You see, then, to what we reduce all the jargon of the metaphysicians, +all the profound reveries which for so many ages have been so +industriously hawked about in defence of the soul of man; an +immaterial substance, of which no living being can form an idea; a +spirit, that is to say, a being totally different from any thing we +know. All the theological verbiage ends here, by telling us, in a +round of pompous terms,--fooleries that impose on the ignorant,--that +we do not know what essence the soul is of; but we call it a spirit +because of its nature, and because we feel ourselves agitated by some +unknown agent; we cannot comprehend the mechanism of the soul; yet can +we feel ourselves moved, as it were, by an effect of the power of God, +whose essence is far removed from ours, and more concealed from us +than the human soul itself. By the aid of this language, from which +you cannot possibly learn any thing, you will be as wise, Madam, as +all the theologians in the world. + +If you would desire to form ideas the most precise of yourself, banish +from you the prejudices of a vain theology, which only consists in +repeating words without attaching any new ideas to them, and which +are insufficient to distinguish the soul from the body, which appear +only capable of multiplying beings without reason, of rendering more +incomprehensible and more obscure, notions less distinct than we +already have of ourselves. These notions should be at least the most +simple and the most exact, if we consult our nature, experience, and +reason. They prove that man knows nothing but by his material sensible +organs, that he sees only by his eyes, that he feels by his touch, +that he hears by his ears; and that when either of these organs is +actually deranged, or has been previously wanting, or imperfect, man +can have none of the ideas that organ is capable of furnishing him +with,--neither thoughts, memory, reflection, judgment, desire, nor +will. Experience shows us that corporeal and material beings are alone +capable of being moved and acted upon, and that without those organs +we have enumerated the soul thinks not, feels not, wills not, nor is +moved. Every thing shows us that the soul undergoes always the same +vicissitudes as the body; it grows to maturity, gains strength, +becomes weak, and puts on old age, like the body; in fine, every thing +we can understand of it goes to prove that it perishes with the body. +It is indeed folly to pretend that man will feel when he has no organs +appropriate for that sentiment; that he will see and hear without eyes +or ears; that he will have ideas without having senses to receive +impressions from physical objects, or to give rise to perceptions in +his understanding; in fine, that he will enjoy or suffer when he has +no longer either nerves or sensibility. + +Thus every thing conspires to prove that the soul is the same thing as +the body, viewed relatively to some of its functions, which are more +obscure than others. Every thing serves to convince us that without +the body the soul is nothing, and that all the operations which are +attributed to the soul cannot be exercised any longer when the body is +destroyed. Our body is a machine, which, so long as we live, is +susceptible of producing the effects which have been designated under +different names, one from another; sentiment is one of these effects, +thought is another, reflection a third. This last passes sometimes by +other names, and our brain appears to be the seat of all our organs; +it is that which is the most susceptible. This organic machine once +destroyed or deranged, is no longer capable of producing the same +effects, or of exercising the same functions. It is with our body as +it is with a watch which indicates the hours, and which goes not if +the spring or a pinion be broken. + +Cease, Eugenia, cease to torment yourself about the fate which shall +attend you when death will have separated you from all that is dear on +earth. After the dissolution of this life, the soul shall cease to +exist; those devouring flames with which you have been threatened by +the priests will have no effect upon the soul, which can neither be +susceptible then of pleasures nor pains, of agreeable or sorrowful +ideas, of lively or doleful reflections. + +It is only by means of the bodily organs that we feel, think, and are +merry or sad, happy or miserable; this body once reduced to dust, we +will have neither perceptions nor sensations, and, by consequence, +neither memory nor ideas; the dispersed particles will no longer have +the same qualities they possessed when united; nor will they any +longer conspire to produce the same effects. In a word, the body being +destroyed, the soul, which is merely a result of all the parts of the +body in action, will cease to be what it is; it will be reduced to +nothing with the life's breath. + +Our teachers pretend to understand the soul well; they profess to be +able to distinguish it from the body; in short, they can do nothing +without it; and therefore, to keep up the farce, they have been +compelled to admit the ridiculous dogma of the Persians, known by the +name of the _resurrection_. This system supposes that the particles of +the body which have been scattered at death will be collected at the +last day, to be replaced in their primitive condition. But that this +strange phenomenon may take place, it is necessary that the particles +of our destroyed bodies, of which some, have been converted into +earth, others have passed into plants, others into animals, some of +one species, others of another, even of our own; it is requisite, I +say, that these particles, of which some have been mixed with the +waters of the deep, others have been carried on the wings of the wind, +and which have successively belonged to many different men, should be +reunited to reproduce the individual to whom they formerly belonged. +If you cannot get over this impossibility, the theologians will +explain it to you by saying, very briefly, "Ah! it is a profound +mystery, which we cannot comprehend." They will inform you that the +resurrection is a miracle, a supernatural effect, which is to result +from the divine power. It is thus they overcome all the difficulties +which the good sense of a few opposes to their rhapsodies. + +If, perchance, Madam, you do not wish to remain content with these +sublime reasons, against which your good sense will naturally revolt, +the clergy will endeavor to seduce your imagination by vague pictures +of the ineffable delights which will be enjoyed in Paradise by the +souls and bodies of those who have adopted their reveries; they will +aver that you cannot refuse to believe them upon their mere word +without encountering the eternal indignation of a God of pity; and +they will attempt to alarm your fancy by frightful delineations of the +cruel torments which a God of goodness has prepared for the greater +number of his creatures. + +But if you consider the thing coolly, you will perceive the futility +of their flattering promises and of their puny threatenings, which are +uttered merely to catch the unwary. You may easily discover that if it +could be true that man shall survive himself, God, in recompensing +him, would only recompense himself for the grace which he had granted; +and when he punished him, he punished him for not receiving the grace +which he had hardened him against receiving. This line of conduct, so +cruel and barbarous, appears equally unworthy of a wise God as it is +of a being perfectly good. + +If your mind, proof against the terrors with which the Christian +religion penetrates its sectaries, is capable of contemplating these +frightful circumstances, which it is imagined will accompany the +carefully-invented punishments which God has destined for the victims +of his vengeance, you will find that they are impossible, and totally +incompatible with the ideas which they themselves have put forth of +the Divinity. In a word, you will perceive that the chastisements of +another life are but a crowd of chimeras, invented to disturb human +reason, to subjugate it beneath the feet of imposture, to annihilate +forever the repose of slaves whom the priesthood would inthrall and +retain under its yoke. + +In short, Eugenia, the priests would make you believe that these +torments will be horrible,--a thing which accords not with our ideas +of God's goodness; they tell you they will be eternal,--a thing which +accords not with our ideas of the justice of God, who, one would very +naturally suppose, will proportion chastisements to faults, and who, +by consequence, will not punish without end the beings whose actions +are bounded by time. They tell us that the offences against God are +infinite, and, by consequence, that the Divinity, without doing +violence to his justice, may avenge himself as God, that is to say, +avenge himself to infinity. In this case I shall say that this God is +not good; that he is vindictive, a character which always announces +fear and weakness. In fine, I shall say that among the imperfect +beings who compose the human species, there is not, perhaps, a single +one who, without some advantage to himself, without personal fear, in +a word, without folly, would consent to punish everlastingly the +wretch who might have the misfortune to offend him, but who no longer +had either the ability or the inclination to commit another offence. +Caligula found, at least, some little amusement to forsake for a time +the cares of government, and enjoy the spectacle of punishment which +he inflicted on those unfortunate men whom he had an interest in +destroying. But what advantage can it be to God to heap on the damned +everlasting torments? Will this amuse him? Will their frightful +punishments correct their faults? Can these examples of the divine +severity be of any service to those on earth, who witness not their +friends in hell? Will it not be the most astonishing of all the +miracles of Deity to make the bodies of the damned invulnerable, to +resist, through the ceaseless ages of eternity, the frightful torments +destined for them? + +You see, then, Madam, that the ideas which the priests give us of hell +make of God a being infinitely more insensible, more wicked and cruel +than the most barbarous of men. They add to all this that it will be +the Devil and the apostate angels, that is to say, the enemies of +God, whom he will employ as the ministers of his implacable vengeance. +These wicked spirits, then, will execute the commands which this +severe judge will pronounce against men at the last judgment. For you +must know, Madam, that a God who knows all will at some future time +take an account of what he already knows. So, then, not content with +judging men at death, he will assemble the whole human race with great +pomp at the last or general judgment, in which he will confirm his +sentence in the view of the whole human race, assembled to receive +their doom. Thus on the wreck of the world will he pronounce a +definitive judgment, from which there will be no appeal. But, in +attending this memorable judgment, what will become of the souls of +men, separated from their bodies, which have not yet been +resuscitated? The souls of the just will go directly to enjoy the +blessings of Paradise; but what is to become of the immense crowd of +souls imbued with faults or crimes, and on whom the infallible +parsons, who are so well instructed in what is passing in another +world, cannot speak with certainty as to their fate? According to some +of these wiseacres, God will place the souls of such as are not wholly +displeasing to him in a place of punishment, where, by rigorous +torments, they shall have the merit of expiating the faults with which +they may stand chargeable at death. According to this fine system, so +profitable to our spiritual guides, God has found it the most simple +method to build a fiery furnace for the special purpose of tormenting +a certain proportion of souls who have not been sufficiently purified +at death to enter Paradise, but who, after leaving them some years +united with the body, and giving them time necessary to arrive at that +amendment of life by which they may become partakers of the supreme +felicity of heaven, ordains that they shall expiate their offences in +torment. It is on this ridiculous notion that our priests have +bottomed the doctrine of _purgatory_, which every good Catholic is +obliged to believe for the benefit of the priests, who reserve to +themselves, as is very reasonable, the power of compelling by their +prayers a just and immutable God to relax in his sternness, and +liberate the captive souls, which he had only condemned to undergo +this purgation in order that they might be made meet for the joys of +Paradise. + +With respect to the Protestants, who are, as every one knows, heretics +and impious, you will observe that they pretend not to those lucrative +views of the Roman doctors. On the contrary, they think that, at the +instant of death, every man is irrevocably judged; that he goes +directly to glory or into a place of punishment, to suffer the award +of evil by the enduring of punishments for which God had eternally +prepared both the sufferer and his torments! Even before the reunion +of soul and body at the final judgment, they fancy that the soul of +the wicked (which, on the principle of all souls being _spirits_, +must be the same in essence as the soul of the elect,) will, though +deprived of those organs by which it felt, and thought, and acted, be +capable of undergoing the agency or action of a fire! It is true that +some Protestant theologians tell us that the fire of hell is a +spiritual fire, and, by consequence, very different from the material +fire vomited out of Vesuvius, and Ĉtna, and Hecla. Nor ought we to +doubt that these informed doctors of the Protestant faith know very +well what they say, and that they have as precise and clear ideas of a +spiritual fire as they have of the ineffable joys of Paradise, which +may be as spiritual as the punishment of the damned in hell. + +Such are, Madam, in a few words, the absurdities, not less revolting +than ridiculous, which the dogmas of a future life and of the +immortality of the soul have engendered in the minds of men. Such are +the phantoms which have been invented and propagated, to seduce and +alarm mortals, to excite their hopes and their fears; such the +illusions that so powerfully operate on weak and feeling beings. But +as melancholy ideas have more effect upon the imagination than those +which are agreeable, the priests have always insisted more forcibly on +what men have to fear on the part of a terrible God than on what they +have to hope from the mercy of a forgiving Deity, full of goodness. +Princes the most wicked are infinitely more respected than those who +are famed for indulgence and humanity. The priests have had the art +to throw us into uncertainty and mistrust by the twofold character +which they have given the Divinity. If they promise us salvation, they +tell us that we must work it out for ourselves, "with fear and +trembling." It is thus that they have contrived to inspire the minds +of the most honest men with dismay and doubt, repeating without +ceasing that time only must disclose who are worthy of the divine +love, or who are to be the objects of the divine wrath. Terror has +been and always will be the most certain means of corrupting and +enslaving the mind of man. + +They will tell us, doubtless, that the terrors which religion inspires +are salutary terrors; that the dogma of another life is a bridle +sufficiently powerful to prevent the commission of crimes and restrain +men within the path of duty. To undeceive one's self of this maxim, so +often thundered in our ears, and so generally adopted on the authority +of the priests, we have only to open our eyes. Nevertheless, we see +some Christians thoroughly persuaded of another life, who, +notwithstanding, conduct themselves as if they had nothing to fear on +the part of a God of vengeance, nor any thing to hope from a God of +mercy. When any of these are engaged in some great project, at all +times they are tempted by some strong passion or by some bad habit, +they shut their eyes on another life, they see not the enraged judge, +they suffer themselves to sin, and when it is committed, they comfort +themselves by saying, that God is good. Besides, they console +themselves by the same contradictory religion which shows them also +this same God, whom it represents so susceptible of wrath, as full of +mercy, bestowing his grace on all those who are sensible of their +evils and repent. In a word, I see none whom the fears of hell will +restrain when passion or interest solicit obedience. The very priests +who make so many efforts to convince us of their dogmas too often +evince more wickedness of conduct than we find in those who have never +heard one word about another life. Those who from infancy have been +taught these terrifying lessons are neither less debauched, nor less +proud, nor less passionate, nor less unjust, nor less avaricious than +others who have lived and died ignorant of Christian purgatory and +Paradise. In fine, the dogma of another life has little or no +influence on them; it annihilates none of their passions; it is a +bridle merely with some few timid souls, who, without its knowledge, +would never have the hardihood to be guilty of any great excesses. +This dogma is very fit to disturb the quiet of some honest, timorous +persons, and the credulous, whose imagination it inflames, without +ever staying the hand of great rogues, without imposing on them more +than the decency of civilization and a specious morality of life, +restrained chiefly by the coercion of public laws. + +In short, to sum all up in one thought, I behold a religion gloomy and +formidable to make impressions very lively, very deep, and very +dangerous on a mind such as yours, although it makes but very +momentary impressions on the minds of such as are hardened in crime, +or whose dissipation destroys constantly the effects of its threats. +More lively affected than others by your principles, you have been but +too often and too seriously occupied for your happiness by gloomy and +harassing objects, which have powerfully affected your sensible +imagination, though the same phantoms that have pursued you have been +altogether banished from the mind of those who have had neither your +virtues, your understanding, nor your sensibility. + +According to his principles, a Christian must always live in fear; he +can never know with certainty whether he pleases or displeases God; +the least movement of pride or of covetousness, the least desire, will +suffice to merit the divine anger, and lose in one moment the fruits +of years of devotion. It is not surprising that, with these frightful +principles before them, many Christians should endeavor to find in +solitude employment for their lugubrious reflections, where they may +avoid the occasions that solicit them to do wrong, and embrace such +means as are most likely, according to their notions of the likelihood +of the thing, to expiate the faults which they fancy might incur the +eternal vengeance of God. + +Thus the dark notions of a future life leave those only in peace who +think slightly upon it; and they are very disconsolate to all those +whose temperament determines them to contemplate it. They are but the +atrocious ideas, however, which the priests study to give us of the +Deity, and by which they have compelled so many worthy people to throw +themselves into the arms of incredulity. If some libertines, incapable +of reasoning, abjure a religion troublesome to their passions, or +which abridges their pleasures, there are very many who have maturely +examined it, that have been disgusted with it, because they could not +consent to live in the fears it engendered, nor to nourish the despair +it created. They have then abjured this religion, fit only to fill the +soul with inquietudes, that they might find in the bosom of reason the +repose which it insures to good sense. + +Times of the greatest crimes are always times of the greatest +ignorance. It is in these times, or usually so, that the greatest +noise is made about religion. Men then follow mechanically, and +without examination, the tenets which their priests impose on them, +without ever diving to the bottom of their doctrines. In proportion as +mankind become enlightened, great crimes become more rare, the manners +of men are more polished, the sciences are cultivated, and the +religion which they have coolly and carefully examined loses sensibly +its credit. It is thus that we see so many incredulous people in the +bosom of society become more agreeable and complacent now than +formerly, when it depended on the caprice of a priest to involve them +in troubles, and to invite the people to crimes in the hope of thereby +meriting heaven. + +Religion is consoling only to those who have no embarrassment about +it; the indefinite and vague recompense which it promises, without +giving ideas of it, is made to deceive those who make no reflections +on the impatient, variable, false, and cruel character which this +religion gives of its God. But how can it make any promises on the +part of a God whom it represents as a tempter, a seducer--who appears, +moreover, to take pleasure in laying the most dangerous snares for his +weak creatures? How can it reckon on the favors of a God full of +caprice, who it alternately informs us is replete with tenderness or +with hatred? By what right does it hold out to us the rewards of a +despotic and tyrannical God, who does or does not choose men for +happiness, and who consults only his own fantasy to destine some of +his creatures to bliss and others to perdition? Nothing, doubtless, +but the blindest enthusiasm could induce mortals to place confidence +in such a God as the priests have feigned; it is to folly alone we +must attribute the love some well-meaning people profess to the God of +the parsons; it is matchless extravagance alone that could prevail on +men to reckon on the unknown rewards which are promised them by this +religion, at the same time that it assures us that God is the author +of grace, but that we have no right to expect any thing from him. + +In a word, Madam, the notions of another life, far from consoling, are +fit only to imbitter all the sweets of the present life. After the sad +and gloomy ideas which Christianity, always at variance with itself, +presents us with of its God, it then affirms, that we are much more +likely to incur his terrible chastisements, than possessed of power by +which we may merit ineffable rewards; and it proceeds to inform us, +that God will give grace to whomsoever he pleases, yet it remains with +themselves whether they escape damnation; and a life the most spotless +cannot warrant them to presume that they are worthy of his favor. In +good truth, would not total annihilation be preferable to such beings, +rather than falling into the hands of a Deity so hard-hearted? Would +not every man of sense prefer the idea of complete annihilation to +that of a future existence, in order to be the sport of the eternal +caprice of a Deity, so cruel as to damn and torment, without end, the +unfortunate beings whom he created so weak, that he might punish them +for faults inseparable from their nature? If God is good, as we are +assured, notwithstanding the cruelties of which the priests suppose +him capable, is it not more consonant to all our ideas of a being +perfectly good, to believe that he did not create them to sport with +them in a state of eternal damnation, which they had not the power of +choosing, or of rejecting and shunning? Has not God treated the beasts +of the field more favorably than he has treated man, since he has +exempted them from sin, and by consequence has not exposed them to +suffer an eternal unhappiness? + +The dogma of the immortality of the soul, or of a future life, +presents nothing consoling in the Christian religion. On the contrary, +it is calculated expressly to fill the heart of the Christian, +following out his principles, with bitterness and continual alarm. I +appeal to yourself, Madam, whether these sublime notions have any +thing consoling in them? Whenever this uncertain idea has presented +itself to your mind, has it not filled you with a cold and secret +horror? Has the consciousness of a life so virtuous and so spotless as +yours, secured you against those fears which are inspired by the idea +of a being jealous, severe, capricious, whose eternal disgrace the +least fault is sure of incurring, and in whose eyes the smallest +weakness, or freedom the most involuntary, is sufficient to cancel +years of strict observance of all the rules of religion? + +I know very well what you will advance to support yourself in your +prejudices. The ministers of religion possess the secret of tempering +the alarms which they have the art to excite. They strive to inspire +confidence in those minds which they discover accessible to fear. They +balance, thus, one passion against another. They hold in suspense the +minds of their slaves, in the apprehension that too much confidence +would only render them less pliable, or that despair would force them +to throw off the yoke. To persons terribly frightened about their +state after death, they speak only of the hopes which we may entertain +of the goodness of God. To those who have too much confidence, they +preach up the terrors of the Lord, and the judgments of a severe God. +By this chicanery they contrive to subject or retain under their yoke +all those who are weak enough to be led by the contradictory doctrines +of these blind guides. + +They tell you, besides, that the sentiment of the immortality of the +soul is inherent in man; that the soul is consumed by boundless +desires, and that since there is nothing on this earth capable of +satisfying it, these are indubitable proofs that it is destined to +subsist eternally. In a word, that as we naturally desire to exist +always, we may naturally conclude that we shall always exist. But what +think you, Madam, of such reasonings? To what do they lead? Do we +desire the continuation of this existence, because it may be blessed +and happy, or because we know not what may become of us? But we cannot +desire a miserable existence, or, at least, one in which it is more +than probable we may be miserable rather than happy. If, as the +Christian religion so often repeats, the number of the elect is very +small, and salvation very difficult, the number of the reprobate very +great, and damnation very easily obtained, who is he who would desire +to exist always with so evident a risk of being eternally damned? +Would it not have been better for us not to have been born, than to +have been compelled against our nature to play a game so fraught with +peril? Does not annihilation itself present to us an idea preferable +to that of an existence which may very easily lead us to eternal +tortures? Suffer me, Madam, to appeal to yourself. If, before you had +come into this world, you had had your choice of being born, or of not +seeing the light of this fair sun, and you could have been made to +comprehend, but for one moment, the hundred thousandth part of the +risks you run to be eternally unhappy, would you not have determined +never to enjoy life? + +It is an easy matter, then, to perceive the proofs on which the +priests pretend to found this dogma of the immortality of the soul and +a future life. The desire which we might have of it could only be +founded on the hope of enjoying eternal happiness. But does religion +give us this assurance? Yes, say the clergy, if you submit faithfully +to the rules it prescribes. But to conform one's self to these rules, +is it not necessary to have grace from Heaven? And, are we then sure +we shall obtain that grace, or if we do, merit Heaven? Do the priests +not repeat to us, without ceasing, that God is the author of grace, +and that he only gives it to a small number of the elect? Do they not +daily tell us that, except one man, who rendered himself worthy of +this eternal happiness, there are millions going the high road to +damnation? This being admitted, every Christian, who reasons, would be +a fool to desire a future existence which he has so many motives to +fear, or to reckon on a happiness which every thing conspires to show +him is as uncertain, as difficult to be obtained, as it is +unequivocally dependent on the fantasies of a capricious Deity, who +sports with the misfortunes of his creatures. + +Under every point of view in which we regard the dogma of the soul's +immortality, we are compelled to consider it as a chimera invented by +men who have realized their wishes, or who have not been able to +justify Providence from the transitory injustices of this world. This +dogma was received with avidity, because it flattered the desires, and +especially the vanity of man, who arrogated to himself a superiority +above all the beings that enjoy existence, and which he would pass by +and reduce to mere clay; who believed himself the favorite of God, +without ever taxing his attention with this other fact--that God makes +him every instant experience vicissitudes, calamities, and trials, as +all sentient natures experience; that God made him, in fine, to +undergo death, or dissolution, which is an invariable law that all +that exists must find verified. This haughty creature, who fancies +himself a privileged being, alone agreeable to his Maker, does not +perceive that there are stages in his life when his existence is more +uncertain and much more weak than that of the other animals, or even +of some inanimate things. Man is unwilling to admit that he possesses +not the strength of the lion, nor the swiftness of the stag, nor the +durability of an oak, nor the solidity of marble or metal. He believes +himself the greatest favorite, the most sublime, the most noble; he +believes himself superior to all other animals because he possesses +the faculties of thinking, judging, and reasoning. But his thoughts +only render him more wretched than all the animals whom he supposes +deprived of this faculty, or who, at least, he believes, do not enjoy +it in the same degree with himself. Do not the faculties of thinking, +of remembering, of foresight, too often render him unhappy by the very +idea of the past, the present, and the future? Do not his passions +drive him to excesses unknown to the other animals? Are his judgments +always reasonable and wise? Is reason so largely developed in the +great mass of men that the priests should interdict its use as +dangerous? Are mankind sufficiently advanced in knowledge to be able +to overcome the prejudices and chimeras which render them unhappy +during the greatest part of their lives? In fine, have the beasts some +species of religious impressions, which inspire continual terrors in +their breast, making them look upon some awful event, which imbitters +their softest pleasures, which enjoins them to torment themselves, and +which threatens them with eternal damnation? No! + +In truth, Madam, if you weigh in an equitable balance the pretended +advantages of man above the other animals, you will soon see how +evanescent is this fictitious superiority which he has arrogated to +himself. We find that all the productions of nature are submitted to +the same laws; that all beings are only born to die; they produce +their like to destroy themselves; that all sentient beings are +compelled to undergo pleasures and pains; they appear and they +disappear; they are and they cease to be; they evince under one form +that they will quit it to produce another. Such are the continual +vicissitudes to which every thing that exists is evidently subjected, +and from which man is not exempt, any more than the other beings and +productions that he appropriates to his use as _lord of the creation_. +Even our globe itself undergoes change; the seas change their place; +the mountains are gathered in heaps or levelled into plains; every +thing that breathes is destroyed at last, and man alone pretends to an +eternal duration. + +It is unnecessary to tell me that we degrade man when we compare him +with the beasts, deprived of souls and intelligence; this is no +levelling doctrine, but one which places him exactly where nature +places him, but from which his puerile vanity has unfortunately driven +him. All beings are equals; under various and different forms they act +differently; they are governed in their appetites and passions by laws +which are invariably the same for all of the same species; every thing +which is composed of parts will be dissolved; every thing which has +life must part with it at death; all men are equally compelled to +submit to this fate; they are equal at death, although during life +their power, their talents, and especially their virtues, establish a +marked difference, which, though real, is only momentary. What will +they be after death? They will be exactly what they were ten years +before they were born. + +Banish, then, Eugenia, from your mind forever the terrors which death +has hitherto filled you with. It is for the wretched a safe haven +against the misfortunes of this life. If it appears a cruel +alternative to those who enjoy the good things of this world, why do +they not console themselves with the idea of what they do actually +enjoy? Let them call reason to their aid; it will calm the inquietudes +of their imagination, but too greatly alarmed; it will disperse the +clouds which religion spreads over their minds; it will teach them +that this death, so terrible in apprehension, is really nothing, and +that it will neither be accompanied with remembrance of past pleasures +nor of sorrow now no more. + +Live, then, happy and tranquil, amiable Eugenia! Preserve carefully an +existence so interesting and so necessary to all those with whom you +live. Allow not your health to be injured, nor trouble your quiet with +melancholy ideas. Without being teased by the prospect of an event +which has no right to disturb your repose, cultivate virtue, which has +always been your favorite, so necessary to your internal peace, and +which has rendered you so dear to all those who have the happiness of +being your friends. Let your rank, your credit, your riches, your +talents be employed to make others happy, to support the oppressed, to +succor the unfortunate, to dry up the tears of those whom you may have +an opportunity of comforting! Let your mind be occupied about such +agreeable and profitable employments as are likely to please you! +Call in the aid of your reason to dissipate the phantoms which alarm +you, to efface the prejudices which you have imbibed in early life! In +a word, comfort yourself, and remember that in practising virtue, as +you do, you cannot become an object of hatred to God, who, if he has +reserved in eternity rigorous punishments for the social virtues, will +be the strangest, the most cruel, and the most insensible of beings! + +You demand of me, perhaps, "In destroying the idea of another world, +what is to become of the remorse, those chastisements so useful to +mankind, and so well calculated to restrain them within the bounds of +propriety?" I reply, that remorse will always subsist as long as we +shall be capable of feeling its pangs, even when we cease to fear the +distant and uncertain vengeance of the Divinity. In the commission of +crimes, in allowing one's self to be the sport of passion, in injuring +our species, in refusing to do them good, in stifling pity, every man +whose reason is not totally deranged perceives clearly that he will +render himself odious to others, that he ought to fear their enmity. +He will blush, then, if he thinks he has rendered himself hateful and +detestable in their eyes. He knows the continual need he has of their +esteem and assistance. Experience proves to him that vices the most +concealed are injurious to himself. He lives in perpetual fear lest +some mishap should unfold his weaknesses and secret faults. It is from +all these ideas that we are to look for regret and remorse, even in +those who do not believe in the chimeras of another world. With regard +to those whose reason is deranged, those who are enervated by their +passions, or perhaps linked to vice by the chains of habit, even with +the prospect of hell open before them, they will neither live less +vicious nor less wicked. An avenging God will never inflict on any man +such a total want of reason as may make him regardless of public +opinion, trample decency under foot, brave the laws, and expose +himself to derision and human chastisements. Every man of sense easily +understands that in this world the esteem and affection of others are +necessary for his happiness, and that life is but a burden to those +who by their vices injure themselves, and render themselves +reprehensible in the eyes of society. + +The true means, Madam, of living happy in this world is to do good to +your fellow-creatures; to labor for the happiness of your species is +to have virtue, and with virtue we can peaceably and without remorse +approach the term which nature has fixed equally for all beings--a +term that your youth causes you now to see only at a distance--a term +that you ought not to accelerate by your fears--a term, in fine, that +the cares and desires of all those who know you will seek to put off +till, full of days and contented with the part you have played in the +scene of the world, you shall yourself desire to gently reënter the +bosom of nature. + + I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER VI. + + Of the Mysteries, Sacraments, and Religious Ceremonies of + Christianity. + + +The reflections, Madam, which I have already offered you in these +letters ought, I conceive, to have sufficed to undeceive you, in a +great measure, of the lugubrious and afflicting notions with which you +have been inspired by religious prejudices. However, to fulfil the +task which you have imposed on me, and to assist you in freeing +yourself from the unfavorable ideas you may have imbibed from a system +replete with irrelevancies and contradictions, I shall continue to +examine the strange mysteries with which Christianity is garnished. +They are founded on ideas so odd and so contrary to reason, that if +from infancy we had not been familiarized with them, we should blush +at our species in having for one instant believed and adopted them. + +The Christians, scarcely content with the crowd of enigmas with which +the books of the Jews are filled, have besides fancied they must add +to them a great many incomprehensible mysteries, for which they have +the most profound veneration. Their impenetrable obscurity appears to +be a sufficient motive among them for adding these. Their priests, +encouraged by their credulity, which nothing can outdo, seem to be +studious to multiply the articles of their faith, and the number of +inconceivable objects which they have said must be received with +submission, and adored even if not understood. + +The first of these mysteries is the _Trinity_, which supposes that one +God, self-existent, who is a pure spirit, is, nevertheless, composed +of three Divinities, which have obtained the names of _persons_. These +three Gods, who are designated under the respective names of the +_Father_, the _Son_, and the _Holy Ghost_, are, nevertheless, but one +God only. These three persons are equal in power, in wisdom, in +perfections; yet the second is subordinate to the first, in +consequence of which he was compelled to become a man, and be the +victim of the wrath of his Father. This is what the priests call the +mystery of the _incarnation_. Notwithstanding his innocence, his +perfection, his purity, the Son of God became the object of the +vengeance of a just God, who is the same as the Son in question, but +who would not consent to appease himself but by the death of his own +Son, who is a portion of himself. The Son of God, not content with +becoming man, died without having sinned, for the salvation of men who +had sinned. God preferred to the punishment of imperfect beings, whom +he did not choose to amend, the punishment of his only Son, full of +divine perfections. The death of God became necessary to reclaim the +human kind from the slavery of Satan, who without that would not have +quitted his prey, and who has been found sufficiently powerful against +the Omnipotent to oblige him to sacrifice his Son. This is what the +priests designate by the name of the mystery of _redemption_. + +It is assuredly sufficient to expose such opinions to demonstrate +their absurdity. It is evident, if there exists only a single God, +there cannot be three. We may, it is true, contemplate the Deity after +the manner of Plato, who, before the birth of Christianity, exhibited +him under three different points of view, that is to say, as all-wise, +as all-powerful, as full of reason, and as infinite in goodness; but +it was verily the excess of delirium to personify these three divine +qualities, or transform them into real beings. We can readily imagine +these moral attributes to be united in the same God, but it is +egregious folly to fashion them into three different Gods; nor will it +remedy this metaphysical polytheism to assert that these three are +one. Besides, this revery never entered the head of the Hebrew +legislator. The Eternal, in revealing himself to Moses, did not +announce himself as triple. There is not one syllable in the Old +Testament about this Trinity, although a notion so _bizarre_, so +marvellous, and so little consonant with our ideas of a divine being, +deserved to have been formally announced, especially as it is the +foundation and corner stone of the Christian religion, which was from +all eternity an object of the divine solicitude, and on the +establishment of which, if we may credit our sapient priests, God +seems to have entertained serious thoughts long before the creation of +the world. + +Nevertheless, the second person, or the second God of the Trinity, is +revealed in flesh; the Son of God is made man. But how could the pure +Spirit who presides over the universe beget a son? How could this son, +who before his incarnation was only a pure spirit, combine that +ethereal essence with a material body, and envelop himself with it? +How could the divine nature amalgamate itself with the imperfect +nature of man, and how could an immense and infinite being, as the +Deity is represented, be formed in the womb of a virgin? After what +manner could a pure spirit fecundate this favorite virgin? Did the Son +of God enjoy in the womb of his mother the faculties of omnipotence, +or was he like other children during his infancy,--weak, liable to +infirmities, sickness, and intellectual imbecility, so conspicuous in +the years of childhood; and if so, what, during this period, became of +the divine wisdom and power? In fine, how could God suffer and die? +How could a just God consent that a God exempt from all sin should +endure the chastisements which are due to sinners? Why did he not +appease himself without immolating a victim so precious and so +innocent? What would you think of that sovereign who, in the event of +his subjects rebelling against him, should forgive them all, or a +select number of them, by putting to death his only and beloved son, +who had not rebelled? + +The priests tell us that it was out of tenderness for the human kind +that God wished to accomplish this sacrifice. But I still ask if it +would not have been more simple, more conformable to all our ideas of +Deity, for God to pardon the iniquities of the human race, or to have +prevented them committing transgressions, by placing them in a +condition in which, by their own will, they should never have sinned? +According to the entire system of the Christian religion, it is +evident that God did only create the world to have an opportunity of +immolating his Son for the rebellious beings he might have formed and +preserved immaculate. The fall of the rebellious angels had no visible +end to serve but to effect and hasten the fall of Adam. It appears +from this system that God permitted the first man to sin that he might +have the pleasure of showing his goodness in sacrificing his "only +begotten Son" to reclaim men from the thraldom of Satan. He intrusted +to Satan as much power as might enable him to work the ruin of our +race, with the view of afterwards changing the projects of the great +mass of mankind, by making one God to die, and thereby destroy the +power of the Devil on the earth. + +But has God succeeded in these projects to the end he proposed? Are +men entirely rescued from the dominion of Satan? Are they not still +the slaves of sin? Do they find themselves in the happy impossibility +of kindling the divine wrath? Has the blood of the Son of God washed +away the sins of the whole world? Do those who are reclaimed, those to +whom he has made himself known, those who believe, offend not against +heaven? Has the Deity, who ought, without doubt, to be perfectly +satisfied with so memorable a sacrifice, remitted to them the +punishment of sin? Is it not necessary to do something more for them? +And since the death of his Son, do we find the Christians exempt from +disease and from death? Nothing of all this has happened. The measures +taken from all eternity by the wisdom and prescience of a God who +should find against his plans no obstacles have been overthrown. The +death of God himself has been of no utility to the world. All the +divine projects have militated against the free-will of man, but they +have not destroyed the power of Satan. Man continues to sin and to +die; the Devil keeps possession of the field of battle; and it is for +a very small number of the elect that the Deity consented to die. + +You do indeed smile, Madam, at my being obliged seriously to combat +such chimeras. If they have something of the marvellous in them, it is +quite adapted to the heads of children, not of men, and ought not to +be admitted by reasonable beings. All the notions we can form of those +things must be mysterious; yet there is no subject more demonstrable, +according to those whose interest it is to have it believed, though +they are as incapable as ourselves to comprehend the matter. For the +priests to say that they believe such absurdities, is to be guilty of +manifest falsehood; because a proposition to be believed must +necessarily be understood. To believe what they do not comprehend is +to adhere sottishly to the absurdities of others; to believe things +which are not comprehended by those who gossip about them is the +height of folly; to believe blindly the mysteries of the Christian +religion is to admit contradictions of which they who declare them are +not convinced. In fine, is it necessary to abandon one's reason among +absurdities that have been received without examination from ancient +priests, who were either the dupes of more knowing men, or themselves +the impostors who fabricated the tales in question? + +If you ask of me how men have not long ago been shocked by such absurd +and unintelligible reveries, I shall proceed, in my turn, to explain +to you this secret of the church, this mystery of our priests. It is +not necessary, in doing this, to pay any attention to those general +dispositions of man, especially when he is ignorant and incapable of +reasoning. All men are curious, inquisitive; their curiosity spurs +them on to inquiry, and their imagination busies itself to clothe with +mystery every thing the fancy conjures up as important to happiness. +The vulgar mistake even what they have the means of knowing, or, which +is the same thing, what they are least practised in they are dazzled +with; they proclaim it, accordingly, marvellous, prodigious, +extraordinary; it is a phenomenon. They neither admire nor respect +much what is always visible to their eyes; but whatever strikes their +imagination, whatever gives scope to the mind, becomes itself the +fruitful source of other ideas far more extravagant. The priests have +had the art to prevail on the people to believe in their secret +correspondence with the Deity; they have been thence much respected, +and in all countries their professed intercourse with an unseen +Divinity has given room for their announcement of things the most +marvellous and mysterious. + +Besides, the Divinity being a being whose impenetrable essence is +veiled from mortal sight, it has been commonly admitted by the +ignorant, that what could not be seen by mortal eye must necessarily +be divine. Hence _sacred_, _mysterious_, and _divine_, are synonymous +terms; and these imposing words have sufficed to place the human race +on their knees to adore what seeks not their inflated devotion. + +The three mysteries which I have examined are received unanimously by +all sects of Christians; but there are others on which the theologians +are not agreed. In fine, we see men, who, after they have admitted, +without repugnance, a certain number of absurdities, stop all of a +sudden in the way, and refuse to admit more. The Christian Protestants +are in this case. They reject, with disdain, the mysteries for which +the Church of Rome shows the greatest respect; and yet, in the matter +of mysteries, it is indeed difficult to designate the point where the +mind ought to stop. + +Seeing, then, that our doctors, better advised, undoubtedly, than +those of the Protestants, have adroitly multiplied mysteries, one is +naturally led to conclude, they despaired of governing the mind of +man, if there was any thing in their religion that was clear, +intelligible, and natural. More mysterious than the priests of Egypt +itself, they have found means to change every thing into mystery; the +very movements of the body, usages the most indifferent, ceremonies +the most frivolous, have become, in the powerful hands of the priests, +sublime and divine mysteries. In the Roman religion all is magic, all +is prodigy, all is supernatural. In the decisions of our theologians, +the side which they espouse is almost always that which is the most +abhorrent to reason, the most calculated to confound and overthrow +common sense. In consequence, our priests are by far the most rich, +powerful, and considerable. The continual want which we have of their +aid to obtain from Heaven that grace which it is their province to +bring down for us, places us in continual dependence on those +marvellous men who have received their commission to treat with the +Deity, and become the ambassadors between Heaven and us. + +Each of our sacraments envelops a great mystery. They are ceremonies +to which the Divinity, they say, attaches some secret virtue, by +unseen views, of which we can form no ideas. In _baptism_, without +which no man can be saved, the water sprinkled on the head of the +child washes his spiritual soul, and carries away the defilement which +is a consequence of the sin committed in the person of Adam, who +sinned for all men. By the mysterious virtue of this water, and of +some words equally unintelligible, the infant finds itself reconciled +to God, as his first father had made him guilty without his knowledge +and consent. In all this, Madam, you cannot, by possibility, +comprehend the complication of these mysteries, with which no +Christian can dispense, though, assuredly, there is not one believer +who knows what the virtue of the marvellous water consists in, which +is necessary for his regeneration. Nor can you conceive how the +supreme and equitable Governor of the universe could impute faults to +those who have never been guilty of transgressions. Nor can you +comprehend how a wise Deity can attach his favor to a futile ceremony, +which, without changing the nature of the being who has derived an +existence it neither commenced nor was consulted in, must, if +administered in winter, be attended with serious consequences to the +health of the child. + +In _Confirmation_, a sacrament or ceremony, which, to have any value, +ought to be administered by a bishop, the laying of the hands on the +head of the young confirmant makes the Holy Spirit descend upon him, +and procures the grace of God to uphold him in the faith. You see, +Madam, that the efficacy of this sacrament is unfortunately lost in my +person; for, although in my youth I had been duly confirmed, I have +not been preserved against smiling at this faith, nor have I been kept +invulnerable in the credence of my priests and forefathers. + +In the sacrament of _Penitence_, or confession, a ceremony which +consists in putting a priest in possession of all one's faults, public +or private, you will discover mysteries equally marvellous. In favor +of this submission, to which every good Catholic is necessarily +obliged to submit, a priest, _himself a sinner_, charged with full +powers by the Deity, pardons and remits, in His name, the sins against +which God is enraged. God reconciles himself with every man who +humbles himself before the priest, and in accordance with the orders +of the latter, he opens heaven to the wretch whom he had before +determined to exclude. If this sacrament doth not always procure +grace, very distinguishing to those who use it, it has, at all events, +the advantage of rendering them pliable to the clergy, who, by its +means, find an easy sway in their spiritual empire over the human +mind, an empire that enables them, not unfrequently, to disturb +society, and more often the repose of families, and the very +conscience of the person confessing. + +There is among the Catholics another sacrament, which contains the +most strange mysteries. It is that of the _Eucharist_. Our teachers, +under pain of being damned, enjoin us to believe that the Son of God +is compelled by a priest to quit the abodes of glory, and to come and +mask himself under the appearance of bread! This bread becomes +forthwith the body of God--this God multiplies himself in all places, +and at all times, when and where the priests, scattered over the face +of the earth, find it necessary to command his presence in the shape +of bread--yet we see only one and the same God, who receives the +homage and adoration of all those good people who find it very +ridiculous in the Egyptians to adore lupines and onions. But the +Catholics are not simply content with worshipping a bit of bread, +which they consider by the conjurations of a priest as divine; they +eat this bread, and then persuade themselves that they are nourished +by the body or substance of God himself. The Protestants, it is true, +do not admit a mystery so very odd, and regard those who do as real +idolaters. What then? This marvellous dogma is, without doubt, of the +greatest utility to the priests. In the eyes of those who admit it, +they become very important gentlemen, who have the power of disposing +of the Deity, whom they make to descend between their hands; and thus +a Catholic priest is, in fact, the creator of his God! + +There is, also, _Extreme Unction_, a sacrament which consists in +anointing with oil those sick persons who are about to depart into the +other world, and which not only soothes their bodily pains, but also +takes away the sins of their souls. If it produces these good effects, +it is an invisible and mysterious method of manifesting obvious +results; for we frequently behold sick persons have their fears of +death allayed, though the operation may but too often accelerate their +dissolution. But our priests are so full of charity, and they interest +themselves so greatly in the salvation of souls, that they like rather +to risk their own health beside the sick bed of persons afflicted with +the most contagious diseases, than lose the opportunity of +administering their salutary ointment. + +_Ordination_ is another very mysterious ceremony, by which the Deity +secretly bestows his invisible grace on those whom he has selected to +fill the office of the holy priesthood. According to the Catholic +religion, God gives to the priests the power of making God himself, as +we have shown above; a privilege which without doubt cannot be +sufficiently admired. With respect to the sensible effects of this +sacrament, and of the visible grace which it confers, they are +enabled, by the help of some words and certain ceremonies, to change a +profane man into one that is sacred; that is to say, who is not +profane any longer. By this spiritual metamorphosis, this man becomes +capable of enjoying considerable revenues without being obliged to do +any thing useful for society. On the contrary, heaven itself confers +on him the right of deceiving, of annoying, and of pillaging the +profane citizens, who labor for his ease and luxury. + +Finally, _Marriage_ is a sacrament that confers mysterious and +invisible graces, of which we in truth have no very precise ideas. +Protestants and Infidels, who look upon marriage as a civil contract, +and not as a sacrament, receive neither more nor less of its visible +grace than the good Catholics. The former see not that those who are +married enjoy by this sacrament any secret virtue, whence they may +become more constant and faithful to the engagements they have +contracted. And I believe both you and I, Madam, have known many +people on whom it has only conferred the grace of cordially detesting +each other. + +I will not now enter upon the consideration of a multitude of other +magic ceremonies, admitted by some Christian sectaries and rejected by +others, but to which the devotees who embrace them, attach the most +lofty ideas, in the firm persuasion, that God will, on that account, +visit them with his invisible grace. All these ceremonies, doubtless, +contain great mysteries, and the method of handling or speaking of +them is exceedingly mysterious. It is thus that the water on which a +priest has pronounced a few words, contained in his conjuring book, +acquires the invisible virtue of chasing away wicked spirits, who are +invisible by their nature. It is thus that the oil, on which a bishop +has muttered some certain formula, becomes capable of communicating to +men, and even to some inanimate substances, such as wood, stone, +metals, and walls, those invisible virtues which they did not +previously possess. In fine, in all the ceremonies of the church, we +discover mysteries, and the vulgar, who comprehend nothing of them, +are not the less disposed to admire, to be fascinated with, and to +respect with a blind devotion. But soon would they cease to have this +veneration for these fooleries, if they comprehended the design and +end the priests have in view by enforcing their observance. + +The priests of all nations have begun by being charlatans, castle +builders, divines, and sorcerers. We find men of these characters in +nations the most ignorant and savage, where they live by the +ignorance and credulity of others. They are regarded by their ignorant +countrymen as superior beings, endowed with supernatural gifts, +favorites of the very Gods, because the uninquiring multitude see them +perform things which they take to be mighty marvellous, or which the +ignorant have always considered marvellous. In nations the most +polished, the people are always the same; persons the most sensible +are not often of the same ideas, especially on the subject of +religion; and the priests, authorized by the ancient folly of the +multitude, continue their old tricks, and receive universal applause. + +You are not, then, to be surprised, Madam, if you still behold our +pontiffs and our priests exercise their magical rites, or rear castles +before the eyes of people prejudiced in favor of their ancient +illusions, and who attach to these mysteries a degree of consequence, +seeing they are not in a condition to comprehend the motives of the +fabricators. Every thing that is mysterious has charms for the +ignorant; the marvellous captivates all men; persons the most +enlightened find it difficult to defend themselves against these +illusions. Hence you may discover that the priests are always +opinionatively attached to these rites and ceremonies of their +worship; and it has never been without some violent revolution that +they have been diminished or abrogated. The annihilation of a trifling +ceremony has often caused rivers of blood to flow. The people have +believed themselves lost and undone when one bolder than the rest +wished to innovate in matters of religion; they have fancied that they +were to be deprived of inestimable advantages and invisible but saving +grace, which they have supposed to be attached by the Divinity himself +to some movements of the body. Priests the most adroit have +overcharged religion with ceremonies, and practices, and mysteries. +They fancied that all these were so many cords to bind the people to +their interest, to allure them by enthusiasm, and render them +necessary to their idle and luxurious existence, which is not spent +without much money extracted from the hard earnings of the people, and +much of that respect which is but the homage of slaves to spiritual +tyrants. + +You cannot any longer, I persuade myself, Madam, be made the dupe of +these holy jugglers, who impose on the vulgar by their marvellous +tales. You must now be convinced that the things which I have touched +upon as mysteries are profound absurdities, of which their inventors +can render no reasonable account either to themselves or to others. +You must now be certified that the movements of the body and other +religious ceremonies must be matters perfectly indifferent to the wise +Being whom they describe to us as the great mover of all things. You +conclude, then, that all these marvellous rites, in which our priests +announce so much mystery, and in which the people are taught to +consider the whole of religion as consisting, are nothing more than +puerilities, to which people of understanding ought never to submit. +That they are usages calculated principally to alarm the minds of the +weak, and keep in bondage those who have not the courage to throw off +the yoke of priests. I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER VII. + + Of the pious Rites, Prayers, and Austerities of Christianity. + + +You now know, Madam, what you ought to attach to the mysteries and +ceremonies of that religion you propose to meditate on, and adore in +silence. I proceed now to examine some of those practices to which the +priests tell us the Deity attaches his complaisance and his favors. In +consequence of the false, sinister, contradictory, and incompatible +ideas, which all revealed religions give us of the Deity, the priests +have invented a crowd of unreasonable usages, but which are +conformable to these erroneous notions that they have framed of this +Being. God is always regarded as a man full of passion, sensible to +presents, to flatteries, and marks of submission; or rather as a +fantastic and punctilious sovereign, who is very seriously angry when +we neglect to show him that respect and obeisance which the vanity of +earthly potentates exacts from their vassals. + +It is after these notions so little agreeable to the Deity, that the +priests have conjured up a crowd of practices and strange inventions, +ridiculous, inconvenient, and often cruel; but by which they inform us +we shall merit the good favor of God, or disarm the wrath of the +Universal Lord. With some, all consists in prayers, offerings, and +sacrifices, with which they fancy God is well pleased. They forget +that a God who is good, who knows all things, has no need to be +solicited; that a God who is the author of all things has no need to +be presented with any part of his workmanship; that a God who knows +his power has no need of either flatteries or submissions, to remind +him of his grandeur, his power, or his rights; that a God who is Lord +of all has no need of offerings which belong to himself; that a God +who has no need of any thing cannot be won by presents, nor grudge to +his creatures the goods which they have received from his divine +bounty. + +For the want of making these reflections, simple as they are, all the +religions in the world are filled with an infinite number of frivolous +practices, by which men have long strove to render themselves +acceptable to the Deity. The priests who are always declared to be the +ministers, the favorites, the interpreters of God's will, have +discovered how they might most easily profit by the errors of mankind, +and the presents which they offer to the Deity. They are thence +interested to enter into the false ideas of the people, and even to +redouble the darkness of their minds. They have invented means to +please unknown powers who dispose of their fate--to excite their +devotion and their zeal for those invisible beings of whom they were +themselves the visible representatives. These priests soon perceived +that in laboring for the Gods they labored for themselves, and that +they could appropriate the major part of the presents, sacrifices, and +offerings, which were made to beings who never showed themselves in +order to claim what their devotees intended for them. + +You thus perceive, Madam, how the priests have made common cause with +the Divinity. Their policy thence obliged them to favor and increase +the errors of the human kind. They talk of this ineffable Being as of +an interested monarch, jealous, full of vanity, who gives that it may +be restored to him again; who exacts continual signs of submission and +respect; who desires, without ceasing, that men may reiterate their +marks of respect for him; who wishes to be solicited; who bestows no +grace unless it be accorded to importunity for the purpose of making +it more valuable; and, above all, who allows himself to be appeased +and propitiated by gifts from which his ministers derive the greatest +advantage. + +It is evident that it is upon these ideas borrowed from monarchical +courts here below that are founded all the practices, ceremonies, and +rites that we see established in all the religions of the earth. Each +sect has endeavored to make its God a monarch the most redoubtable, +the greatest, the most despotic, and the most selfish. The people +acquainted simply with human opinions, and full of debasement, have +adopted without examination the inventions which the Deity has shown +them as the fittest to obtain his favor and soften his wrath. The +priests fail not to adapt these practices, which they have invented, +to their own system of religion and personal interest; and the +ignorant and vulgar have allowed themselves to be blindly led by these +guides. Habit has familiarized them with things upon which they never +reason, and they make a duty of the routine which has been transmitted +to them from age to age, and from father to child. + +The infant, as soon as it can be made to understand any thing, is +taught mechanically to join its little hands in prayer. His tongue is +forced to lisp a formula which it does not comprehend, addressed to a +God which its understanding can never conceive. In the arms of its +nurse it is carried into the temple or church, where its eyes are +habituated to contemplate spectacles, ceremonies, and pretended +mysteries, of which, even when it shall have arrived at mature age, it +will still understand nothing. If at this latter period any one should +ask the reason of his conduct, or desire to know why he made this +conduct a sacred and important duty, he could give no explanation, +except that he was instructed in his tender years to respectfully +observe certain usages, which he must regard as sacred, as they were +unintelligible to him. If an attempt was made to undeceive him in +regard to these habitual futilities, either he would not listen, or +he would be irritated against whoever denied the notions rooted in +his brain. Any man who wished to lead him to good sense, and who +reasoned against the habits he had contracted, would be regarded by +him as ridiculous and extravagant, or he would repulse him as an +infidel and blasphemer, because his instructions lead him thus to +designate every man who fails to pursue the same routine as himself, +or who does not attach the same ideas as the devotee to things which +the latter has never examined. + +What horror does it not fill the Christian devotee with if you tell +him that his priest is unnecessary! What would be his surprise if you +were to prove to him, even on the principles of his religion, that the +prayers which in his infancy he had been taught to consider as the +most agreeable to his God, are unworthy and unnecessary to this Deity! +For if God knows all, what need is there to remind him of the wants of +his creatures whom he loves? If God is a father full of tenderness and +goodness, is it necessary to ask him to "give us day by day our daily +bread"? If this God, so good, foresaw the wants of his children, and +knew much better than they what they could not know of themselves, +whence is it he bids them importune him to grant them their requests? +If this God is immutable and wise, how can his creatures change the +fixed resolution of the Deity? If this God is just and good, how can +he injure us, or place us in a situation to require the use of that +prayer which entreats the Deity _not to lead us into temptation_? + +You see by this, Madam, that there is but a very small portion of what +the Christians pretend they understand and consider absolutely +necessary that accords at all with what they tell us has been dictated +by God himself. You see that the Lord's prayer itself contains many +absurdities and ideas totally contrary to those which every Christian +ought to have of his God. If you ask a Christian why he repeats +without ceasing this vain formula, on which he never reflects, he can +assign little other reason than that he was taught in his infancy to +clasp his hands, repeat words the meaning of which his priest, not +himself, is alone bound to understand. He may probably add that he has +ever been taught to consider this formula requisite, as it was the +most sacred and the most proper to merit the favor of Heaven. + +We should, without doubt, form the same judgment of that multitude of +prayers which our teachers recommend to us daily. And if we believe +them, man, to please God, ought to pass a large portion of his +existence in supplicating Heaven to pour down its blessings on him. +But if God is good, if he cherishes his creatures, if he knows their +wants, it seems superfluous to pray to him. If God changes not, he has +never promised to alter his secret decrees, or, if he has, he is +variable in his fancies, like man; to what purpose are all our +petitions to him? If God is offended with us, will he not reject +prayers which insult his goodness, his justice, and infinite wisdom? + +What motives, then, have our priests to inculcate constantly the +necessity of prayer? It is that they may thereby hold the minds of +mankind in opinions more advantageous to themselves. They represent +God to us under the traits of a monarch difficult of access, who +cannot be easily pacified, but of whom they are the ministers, the +favorites, and servants. They become intercessors between this +invisible Sovereign and his subjects of this nether world. They sell +to the ignorant their intercession with the All-powerful; they pray +for the people, and by society they are recompensed with real +advantages, with riches, honors, and ease. It is on the necessity of +prayer that our priests, our monks, and all religious men establish +their lazy existence; that they profess to win a place in heaven for +their followers and paymasters, who, without this intercession, could +neither obtain the favor of God, nor avert his chastisements and the +calamities the world is so often visited with. The prayers of the +priests are regarded as a universal remedy for all evils. All the +misfortunes of nations are laid before these spiritual guides, who +generally find public calamities a source of profit to themselves, as +it is then they are amply paid for their supposed mediation between +the Deity and his suffering creatures. They never teach the people +that these things spring from the course of nature and of laws they +cannot control. O, no. They make the world believe they are the +judgments of an angry God. The evils for which they can find no +remedy are pronounced marks of the divine wrath; they are +supernatural, and the priests must be applied to. God, whom they call +so good, appears sometimes obstinately deaf to their entreaties. Their +common Parent, so tender, appears to derange the order of nature to +manifest his anger. The God who is so just, sometimes punishes men who +cannot divine the cause of his vengeance. Then, in their distress, +they flee to the priests, who never fail to find motives for the +divine wrath. They tell them that God has been offended; that he has +been neglected; that he exacts prayers, offerings, and sacrifices; +that he requires, in order to be appeased, that his ministers should +receive more consideration, should be heard more attentively, and +should be more enriched. Without this, they announce to the vulgar +that their harvests will fail, that their fields will be inundated, +that pestilence, famine, war, and contagion will visit the earth; and +when these misfortunes have arrived, they declare they may be removed +by means of prayers. + +If fear and terror permitted men to reason, they would discover that +all the evils, as well as the good things of this life, are necessary +consequences of the order of nature. They would perceive that a wise +God, immutable in his conduct, cannot allow any thing to transpire but +according to those laws of which he is regarded as the author. They +would discover that the calamities, sterility, maladies, contagions, +and even death itself are effects as necessary as happiness, +abundance, health, and life itself. They would find that wars, wants, +and famine are often the effects of human imprudence; that they would +submit to accidents which they could not prevent, and guard against +those they could foresee; they would remedy by simple and natural +means those against which they possessed resources; and they would +undeceive themselves in regard to those supernatural means and those +useless prayers of which the experience of so many ages ought to have +disabused men, if they were capable of correcting their religious +prejudices. + +This would not, indeed, redound to the advantage of the priests, since +they would become useless if men perceived the inefficacy of their +prayers, the futility of their practices, and the absence of all +rational foundation for those exercises of piety which place the human +race upon their knees. They compel their votaries always to run down +those who discredit their pretensions. They terrify the weak minded by +frightful ideas which they hold out to them of the Deity. They forbid +them to reason; they make them deaf to reason, by conforming them to +ordinances the most out of the way, the most unreasonable, and the +most contradictory to the very principles on which they pretend to +establish them. They change practices, arbitrary in themselves, or, at +most, indifferent and useless, into important duties, which they +proclaim the most essential of all duties, and the most sacred and +moral. They know that man ceases to reason in proportion as he +suffers or is wretched. Hence, if he experiences real misfortunes, the +priests make sure of him; if he is not unfortunate they menace him; +they create imaginary fears and troubles. + +In fine, Madam, when you wish to examine with your own eyes, and not +by the help of the pretensions set up and imposed on you by the +ministers of religion, you will be compelled to acknowledge the things +we have been considering as useful to the priests alone; they are +useless to the Deity, and to society they are often very obviously +pernicious. Of what utility can it be in any family to behold an +excess of devotion in the mother of that family? One would suppose it +is not necessary for a lady to pass all her time in prayers and in +meditations, to the neglect of other duties. Much less is it the part +of a Catholic mother to be closeted in mystic conversation with her +priest. Will her husband, her children, and her friends applaud her +who loses most of her time in prayers, and meditations, and practices, +which can tend only to render her sour, unhappy, and discontented? +Would it not be much better that a father or a mother of a family +should be occupied with what belonged to their domestic affairs than +to spend their time in masses, in hearing sermons, in meditating on +mysterious and unintelligible dogmas, or boasting about exercises of +piety that tend to nothing? + +Madam, do you not find in the country you inhabit a great many +devotees who are sunk in debt, whose fortune is squandered away on +priests, and who are incapable of retrieving it? Content to put their +conscience to rights on religious matters, they neither trouble +themselves about the education of their children, nor the arrangement +of their fortune, nor the discharge of their debts. Such men as would +be thrown into despair did they omit one mass, will consent to leave +their creditors without their money, ruined by their negligence as +much as by their principles. In truth, Madam, on what side soever you +survey this religion, you will find it good for nothing. + +What shall we say of those fêtes which are so multiplied amongst us? +Are they not evidently pernicious to society? Are not all days the +same to the Eternal? Are there _gala_ days in heaven? Can God be +honored by the business of an artisan or a merchant, who, in place of +earning bread on which his family may subsist, squanders away his time +in the church, and afterwards goes to spend his money in the public +house? It is necessary, the priests will tell you, for man to have +repose. But will he not seek repose when he is fatigued by the labor +of his hands? Is it not more necessary that every man should labor in +his vocation than go to a temple to chant over a service which +benefits only the priests, or hear a sermon of which he can understand +nothing? And do not such as find great scruple in doing a necessary +labor on Sunday frequently sit down and get drunk on that day, +consuming in a few hours the receipts of their week's labor? But it +is for the interest of the clergy that all other shops should be shut +when theirs are open. We may thence easily discover why fêtes are +necessary. + +Is it not contrary to all the notions which we can form of the +goodness and wisdom of the Divinity, that religion should form into +duties both abstinence and privations, or that penitences and +austerities should be the sole proofs of virtue? What should be said +of a father who should place his children at a table loaded with the +fruits of the earth, but who, nevertheless, should debar them from +touching certain of them, though both nature and reason dictated their +use and nutriment? Can we, then, suppose that a Deity wise and good +interdicts to his creatures the enjoyment of innocent pleasures, which +may contribute to render life agreeable, or that a God who has created +all things, every object the most desirable to the nourishment and +health of man, should nevertheless forbid him their use? The Christian +religion appears to doom its votaries to the punishment of Tantalus. +The most part of the superstitions in the world have made of God a +capricious and jealous sovereign, who amuses himself by tempting the +passions and exciting the desires of his slaves, without permitting +them the gratification of the one or the enjoyment of the other. We +see among all sects the portraiture of a chagrined Deity, the enemy of +innocent amusements, and offended at the well being of his creatures. +We see in all countries many men so foolish as to imagine they will +merit heaven by fighting against their nature, refusing the goods of +fortune, and tormenting themselves under an idea that they will +thereby render themselves agreeable to God. Especially do they believe +that they will by these means disarm the fury of God, and prevent the +inflictions of his chastisements, if they immolate themselves to a +being who always requires victims. + +We find these atrocious, fanatical, and senseless ideas in the +Christian religion, which supposes its God as cruel to exact +sufferings from men as death from his only Son. If a God exempt from +all sin is himself also the sufferer for the sins of all, which is the +doctrine of those who maintain universal redemption, it is not +surprising to see men that are sinners making it a duty to assemble in +large meetings, and invent the means of rendering themselves +miserable. These gloomy notions have banished men to the desert. They +have fanatically renounced society and the pleasures of life, to be +buried alive, believing they would merit heaven if they afflicted +themselves with stripes and passed their existence in mummical +ceremonies, as injurious to their health as useless to their country. +And these are the false ideas by which the Divinity is transformed +into a tyrant as barbarous as insensible, who, agreeably to +_priestcraft_, has prescribed how both men and women might live in +ennui, penitence, sorrow, and tears; for the perfection of monastic +institutions consists in the ingenious art of self-torture. But +sacerdotal pride finds its account in these austerities. Rigid monks +glory in barbarous rules, the observance of which attracts the respect +of the credulous, who imagine that men who torment themselves are +indeed the favorites of heaven. But these monks, who follow these +austere rules, are fanatics, who sacrifice themselves to the pride of +the clergy who live in luxury and in wealth, although their duped, +imbecile brethren have been known to make it a point of honor to die +of famine. + +How often, Madam, has your attention not been aroused when you +recalled to mind the fate of the poor religious men of the desert, +whom an unnecessary vow has condemned, as it were voluntarily, to a +life as rigorous as if spent in a prison! Seduced by the enthusiasm of +youth, or forced by the orders of inhuman parents, they have been +obliged to carry to the tomb the chains of their captivity. They have +been obliged to submit without appeal to a stern superior, who finds +no consolation in the discharge of his slavish task but in making his +empire more hard to those beneath him. You have seen unfortunate young +ladies obliged to renounce their rank in society, the innocent +pleasures of youth, the joys of their sex, to groan forever under a +rigorous despotism, to which indiscreet vows had bound them. All +monasteries present to us an odious group of fanatics, who have +separated themselves from society to pass the remainder of their lives +in unhappiness. The society of these devotees is calculated solely to +render their lives mutually more unsupportable. But it seems strange +that men should expect to merit heaven by suffering the torments of +hell on earth; yet so it is, and reason has too often proved +insufficient to convince them of the contrary. + +If this religion does not call all Christians to these sublime +perfections, it nevertheless enjoins on all its votaries suffering and +mortifying of the body. The church prescribes privations to all her +children, and abstinences and fasts; these things they practise among +us as duties; and the devotees imagine they render themselves very +agreeable to the Divinity when they have scrupulously fulfilled those +minute and puerile practices, by which they tell us that the priests +have proof whether their patience and obedience be such as are +dictated by and acceptable to Heaven. What a ridiculous idea is it, +for example, to make of the Deity a trio of persons; to teach the +faithful that this Deity takes notice of what kinds of food his people +eat; that he is displeased if they eat beef or mutton, but that he is +delighted if they eat beans and fish! In good sooth, Madam, our +priests, who sometimes give us very lofty ideas of God, please +themselves but too often with making him strangely contemptible! + +The life of a good Christian or of a devotee is crowded with a host of +useless practices, which would be at least pardonable if they procured +any good for society. But it is not for that purpose that our priests +make so much ado about them; they only wish to have submissive slaves, +sufficiently blind to respect their caprices as the orders of a wise +God; sufficiently stupid to regard all their practices as divine +duties, and they who scrupulously observe them as the real favorites +of the Omnipotent. What good can there result to the world from the +abstinence of meats, so much enjoined on some Christians, especially +when other Christians judge this injunction a very ridiculous law, and +contrary to reason and the order of things established in nature? It +is not difficult to perceive amongst us that this injunction, openly +violated by the rich, is an oppression on the poor, who are compelled +to pay dearly for an indifferent, often an unwholesome diet, that +injures rather than repairs the natural strength of their +constitution. Besides, do not the priests sell this permission to the +rich, to transgress an injunction the poor must not violate with +impunity? In fine, they seem to have multiplied our practices, our +duties, and our tortures, to have the advantage of multiplying our +faults, and making a good bargain out of our pretended crimes. + +The more we examine religion the more reason shall we have to be +convinced that it is beneficial to the _priests alone_. Every part of +this religion conspires to render us submissive to the fantasies of +our spiritual guides, to labor for their grandeur, to contribute to +their riches. They appoint us to perform disadvantageous duties; they +prescribe impossible perfections, purposely that we may transgress; +they have thereby engendered in pious minds scruples and difficulties +which they condescendingly appease for money. A devotee is obliged to +observe, without ceasing, the useless and frivolous rules of his +priest, and even then he is subject to continual reproaches; he is +perpetually in want of his priest to expiate his pretended faults with +which he charges himself, and the omission of duties that he regards +as the most important acts of his life, but which are rarely such as +interest society or benefit it by their performance. By a train of +religious prejudices with which the priests infect the mind of their +weak devotees, these believe themselves infinitely more culpable when +they have omitted some useless practice, than if they had committed +some great injustice or atrocious sin against humanity. It is commonly +sufficient for the devotees to be on good terms with God, whether they +be consistent in their actions with man, or in the practice of those +duties they owe to their fellow beings. + +Besides, Madam, what real advantage does society derive from repeated +prayers, abstinences, privations, seclusions, meditations, and +austerities, to which religion attaches so much value? Do all the +mysterious practices of the priests produce any real good? Are they +capable of calming the passions, of correcting vices, and of giving +virtue to those who most scrupulously observe them? Do we not daily +see persons who believe themselves damned if they forget a mass, if +they eat a fowl on Friday, if they neglect a confession, though they +are guilty at the same time of great dereliction to society? Do they +not hold the conduct of those very unjust, and very cruel, who happen +to have the misfortune of not thinking and doing as they think and +act? These practices, out of which a great number of men have created +essential duties, but too commonly absorb all moral duties; for if the +devotees are over-religious, it is rare to find them virtuous. Content +with doing what religion requires, they trouble themselves very little +about other matters. They believe themselves the favored of God, and +that it is a proof of this if they are detested by men, whose good +opinion they are seldom anxious to deserve. The whole life of a +devotee is spent in fulfilling, with scrupulous exactitude, duties +indifferent to God, unnecessary to himself, and useless to others. He +fancies he is virtuous when he has performed the rites which his +religion prescribes; when he has meditated on mysteries of which he +understands nothing; when he has struggled with sadness to do things +in which a man of sense can perceive no advantage; in fine, when he +has endeavored to practise, as much as in him lies, the Evangelical or +Christian virtues, in which he thinks all morality essentially +consists. + +I shall proceed in my next letter to examine these virtues, and to +prove to you that they are contrary to the ideas we ought to form of +God, useless to ourselves, and often dangerous to others. In the mean +time, I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER VIII. + + Of Evangelical Virtues and Christian Perfection. + + +If we believe the priests, we shall be persuaded, that the Christian +religion, by the beauty of its morals, excels philosophy and all the +other religious systems in the world. According to them, the +unassisted reason of the human mind could never have conceived sounder +doctrines of morality, more heroical virtues, or precepts more +beneficial to society. But this is not all; the virtues known or +practised among the heathens are considered as _false virtues_; far +from deserving our esteem, and the favor of the Almighty, they are +entitled to nothing but contempt; and, indeed, are _flagrant sins_ in +the sight of God. In short, the priests labor to convince us, that the +Christian ethics are purely divine, and the lessons inculcated so +sublime, that they could proceed from nothing less than the Deity. + +If, indeed, we call that divine which men can neither conceive nor +perform; if by divine virtues we are to understand virtues to which +the mind of man cannot possibly attach the least idea of utility; if +by divine perfections are meant those qualities which are not only +foreign to the nature of man, but which are irreconcilably repugnant +to it,--then, indeed, we shall be compelled to acknowledge that the +morals of Christianity are divine; at least we shall be assured that +they have nothing in common with that system of morality which arises +out of the nature and relations of men, but on the contrary, that +they, in many instances, confound the best conceptions we are able to +form of virtue. + +Guided by the light of reason, we comprehend under the name of virtue +those habitual dispositions of the heart which tend to the happiness +and the real advantage of those with whom we associate, and by the +exercise of which our fellow-creatures are induced to feel a +reciprocal interest in our welfare. Under the Christian system the +name of virtues is bestowed upon dispositions which it is impossible +to possess without supernatural grace; and which, when possessed, are +useless, if not injurious, both to ourselves and others. The morality +of Christians is, in good truth, the morality of another world. Like +the philosopher of antiquity, they keep their eyes fixed upon the +stars till they fall into a well, unperceived, at their feet. The only +object which their scheme of morals proposes to itself is, to disgust +their minds with the things of this world, in order that they may +place their entire affections upon things above, of which they have no +knowledge whatever; their happiness here below forms no part of their +consideration; this life, in the view of a Christian, is nothing but a +pilgrimage, leading to another existence, infinitely more interesting +to his hopes, because infinitely beyond the reach of his +understanding. Besides, before we can deserve to be happy in the +world which we do not know, we are informed that we must be miserable +in the world which we do know; and, above all things, in order to +secure to ourselves happiness hereafter, it is especially necessary +that we altogether resign the use of our own reason; that is to say, +we must seal up our eyes in utter darkness, and surrender ourselves to +the guidance of our priests. These are the principles upon which the +fabric of Christian morals is evidently constructed. + +Let us now proceed, Madam, to a more detailed examination of the +virtues upon which the Christian religion is built. These virtues are +Evangelical, &c. If destitute of them, we are assured that it is in +vain for us to seek the favor of the Deity. + +Of these virtues the first is FAITH. According to the doctrine of the +church, faith is the gift of God, a supernatural virtue, by means of +which we are inspired with a firm belief in God, and in all that he +has vouchsafed to reveal to man, although our reason is utterly unable +to comprehend it. Faith is, says the church, founded upon the word of +God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Thus faith supposes, +that God has spoken to man--but what evidence have we that God has +spoken to man? The Holy Scriptures. Who is it that assures us the Holy +Scriptures contain the word of God? It is the church. But who is it +that assures us the church cannot and will not deceive us? The Holy +Scriptures. Thus the Scriptures bear witness to the infallibility of +the church--and the church, in return, testifies the truth of the +Scriptures. From this statement of the case, you must perceive, that +faith is nothing more than an implicit belief in the priests, whose +assurances we adopt as the foundation of opinions in themselves +incomprehensible. It is true, that as a confirmation of the truth of +Scripture, we are referred to miracles--but it is these identical +Scriptures which report to us and testify of those very miracles. Of +the absolute impossibility of any miracles, I flatter myself that I +have already convinced you. + +Besides, I cannot but think, Madam, that you must be, by this time, +thoroughly satisfied how absurd it is to say that the understanding is +convinced of any thing which it does not comprehend; the insight I +have given you into the books which the Christians call sacred, must +have left upon your mind a firm persuasion, that they never could have +proceeded from a wise, a good, an omniscient, a just, and all-powerful +God. If, then, we cannot yield them a real belief, what we call faith +can be nothing more than a blind and irrational adherence to a system +devised by priests, whose crafty selfishness has made them careful +from the earliest infancy to fill our tender minds with prepossessions +in favor of doctrines which they judged favorable to their own +interests. Interested, however, as they are in the opinions which they +endeavor to force upon us as truth, is it possible for these priests +to believe them themselves? Unquestionably not--the thing is out of +nature. They are men like ourselves, furnished with the same +faculties, and neither they nor we can be convinced of any thing which +lies equally beyond the scope of us all. If they possessed an +additional sense, we should perhaps allow that they might comprehend +what is unintelligible to us; but as we clearly see that they have no +intellectual privileges above the rest of the species, we are +compelled to conclude, that their faith, like the faith of other +Christians, is a blind acquiescence in opinions derived, without +examination, from their predecessors; and that they must be hypocrites +when they pretend to _believe_ in doctrines of the truth of which they +cannot be _convinced_, since these doctrines have been shown to be +destitute of that degree of evidence which is necessary to impress the +mind with a feeling of their probability, much less of their +certainty. + +It will be said that faith, or the faculty of believing things +incredible, is the gift of God, and can only be known to those upon +whom God has bestowed the favor. My answer is, that, if that be the +case, we have no alternative but to wait till the grace of God shall +be shed upon us--and that in the mean time we may be allowed to doubt +whether credulity, stupidity, and the perversion of reason can +proceed, as favors, from a rational Deity who has endowed us with the +power of thinking. If God be infinitely wise, how can folly and +imbecility be pleasing to him? If there were such a thing as faith, +proceeding from grace, it would be the privilege of seeing things +otherwise than as God has made them; and if that were so, it follows, +that the whole creation would be a mere cheat. No man can believe the +Bible to be the production of God without doing violence to every +consistent notion that he is able to form of Deity! No man can believe +that one God is three Gods, and that those three Gods are one God, +without renouncing all pretension to common sense, and persuading +himself that there is no such thing as certainty in the world. + +Thus, Madam, we are bound to suspect that what the church calls a gift +from above, a supernatural grace, is, in fact, a perfect blindness, an +irrational credulity, a brutish submission, a vague uncertainty, a +stupid ignorance, by which we are led to acquiesce, without +investigation, in every dogma that our priests think fit to impose +upon us--by which we are led to adopt, without knowing why, the +pretended opinions of men who can have no better means of arriving at +the truth than we have. In short, we are authorized in suspecting that +no motive but that of blinding us, in order more effectually to +deceive us, can actuate those men who are eternally preaching to us +about a virtue which, if it could exist, would throw into utter +confusion the simplest and clearest perceptions of the human mind. + +This supposition is amply confirmed by the conduct of our +ecclesiastics--forgetting what they have told us, that grace is the +gratuitous present of God, bestowed or withheld at his sovereign +pleasure, they nevertheless indulge their wrath against all those who +have not received the gift of faith; they keep up one incessant +anathema against all unbelievers, and nothing less than absolute +extermination of heresy can appease their anger wherever they have the +strength to accomplish it. So that heretics and unbelievers are made +accountable for the grace of God, although they never received it; +they are punished in this world for those advantages which God has not +been pleased to extend to them in their journey to the next. In the +estimation of priests and devotees, the want of faith is the most +unpardonable of all offences--it is precisely that offence which, in +the cruelty of their absurd injustice, they visit with the last rigors +of punishment, for you cannot be ignorant, Madam, that in all +countries where the clergy possess sufficient influence, the flames of +priestly charity are lighted up to consume all those who are deficient +in the prescribed allowance of faith. + +When we inquire the motive for their unjust and senseless proceedings, +we are told that faith is the most necessary of all things, that faith +is of the most essential service to morals, that without faith a man +is a dangerous and wicked wretch, a pest to society. And, after all, +is it our own choice to have faith? Can we believe just what we +please? Does it depend upon ourselves not to think a proposition +absurd which our understanding shows us to be absurd? How could we +avoid receiving, in our infancy, whatever impressions and opinions +our teachers and relations chose to implant in us? And where is the +man who can boast that he has faith--that he is fully convinced of +mysteries which he cannot conceive, and wonders which he cannot +comprehend? + +Under these circumstances how can faith be serviceable to morals? If +no one can have faith but upon the assurance of another, and +consequently cannot entertain a real conviction, what becomes of the +social virtues? Admitting that faith were possible, what connection +can exist between such occult speculations and the manifest duties of +mankind, duties which are palpable to every one who, in the least, +consults his reason, his interest, or the welfare of the society to +which he belongs? Before I can be satisfied of the advantages of +justice, temperance, and benevolence, must I first believe in the +Trinity, the Incarnation, the Eucharist, and all the fables of the Old +Testament? If I believe in all the atrocious murders attributed by the +Bible to that God whom I am bound to consider as the fountain of +justice, wisdom, and goodness, is it not likely that I shall feel +encouraged to the commission of crimes when I find them sanctioned by +such an example? Although unable to discover the value of so many +mysteries which I cannot understand, or of so many fanciful and +cumbersome ceremonies prescribed by the church, am I, on that account, +to be denounced as a more dangerous citizen than those who persecute, +torment, and destroy every one of their fellow-creatures who does not +think and act at their dictation? The evident result of all these +considerations must be, that he who has a lively faith and a blind +zeal for opinions contradictory to common sense, is more irrational, +and consequently more wicked than the man whose mind is untainted by +such detestable doctrines; for when once the priests have gained their +fatal ascendency over his mind, and have persuaded him that, by +committing all sorts of enormities, he is doing the work of the Lord, +there can be no doubt that he will make greater havoc in the happiness +of the world, than the man whose reason tells him that such excesses +cannot be acceptable in the sight of God. + +The advocates of the church will here interrupt me, by alleging that +if divested of those sentiments which religion inspires, men would no +longer live under the influence of motives strong enough to induce an +abstinence from vice, or to urge them on in the career of virtue when +obstructed by painful sacrifices. In a word, it will be affirmed that +unless men are convinced of the existence of an avenging and +remunerating God, they are released from every motive to fulfil their +duties to each other in the present life. + +You are, doubtless, Madam, quite sensible of the futility of such +pretences, put forth by priests who, in order to render themselves +more necessary, are indefatigable in endeavoring to persuade us that +their system is indispensable to the maintenance of social order. To +annihilate their sophistries it is sufficient to reflect upon the +nature of man, his true interests, and the end for which society is +formed. Man is a feeble being, whose necessities render him constantly +dependent upon the support of others, whether it be for the +preservation or the pleasure of his existence; he has no means of +interesting others in his welfare except by his manner of conducting +himself towards them; that conduct which renders him an object of +affection to others is called virtue--whatever is pernicious to +society is called crime--and where the consequences are injurious only +to the individual himself, it is called vice. Thus every man must +immediately perceive that he consults his own happiness by advancing +that of others--that vices, however cautiously disguised from public +observation, are, nevertheless, fraught with ruin to him who practises +them--and that crimes are sure to render the perpetrator odious or +contemptible in the eyes of his associates, who are necessary to his +own happiness. In short, education, public opinion, and the laws point +out to us our mutual duties much more clearly than the chimeras of an +incomprehensible religion. + +Every man on consulting with himself will feel indubitably that he +desires his own conservation; experience will teach him both what he +ought to do and what to avoid to arrive at this end; in consequence he +will shrink from those excesses which endanger his being; he will +debar himself from those gratifications which in their course would +render his existence miserable; and he would make sacrifices, if it +was necessary, in the view of procuring himself advantages more real +than those of which he momentarily deprived himself. Thus he would +know what he owes to himself and what he owes to others. + +Here, Madam, you have a short but perfect summary of all morals, +derived, as they must be, from the nature of man, the uniform +experience and the universal reason of mankind. These precepts are +compulsory upon our minds, for they show us that the consequences of +our conduct flow from our actions with as natural and inevitable a +certainty as the return of a stone to the earth after the impetus is +exhausted which detained it in the air. It is natural and inevitable +that the man who employs himself in doing good must be preferred to +the man who does mischief. Every thinking being must be penetrated +with the truth of this incontrovertible maxim, and all the ponderous +volumes of theology that ever were composed can add nothing to the +force of his conviction; every thinking being will, therefore, avoid a +conduct calculated to injure either himself or others; he will feel +himself under the necessity of doing good to others, as the only +method of obtaining solid happiness for himself, and of conciliating +to himself those sentiments on the part of others, without which he +could derive no charms from society. + +You perceive, then, Madam, that _faith_ cannot in any manner +contribute to the correction of social conduct, and you will feel +that the popular supernatural notions cannot add any thing to the +obligations that our nature imposes upon us. In fact, the more +mysterious and incomprehensible are the dogmas of the church, the more +likely are they to draw us aside from the plain dictates of Nature and +the straight-forward directions of Reason, whose voice is incapable of +misleading us. A candid survey of the causes which produce an infinity +of evils that afflict society will quickly point out the speculative +tenets of theology as their most fruitful source. The intoxication of +enthusiasm and the frenzy of fanaticism concur in overpowering reason, +and by rendering men blind and unreflecting, convert them into enemies +both of themselves and the rest of the world. It is impossible for the +worshippers of a tyrannical, partial, and cruel God to practise the +duties of justice and philanthropy. As soon as the priests have +succeeded in stifling within us the commands of Reason, they have +already converted us into slaves, in whom they can kindle whatever +passions it may please them to inspire us with. + +Their interest, indeed, requires that we should be slaves. They exact +from us the surrender of our reason, because our reason contradicts +their impostures, and would ruin their plans of aggrandizement. Faith +is the instrument by which they enslave us and make us subservient to +their own ambition. Hence arises their zeal for the propagation of the +faith; hence arises their implacable hostility to science, and to all +those who refuse submission to their yoke; hence arises their +incessant endeavor to establish the dominion of Faith, (that is to +say, their own dominion,) even by fire and sword, the only arguments +they condescend to employ. + +It must be confessed that society derives but little advantage from +this supernatural faith which the church has exalted into the first of +virtues. As it regards God, it is perfectly useless to him, since if +he wishes mankind to be convinced, it is sufficient that he wills them +to be so. It is utterly unworthy of the supreme wisdom of God, who +cannot exhibit himself to mortals in a manner contradictory to the +reason with which he has endowed them. It is unworthy of the divine +justice, which cannot require from mankind to be convinced of that +which they cannot understand. It denies the very existence of God +himself, by inculcating a belief totally subversive of the only +rational idea we are able to form of the Divinity. + +As it regards morality, faith is also useless. Faith cannot render it +either more sacred or more necessary than it already is by its own +inherent essence, and by the nature of man. Faith is not only useless, +but injurious to society, since, under the plea of its pretended +necessity, it frequently fills the world with deplorable troubles and +horrid crimes. In short, faith is self-contradictory, since by it we +are required to believe in things inconsistent with each other, and +even incompatible with the principles laid down in the books which we +have already investigated, and which contain what we are commanded to +believe. + +To whom, then, is faith found to be advantageous? To a few men, only, +who, availing themselves of its influence to degrade the human mind, +contrive to render the labor of the whole world tributary to their own +luxury, splendor, and power. Are the nations of the earth any happier +for their faith, or their blind reliance on priests? Certainly not. We +do not there find more morality, more virtue, more industry, or more +happiness; but, on the contrary, wherever the priests are powerful, +there the people are sure to be found abject in their minds and +squalid in their condition. + +But Hope--Hope, the second in order of the Christian perfections, is +ever at hand to console us for the evils inflicted by Faith. We are +commanded to be firmly convinced that those who have faith, that is to +say, those who believe in priests, shall be amply rewarded in the +other world for their meritorious submission in this. Thus hope is +founded on faith, in the same manner as faith is established upon +hope; faith enjoins us to entertain a devout hope that our faith will +be rewarded. And what is it we are told to hope for? For unspeakable +benefits; that is, benefits for which language contains no expression. +So that, after all, we know not what it is we are to hope for. And how +can we feel a hope or even a wish for any object that is undefinable? +How can priests incessantly speak to us of things of which they, at +the same time, acknowledge it is impossible for us to form any ideas? + +It thus appears that hope and faith have one common foundation; the +same blow which overturns the one necessarily levels the other with +the ground. But let us pause a moment, and endeavor to discover the +advantages of Christian hope amongst men. It encourages to the +practice of virtue; it supports the unfortunate under the stroke of +affliction; and consoles the believer in the hour of adversity. But +what encouragement, what support, what consolation can be imparted to +the mind from these undefined and undefinable shadows? No one, indeed, +will deny that hope is sufficiently useful to the priests, who never +fail to call in its assistance for the vindication of Providence, +whenever any of the elect have occasion to complain of the unmerited +hardship or the transient injustice of his dispensations. Besides, +these priests, notwithstanding their beautiful systems, find +themselves unable to fulfil the high-sounding promises they so +liberally make to all the faithful, and are frequently at a loss to +explain the evils which they bring upon their flocks by means of the +quarrels they engage in, and the false notions of religion they +entertain; on these occasions the priests have a standing appeal to +hope, telling their dupes that man was not created for this world, +that heaven is his home, and that his sufferings here will be +counterbalanced by indescribable bliss hereafter. Thus, like quacks, +whose nostrums have ruined the health of their patients, they have +still left to themselves the advantage of selling hopes to those whom +they know themselves unable to cure. Our priests resemble some of our +physicians, who begin by frightening us into our complaints, in order +that they may make us customers for the hopes which they afterwards +sell to us for their weight in gold. This traffic constitutes, in +reality, all that is called religion. + +The third of the Christian virtues is Charity; that is, to love God +above all things, and our neighbors as ourselves. But before we are +required to love God above all things, it seems reasonable that +religion should condescend to represent him as worthy of our love. In +good faith, Madam, is it possible to feel that the God of the +Christians is entitled to our love? Is it possible to feel any other +sentiments than those of aversion towards a partial, capricious, +cruel, revengeful, jealous, and sanguinary tyrant? How can we +sincerely love the most terrible of beings,--the living God, into +whose hands it is dreadful to think of falling,--the God who can +consign to eternal damnation those very creatures who, without his own +consent, would never have existed? Are our theologians aware of what +they say, when they tell us that the fear of God is the fear of a +child for its parent, which is mingled with love? Are we not bound to +hate, can we by any means avoid detesting, a barbarous father, whose +injustice is so boundless as to punish the whole human race, though +innocent, in order to revenge himself upon two individuals for the sin +of the apple, which sin he himself might have prevented if he had +thought proper? In short, Madam, it is a physical impossibility to +love above all things a God whose whole conduct, as described in the +Bible, fills us with a freezing horror. If, therefore, the love of +God, as the Jansenists assert, is indispensable to salvation, we +cannot wonder to find that the elect are so few. Indeed, there are not +many persons who can restrain themselves from hating this God; and the +doctrine of the Jesuits is, that to abstain from hating him is +sufficient for salvation. The power of loving a God whom religion +paints as the most detestable of beings would, doubtless, be a proof +of the most supernatural grace, that is, a grace the most contrary to +nature; to love that which we do not know, is, assuredly, sufficiently +difficult; to love that which we fear, is still more difficult; but to +love that which is exhibited to us in the most repulsive colors, is +manifestly impossible. + +We must, after all this, be thoroughly convinced that, except by means +of an invisible grace never communicated to the profane, no Christian +in his sober senses can love his God; even those devotees who pretend +to that happiness are apt to deceive themselves; their conduct +resembles that of hypocritical flatterers, who, in order to ingratiate +themselves with an odious tyrant, or to escape his resentment, make +every profession of attachment, whilst, at the bottom of their +hearts, they execrate him; or, on the other hand, they must be +condemned as enthusiasts, who, by means of a heated imagination, +become the dupes of their own illusions, and only view the favorable +side of a God declared to be the fountain of all good, yet, +nevertheless, constantly delineated to us with every feature of +wickedness. Devotees, when sincere, are like women given up to the +infatuation of a blind passion by which they are enamoured with lovers +rejected by the rest of the sex as unworthy of their affection. It was +said by Madame de Sévigné that she loved God as a perfectly well-bred +gentleman, with whom she had never been acquainted. But can the God of +the Christians be esteemed a well-bred gentleman? Unless her head was +turned, one would think that she must have been cured of her passion +by the slightest reference to her imaginary lover's portrait as drawn +in the Bible, or as it is spread upon the canvas of our theological +artists. + +With regard to the love of our neighbor, where was the necessity of +religion to teach us our duty, which as men we cannot but feel, of +cherishing sentiments of good will towards each other? It is only by +showing in our conduct an affectionate disposition to others that we +can produce in them correspondent feelings towards ourselves. The +simple circumstance of being men is quite sufficient to give us a +claim upon the heart of every man who is susceptible of the sweet +sensibilities of our nature. Who is better acquainted than yourself, +Madam, with this truth? Does not your compassionate soul experience at +every moment the delightful satisfaction of solacing the unhappy? +Setting aside the superfluous precepts of religion, think you that you +could by any efforts steel your heart against the tears of the +unfortunate? Is it not by rendering our fellow-creatures happy that we +establish an empire in their hearts? Enjoy, then, Madam, this +delightful sovereignty; continue to bless with your beneficence all +that surround you; the consciousness of being the dispenser of so much +good will always sustain your mind with the most gratifying +self-applause; those who have received your kindness will reward you +with their blessings, and afford you the tribute of affection which +mankind are ever eager to lay at the feet of their benefactors. + +Christianity, not satisfied with recommending the love of our +neighbor, superadds the injunction of loving our enemies. This +precept, attributed to the Son of God himself, forms the ground on +which our divines claim for their religion a superiority of moral +doctrine over all that the philosophers of antiquity were known to +teach. Let us, therefore, examine how far this precept admits of being +reduced to practice. True, an elevated mind may easily place itself +above a sense of injuries; a noble spirit retains no resentful +recollections; a great soul revenges itself by a generous clemency; +but it is an absurd contradiction to require that a man shall +entertain feelings of tenderness and regard for those whom he knows +to be bent on his destruction; this love of our enemies, which +Christianity is so vain of having promulgated, turns out, then, to be +an impracticable commandment, belied and denied by every Christian at +every moment of his life. How preposterous to talk of loving that +which annoys us!--of cherishing an attachment for that which gives us +pain!--of receiving an outrage with joy!--of loving those who subject +us to misery and suffering! No; in the midst of these trials our +firmness may perhaps be strengthened by the hope of a reward +hereafter; but it is a mere fallacy to talk of our entertaining a +sincere love for those whom we deem the authors of our afflictions; +the least that we can do is to avoid them, which will not be looked +upon as a very strong indication of our love. + +Notwithstanding the solemn formality with which the Christian religion +obtrudes upon us these vaunted precepts of love of our neighbor, love +of our enemies, and forgiveness of injuries, it cannot escape the +observation of the weakest among us, that those very men who are the +loudest in praising are also the first and most constant in violating +them. Our priests especially seem to consider themselves exempt from +the troublesome necessity of adopting for their own conduct a too +literal interpretation of this divine law. They have invented a most +convenient salvo, since they affect to exclude all those who do not +profess to think as they dictate, not only from the kindness of +neighbors, but even from the rights of fellow-creatures. On this +principle they defame, persecute, and destroy every one who displeases +them. When do you see a priest forgive? When revenge is out of his +reach! But it is never their own injuries they punish; it is never +their own enemies they seek to exterminate. Their disinterested +indignation burns with resentment against the enemies of the Most +High, who, without their assistance, would be incapable of adjusting +his own quarrels! By an unaccountable coincidence, however, it is sure +to happen that the enemies of the church are the enemies of the Most +High, who never fails to make common cause with the ministers of the +faith, and who would take it extremely ill if his ministers should +relax in the measure of punishment due to their common enemy. Thus our +priests are cruel and revengeful from pure zeal; they would ardently +wish to forgive their own enemies, but how could they justify +themselves to the God of Mercies if they extended the least indulgence +to his enemies? + +A true Christian loves the Creator above all things, and consequently +he must love him in preference to the creature. We feel a lively +interest in every thing that concerns the object of our love; from all +which, it follows that we must evince our zeal, and even, when +necessary, we must not hesitate to exterminate our neighbor, if he +says or does what is displeasing or injurious to God. In such a case, +indifference would be criminal; a sincere love of God breaks out into +a holy ardor in his cause, and our merit rises in proportion to our +violence. + +These notions, absurd as they are, have been sufficient in every age +to produce in the world a multitude of crimes, extravagances, and +follies, the legitimate offspring of a religious zeal. Infatuated +fanatics, exasperated by priests against each other, have been driven +into mutual hatred, persecution, and destruction; they have thought +themselves called upon to avenge the Almighty; they have carried their +insane delusions so far as to persuade themselves that the God of +clemency and goodness could look on with pleasure while they murdered +their brethren; in the astonishing blindness of their stupidity, they +have imagined that in defending the temporalities of the church, they +were defending God himself. In pursuance of these errors, contradicted +even by the description which they themselves give us of the Divinity, +the priests of every age have found means to introduce confusion into +the peaceful habitations of men, and to destroy all who dared to +resist their tyranny. Under the laughable idea of revenging the +all-powerful Creator, these priests have discovered the secret of +revenging themselves, and that, too, without drawing down upon +themselves the hatred and execration so justly due to their vindictive +fury and unfeeling selfishness. In the name of the God of nature, they +stifled the voice of nature in the breasts of men; in the name of the +God of goodness, they incited men to the fury of wild beasts; in the +name of the God of mercies, they prohibited all forgiveness! + +It is thus, Madam, that the earth has never ceased to groan with the +ravages committed by maniacs under the influence of that zeal which +springs from the Christian doctrine of the love of God. The God of the +Christians, like the Janus of Roman mythology, has two faces; +sometimes he is represented with the benign features of mercy and +goodness; sometimes murder, revenge, and fury issue from his nostrils. +And what is the consequence of this double aspect but that the +Christians are much more easily terrified at his frightful lineaments +than they are recovered from their fears by his aspect of mercy! +Having been taught to view him as a capricious being, they are +naturally mistrustful of him, and imagine that the safest part they +can act for themselves is to set about the work of vengeance with +great zeal; they conclude that a cruel master cannot find fault with +cruel imitators, and that his servants cannot render themselves more +acceptable than by extirpating all his enemies. + +The preceding remarks show very clearly, Madam, the highly pernicious +consequences which result from the zeal engendered by the love of God. +If this love is a virtue, its benefits are confined to the priests, +who arrogate to themselves the exclusive privilege of declaring when +God is offended; who absorb all the offerings and monopolize all the +homage of the devout; who decide upon the opinions that please or +displease him; who undertake to inform mankind of the duties this +virtue requires from them, and of the proper time and manner of +performing them; who are interested in rendering those duties cruel +and intimidating in order to frighten mankind into a profitable +subjection; who convert it into the instrument of gratifying their own +malignant passions, by inspiring men with a spirit of headlong and +raging intolerance, which, in its furious course of indiscriminate +destruction, holds nothing sacred, and which has inflicted incredible +ravages upon all Christian countries. + +In conformity with such abominable principles, a Christian is bound to +detest and destroy all whom the church may point out as the enemies of +God. Having admitted the paramount duty of yielding their entire +affections to a rigorous master, quick to resent, and offended even +with the involuntary thoughts and opinions of his creatures, they of +course feel themselves bound, by entering with zeal into his quarrels, +to obtain for him a vengeance worthy of a God--that is to say, a +vengeance that knows no bounds. A conduct like this is the natural +offspring of those revolting ideas which our priests give us of the +Deity. A good Christian is therefore necessarily intolerant. It is +true that Christianity in the pulpit preaches nothing but mildness, +meekness, toleration, peace, and concord; but Christianity in the +world is a stranger to all these virtues; nor does she ever exercise +them except when she is deficient in the necessary power to give +effect to her destructive zeal. The real truth of the matter is, that +Christians think themselves absolved from every tie of humanity except +with those who think as they do, who profess to believe the same +creed; they have a repugnance, more or less decided, against all those +who disagree with their priests in theological speculation. How common +it is to see persons of the mildest character and most benevolent +disposition regard with aversion the adherents of a different sect +from their own! The reigning religion--that is, the religion of the +sovereign, or of the priests in whose favor the sovereign declares +himself--crushes all rival sects, or, at least, makes them fully +sensible of its superiority and its hatred, in a manner extremely +insulting, and calculated to raise their indignation. By these means +it frequently happens that the deference of the prince to the wishes +of the priests has the effect of alienating the hearts of his most +faithful subjects, and brings him that execration which ought in +justice to be heaped exclusively upon his sanctimonious instigators. + +In short, Madam, the private rights of conscience are nowhere +sincerely respected; the leaders of the various religious sects begin, +in the very cradle, to teach all Christians to hate and despise each +other about some theological point which nobody can understand. The +clergy, when vested with power, never preach toleration; on the +contrary, they consider every man as an enemy who is a friend to +religious freedom, accusing him of lukewarmness, infidelity, and +secret hostility; in short, he is denominated a false brother. The +Sorbonne declared, in the sixteenth century, that it was heretical to +say that heretics ought not to be burned. The ferocious St. Austin +preached toleration at one period, but it was before he was duly +initiated in the mysteries of the sacerdotal policy, which is ever +repugnant to toleration. Persecution is necessary to our priests, to +deter mankind from opposing themselves to their avarice, their +ambition, their vanity, and their obstinacy. The sole principle which +holds the church together is that of a sleepless watchfulness on the +part of all its members to extend its power, to increase the multitude +of its slaves, to fix odium on all who hesitate to bend their necks to +its yoke, or who refuse their assent to its arbitrary decisions. + +Our divines have, therefore, you see, very good reasons for raising +humility into the rank of virtue. An amiable modesty, a diffident +mildness of demeanor, are unquestionably calculated to promote the +pleasures and the advantages of society; it is equally certain that +insolence and arrogance are disgusting, that they wound our self-love +and excite our aversion by their repulsive conduct; but that amiable +modesty which charms all who come within its influence is a far +different quality from that which is designated humility in the +vocabulary of Christians. A truly humble Christian despises his own +unworthiness, avoids the esteem of others, mistrusts his own +understanding, submits with docility to the unerring guidance of his +spiritual masters, and piously resigns to his priest the clearest and +most irrefutable conclusions of reason. + +But to what advantage can this pretended virtue lead its followers? +How can a man of sense and integrity despise himself? Is not public +opinion the guardian of private virtue? If you deprive men of the love +of glory, and the desire of deserving the approbation of their +fellow-citizens, are you not divesting them of the noblest and most +powerful incitements by which they can be impelled to benefit their +country? What recompense will remain to the benefactors of mankind, +if, first of all, we are unjust enough to refuse them the praise they +merit, and afterwards debar them from the satisfaction of +self-applause, and the happiness they would feel in the consciousness +of having done good to an ungrateful world? What infatuation, what +amazing infatuation, to require a man of upright character, of +talents, intelligence, and learning, to think himself on a level with +a selfish priest, or a stupid fanatic, who deal out their absurd +fables and incoherent dreams! + +Our priests are never weary of telling their flocks that pride leads +on to infidelity, and that a humble and submissive spirit is alone +fitted to receive the truths of the gospel. In good earnest, should +we not be utterly bereft of every claim to the name of rational +beings, if we consent to surrender our judgment and our knowledge at +the command of a hierarchy, who have nothing to give us in exchange +but the most palpable absurdities? With what face can a reverend +Doctor of Nonsense dare to exact from my understanding a humble +acquiescence in a bundle of mysterious opinions, for which he is +unable to offer me a single solid reason? Is it, then, presumptuous to +think one's self superior to a class of pretenders, whose systems are +a mass of falsities, absurdities, and inconsistencies, of which they +contrive to make mankind at once the dupes and the victims? Can pride +or vanity be, with justice, imputed to you, Madam, if you see reason +to prefer the dictates of your own understanding to the authoritative +decrees of Mrs. D----, whose senseless malignity is obvious to all her +acquaintance? + +If Christian humility is a virtue at all, it can be one only in the +cloister; society can derive no sort of benefit from it; it enervates +the mind; it benefits nobody but priests, who, under the pretext of +rendering men humble, seek, in reality, only to degrade them, to +stifle in their souls every spark of science and of courage, that they +may the more easily impose the yoke of faith, that is to say, their +own yoke. Conclude, then, with me, that the Christian virtues are +chimerical, always useless, and sometimes pernicious to men, and +attended with advantage to none but priests. Conclude that this +religion, with all the boasted beauty of its morality, recommends to +us a set of virtues, and enjoins a line of conduct, at variance with +good sense. Conclude that, in order to be moral and virtuous, it is +far from necessary to adopt the unintelligible creed of the priests, +or to pride ourselves upon the empty virtues they preach, and still +less to annihilate all sense of dignity in ourselves, by a degrading +subjection to the duties they require. Conclude, in short, that the +friend of virtue is not, of necessity, the friend of priestcraft, and +that a man may be adorned with every human perfection, without +possessing one of the Christian virtues. + +All who examine this matter with a candid and intelligent eye, cannot +fail to see that true morality--that is to say, a morality really +serviceable to mankind--is absolutely incompatible with the Christian +religion, or any other professed revelation. Whoever imagines himself +the favored object of the Creator's love, must look down with disdain +upon his less fortunate fellow-creatures, especially if he regards +that Creator as partial, choleric, revengeful, and fickle, easily +incensed against us, even by our involuntary thoughts, or our most +innocent words and actions; such a man naturally conducts himself with +contempt and pride, with harshness and barbarity towards all others +whom he may deem obnoxious to the resentment of his Heavenly King. +Those men, whose folly leads them to view the Deity in the light of a +capricious, irritable, and unappeasable despot, can be nothing but +gloomy and trembling slaves, ever eager to anticipate the vengeance +of God upon all whose conduct or opinions they may conceive likely to +provoke the celestial wrath. As soon as the priests have succeeded in +reducing men to a state of stupidity gross enough to make them believe +that their ghostly fathers are the faithful organs of the divine will, +they naturally commit every species of crime, which their spiritual +teachers may please to tell them is calculated to pacify the anger of +their offended God. Men, silly enough to accept a system of morals +from guides thus hollow in reasoning, and thus discordant in opinion, +must necessarily be unstable in their principles, and subject to every +variation that the interest of their guides may suggest. In short, it +is impossible to construct a solid morality, if we take for our +foundation the attributes of a deity so unjust, so capricious, and so +changeable as the God of the Bible, whom we are commanded to imitate +and adore. + +Persevere, then, my dear Madam, in the practice of those virtues which +your own unsophisticated heart approves; they will insure you a rich +harvest of happiness in the present existence; they will insure you a +rich return of gratitude, respect, and love from all who enjoy their +benign influence; they will insure you the solid satisfaction of a +well-founded self-esteem, and thus provide you with that unfailing +source of inward gratification which arises from the consciousness of +having contributed to the welfare of the human race. I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER IX. + + Of the Advantages contributed to Government by Religion. + + +Having already shown you, Madam, the feebleness of those succors which +religion furnishes to morals, I shall now proceed to examine whether +it procure advantages in themselves really politic, and whether it be +true, as has so often been urged by the priests, that it is absolutely +necessary to the existence of every government. Were we disposed to +shut our eyes, and deliver ourselves up to the language of our +priests, we should believe that their opinions are necessary to the +public tranquillity, and the repose and security of the State; that +princes could not, without their aid, govern the people, and exert +themselves for the prosperity of their empire. Nor is this all; our +spiritual pilots approach the throne, and gaining the ear of the +sovereign, make him also believe that he has the greatest interest in +conforming to their caprices, in order to subject men to the divine +yoke of royalty. These priests mingle in all important political +quarrels, and they too often persuade the rulers of the earth that the +enemies of the church are the enemies of all power, and that in +sapping the foundations of the altar, the foundations of the throne +are likewise necessarily overthrown. + +We have, then, only to open our eyes and consult history, to be +convinced of the falsity of these pretensions, and to appreciate the +important services which the Christian priests have rendered to their +sovereigns. Ever since the establishment of Christianity, we have +seen, in all the countries in which this religion has gained ground, +that two rival powers are perpetually at war one with the other. We +find _a_ government within _the_ government; that is to say, we find +the Church, a body of priests, continually opposed to the sovereign +power, and in virtue of their pretended _divine_ mission and _sacred_ +office, pretending to give laws to all the sovereigns of the earth. We +find the clergy, puffed up and besotted with the titles they have +given themselves, laboring to exact the obedience due to the +sovereign, pretending to chimerical and dangerous prerogatives, which +none are suffered to question, without risking the displeasure of the +Almighty. And so well have the priesthood managed this matter, that in +many countries we actually see the people more inclined to lean to the +authority of the Vicars of Jesus Christ than to that of the civil +government. The priesthood claim the right of commanding monarchs +themselves, and sustained by their emissaries and the credulity of the +people, their ridiculous pretensions have engaged princes in the most +serious affairs, sown trouble and discord in kingdoms, and so shook +thrones as to compel their occupants to make submission to an +intolerant hierarchy. + +Such are the important services which religion has a thousand times +rendered to kings. The people, blinded by superstition, could +hesitate but little between God and the princes of the earth. The +priests, being the visible organs of an invisible monarch, have +acquired an immense credit with prejudiced minds. The ignorance of the +people places them, as well as their sovereigns, at the mercy of the +priests. Nations have continually been dragged into their futile +though bloody quarrels; princes, for a long series of years, have +either had to dispute their authority with the clergy, or become their +tools or dupes. + +The continual attention which the princes of Europe have been forced +to pay to the clergy has prevented them from occupying their thoughts +about the welfare of their subjects, who, in many instances the dupes +of the priesthood, have opposed even the good their rulers desired to +procure them. In like manner, the heads of the people, their kings and +governors, too weak to resist the torrent of opinions propagated by +the clergy, have been forced to yield, to bow, nay, even to caress the +priesthood, and to consent to grant it all its demands. Whenever they +have wished to resist the encroachments of the clergy, they have +encountered concealed snares or open opposition, as the _holy_ power +was either too weak to act in the face of day, or strong enough to +contend in the sunshine. When princes have wished to be listened to by +the clergy, these last have invariably contrived to make them +cowardly, and to sacrifice the happiness and respect of their people. +Often have the hands of parricides and rebels been armed, by a proud +and vindictive priesthood, against sovereigns the most worthy of +reigning. The priests, under pretext of avenging God, inflict their +anger upon monarchs themselves, whenever the latter are found +indisposed to bend under their yoke. In a word, in _all_ countries we +perceive that the ministers of religion have exercised in all ages the +most unbridled license. We every where see empires torn by their +dissensions; thrones overturned by their machinations; princes +immolated to their power and revenge; subjects animated to revolt +against the prince that ought to give them more happiness than they +actually enjoyed; and when we take the retrospect of these, we find +that the ambition, the cupidity, and vanity of the clergy have been +the true causes and motives of all these outrages on the peace of the +universe. And it is thus that their religion has so often produced +anarchy, and overturned the very empires they pretended to support by +its influence. + +Sovereigns have never enjoyed peace but when, shamefully devoted to +priests, they submitted to their caprices, became enslaved to their +opinions, and allowed them to govern in place of themselves. Then was +the sovereign power subordinate to the sacerdotal, and the prince was +only the first servant of the church; she degraded him to such a +degree as to make him her hangman; she obliged him to execute her +sanguinary decrees; she forced him to dip his hands in the blood of +his own subjects whom the clergy had proscribed; she made him the +visible instrument of her vengeance, her fury, and her concealed +passions. Instead of occupying himself with the happiness of his +people, the sovereign has had the complaisance to torment, to +persecute, and to immolate honest citizens, thus exciting the just +hatred of a portion of his people, to whom he should have been a +father, to gratify the ambition and the selfish malevolence of some +priests, always aliens in the state which nourishes them, and who only +style themselves members of the realm in order to domineer, to +distract, to plunder, and to devour with impunity. + +How little soever you are disposed to reflect, you will be convinced, +Madam, that I do not exaggerate these things. Recent examples prove to +you that even in this age, so ambitious of being considered +enlightened, nations are not secure from the shocks that the priests +have ever caused nations to suffer. You have a hundred times sighed at +the sight of the sad follies which puerile questions have produced +among us. You have shuddered at the frightful consequences which have +resulted from the unreasonable squabbles of the clergy. You have +trembled with all good citizens at the sight of the tragical effects +which have been brought about by the furious wickedness of a +fanaticism for which nothing is sacred. In fine, you have seen the +sovereign authority compelled to struggle incessantly against +rebellious subjects, who pretend that their conscience or the +interests of religion have obliged them to resist opinions the most +agreeable to common sense, and the most equitable. + +Our fathers, more religious and less enlightened than ourselves, were +witnesses of scenes yet more terrible. They saw civil wars, leagues +openly formed against their sovereign, and the capital submerged in +the blood of murdered citizens; two monarchs successively immolated to +the fury of the clergy, who kindled in all parts the fire of sedition. +They afterwards saw kings at war with their own subjects; a famous +sovereign, Louis XIV., tarnishing all his glory by persecuting, +contrary to the faith of treaties, subjects who would have lived +tranquil, if they had only been allowed to enjoy in peace the liberty +of conscience; and they saw, in fine, this same prince, the dupe of a +false policy, dictated by intolerance, banish, along with the exiled +Protestants, the industry of his states, and forcing the arts and +manufactures of our nation to take refuge in the dominions of our most +implacable enemies. + +We see religion throughout Europe, without cessation, exerting a +baleful influence upon temporal affairs; we see it direct the +interests of princes; we see it divide and make Christian nations +enemies of each other, because their spiritual guides do not all +entertain the same opinions. Germany is divided into two religious +parties whose interests are perpetually at variance. We every where +perceive that Protestants are born the enemies of the Catholics, and +are always in antagonism to them; while, on the other hand, the +Catholics are leagued with their priests against all those whose mode +of thinking is less abject and less servile than their own. + +Behold, Madam, the signal advantages that nations derive from +religion! But we are certain to be told that these terrible effects +are due to the passions of men, and not to the Christian religion, +which incessantly inculcates charity, concord, indulgence, and peace. +If, however, we reflect even a moment on the principles of this +religion, we should immediately perceive that they are incompatible +with the fine maxims that have never been practised by the Christian +priests, except when they lacked the power to persecute their enemies +and inflict upon them the weight of their rage. The adorers of a +jealous God, vindictive and sanguinary, as is obviously the character +of the God of the Jews and Christians, could not evince in their +conduct moderation, tranquillity, and humanity. The adorers of a God +who takes offence at the opinions of his weak creatures, who +reprobates and glories in the extermination of all who do not worship +him in a particular way, for the which, by the by, he gives them +neither the means nor the inclination, must necessarily be intolerant +persecutors. The adorers of a God who has not thought fit to +illuminate with an equal portion of light the minds of all his +creatures, who reveals his favor and bestows his kindness on a few +only of those creatures, who leaves the remainder in blindness and +uncertainty to follow their passions, or adopt opinions against which +the favored wage war, must of necessity be eternally at odds with the +rest of the world, canting about their oracles and mysteries, +supernatural precepts, invented purely to torment the human mind, to +enthral it, and leave man answerable for what he could not obey, and +punishable for what he was restrained from performing. We need not +then be astonished if, since the origin of Christianity, our priests +have never been a single moment without disputes. It appears that God +only sent his Son upon earth that his marvellous doctrines might prove +an apple of discord both for his priests and his adorers. The +ministers of a church founded by Christ himself, who promised to send +them his Holy Spirit to lead them into all the truth, have never been +in unison with their dogmas. We have seen this infallible church for +whole ages enveloped in error. You know, Madam, that in the fourth +century, by the acknowledgment of the priests themselves, the great +body of the church followed the opinions of the Arians, who disavowed +even the divinity of Jesus Christ. The spirit of God must then have +abandoned his church; else why did its ministers fall into this error, +and dispute afterwards about so fundamental a dogma of the Christian +religion? + +Notwithstanding these continual quarrels, the church arrogates to +itself the right of fixing the faith of the _true believers_, and in +this it pretends to infallibility; and if the Protestant parsons have +renounced the lofty and ridiculous pretensions of their Catholic +brethren, they are not less certain in the infallibility of their +decisions; for they talk with the authority of oracles, and send to +hell and damnation all who do not yield submission to their dogmas. +Thus on both sides of the cross they wish their assertions to be +received by their adherents as if they came direct from heaven. The +priests have always been at discord among themselves, and have +perpetually cursed, anathematized, and doomed each other to hell. The +vanity of each holy clique has caused it to adhere obstinately to its +own peculiar opinions, and to treat its adversaries as heretics. +Violence alone has generally decided the discussions, terminated the +disputes, and fixed the standard of belief. Those pugnacious, brawling +priests who were artful enough to enlist sovereigns on their side were +_orthodox_, or, in other words, boasted that they were the exclusive +possessors of the true doctrine. They made use of their credit to +crush their adversaries, whom they always treated with the greatest +barbarity. + +But, after all, whatever the clergy may say, we shall find, even with +a small share of attention, that it has ever been kings and emperors +who, in the last resort, fixed the faith of the disputatious +Christians. It has been by downright blows of the sword that those +theological notions most pleasing to the Deity have been sustained in +all countries. The true belief has invariably been that which had +princes for its adherents. The faithful were those who had strength +sufficient to exterminate their enemies, whom they never failed to +treat as the enemies of God. In a word, princes have been truly +infallible; we should regard them as the true founders of religious +faith; they are the judges who have decided, in all ages, what +doctrines should be admitted or rejected; and they are, in fine, the +authorities which have always fixed the religion of their subjects. + +Ever since Christianity has been adopted by some nations, have we not +seen that religion has almost entirely occupied the attention of +sovereigns? Either the princes, blinded by superstition, were devoted +to the priests, or the rulers of nations believed that prudence +exacted a concession on their part to the clergy, the true masters of +their people, who considered nothing more sacred or more great than +the ministers of their God. In neither case was the body politic ever +consulted; it was cowardly sacrificed to the interests of the court, +or the vanity and luxury of the priests. It is by a continuation of +superstition on the part of the princes that we behold the church so +richly endowed in times of ignorance; when men believed they would +enrich Deity by putting all their wealth into the hands of the priests +of a good God the declared enemy of riches. Savage warriors, destitute +of the manners of men, flattered themselves that they could expiate +all their sins by founding monasteries and giving immense wealth to a +set of men who had made vows of poverty. It was believed that they +would merit from the All-powerful a great advantage by recompensing +laziness, which, in the priests, was regarded as a great good, and +that the blessings procured by their prayers would be in proportion to +the continual and pressing demands their poverty made on the wealthy. +It is thus that by the superstition of princes, by that of the +powerful classes, and of the people themselves, the clergy have become +opulent and powerful; that monachism was honored, and citizens the +most useless, the least submissive, and the most dangerous, were the +best recompensed, the most considered, and the best paid. They were +loaded with benefits, privileges, and immunities; they enjoyed +independence, and they had that great power which flowed from so great +license. Thus were priests placed above sovereigns themselves by the +imprudent devotion of the latter, and the former were enabled to give +the law and trouble the state with impunity. + +The clergy, arrived at this elevation of power and grandeur, became +redoubtable even to monarchs. They were obliged to bend under the yoke +or be at way with clerical power. When the sovereigns yielded, they +became mere slaves to the priests, the instruments of their passions, +and the vile adorers of their power. When they refused to yield, the +priests involved them in the most cruel embarrassments; they launched +against them the anathemas of the church; the people were incited +against them in the name of heaven; the nations divided themselves +between the celestial and the terrestrial monarch, and the latter was +reduced to great extremities to sustain a throne which the priests +could shake or even destroy at pleasure. There was a time in Europe +when both the welfare of the prince and the repose of his kingdom +depended solely upon the caprice of a priest. In these times of +ignorance, of devotion, and of commotions so favorable to the clergy, +a weak and poor monarch, surrounded by a miserable nation, was at the +mercy of a Roman pontiff, who could at any instant destroy his +felicity, excite his subjects against him, and precipitate him into +the abyss of misery. + +In general, Madam, we find that in countries where religion holds +dominion, the sovereign is necessarily dependent upon the priests; he +has no power except by the consent of the clergy; that power +disappears as soon as he displeases the self-styled vicegerents of +God, who are very soon able to array his subjects against him. The +people, in accordance with the principles of their religion, cannot +hesitate between God and their sovereign. God never says any thing +except what his priests say for him; and the ignorance and folly in +which they are kept by their spiritual guides prevent them from +inquiring whether God's ambassadors faithfully render his decrees. + +Conclude, then, with me, that the interests of a sovereign who would +rule equitably are unable to accord with those of the ministers of the +Christian religion, who in all ages have been the most turbulent +citizens, the most rebellious, the most difficult to render +subservient to law and order, and whose resistance has extended to +the very assassination of obnoxious rulers. We shall be told that +Christianity is a firm support of government; that it regards +magistrates as the images of the Deity; and that it teaches that _all +power comes from on high_. These maxims of the clergy are, however, +best calculated to lull kings on the couch of slumber; they are +calculated to flatter those on whom the clergy can rely, and who will +serve their ambition; and their flatterers can soon change their tone +when the princes have the temerity to question the pernicious tendency +of priestly influence, or when they do not blindly lend themselves to +all their views. Then the sovereign is an impious wretch, a heretic; +his destruction is laudable; heaven rejoices in his overthrow. And all +this is the religion of the Bible! + +You know, Madam, that these odious maxims have been a thousand times +enforced by the priests, who say the prince has _encroached upon the +authority of the church_; and the people respond that _it is better to +obey God than man_. The priests are only devoted to the princes when +the princes are blindly led by the priests. These last preach +arrogantly that the former ought to be exterminated, when they refuse +to obey the church, that is to say, the priests; yet, how terrible +soever may be these maxims, how dangerous soever their practice to the +security of the sovereign and the tranquillity of the state, they are +the immediate consequences drawn from Judaism and Christianity. We +find in the Old Testament that the regicide is applauded; that +treason and rebellion are approved. As soon as it is supposed that God +is offended with the thoughts of men,--as soon as it is supposed that +heretics are displeasing to him,--it is very natural to conclude that +an impious and heretical sovereign, that is to say, one who does not +obey a clerical body that set themselves up as the directors of his +belief, who opposes the sacred views of an infallible church, and who +might occasion the loss and apostasy of a large part of the +nation,--it is natural that the priests should conclude it to be +legitimate for subjects to attack such a prince, alleging their +religion to be the most important thing in the world, and dearer than +life itself. Actuated by such principles, it is impossible that a +Christian zealot should not think he rendered a service to heaven by +punishing its enemy, and a service to his country by disembarrassing +it of a chief who might interpose an obstacle to his eternal +happiness. + +The obedience of the clergy is never otherwise than conditional. The +priests submit to a prince, they flatter his power, and they sustain +his authority, provided he submits to their orders, makes no obstacles +to their projects, touches none of their interests, and changes none +of the dogmas upon which the ministers of the church have founded +their own grandeur. In fine, provided a government recognizes, as +divine, clerical privileges that are plainly opposed to popular +rights, and tend to subvert them, the hierarchy will submit to it. + +These considerations prove how dangerous are the priesthood, since the +end they purpose by all their projects is dominion over the mind of +mankind, and by subjugating it to enslave their persons, and render +them the creatures of despotism and tyranny. And we shall find, upon +examination, that, with one or two exceptions, the pious have been the +enemies of the progress of science and the development of the human +understanding; for by brutalizing mankind they have invariably striven +to bind them to their yoke. Their avarice, their thirst of power and +wealth, have led them to plunge their fellow-citizens in ignorance, in +misery, and unhappiness. They discourage the cultivation of the earth +by their system of tithes, their extortions, and their secret +projects; they annihilate activity, talents, and industry; their pride +is to reign on the ruin of the rest of their species. The finest +countries in Europe have, when blindly submissive to the priest, been +the worst cultivated, the thinnest peopled, and the most wretched. The +_Inquisition_ in Spain, Italy, and Portugal has only tended to +impoverish those countries, to debase the mind, and render their +subjects the veriest slaves of superstition. And in countries where we +see heaven showering down abundance, the people are poor and famished, +while the priests and monks are opulent and bloated. Their kings are +without power and without glory; their subjects languish in indigence +and wretchedness. + +The priests boast of the utility of their office. Independently of +their prayers, from which the world has for so many ages derived +neither instruction nor peace, prosperity nor happiness, their +pretensions to teach the rising generations are often frivolous, and +sometimes arrogant, since we have found others equally well calculated +to the discharge of those functions, who have been good citizens, that +have not drawn from the pockets of their neighbors the tenth of their +earnings. Thus, in what light soever we view them, the pretensions of +the priests are reduced to a nonentity, compared to the disservice +they render the community by their exactions and dissolute lives. + +In what consists, in effect, the education that our spiritual guides +have, unhappily for society, assumed the vocation of imparting to +youth? Does it tend to make reasonable, courageous, and virtuous +citizens? No; it is incontestable that it creates ignoble men, whose +entire lives are tormented with imaginary terrors; it creates +superstitious slaves, who only possess monastic virtues, and who, if +they follow faithfully the instructions of their masters, must be +perfectly useless to society; it forms intolerant devotees, ready to +detest all those who do not think like themselves; and it makes +fanatics, who are ready to rebel against any government as soon as +they are persuaded it is rebellious to the church. What do the +priests teach their pupils? They cause them to lose much precious +time in reciting prayers, in mechanically repeating theological +dogmas, of which, even in mature life, they comprehend nothing. They +teach them the dead languages, which, at the best, only serve for +entertainment, being by no means necessary in the present form of +society. They terminate these fine studies by a philosophy which, in +clerical hands, has become a mere play of words, a jargon void of +sense, and which is exactly calculated to fit them for the +unintelligible science called _theology_. But is this theology itself +useful to nations? Are the interminable disputes which arise between +profound metaphysicians of such a character as to be interesting to +the people who do not comprehend them? Are the people of Paris and the +provinces much advanced in heavenly knowledge when the priests dispute +among themselves about what should really be thought of grace? + +In regard to the instruction imparted by the clergy, it is indeed +necessary to have faith in order to discover its utility. Their +boasted instruction consists in teaching ineffable mysteries, +marvellous dogmas, narrations and fables perfectly ridiculous, panic +terrors, fanatical and lugubrious predictions, frightful menaces, and +above all, systems so profound that they who announce are not able to +comprehend them. In truth, Madam, in all this I can see nothing +useful. Should nations feel any extraordinary obligations to teachers +who concoct doctrines that must always remain impenetrable for the +whole human race? It must be confessed that our priests, who so +painfully occupy themselves in arranging a pure creed for us, must +signally lose all their labor. At any rate, the people are not much in +the situation to profit by such sublime toils. Very frequently the +pulpit becomes the theatre of discord; the sacred disclaimers launch +injuries at each other, infusing their own passions into the bosoms of +their _Christian_ auditors, kindling their zeal against the enemies of +the church, and becoming themselves the trumpets of party spirit, +fury, and sedition. If these preachers teach morality, it is a kind of +supernatural morality, little adapted to the nature of man. If they +inculcate virtue, it is that theological virtue whose inutility we +have sufficiently shown. If by chance some one among them allows +himself to preach that morality and virtue which is practical, human, +and social, you know, Madam, that he is proscribed by his +confederates, and becomes an object of their acrimonious criticisms +and their deadly hatred. He is also disdained by devotees who are +attached to evangelical virtues that they cannot comprehend, and who +consider nothing as more important than mysterious forms and +ceremonies, in which zealots make morality to consist. + +See, then, in what limits are entertained the important services that +the ministers of the Lord have for so many centuries rendered to +nations! They are not worth, in all conscience, the excessive price +which is paid for them. On the contrary, if priests were treated +according to their real merit, if their functions were appreciated at +their just value, it would, perhaps, be found that they did not merit +a larger salary than those empirics who, at the corners of the +streets, vend remedies more dangerous than the evils they promise to +cure. + +It is by subjecting the immense revenues, lands, abbeys, and estates, +which clerical bodies have levied upon the credulity of men, to just +and equal taxation, as with other property; it is by rendering the +church and state entirely distinct; it is by stripping the hierarchy +of immunities not possessed by other citizens, and of privileges both +chimerical and injurious; it is by rigorously exacting the same civil +obedience alike from priests and people,--that government can be +rightly administered, that justice can be impartially rendered, and +that the nation, as a whole, can be trained to courage, activity, +industry, intelligence, tranquillity, and patriotism. So long as there +are two powers in a state, they will necessarily be at variance, and +the one which arrogates the favor of the Almighty will have immense +advantages over that which claims no authority above the earth. If +both pretend to emanate from the same source, the people would not +know which to believe; they would range themselves on each side; the +combat would be furious, and the power of the government would be +unable to maintain itself against the many heads of the ecclesiastical +hydra. The magicians of Pharaoh yielded to the Jewish priests, and in +conflicts between the church and state, the immunities of the priests, + + "Like Aaron's serpent, swallowed all the rest." + +If such is the case, you will inquire, Madam, how can an enlightened +civil power ever make obedient citizens of rebellious priests, who +have so long possessed the confidence of the people, and who can with +impunity render themselves formidable to any government? I reply, that +in spite of the vigilant cares and the redoubled efforts of the +priesthood, the people have begun to be more enlightened; they are +becoming weary of the heavy yoke, which they would not have borne so +long had they not believed it was imposed upon them by the Most High, +and that it was necessary to their happiness. It is impossible for +error to be eternal; it must give way to the power of truth. The +priests, who think, know this well, and the whole ecclesiastical body +continually declaim against all those who wish to enlighten the human +race and unveil the conspiracies of their spiritual guides. They fear +the piercing eyes of philosophy; they fear the reign of reason, which +will never be that of tyranny or anarchy. Governments, then, ought not +to share the fears of the clergy, nor render themselves the executors +of their vengeance; they injure themselves when they sustain the cause +of their turbulent rivals, who have ever been the enemies of civil +polity and perturbers of the public repose. The magistrates of a state +league themselves with their enemies when they form an alliance with +the priesthood, or prevent the people from recognizing their errors. + +Governments are more interested than individuals in the destruction of +errors that often lead to confusion, anarchy, and rebellion. If men +had not become gradually enlightened, nations would now, as formerly, +be under the yoke of the Roman pontiff, who could occasion revolution +in their midst, overturn the laws, and subvert the government. But for +the insensible progress of reason, states would now be filled with a +tumultuous crowd of devotees, ready to revolt at the signal of an +unquiet priest or a seditious monk. + +You perceive, then, Madam, that men who think, and who teach others to +think, are more useful to governments than those who wish to stifle +reason and to proscribe forever the liberty of thought. You see that +the true friends of a stable government are those who seek most +sedulously to enlighten, educate, and elevate the people. You feel +that by banishing knowledge and persecuting philosophy, government +sacrifices its dearest interests to a seditious clergy, whose ambition +and avarice push them to usurp boundless authority, and whose pride +always makes them indignant at being in subjection to a power which +they contend should be subordinate to themselves. + +There is no priest who does not consider himself superior to the +highest ruler of any country. We have often seen the priesthood avow +pretensions of this character. The clergy are always enraged when an +attempt is made to subject them to the secular power. Such an attempt +they regard as profane, and they denounce it as tyranny whenever it is +sought to be enforced. They pretend that in all times the priesthood +has been sacred, that its rights come from God himself, and that no +government can, without sacrilege, or without outraging the Divinity, +touch the property, the privileges, or the immunities which have been +snatched from ignorance and credulity. Whenever the civil authority +would touch the objects considered inviolable and sacred in the hands +of the priests, their clamors cannot be appeased; they make efforts to +excite the people against the government; they denounce all authority +as tyrannical when it has the temerity to think of subjecting them to +the laws, of reforming their abuses, and neutralizing their power to +injure. But they consider authority legitimate when it crushes _their_ +enemies, though it appears insupportable as soon as it is reasonable +and favorable to the people. + +The priests are essentially the most wicked of men, and the worst +citizens of a state. A miracle would be necessary to render them +otherwise. In all countries they are the _spoiled children_ of +nations. They are proud and haughty, since they pretend it is from God +himself they received their mission and their power. They are +ingrates, since they assume to owe only to God benefits which they +visibly hold from the generosity of governments and the people. They +are audacious, because for many ages they have enjoyed supremacy with +impunity. They are unquiet and turbulent, because they are never +without the desire of playing a great part. They are quarrelsome and +factious, because they are never able to find out a method of enabling +men to understand the pretended truths they teach. They are +suspicious, defiant, and cruel, because they sensibly feel that they +may well dread the discovery of their impostures. They are the +spontaneous enemies of truth, because they justly apprehend it will +annihilate their pretensions. They are implacable in their vengeance, +because it would be dangerous to pardon those who wish to crush their +doctrines, whose weakness they know. They are hypocrites, because most +of them possess too much sense to believe the reveries they retail to +others. They are obstinate in their ideas, because they are inflated +with vanity, and because they could not consistently deviate from a +method of thinking of which they pretend God is the author. We often +see them unbridled and licentious in their manners, because it is +impossible that idleness, effeminacy, and luxury should not corrupt +the heart. We sometimes see them austere and rigid in their conduct in +order to impose on the people and accomplish their ambitious views. If +they are hypocrites and rogues, they are extremely dangerous; and if +they are fanatical in good faith, or imbecile, they are not less to be +feared. In fine, we almost always see them rebellious and seditious, +because an authority derived from God is not disposed to bend to +authority derived from men. + +You have here, Madam, a faithful portrait of the members of a powerful +body, in whose favor governments, for a long time, have believed it +their duty to sacrifice the other interests of the state. You here see +the citizens whom prejudice most richly recompenses, whom princes +honor in the eyes of the people, to whom they give their confidence, +whom they regard as the support of their power, and whom they consider +as necessary to the happiness and security of their kingdoms. You can +judge yourself whether the likeness delineated is correct. You are in +a position to discover their intrigues, their underplots, their +conduct, and their discourse, and you will always find that their +constant object is to flatter princes for the purpose of governing +them and keeping nations in slavery. + +It is to please citizens so dangerous that sovereigns mingle in +theological questions, take the part of those who succeed in seducing +them, persecute all those who do not submit, proscribe with fury the +friends of reason, and by repressing knowledge injure their own power. +Because the priests, who urge princes to sacrilege when they combat +for them, are indignant against the same princes when they refuse to +destroy the enemies of their own particular clerical body. They +likewise denounce sovereigns as impious if the latter treat +theological disputes with the indifference they merit. + +When hereafter, reclaimed from their prejudices, princes wish to +govern for the good of all, let them cease to hear the interested and +often sanguinary councils of these pretended divine men, who, +regarding themselves as the centre of all things, wish to have +sacrificed for this object the happiness, the repose, the riches, and +the honors of the state. Let the sovereign never enter into their +dissensions, let him never persecute for religious opinions, which, +among sectaries, are commonly on both sides equally ridiculous and +destitute of foundation. They would never involve the government if +the sovereign had not the weakness to mingle in them. Let him give +unlimited freedom to the course of thinking, while he directs by just +laws the course of acting on the part of his subjects. Let him permit +every one to dream or speculate as he pleases, provided he conducts +himself otherwise as an honest man and a good citizen. At least let +the prince not oppose the progress of knowledge, which alone is +capable of extricating his people from ignorance, barbarity, and +superstition, which have made victims of so many Christian rulers. Let +him be assured that enlightened and instructed citizens are more +law-abiding, industrious, and peaceable than stupid slaves without +knowledge and without reason, who will always be ready to take all the +passions with which a fanatic wishes to inspire them. + +Let the sovereign especially occupy himself with the education of his +subjects, nor leave the clergy unobstructedly to impregnate his +people with mystic notions, foolish reveries, and superstitious +practices, which are only proper for fanatics. Let him at least +counterbalance the inculcation of these follies by teaching a morality +conformable to the good of the state, useful to the happiness of its +members, and social and reasonable. This morality would inform a man +what he owed to himself, to society, to his fellow-citizens, and to +the magistrates who administered the laws. This morality would not +form men who would hate each other for speculative opinions, nor +dangerous enthusiasts, nor devotees blindly submissive to the priests. +It would create a tranquil, intelligent, and industrious community; a +body of inhabitants submissive to reason and obedient to just and +legitimate authority. In a word, from such morality would spring +virtuous men and good citizens, and it would be the surest antidote +against superstition and fanaticism. + +In this manner the empire of the clergy would be diminished, and the +sovereign would have a less portentous rival; he would, without +opposition, be assured of all rational and enlightened citizens; the +riches of the clergy would in part reënter society, and be of use in +benefiting the people; institutions now useless would be put to +advantageous uses; a portion of the possessions of the church, +originally destined for the poor, and so long appropriated by +avaricious priests, would come into the hands of the suffering and the +indigent, their legitimate proprietors. Supported by a nation who +were sensible of the advantages he had procured them, the prince would +no longer fear the cries of fanaticism, and they would soon be no +longer heard. The priests, the lazy monks, and turbulent persons +living in forced celibacy, could no longer calculate on the future, +and, aliens in the state which nourished them, they would visibly +diminish. The government, more rich and powerful, would be in a better +situation to diffuse its benefits; and enlightened, virtuous, and +beneficent men would constitute the support, the glory, and the +grandeur of the state. + +Such, Madam, are the ends which all governments would propose who +opened their eyes to their own true interests. I flatter myself that +these designs will not appear to you either impossible or chimerical. +Knowledge and science, which begin to be generally diffused, are +already advancing these results; they are giving an impulse to the +march of the human mind, and in time, governments and people, without +tumult or revolution, will be freed from the yoke which has oppressed +them so long. + +Do we see any thing useful in the pious endowments of our ancestors? +We find them to consist of institutions invented to continue a lazy, +monastic life; costly temples elevated and enriched by indigent people +to augment the pride of the priests, and to erect altars and palaces. +From the foundation of Christianity the whole object of religion has +been to aggrandize the priesthood on the ruins of nations and +governments. A jealous religion has exclusively seized on the minds of +men, and persuaded them that they live upon earth merely to occupy +themselves with their future happiness in the unknown regions of the +empyrean. It is time that this prestige should cease; it is time that +the human race should occupy itself with its own true interests. The +interests of the people will always be incompatible with those of the +guides who believe they have acquired an imprescriptible right to lead +men astray. The more you examine the Christian religion, the more will +you be convinced that it can be advantageous only to those whose +object it is easily to guide mankind after having plunged them into +darkness. I am, &c. + + + + +LETTER X. + + Of the Advantages Religion confers on those who profess it. + + +I dare flatter myself, Madam, that I have clearly demonstrated to you, +that the Christian religion, far from being the support of sovereign +authority, is its greatest enemy; and of having plainly convinced you, +that its ministers are, by the very nature of their functions, the +rivals of kings, and adversaries the most to be feared by all who +value or exercise temporal power. In a word, I think I have persuaded +you, that society might, without damage, dispense with the services +they render, or at least dispense with paying for them so +extravagantly. + +Let us now examine the advantages which this religion procures to +individuals, who are most strongly convinced of its pretended truths, +and who conform the most rigidly to its precepts. Let us see if it is +calculated to render its disciples more contented, more happy, and +more virtuous than they would be without the burden of its ministers. + +To decide the question, it is sufficient to look around us, and to +consider the effects that religion produces on minds really penetrated +with its pretended truths. We shall generally find in those who the +most sincerely profess and the most exactly practise them, a joyless +and melancholy disposition, which announces no contentment, nor that +interior peace of which they speak so incessantly, without ever +exhibiting any undoubted manifestations of it. Whoever is in the +enjoyment of peace within, shows some exterior marks of it; but the +internal satisfaction of devotees is commonly so concealed, that we +may well suspect it of being nothing but a mere chimera. Their +interior peace, which they allege gives them a good conscience, is +visible to others only by a bilious and petulant humor, that is not +usually much applauded by those who come under its influence. If, +however, there are occasionally some devotees who actually display the +serene countenance of satisfaction and enjoyment, it is because the +dismal ideas of religion are rendered inoperative by a happy +temperament; or that such persons have not fully become impregnated +with their system of faith, whose legitimate effect is to plunge its +devotees into terrible inquietudes and sombre chagrins. + +Thus, Madam, we are brought back to the contradictory discourses of +those priests who, after having caused terror by their desolating +dogmas, attempt to reassure us by vague hopes, and exhort us to place +confidence in a God whom they have themselves so repulsively +delineated. It is idle for them to tell us the yoke of Jesus Christ is +light. It is insupportable to those who consider it properly. It is +only light for those who bear it without reflection, or for those who +assume it in order to impose it upon others, without intending to +suffer its annoyances themselves. + +Suffer me, Madam, to refer you to yourself. Were you happy, contented, +or gay, when you made me the depository of the secret inquietudes +inflicted upon you by prejudices, and which had commenced taking that +fatal empire over your mind which I have endeavored to destroy? Was +not your soul involved in woe in spite of your judgment? Were you not +taking measures to wither all your happiness? In favor of religion, +were you not ready to renounce the world, and disregard all you owe to +society? If I was afflicted, I was not surprised. The Christian +religion inevitably destroys the happiness and repose of those who are +subjected by it; alarms and terrors are the objects of its pleasures; +it cannot make those happy who fully receive it. It would certainly +have plunged you into distress. All your faculties would have been +injured, and your too susceptible imagination would have been carried +to such dangerous extremes, that many others would have grieved at the +result. A gentle and beneficent spirit, like yours, could never +receive peace from Christianity. The evils of religion are sure, while +its consolations are contradictory and vague. They cannot give that +temper and tranquillity to the mind which is necessary to enable men +to labor for their own happiness and that of others. + +In effect, as I have already observed, it is very difficult for an +individual to occupy himself with the happiness of another when he is +himself miserable. The devotee, who imposes penances on his own head, +who is suspicious of every thing, who is full of self-reproaches, and +who is heated by visionary meditation, by fasting and seclusion, must +naturally be irritated against all those who do not believe it their +duty to make such absurd sacrifices. He can scarcely avoid being +enraged at those audacious persons who neglect practices or duties +that are claimed as the exactions of God. He will desire to be with +those only who view things as he does himself; he will keep himself +apart from all others, and will end by hating them. He believes +himself obliged to make a loud and public parade of his mode of +thinking, and he signalizes his zeal even at the risk of appearing +ridiculous. If he showed indulgence, he would doubtless fear he +should render himself an accomplice in a neglect of his God. He would +reprehend such sinners, and it would be with acrimony, because his own +soul was filled with it. In fine, if zealous, he would always be under +the dominion of anger, and would only be indulgent in proportion as he +was not bigoted. + +Religious devotion tends to arouse fierce sentiments, that sooner or +later manifest themselves in a manner disagreeable for others. The +mystical devotees clearly illustrate this. They are vexed with the +world, and it could not exist if the extravagances required by +religion were altogether carried out. The world cannot be united to +Jesus Christ. God demands our entire heart, and nothing is allowed to +remain for his weak creatures. To produce the little zeal for heaven +which Christians have, it is requisite to torment them, and thus lead +them to the practice of those marvellous virtues in which they imagine +is placed all their safety. A strange religion, which, practised in +all its rigor, would drag society to ruin! The sincere devotee +proposes impossible attainments, of which human nature is not capable; +and as, in spite of all his endeavors, he is unable to succeed in +their acquisition, he is always discontented with himself. He regards +himself as the object of God's anger; he reproaches himself with all +that he does; he suffers remorse for all the pleasures he experiences, +and fears that they may occasion a fall from grace. For his greater +security, he often avoids society which may at any moment turn him +from his pretended duties, excite him to sin, and render him the +witness or accomplice of what is offensive to zealots. In fine, if the +devotee is very zealous, he cannot prevent himself from avoiding or +detesting beings, who, according to his gloomy notions of religion, +are perpetually occupied in irritating God. On the other hand, you +know, Madam, that it is chagrin and melancholy that lead to devotion. +It is usually not till the world abandons and displeases men that they +have recourse to heaven; it is in the arms of religion that the +ambitious seek to console themselves for their disgraces and +disappointed projects; dissolute and loose women turn devotees when +the world discards them, and they offer to God hearts wasted, and +charms that are no longer in repute. The ruin of their attractions +admonishes them that their empire is no longer of this world; filled +with vexation, consumed with chagrin, and irritated against a society +where they were deprived of enacting an agreeable part, they yield +themselves up to devotion, and distinguish themselves by religious +follies, after having run the race of fashionable vices, and been +engaged in worldly scandals. With rancor in their hearts, they offer a +gloomy adoration to a God who indemnifies them most miserably for +their ascetic worship. In a word, it is passion, affliction, and +despair to which most conversions must be attributed; and they are +persons of such character who deliver themselves to the priests, and +these mental aberrations and physical afflictions are the marvellous +strokes of grace of which God makes use to lead men to himself. + +It is not, then, surprising if we see persons subject to this devotion +most commonly ruled by sorrow and passion. These mental moods are +perpetually aggravated by religion, which is exactly calculated to +imbitter more and more the souls thus filled with vexations. The +conversation of a spiritual director is a weak consolation for the +loss of a lover; the remote and flattering hopes of another world +rarely make up for the realities of this; nor do the fictitious +occupations of religion suffice to satisfy souls accustomed to +intrigues, dissipation, and scandalous pleasures. + +Thus, Madam, we see that the effects of these brilliant conversions, +so well adapted to give pleasure to the Omnipotent and to his court, +present nothing advantageous for the inhabitants of this lower world. +If the changes produced by grace do not render those more happy upon +whom they are operated, they cannot cause much admiration on the part +of those who witness them. Indeed, what advantages does society reap +from the greater part of conversions? Do the persons so touched by +grace become better? Do they make amends for the evil they have done, +or are they heartily and generously engaged in doing good to those by +whom they are surrounded? A mistress, for example, who has been +arrogant and proud,--does conversion render her humble and gentle? +Does the unjust and cruel man recompense those to whom he has done +evil? Does the robber return to society the property of which he has +plundered it? Does the dissipated and licentious woman repair by her +vigilant cares the wrongs that her disorders and dissipations have +occasioned? No, far from it. These persons so touched and converted by +God ordinarily content themselves with praying, fasting, religious +offerings, frequenting churches, clamoring in favor of their priests, +intriguing to sustain a sect, decrying all who disagree with their +particular spiritual director, and exhibiting an ardent and ridiculous +zeal for questions that they do not understand. In this manner they +imagine they get absolution from God, and give indemnification to men; +but society gains nothing from their miraculous conversion. On the +other hand, devotion often exalts, infuriates, and strengthens the +passions which formerly animated the converts. It turns these passions +to new objects, and religion justifies the intolerant and cruel +excesses into which they rush for the interest of their sect. It is +thus that an ambitious personage becomes a proud and turbulent +fanatic, and believes himself justified by his zeal; it is thus that a +disgraced courtier cabals in the name of heaven against his own +enemies; and it is thus that a malignant and vindictive man, under the +pretext of avenging God, seeks the means of avenging himself. Thus, +also, it happens that a woman, to indemnify herself for having +quitted rouge, considers she has the right to outrage with her acrid +humor a husband whom she had previously, in a different manner, +outraged many times. She piously denounces those who allow themselves +the indulgence of the most innocent pleasures; in the belief of +manifesting religious earnestness, she exhales downright passion, +envy, jealousy, and spite; and in lending herself warmly to the +interests of heaven she shows an excess of ignorance, insanity, and +credulity. + +But is it necessary, Madam, to insist upon this? You live in a country +where you see many devotees, and few virtuous people among them. If +you will but slightly examine the matter, you will find that among +these persons so persuaded of their religion, so convinced of its +importance and utility, who speak incessantly of its consolations, its +sweets, and its virtues,--you will find that among these persons there +are very few who are rendered happier, and yet fewer who are rendered +better. Are they vividly penetrated with the sentiments of their +afflicting and terrible religion? You will find them atrabilious, +disobliging, and fierce. Are they more lightly affected by their +creed? You will then find them less bigoted, more beneficent, social, +and kind. The religion of the court, as you know, is a continual +mixture of devotion and pleasure, a circle of the exercises of piety +and dissipation, of momentary fervor and continuous irregularities. +This religion connects Jesus Christ with the pomps of Satan. We there +see sumptuous display, pride, ambition, intrigue, vengeance, envy, and +libertinism all amalgamated with a religion whose _maxims_ are +austere. Pious casuists, interested for the great, approve this +alliance, and give the lie to their own religion in order to derive +advantage from circumstances and from the passions and vices of men. +If these court divines were too rigid, they would affright their +fashionable disciples seeking to reach heaven on "flowery beds of +ease," and who embrace religion with the understanding that they are +to be allowed no inconsiderable latitude. This is doubtless the reason +why Jansenism, which wished to renew the austere principles of +primitive Christianity, obtained no general influence at the Parisian +court. The monkish precepts of early Christianity could only suit men +of the temper of those who first embraced it. They were adapted for +persons who were abject, bilious, and discontented, who, deprived of +luxury, power, and honors, became the enemies of grandeurs from which +they were excluded. The devotees had the art of making a merit of +their aversion and disdain for what they could not obtain. + +Nevertheless, a Christian, in consonance with his principles, should +"take no thought for the morrow;" should have no individual +possessions; should flee from the world and its pomps; should give his +coat to the thief who stole his cloak; and, if smitten on one cheek, +should turn the other to the aggressor. It is upon Stoicism that +religious fanatics built their gloomy philosophy. The so-called +perfections which Christianity proposes place man in a perpetual war +with himself, and must render him miserable. The true Christian is an +enemy both of himself and the human race, and for his own consistency +should live secluded in darkness, like an owl. His religion renders +him essentially unsocial, and as useless to himself as he is +disagreeable to others. What advantage can society receive from a man +who trembles without cessation, who is in a state of superstitious +penance, who prays, and who indulges in solitude? Or what better is +the devotee who flies from the world and deprives himself even of +innocent pleasures, in the fear that God might damn him for +participation in them? + +What results from these maxims of a moral fanaticism? It happens that +laws so atrocious and cruel are enacted, that bigots alone are willing +to execute them. Yes, Madam, blameless as you know my whole life to +have been, consonant to integrity and honesty as you know my conduct +to be, and free as I have ever been from intolerance, my existence +would be endangered were these letters I am now writing to you to +appear in print, or even be circulated in manuscript with my name +attached to them as author. Yes, Christians have made laws, now +dominant here in France, which would tie me to the stake, consume my +body with fire, bore my tongue with a red hot iron, deprive me of +sepulture, strip my family of my property, and for no other cause than +for my opinions concerning Christianity and the Bible. Such is the +horrid cruelty engendered by Christianity. It has sometimes been +called in question whether a society of atheists could exist; but we +might with more propriety ask if a society of fierce, impracticable, +visionary, and fanatical Christians, in all the plenitude of their +ridiculous system, could long subsist.[5] What would become of a +nation all of whose inhabitants wished to attain perfection by +delivering themselves over to fanatical contemplation, to ascetical +penance, to monkish prayers, and to that state of things set forth in +the Acts of the Apostles? What would be the condition of a nation +where no one took any "thought for the morrow"?--where all were +occupied solely with heaven, and all totally neglected whatever +related to this transitory and passing life?--where all made a merit +of celibacy, according to the precepts of St. Paul?--and where, in +consequence of constant occupation in the ceremonials of piety, no one +had leisure to devote to the well-being of men in their worldly and +temporal concerns? It is evident that such a society could only exist +in the Thebaid, and even there only for a limited time, as it must +soon be annihilated. If some enthusiasts exhibit examples of this +sort, we know that convents and nunneries are supported by that +portion of society which they do not enclose. But who would provide +for a country that abandoned every thing else for the purpose of +heavenly contemplations? + +[5] Upon this topic consult what Bayle says, _Continuation des Pensées +diverses sur la Comète_, Sections 124, 125, tome iv., Rousseau de +Genève, in his _Contrat Social_, l. 4, ch. 8. See also the _Lettres +écrites de la Montague_, letter first, pp. 45 to 54, edit. 8vo. The +author discusses the same matter, and confirms his opinions by new +reasonings, which particularly deserve perusal.--_Note of the Editor_, +(NAIGEON.) + +We may therefore legitimately conclude that the Christian religion is +not fitted for this world; that it is not calculated to insure the +happiness either of societies or individuals; that the precepts and +counsels of its God are impracticable, and more adapted to discourage +the human race, and to plunge men into despair and apathy, than to +render them happy, active, and virtuous. A Christian is compelled to +make an abstraction of the maxims of his religion if he wishes to live +in the world; he is no longer a Christian when he devotes his cares to +his earthly good; and, in a word, a real Christian is a man of another +world, and is not adapted for this. + +Thus we see that Christians, to humanize themselves, are constantly +obliged to depart from their supernatural and divine speculations. +Their passions are not repressed, but on the contrary are often thus +rendered more fierce and more calculated to disturb society. Masked +under the veil of religion, they generally produce more terrible +effects. It is then that ambition, vengeance, cruelty, anger, calumny, +envy, and persecution, covered by the deceptive name of zeal, cause +the greatest ravages, range without bounds, and even delude those who +are transported by these dangerous passions. Religion does not +annihilate these violent agitations of the mind in the hearts of its +devotees, but often excites and justifies them; and experience proves +that the most rigid Christians are very far from being the best of +men, and that they have no right to reproach the incredulous either +concerning the pretended consequences of their principles, or for the +passions which are falsely alleged to spring from unbelief. + +Indeed, the charity of the peaceful ministers of religion and of their +pious adherents does not prevent their blackening their adversaries +with a view of rendering them odious, and of drawing down upon their +heads the malevolence of a superstitious community, and the +persecution of tyrannical and oppressive laws; their zeal for God's +glory permits them to employ indifferently all kinds of weapons; and +calumny, especially, furnishes them always a most powerful aid. +According to them, there are no irregularities of the heart which are +not produced by incredulity; to renounce religion, say they, is to +give a free course to unbridled passions, and he who does not believe +surely indicates a corrupt heart, depraved manners, and frightful +libertinism. In a word, they declare that every man who refuses to +admit their reveries or their marvellous morality, has no motives to +do good, and very powerful ones to commit evil. + +It is thus that our charitable divines caricature and misrepresent the +opponents of their supremacy, and describe them as dangerous +brigands, whom society, for its own interest, ought to proscribe and +destroy. It results from these imputations that those who renounce +prejudices and consult reason are considered the most unreasonable of +men; that they who condemn religion on account of the crimes it has +produced upon the earth, and for which it has served as an eternal +pretext, are regarded as bad citizens; that they who complain of the +troubles that turbulent priests have so often excited, are set down as +perturbators of the repose of nations; and that they who are shocked +at the contemplation of the inhuman and unjust persecutions which have +been excited by priestly ambition and rascality, are men who have no +idea of justice, and in whose bosoms the sentiments of humanity are +necessarily stifled. They who despise the false and deceitful motives +by which, to the present time, it has been vainly attempted through +the other world to make men virtuous, equitable, and beneficent, are +denounced as having no real motives to practise the virtues necessary +for their well-being _here_. In fine, the priests scandalize those who +wish to destroy sacerdotal tyranny, and impostures dangerous alike to +nations and people, as enemies of the state so dangerous that the laws +ought to punish them. + +But I believe, Madam, that you are now thoroughly convinced that the +true friends of the human race and of governments cannot also be the +friends of religion and of priests. Whatever may be the motives or +the passions which determine men to incredulity, whatever may be the +principles which flow from it, they cannot be so pernicious as those +which emanate directly and necessarily from a religion so absurd and +so atrocious as Christianity. Incredulity does not claim extraordinary +privileges as flowing from a partial God; it pretends to no right of +despotism over men's consciences; it has no pretexts for doing +violence to the minds of mankind; and it does not hate and persecute +for a difference of opinion. In a word, the incredulous have not an +infinity of motives, interests, and pretexts to injure, with which the +zealous partisans of religion are abundantly provided. + +The unbeliever in Christianity, who reflects, perceives that without +going out of this world there are pressing and real motives which +invite to virtuous conduct; he feels the interest that he has in +self-preservation, and of avoiding whatever is calculated to injure +another; he sees himself united by physical and reciprocal wants with +men who would despise him if he had vices, who would detest him if he +was guilty of any action contrary to justice and virtue, and who would +punish him if he committed any crimes, or if he outraged the laws. The +idea of decency and order, the desire of meriting the approbation of +his fellow-citizens, and the fear of being subjected to blame and +punishment, are sufficient to govern the actions of every rational +man. If, however, a citizen is in a sort of delirium, all the +credulity in the world will not be able to restrain him. If he is +powerful enough to have no fear of men on this earth, he will not +regard the divine law more than the hatred and the disdain of the +judges he has constantly before his eyes. + +But the priests may perhaps tell us that the fear of an avenging God +at least serves to repress a great number of latent crimes that would +appear but for the influence of religion. Is it true, however, that +religion itself prevents these latent crimes? Are not Christian +nations full of knaves of all kinds, who secretly plot the ruin of +their fellow-beings? Do not the most ostensibly credulous persons +indulge in an infinity of vices for which they would blush if they +were by chance brought to light? A man who is the most persuaded that +God sees all his actions frequently does not blush to commit deeds in +secret from which he would refrain if beheld by the meanest of human +beings. + +What, then, avails the powerful check on the passions which religion +is said to interpose? If we could place any reliance on what is said +by our priests, it would appear that neither public nor secret crimes +could be committed in countries where their instructions are received; +the priests would appear like a brotherhood of angels, and every +religious man to be without faults. But men forget their religious +speculations when they are under the dominion of violent passions, +when they are bound by the ties of habit, or when they are blinded by +great interests. Under such circumstances they do not reason. Whether +a man is virtuous or vicious depends on temperament, habit, and +education. An unbeliever may have strong passions, and may reason very +justly on the subject of religion, and very erroneously in regard to +his conduct. The religious dupe is a poor metaphysician, and if he +also acts badly he is both imbecile and wicked. + +It is true the priests deny that unbelievers ever reason correctly, +and pretend they must always be in the wrong to prefer natural sense +to their authority. But in this decision they occupy the place of both +judges and parties, and the verdict should be rendered by +disinterested persons. In the mean time the priests themselves seem to +doubt the soundness of their own allegations; they call the secular +arm to the aid of their arguments; they marshal on their side fines, +imprisonment, confiscation of goods, boring and branding, with hot +irons, and death at the stake, at this time in France, and in other +and in most countries of Christendom; they use the scourge to drive +men into paradise; they enlighten men by the blaze of the fagot; they +inculcate faith by furious and bloody strokes of the sword; and they +have the baseness to stand in dread of men who cannot announce +themselves or openly promulgate their opinions without running the +risk of punishment, and even death. This conduct does not manifest +that the priests are strongly persuaded of the power of their +arguments. If our clerical theologians acted in good faith, would +they not rejoice to open a free course to thorough discussion? Would +they not be gratified to allow doubters to propose difficulties, the +solution of which, if Christianity is so plain and clear, would serve +to render it more firm and solid? They find it answers their ends +better to use their adversaries as the Mexicans do their slaves, whom +they shackle before attacking, and then kill for daring to defend +themselves. + +It is very probable unbelievers may be found whose conduct is +blamable, and this is because they in this respect follow the same +line of reasoning as the devotee. The most fanatical partisans of +religion are forced to confess that among their adherents a small +number of the elect only are rendered virtuous. By what right, then, +do they exact that incredulity, which pretends to nothing +supernatural, should produce effects which, according to their own +admissions, their pretended divine religion fails to accomplish? If +all believers were invariably good men, the cause of religion would be +provided with an adamantine bulwark, and especially if unbelievers +were persons without morality or virtue. But whatever the priests may +aver, the unbelievers are more virtuous than the devotees. A happy +temperament, a judicious education, the desire of living a peaceable +life, the dislike to attract hatred or blame, and the habit of +fulfilling the moral duties, always furnish motives to abstain from +vice and to practise virtue more powerful and more true than those +presented by religion. Besides, the incredulous person has not an +infinity of resources which Christianity bestows upon its +superstitious followers. The Christian can at any time expiate his +crimes by confession and penance, and can thus reconcile himself with +God, and give repose to his conscience; the unbeliever, on the other +hand, who has perpetrated a wrong, can reconcile himself neither with +society, which he has outraged, nor with himself, whom he is compelled +to hate. If he expects no reward in another life, he has no interest +but to merit the homage that in all enlightened countries is rendered +to virtue, to probity, and to a conduct constantly honest; he has no +inducement but to avoid the penalties and the disdain that society +decrees against those who trouble its well-being, and who refuse to +contribute to its welfare. + +It appears evident that every man who consults his understanding +should be more reasonable than one who only consults his imagination. +It is evident that he who consults his own nature and that of the +beings who surround him, ought to have truer ideas of good and evil, +of justice and injustice, and of honesty and dishonesty, than he who, +to regulate his conduct, consults only the records of a concealed God, +whom his priests picture as wicked, unjust, changeable, contradicting +himself, and who has sometimes ordered actions the most contrary to +morality and to all the ideas that we have of virtue. It is evident +that he who regulates his conduct upon sacerdotal morality will only +follow the caprice and passions of the priests, and will be a very +dangerous man, while believing himself very virtuous. In fine, it is +evident that while conforming himself to the precepts and counsels of +religion, a man may be extremely pious without possessing the shadow +of a virtue. Experience has proved that it is quite possible to adhere +to all the unintelligible dogmas of the priests, to observe most +scrupulously all the forms, and ceremonies, and services they +recommend, and orally to profess all the Christian virtues, without +having any of the qualities necessary to his own happiness, and to +that of the beings with whom he lives. The saints, indeed, who are +proposed to us as models, were useless members of society. We see them +to have been either gloomy fanatics, who sacrificed themselves to the +desolating ideas of their religion, or excited fanatics, who, under +pretext of serving religion, have perpetually disturbed the repose of +nations, or enthusiastic theologians, who from their own dreams have +deduced systems exactly calculated to infuriate the brains of their +adherents. A saint, when he is tranquil, proposes nothing whose +accomplishment will benefit mankind, and only aims to keep himself +safe and secluded in his retreat. A saint, when he is active, only +appears to promulgate reveries dangerous to the world, and to uphold +the interests of the church, that he confounds with the interest of +God. + +In a word, Madam, I cannot too often repeat it, every system of +religion appears to be designed for the utility of the priests; the +morality of Christianity has in view only the interests of the +priesthood; all the virtues that it teaches have solely for an object +the church and its ministers; and these ends are always to subject the +people, to draw a profit from their toil, and to inspire them with a +blind credulity. We ought, therefore, to practise morality and virtue +without entering into these conspiracies. If the priests disapprove of +those who do not agree with them, and refuse to award any probity to +the thinkers who reject their injurious and useless notions, society, +which needs for its own sustenance real and human virtues, will not +adopt the sentiments nor espouse the quarrels of these men, visibly +leagued together against it. If the ministers of religion require +their dogmas, their mysteries, and their fanatical virtues to support +their usurped empire, the civil government has a need of reasonable +virtues, of an evident, and above all, of a pacific morality, in order +to exercise its legitimate rights. In fine, the individuals, who +compose every society, demand a morality which will render them happy +in _this_ world, without embarrassing themselves with what only +pretends to secure their felicity in an imaginary sphere, of which +they have no ideas except those received from the priests themselves. + +The priests have had the art to unite their religious system with some +moral tenets which are really good. This renders their mysteries more +sacred, and lends authority to their ambiguous dogmas. By the aid of +this artifice, they have given currency to the opinion that without +religion there can be neither morality nor virtue. I hope, Madam, in +my next letter, to complete the exposure of this prejudice, and to +demonstrate, to whoever will reflect, how uncertain, abstract, and +deceitful are the notions which religion has inspired. I shall clearly +show, that they have often infected philosophers themselves; that up +to the present time, they have retarded the progress of morality; and +that they have transformed a science the most certain, plain, and +sensible to every thinking man, into a system at once doubtful and +enigmatical, and full of difficulties. I am, Madam, &c. + + + + +LETTER XI. + + Of Human or Natural Morality. + + +By this time, Madam, you will have reflected on what I had the honor +to address to you, and perceived how impossible it is to found a +certain and invariable morality on a religion enthusiastic, ambiguous, +mysterious, and contradictory, and which never agreed with itself. You +know that the God who appears to have taken pleasure in rendering +himself unintelligible, that the God who is partial and changeable, +that the God whose precepts are at variance one with another, can +never serve as the base on which to rear a morality that shall become +practicable among the inhabitants of the earth. In short, how can we +found justice and goodness on attributes that are unjust and evil; yet +attributes of a Being who tempts man, whom he created, for the purpose +of punishing him when tempted? How can we know when we do the will of +a God who has said, _Thou shalt not kill_, and who yet allows his +people to exterminate whole nations? What idea can we form of the +morality of that God who declares himself pleased with the sanguinary +conduct of Moses, of the rebel, the assassin, the adulterer, David? Is +it possible to found the holy duties of humanity on a God whose +favorites have been inhuman persecutors and cruel monsters? How can we +deduce our duties from the lessons of the priests of a God of peace, +who, nevertheless, breathes only sedition, vengeance, and carnage? How +can we take as models for our conduct _saints_, who were useless +enthusiasts, or turbulent fanatics, or seditious apostates; who, under +the pretext of defending the cause of God, have stirred up the +greatest ravages on the earth? What wholesome morality can we reap +from the adoption of impracticable virtues, from their being +supernatural, which are visibly useless to ourselves, to those among +whom we live, and in their consequences often dangerous? How can we +take as guides in our conduct priests, whose lessons are a tissue of +unintelligible opinions, (_for all religion is but opinion_,) puerile +and frivolous practices, which these gentlemen prefer to real virtues? +In fine, how can we be taught _the truth_, conducted in an unerring +path, by men of a changeable morality, calculated upon and actuated by +their present interests, and who, although they pretend to preach +good-will to men, humanity, and peace, have, as their text-book, a +volume stained with the records of injustice, inhumanity, sedition, +and perfidy? + +You know, Madam, that it is impossible to found morality on notions +that are so unfixed and so contrary to all our natural ideas of +virtue. By virtue, we ought to understand the habitual dispositions to +do whatever will procure us the happiness of ourselves and our +species. By virtue, religion understands only that which may +contribute to render us favorable to a hidden God, who attaches his +favor to practices and opinions that are too often hurtful to +ourselves, and little beneficial to others. The morality of the +Christians is a mystic morality, which resembles the dogmas of their +religion; it is obscure, unintelligible, uncertain, and subject to the +interpretation of frail creatures. This morality is never fixed, +because it is subordinate to a religion which varies incessantly its +principles, and which is regulated according to the pleasure of a +despotic divinity, and, more especially, according to the pleasure of +priests, whose interests are changing daily, whose caprices are as +variable as the hours of their existence, and who are, consequently, +not always in agreement with one another. The writings which are the +sources whence the Christians have drawn their morality, are not only +an abyss of obscurity, but demand continual explications from their +masters, the priests, who, in explaining, make them still more +obscure, still more contradictory. If these oracles of heaven +prescribe to us in one place the virtues truly useful, in another part +they approve, or prescribe, actions entirely opposed to all the ideas +that we have of virtue. The same God who orders us to be good, +equitable, and beneficent, who forbids the revenging of injuries, who +declares himself to be the God of clemency and of goodness, shows +himself to be implacable in his rage; announces himself as bringing +_the sword, and not peace_; tells us that he is come to set mankind at +variance; and, finally, in order to revenge his wrongs, orders rapine, +treason, usurpation, and carnage. In a word, it is impossible to find +in the Scriptures any certain principles or sure rules of morality. +You there see, in one part, a small number of precepts, useful and +intelligible, and in another part maxims the most extravagant, and the +most destructive to the good and happiness of all society. + +It is in punctuality to fulfil the superstitious and frivolous duties, +that the morality of the Jews in the Old Testament writings is chiefly +conspicuous; legal observances, rites, ceremonies, are all that +occupied the people of Israel. In recompense for their scrupulous +exactness to fulfil these duties, they were permitted to commit the +most frightful of crimes. The virtues recommended by the Son of God, +in the New Testament, are not in reality the same as those which God +the Father had made observable in the former case. The New Testament +contradicts the Old. It announces that God is not pacified by +sacrifices, nor by offerings, nor by frivolous rites. It substitutes +in place of these, supernatural virtues, of which I believe I have +sufficiently proved the inutility, the impossibility, and the +incompatibility with the well-being of man living in society. The Son +of God, by the writers of the New Testament, is set at variance with +himself; for he destroys in one place what he establishes in another; +and, moreover, the priests have appropriated to themselves all the +principles of his mission. They are in unison only with God when the +precepts of the Deity accord with their present interest. Is it their +interest to persecute? They find that God ordains persecution. Are +they themselves persecuted? They find that this pacific God forbids +persecution, and views with abhorrence the persecution of his +servants. Do they find that superstitious practices are lucrative to +themselves? Notwithstanding the aversion of Jesus Christ from +offerings, rites, and ceremonies, they impose them on the people, they +surcharge them with mysterious rites: they respect these more than +those duties which are of essential benefit to society. If Jesus has +not wished that they should avenge themselves, they find that his +Father has delighted in vengeance. If Jesus has declared that his +kingdom is not of this world, and if he has shown contempt of riches, +they nevertheless find in the Old Testament sufficient reasons for +establishing a hierarchy for the governing of the world in a spiritual +sense, as kings do in a political one,--for the disputing with kings +about their power,--for exercising in this world an authority the most +unlimited, a license the most terrific. In a word, if they have found +in the Bible some precepts of a moral tendency and practical utility, +they have also found others to justify crimes the most atrocious. + +Thus, in the Christian religion, morality uniformly depends on the +fanaticism of priests, their passions, their interests: its principles +are never fixed; they vary according to circumstances: the God of whom +they are the organs, and the interpreters, has not said any thing but +what agrees best with their views, and what never contravenes their +interest. Following their caprices, he changes his advice continually; +he approves, and disapproves, of the same actions: he loves, or +detests, the same conduct; he changes crime into virtue, and virtue +into crime. + +What is the result from all this? It is that the Christians have not +sure principles in morality: it varies with the policy of the priests, +who are in a situation to command the credulity of mankind, and who, +by force of menaces and terrors, oblige men to shut their eyes on +their contradictions, and minds the most honest to commit faults the +greatest which can be committed against religion. It is thus that +under a God who recommends the love of our neighbor, the Christians +accustom themselves from infancy to detest an heretical neighbor, and +are almost always in a disposition to overwhelm him by a crowd of +arguments received from their priests. It is thus that, under a God +who ordains we should love our enemies and forgive their offences, the +Christians hate and destroy the enemies of their priests, and take +vengeance, without measure, for injuries which they pretend to have +received. It is thus, that under a just God, a God who never ceases to +boast of his goodness, the Christians, at the signal of their +spiritual guides, become unjust and cruel, and make a merit of having +stifled the cries of nature, the voice of humanity, the counsels of +wisdom, and of public interest. + +In a word, all the ideas of justice and of injustice, of good and +evil, of happiness and of misfortune, are necessarily confounded in +the head of a Christian. His despotic priest commands him, in the name +of God, to put no reliance on his reason, and the man who is compelled +to abandon it for the guidance of a troubled imagination will be far +more likely to consult and admit the most stupid fanaticism as the +inspiration of the Most High. In his blindness, he casts at his feet +duties the most sacred, and he believes himself virtuous in outraging +every virtue. Has he remorse? his priest appeases it speedily, and +points out some easy practices by which he may soon recommend himself +to God. Has he committed injustice, violence, and rapine? he may +repair all by giving to the church the goods of which he has despoiled +worthy citizens; or by repaying by largesses, which will procure him +the prayers of the priests and the favor of heaven. For the priests +never reproach men, who give them of this world's goods, with the +injustice, the cruelties, and the crimes they have been guilty, to +support the church and befriend her ministers; the faults which have +almost always been found the most unpardonable, have always been those +of most disservice to the clergy. To question the faith and reject the +authority of the priesthood, have always been the most frightful +crimes; they are truly the sin against the Holy Ghost, which can never +be forgiven either in this world or in that which is to come. To +despise these objects which the priests have an interest in making to +be respected, is sufficient to qualify one for the appellation of a +blasphemer and an impious man. These vague words, void of sense, +suffice to excite horror in the mind of the weak vulgar. The terrible +word sacrilege designates an attempt on the person, the goods, and the +rights of the clergy. The omission of some useless practice is +exaggerated and represented as a crime more detestable than actions +which injure society. In favor of fidelity to fulfil the duties of +religion, the priest easily pardons his slave submitting to vices, +criminal debaucheries, and excesses the most horrible. You perceive, +then, Madam, that the Christian morality has really in view but the +utility of the priests. Why, then, should you be surprised that they +endeavor to make themselves arbitrary and sovereign; that they deem as +faults, and as criminal, all the virtues which agree not with their +marvellous systems? The Christian morality appears only to have been +proposed to blind men, to disturb their reason, to render them abject +and timid, to plunge them into vassalage, to make them lose sight of +the earth which they inhabit, for visions of bliss in heaven. By the +aid of this morality, the priests have become the true masters here +below; they have imagined virtues and practices useful only to +themselves; they have proscribed and interdicted those which were +truly useful to society; they have made slaves of their disciples, who +make virtue to consist in blind submission to their caprices. + +To lay the foundations of a good morality, it is absolutely necessary +to destroy the prejudices which the priests have inspired in us; it is +necessary to begin by rendering the mind of man energetic, and freeing +it from those vain terrors which have enthralled it; it is necessary +to renounce those supernatural notions which have, till now, hindered +men from consulting the volume of nature, which have subjected reason +to the yoke of authority; it is necessary to encourage man, to +undeceive him as to those prejudices which have enslaved him; to +annihilate in his bosom those false theories which corrupt his nature, +and which are, in fact, infidel guides, destructive of the real +happiness of the species. It is necessary to undeceive him as to the +idea of his loathing himself, and especially that other idea, that +some of his fellow-creatures are not to labor with their hands for +their support, but in spiritual matters for his happiness. In fine, it +is necessary to influence him with self-love, that he may merit the +esteem of the world, the benevolence and consideration of those with +whom he is associated by the ties of nature or public economy. + +The morality of religion appears calculated to confound society and +replunge its members into the savage state. The Christian virtues tend +evidently to isolate man, to detach him from those to whom nature has +united him, and to unite him to the priests--to make him lose sight of +a happiness the most solid, to occupy himself only with dangerous +chimeras. We only live in society to procure the more easily those +kindnesses, succors, and pleasures, which we could not obtain living +by ourselves. If it had been destined that we should live miserably in +this world, that we should detest ourselves, fly the esteem of others, +voluntarily afflict ourselves, have no attachment for any one, society +would have been one heap of confusion, the human kind savages and +strangers to one another. + +However, if it is true that God is the author of man, it is God who +renders man sociable; it is God who wishes man to live in society +where he can obtain the greatest good. If God is good, he cannot +approve that men should leave society to become miserable; if God is +the author of reason, he can only wish that men who are possessed of +reason should employ this distinguishing gift to procure for +themselves all the happiness its exercise can bring them. If God has +revealed himself, it is not in some obscure way, but in a revelation +the most evident and clear of all those supposed revelations, which +are visibly contrary to all the notions we can form of the Divinity. +We are not, however, obliged to dive into the marvellous to establish +the duties man owes to man, since God has very plainly shown them in +the wants of one and the good offices of another person. But it is +only by consulting our reason that we can arrive at the means of +contributing to the felicity of our species. It is then evident that +in regarding man as the creature of God, God must have designed that +man should consult his reason, that it might procure him the most +solid happiness, and those principles of virtue which nature approves. + +What, then, might not our opinions be were we to substitute the +morality of reason for the morality of religion? In place of a partial +and reserved morality for a small number of men, let us substitute a +universal morality, intelligible to all the inhabitants of the earth, +and of which all can find the principles in nature. Let us study this +nature, its wants, and its desires; let us examine the means of +satisfying it; let us consider what is the end of our existence in +society; we shall see that all those who are thus associated are +compelled by their natures to practise affection one to another, +benevolence, esteem, and relief, if desired; we shall see what is that +line of conduct which necessarily excites hatred, ill-will, and all +those misfortunes which experience makes familiar to mankind; our +reason will tell us what actions are the most calculated to excite +real happiness and good will the most solid and extensive; let us +weigh these with those that are founded on visionary theories; their +difference will at once be perceptible; the advantages which are +permanent we will not sacrifice for those that are momentary; we will +employ all our faculties to augment the happiness of our species; we +will labor with perseverance and courage to extirpate evil from the +earth; we will assist as much as we can those who are without friends; +we will seek to alleviate their distresses and their pains; we will +merit their regard, and thus fulfil the end of our being on earth. + +In conducting ourselves in this manner, our reason prescribes a +morality agreeable to nature, reasonable to all, constant in its +operation, effective in its exercise in benefiting all, in +contributing to the happiness of society, collectively and +individually, in distinction to the mysticism preached up by priests. +We shall find in our reason and in our nature the surest guides, +superior to the clergy, who only teach us to benefit themselves. We +shall thus enjoy a morality as durable as the race of man. We shall +have precepts founded on the necessity of things, that will punish +those transgressing them, and rewarding those who obey them. Every +man who shall prove himself to be just, useful, beneficent, will be an +object of love to his fellow-citizens; every man who shall prove +himself unjust, useless, and wicked will become an object of hatred to +himself as well as to others; he will be forced to tremble at the +violation of the laws; he will be compelled to do that which is good +to gain the good will of mankind and preserve the regard of those who +have the power of obliging him to be a useful member of the state. + +Thus, Madam, if it should be demanded of you what you would substitute +for the benefit of society, in place of visionary reveries, I reply, a +sensible morality, a good education, profitable habits, self-evident +principles of duty, wise laws, which even the wicked cannot +misunderstand, but which may correct their evil purposes, and +recompenses that may tend to the promotion of virtue. The education of +the present day tends only to make youth the slaves of superstition; +the virtues which it inculcates on them are only those of fanaticism, +to render the mind subject to the priests for the remainder of life; +the motives to duty are only fictitious and imaginary; the rewards and +punishments which it exhibits in an obscure glimmering, produce no +other effect than to make useless enthusiasts and dangerous fanatics. +The principles on which enthusiasm establishes morality are changing +and ruinous; those on which the morality of reason is established are +fixed, and cannot be overturned. Seeing, then, that man, a reasonable +being, should be chiefly occupied about his preservation and +happiness--that he should love virtue--that he should be sensible of +its advantages--that he should fear the consequences of crime--is it +to be wondered I should insist so much on the practice of virtue as +his chief good? Men ought to hate crime because it leads to misery. +Society, to exist, must receive the united virtue of its members, +obedience to good laws, the activity and intelligence of citizens to +defend its privileges and its rights. Laws are good when they invite +the members of society to labor for reciprocal good offices. Laws are +just when they recompense or punish in proportion to the good or evil +which is done to society. Laws supported by a visible authority should +be founded on present motives; and thus they would have more force +than those of religion, which are founded on uncertain motives, +imaginary and removed from this world, and which experience proves +cannot suffice to curb the passions of bad men, nor show them their +duty by the fear of punishments after death. + +If in place of stifling human reason, as is too much done, its +perfectibility were studied; if in place of deluging the world with +visionary notions, truth were inculcated; if in place of pleading a +supernatural morality, a morality agreeable to humanity and resulting +from experience were preached, we should no longer be the dupes of +imaginary theories, nor of terrifying fables as the bases of virtue. +Every one would then perceive that it is to the practice of virtue, to +the faithful observation of the duties of morality, that the happiness +of individuals and of society is to be traced. Is he a husband? He +will perceive that his essential happiness is to show kindness, +attachment, and tenderness to the companion of his life, destined by +his own choice to share his pleasures and endure his misfortunes. And, +on the other hand, she, by consulting her true interests, will +perceive that they consist in rendering homage to her husband, in +interdicting every thought that could alienate her affections, +diminish her esteem and confidence in him. Fathers and mothers will +perceive that their children are destined to be one day their +consolation and support in old age, and that by consequence they have +the greatest interest in inspiring them in early life with sentiments +of which they may themselves reap the benefit when age or misfortune +may require the fruits of those advantages that result from a good +education. Their children early taught to reflect on these things, +will find their interest to lie in meriting the kindness of their +parents, and in giving them proofs that the virtues they are taught +will be communicated to their posterity. The master will perceive +that, to be served with affection, he owes good will, kindness, and +indulgence to those at whose hands he would reap advantages, and by +whose labor he would increase his prosperity; and servants will +discover how much their happiness depends on fidelity, industry, and +good temper in their situations. Friends will find the advantages of a +kindred heart for friendship, and the reciprocity of good offices. The +members of the same family will perceive the necessity of preserving +that union which nature has established among them, to render mutual +benefits in prosperity or in adversity. Societies, if they reflect on +the end of their association, will perceive that to secure it they +must observe good faith and punctuality in their engagements. The +citizen, when he consults his reason, will perceive how much it is +necessary, for the good of the nation to which he belongs, that he +should exert himself to advance its prosperity, or, in its +misfortunes, to retrieve its glory. By consequence every one in his +sphere, and using his faculties for this great end, will find his own +advantage in restraining the bad as dangerous, and opposing enemies to +the state as enemies to himself. + +In a word, every man who will reflect for himself will be compelled to +acknowledge the necessity of virtue for the happiness of the world. It +is so obvious that justice is the basis of all society; that good will +and good offices necessarily procure for men affection and respect; +that every man who respects himself ought to seek the esteem of +others; that it is necessary to merit the good opinion of society; +that he ought to be jealous of his reputation; that a weak being, who +is every instant exposed to misfortunes, ought to know what are his +duties, and how he should practise them for the benefit of himself +and the assembly of which he is a member. + +If we reflect for one moment on the effects of the passions, we shall +perceive the necessity of repressing them, if we would spare ourselves +vain regrets and useless sorrows, which certainly always afflict those +who obey not the laws. Thus, a single reflection will suffice to show +the impropriety of anger, the dreadful consequences of revenge, +calumny, and backbiting. Every one must perceive that in giving a free +course to unbridled desires, he becomes the enemy of society, and then +it is the part of the laws to restrain him who renounces his reason +and despises the motives that ought to guide him. + +If it is objected that man is not a free agent, and therefore is +unable to restrain his passions, and that consequently the law ought +not to punish him, I reply that the community are impelled by the same +necessity to hate what is injurious, and for their own conservation +and happiness have the right to restrain an unhappily organized +individual who is impelled to injure himself and others. The +inevitable faults of men necessarily excite the hatred of those who +suffer from them. + +If the man who consults his reason has real and powerful motives for +doing good to others and abstaining from injuring them, he has present +motives equally urgent to restrain him from the commission of vice. +Experience may suffice to show him that if he becomes sooner or later +the victim of his excesses, he ceases to be the friend of virtue, and +exists only to serve vice, which will infallibly punish him. This +being allowed, prudence, or the desire of preserving one's self free +from the contamination of evil, ought to inculcate to every man his +path of duty; and, unless blinded by his passions, he must perceive +how much moderation in his pleasures, temperance, chastity, contribute +to happiness; that those who transgress in these respects are +necessarily the victims of ill health, and too often pass a life both +infirm and unfortunate, which terminates soon in death. + +How is it possible, then, Madam, from visionary theories to arrive at +these conclusions, and establish from supernatural phantasms the +principles of private and public virtue? Shall we launch into unknown +regions to ascertain our duty and to keep our station in society? Is +it not sufficient if we wish to be happy that we should endeavor to +preserve ourselves in those maxims which reason approves, and on which +virtue is founded? Every man who would perish, who would render his +existence miserable, whoever would sacrifice permanent happiness for +present pleasure, is a fool, who reflects not on the interests that +are dearest to him. + +If there are any principles so clear as the morality of humanity has +been and is still proved to be, they are such as men ought to observe. +They are not obscure notions, mysticism, contradictions, which have +made of a science the most obvious and best demonstrated, an +unintelligible science, mysterious and uncertain to those for whom it +is designed. In the hands of the priests, morality has become an +enigma; they have founded our duties on the attributes of a Deity whom +the mind of man cannot comprehend, in place of founding them on the +character of man himself. They have thrown in among them the +foundations of an edifice which is made for this earth. They have +desired to regulate our manners agreeably to equivocal oracles which +every instant contradict themselves, and which too often render their +devotees useless to society and to themselves. They have pretended to +render their morality more sacred by inviting us to look for +recompenses and punishments removed beyond this life, but which they +announce in the name of the Divinity. In fine, they have made man a +being who may not even strive at perfection, by a preordination of +some to bliss, and consequent damnation of others, whose insensibility +is the result of this selection. + +Need we not, then, wonder that this supernatural morality should be so +contrary to the nature and the mind of man? It is in vain that it aims +at the annihilation of human nature, which is so much stronger, so +much more powerful, than imagination. In despite of all the subtile +and marvellous speculations of the priests, man continues always to +love himself, to desire his well being, and to flee misfortune and +sorrow. He has then always been actuated by the same passions. When +these passions have been moderate, and have tended to the public +good, they are legitimate, and we approve those actions which are +their effects. When these passions have been disordered, hurtful to +society, or to the individual, he condemns them; they punish him; he +is dissatisfied with his conduct which others cannot approve. Man +always loves his pleasures, because in their enjoyment he fulfils the +end of his existence; if he exceeds their just bounds he renders +himself miserable. + +The morality of the clergy, on the other hand, appears calculated to +keep nature always at variance with herself, for it is almost always +without effect even on the priesthood. Their chimeras serve but to +torture weak minds, and to set the passions at war with nature and +their dogmas. When this morality professes to restrain the wicked, to +curb the passions of men, it operates in opposition to the established +laws of natural religion; for by preserving all its rigor, it becomes +impracticable; and it meets with real devotees only in some few +fanatics who have renounced nature, and who would be singular, even if +their oddities were injurious to society. This morality, adopted for +the most part by devotees, without eradicating their habits or their +natural defects, keeps them always in a state of opposition even with +themselves. Their life is a round of faults and of scruples, of sins +and remorse, of crimes and expiations, of pleasures which they enjoy, +but for which they again reproach themselves for having tasted. In a +word, the morality of superstition necessarily carries with it into +the heart and the family of its devotees inward distress and +affliction; it makes of enthusiasts and fanatics scrupulous devotees; +it makes a great many insensible and miserable; it renders none +perfect, few good; and those only tolerable whom nature, education, +and habit had moulded for happiness. + +It is our temperament which decides our condition; the acquisition of +moderate passions, of honest habits, sensible opinions, laudable +examples, and practical virtues, is a difficult task, but not +impossible when undertaken with reason for one's guide. It is +difficult to be virtuous and happy with a temperament so ardent as to +sway the passions to its will. One must in calmness consult reason as +to his duty. Nature, in giving us lively passions and a susceptible +imagination, has made us capable of suffering the instant we +transgress her bounds. She then renders us necessary to ourselves, and +we cannot proceed to consult our real interest if we continue in +indulgence that she forbids. The passions which reason cannot restrain +are not to be bridled by religion. It is in vain that we hope to +derive succors from religion if we despise and refuse what nature +offers us. Religion leaves men just such as nature and habit have made +them; and if it produce any changes on some few, I believe I have +proved that those changes are not always for the better. + +Congratulate yourself, then, Madam, on being born with good +dispositions, of having received honest principles, which shall carry +you through life in the practice of virtue, and in the love of a fine +and exalted taste for the rational pleasures of our nature. Continue +to be the happiness of your family, which esteems and honors you. +Continue to diffuse around you the blessings you enjoy; continue to +perform only those actions which are esteemed by all the world, and +all men will respect you. Respect yourself, and others will respect +you. These are the legitimate sentiments of virtue and of happiness. +Labor for your own happiness, and you will promote that of your +family, who will love you in proportion to the good you do it. Allow +me to congratulate myself if, in all I have said, I have in any +measure swept from your mind those clouds of fanaticism which obscure +the reason; and to felicitate you on your having escaped from vague +theories of imagination. Abjure superstition, which is calculated only +to make you miserable; let the morality of humanity be your uniform +religion; that your happiness may be constant, let reason be your +guide; that virtue may be the idol of your soul, cultivate and love +only what is virtuous and good in the world; and if there be a God who +is interested in the happiness of his creatures, if there be a God +full of justice and goodness, he will not be angry with you for having +consulted your reason; if there be another life, your happiness in it +cannot be doubtful, if God rewards every one according to the good +done here. + + I am, with respect, &c. + + + + +LETTER XII. + + Of the small Consequence to be attached to Men's Speculations, and + the Indulgence which should be extended to them. + + +Permit me, Madam, to felicitate you on the happy change which you say +has taken place in your opinions. Convinced by reasons as simple as +obvious, your mind has become sensible of the futility of those +notions which have for a long time agitated it; and the inefficacy of +those pretended succors which religious men boasted they could +furnish, is now apparent to you. You perceive the evident dangers +which result from a system that serves only to render men enemies to +individual and general happiness. I see with pleasure that reason has +not lost its authority over your mind, and that it is sufficient to +show you the truth that you may embrace it. You may congratulate +yourself on this, which proves the solidity of your judgment. For it +is glorious to give one's self up to reason, and to be the votary of +common sense. Prejudice so arms mankind that the world is full of +people who slight their judgment; nay, who resist the most obvious +pleas of their understanding. Their eyes, long shut to the light of +truth, are unable to bear its rays; but they can endure the +glimmerings of superstition, which plunges them in still darker +obscurity. + +I am not, however, astonished at the embarrassment you have hitherto +felt, nor at your cautious examination of my opinions, which are +better understood the more thoroughly they are examined and compared +with those they oppose. It is impossible to annihilate at once +deep-rooted prejudices. The mind of man appears to waver in a void +when those ideas are attacked on which it has long rested. It finds +itself in a new world, wherein all is unknown. Every system of opinion +is but the effect of habit. The mind has as great difficulty to +disengage itself from its custom of thinking, and reflect on new +ideas, as the body has to remain quiescent after it has long been +accustomed to exercise. Should you, for instance, propose to your +friend to leave off snuff, as a practice neither healthful nor +agreeable in company, he will not probably listen to you, or if he +should, it will be with extreme pain that he can bring himself to +renounce a habit long familiarized to him. + +It is precisely the same with all our prejudices; those of religion +have the most powerful hold of us. From infancy we have been +familiarized with them; habit has made them a sort of want we cannot +dispense with: our mode of thinking is formed, and familiar to us; our +mind is accustomed to engage itself with certain classes of objects; +and our imagination fancies that it wanders in chaos when it is not +fed with those chimeras to which it had been long accustomed. Phantoms +the most horrible are even clear to it; objects the most familiar to +it, if viewed with the calm eye of reason, are disagreeable and +revolting. + +Religion, or rather its superstitions, in consequence of the +marvellous and bizarre notions it engenders, gives the mind continual +exercise; and its votaries fancy they are doomed to a dangerous +inaction when they are suddenly deprived of the objects on which their +imagination exerted its powers. Yet is this exercise so much the more +necessary as the imagination is by far the most lively faculty of the +mind. Hence, without doubt, it becomes necessary men should replace +stale fooleries by those which are novel. This is, moreover, the true +reason why devotion so often affords consolation in great disgraces, +gives diversion for chagrin, and replaces the strongest passions, when +they have been quenched by excess of pleasure and dissipation. The +marvellous arguments, chimeras multiply as religion furnishes activity +and occupation to the fancy; habit renders them familiar, and even +necessary; terrors themselves even minister food to the imagination; +and religion, the religion of priestcraft, is full of terrors. Active +and unquiet spirits continually require this nourishment; the +imagination requires to be alternately alarmed and consoled; and there +are thousands who cannot accustom themselves to tranquillity and the +sobriety of reason. Many persons also require phantoms to make them +religious, and they find these succors in the dogmas of priestcraft. + +These reflections will serve to explain to you the continual +variations to which many persons are subject, especially on the +subject of religion. Sensible, like barometers, you behold them +wavering without ceasing; their imagination floats, and is never +fixed; so often as you find them freely given up to the blackness of +superstition, so often may you behold them the slaves of pernicious +prejudices. Whenever they tremble at the feet of their priests, then +are their necks under the yoke. Even people of spirit and +understanding in other affairs are not altogether exempt from these +variations of mental religious temperament; but their judgment is too +frequently the dupe of the imagination. And others, again, timid and +doubting, without spirit, are in perpetual torment. + +What do I say? Man is not, and cannot always be, the same. His frame +is exposed to revolutions and perpetual vicissitudes; the thoughts of +his mind necessarily vary with the different degrees of changes to +which his body is exposed. When the body is languid and fatigued, the +mind has not usually much inclination to vigor and gayety. The +debility of the nerves commonly annihilates the energies of the soul, +although it be so remarkably distinguished from the body; persons of a +bilious and melancholy temperament are rarely the subjects of joy; +dissipation importunes some, gayety fatigues others. Exactly after the +same fashion, there are some who love to nourish sombre ideas, and +these religion supplies them. Devotion affects them like the vapors; +superstition is an inveterate malady, for which there is no cure in +medicine. And it is impossible to keep him free from superstition, +whose breast, the slave of fear, was never sensible of courage; nay, +soldiers and sailors, the bravest of men, have too often been the +victims of superstition. It is education alone that operates in +radically curing the human mind of its errors. + +Those who think it sufficient, Madam, to render a reason for the +variations which we so frequently remark in the ideas of men, +acknowledge that there is a secret bent of the minds of religious +persons to prejudices, from which we shall almost in vain endeavor to +rescue their understandings. You perceive, at present, what you ought +to think of those secret transitions which our priests would force on +you, as the inspirations of heaven, as divine solicitations, the +effects of grace; though they are, nevertheless, only the effects of +those vicissitudes to which our constitution is liable, and which +affect the robust, as well as the feeble; the man of health, as well +as the valetudinarian. + +If we might form a judgment of the correctness of those notions which +our teachers boast of, in respect to our dissolution at death, we +shall find reason to be satisfied, that there is little or no occasion +that we should have our minds disturbed during our last moments. It is +then, say they, that it is necessary to attend to the condition of +man; it is then that man, undeceived as to the things of this life, +acknowledges his errors. But there is, perhaps, no idea in the whole +circle of theology more unreasonable than this, of which the +credulous, in all ages, have been the dupes. Is it not at the time of +a man's dissolution that he is the least capable of judging of his +true interest? His bodily frame racked, it may be, with pain, his mind +is necessarily weakened or chafed; or if he should be free from +excruciating pain, the lassitude and yielding of nature to the +irrevocable decrees of fate at death, unfit a man for reasoning and +judging of the sophisms that are proposed as panaceas for all his +errors. There are, without doubt, as strange notions as those of +religion; but who knows that body and soul sink alike at death? + +It is in the case of health that we can promise ourselves to reason +with justness; it is then that the soul, neither troubled by fear, nor +altered by disease, nor led astray by passion, can judge soundly of +what is beneficial to man. The judgments of the dying can have no +weight with men in good health; and they are the veriest impostors who +lend them belief. The truth can alone be known, when both body and +mind are in good health. No man, without evincing an insensible and +ridiculous presumption, can answer for the ideas he is occupied with, +when worn out with sickness and disease; yet have the inhuman priests +the effrontery to persuade the credulous to take as their examples the +words and actions of men necessarily deranged in intellect by the +derangement of their corporeal frame. In short, since the ideas of men +necessarily vary with the different variations of their bodies, the +man who presumes to reason on his death bed with the man in health, +arrogates what ought not to be conceded. + +Do not, then, Madam, be discouraged nor surprised, if you should +sometimes think of ancient prejudices reclaiming the rights they have +for a long time exercised over your reason; attribute, then, these +vacillations to some derangement in your frame--to some disordered +movements of mind, which, for a time, suspend your reason. Think that +there are few people who are constantly the same, and who see with the +same eyes. Our frame being subject to continual variations, it +necessarily follows that our modes of thinking will vary. We think one +custom the result of pusillanimity, when the nerves are relaxed and +our bodies fatigued. We think justly when our body is in health; that +is to say, when all its parts are fulfilling their various functions. +There is one mode of thinking, or one state of mind, which in health +we call uncertainty, and which we rarely experience when our frame is +in its ordinary condition. We do not then reason justly, when our +frame is not in a condition to leave our mind subject to incredulity. + +What, then, is to be done, when we would calm our mind, when we wish +to reflect, even for an instant? Let reason be our guide, and we shall +soon arrive at that mode of thinking which shall be advantageous to +ourselves. In effect, Madam, how can a God who is just, good, and +reasonable, be irritated by the manner in which we shall think, seeing +that our thoughts are always involuntary, and that we cannot believe +as we would, but as our convictions increase, or become weakened? Man +is not, then, for one instant, the master of his ideas, which are +every moment excited by objects over which he has no control, and +causes which depend not on his will or exertions. St. Augustine +himself bears testimony to this truth: "There is not," says he, "one +man who is at all times master of that which presents itself to his +spirit." Have we not, then, good reason to conclude, that our thoughts +are entirely indifferent to God, seeing they are excited by objects +over which we have no control, and, by consequence, that they cannot +be offensive to the Deity? + +If our teachers pique themselves on their principles, they ought to +carry along with them this truth, that a just God cannot be offended +by the changes which take place in the minds of his creatures. They +ought to know that this God, if he is wise, has no occasion to be +troubled with the ideas that enter the mind of man; that if they do +not comprehend all his perfections, it is because their comprehension +is limited. They ought to recollect, that if God is all-powerful, his +glory and his power cannot be affected by the opinions and ideas of +weak mortals, any more than the notions they form of him can alter his +essential attributes. In fine, if our teachers had not made it a duty +to renounce common sense, and to close with notions that carry in +their consequences the contradictory evidence of their premises, they +would not refuse to avow that God would be the most unjust, the most +unreasonable, the most cruel of tyrants, if he should punish beings +whom he himself created imperfect, and possessed of a deficiency of +reason and common sense. + +Let us reflect a little longer, and we shall find that the theologians +have studied to make of the Divinity a ferocious master, unreasonable +and changing, who exacts from his creatures qualities they have not, +and services they cannot perform. The ideas they have formed of this +unknown being are almost always borrowed from those of men of power, +who, jealous of their power and respect from their subjects, pretend +that it is the duty of these last to have for them sentiments of +submission, and punish with rigor those who, by their conduct or their +discourse, announce sentiments not sufficiently respectful to their +superiors. Thus you see, Madam, that God has been fashioned by the +clergy on the model of an uneasy despot, suspicious of his subjects, +jealous of the opinions they may entertain of him, and who, to secure +his power, cruelly chastises those who have not littleness of mind +sufficient to flatter his vanity, nor courage enough to resist his +power. + +It is evident, that it is on ideas so ridiculous, and so contrary to +those which nature offers us of the Divinity, that the absurd system +of the priests is founded, which they persuade themselves is very +sensible and agreeable to the opinions of mankind; and which is very +seriously insulted, they say, if men think differently; and which will +punish with severity those who abandon themselves to the guidance of +reason, the glory of man. Nothing can be more pernicious to the human +kind than this fatal madness, which deranges all our ideas of a just +God--of a God, good, wise, all-powerful, and whose glory and power +neither the devotion nor rebellion of his creatures can affect. In +consequence of these impertinent suppositions of the priesthood, men +have ever been afraid to form notions agreeable to the mysterious +Sovereign of the universe, on whom they are dependent; their mind is +put to the torture to divine his incomprehensible nature, and, in +their fear of displeasing him, they have assigned to him human +attributes, without perceiving that when they pretend to honor him, +they dishonor Deity, and that being compelled to bestow on him +qualities that are incompatible with Deity, they actually annihilate +from their mind the pure representation of Deity, as witnessed in all +nature. It is thus, that in almost all the religions on the face of +the earth, under the pretext of making known the Divinity, and +explaining his views towards mortals, the priests have rendered him +incomprehensible, and have actually promulgated, under the garb of +religion, nothing save absurdities, by which, if we admit them, we +shall destroy those notions which nature gives us of Deity. + +When we reflect on the Divinity, do we not see that mankind have +plunged farther and farther into darkness, as they assimilated him to +themselves; that their judgment is always disturbed when they would +make their Deity the object of their meditations; that they cannot +reason justly, because they never have any but obscure and absurd +ideas; that they are almost always in uncertainty, and never agree +with themselves, because their principles are replete with doubt; that +they always tremble, because they imagine that it is very dangerous to +be deceived; that they dispute without ceasing, because that it is +impossible to be convinced of any thing, when they reason on objects +of which they know nothing, and which the imaginations of men are +forced to paint differently; in fine, that they cruelly torment one +another about opinions equally uninteresting, though they attach to +them the greatest importance, and because the vanity of the one party +never allows it to subscribe to the reveries of the other? + +It is thus that the Divinity has become to us a source of evil, +division, and quarrels; it is thus that his name alone inspires +terror; it is thus that religion has become the signal of so many +combats, and has always been the true apple of discord among unquiet +mortals, who always dispute with the greatest heat, on subjects of +which they can never have any true ideas. They make it a duty to think +and reason on his attributes; and they can never arrive at any just +conclusions, because their mind is never in a condition to form true +notions of what strikes their senses. In the impossibility of knowing +the Deity by themselves, they have recourse to the opinion of others, +whom they consider more adroit in theology, and who pretend to an +intimate acquaintance with God, being inspired by him, and having +secret intelligence of his purposes with regard to the human kind. +Those privileged men teach nothing to the nations of the earth, except +what their reveries have reduced to a system, without giving them +ideas that are clear and definite. They paint God under characters the +most agreeable to their own interests; they make of him a good monarch +for those who blindly submit to their tenets, but terrible to those +who refuse to blindly follow them. + +Thus you perceive, Madam, what those men are who have obviously made +of the Deity an object so bizarre as they announce him, and who, to +render their opinions the more sacred, have pretended that he is +grievously offended when we do not admit implicitly the ideas they +promulgate of God. In the books of Moses God defines himself, _I am +that I am_; yet does this inspired writer detail the history of this +God as a tyrant who tempts men, and who punishes them for being +tempted; who exterminated all the human kind by a deluge, except a few +of one family, because one man had fallen; in a word, who, in all his +conduct, behaves as a despot, whose power dispenses with all the rules +of justice, reason, and goodness. + +Have the successors of Moses transmitted to us ideas more clear, more +sensible, more comprehensible of the Divinity? Has the Son of God made +his Father perfectly known to us? Has the church, perpetually boasting +of the light she diffuses among men, become more fixed and certain, +to do away our uncertainty? Alas! in spite of all these supernatural +succors, we know nothing in nature beyond the grave; the ideas which +are communicated to us, the recitals of our infallible teachers, are +calculated only to confound our judgment, and reduce our reason to +silence. They make of God a pure spirit; that is to say, a being who +has nothing in common with matter, and who, nevertheless, has created +matter, which he has produced from his own fiat--his essence or +substance. They have made him the mirror of the universe, and the soul +of the universe. They have made him an infinite being, who fills all +space by his immensity, although the material world occupies some part +in space. They have made him a being all powerful, but whose projects +are incessantly varying, who neither can nor will maintain man in good +order, nor permit the freedom of action necessary for rational beings, +and who is alternately pleased and displeased with the same beings and +their actions. They make him an infinite good Father, but who avenges +himself without measure. They make of him a monarch infinitely just, +but who confounds the innocent with the guilty, who has mingled +injustice and cruelty, in causing his own Son to be put to death to +expiate the crimes of the human kind; though they are incessantly +sinning and repenting for pardon. They make of him a being full of +wisdom and foresight, yet insensible to the folly and shortsightedness +of mortals. They make him a reasonable being who becomes angry at the +thoughts of his creatures, though involuntary, and consequently +necessary; thoughts which he himself puts into their heads; and who +condemns them to eternal punishments if they believe not in reveries +that are incompatible with the divine attributes, or who dare to doubt +whether God can possess qualities that are not capable of being +reconciled among themselves. + +Is it, then, surprising that so many good people are shocked at the +revolting ideas, so contradictory and so appalling, which hurl mortals +into a state of uncertainty and doubt as to the existence of the +Deity, or even to force them into absolute denial of the same? It is +impossible to admit, in effect, the doctrine of the Deity of +priestcraft, in which we constantly see infinite perfections, allied +with imperfections the most striking; in which, when we reflect but +momentarily, we shall find that it cannot produce but disorder in the +imagination, and leaves it wandering among errors that reduce it to +despair, or some impostors, who, to subjugate mankind, have wished to +throw them into embarrassment, confound their reason, and fill them +with terror. Such appear, in effect, to be the motives of those who +have the arrogance to pretend to a secret knowledge, which they +distribute among mankind, though they have no knowledge even of +themselves. They always paint God under the traits of an inaccessible +tyrant, who never shows himself but to his ministers and favorites, +who please to veil him from the eyes of the vulgar; and who are +violently irritated when they find any who oppose their pretensions, +or when they refuse to believe the priests and their unintelligible +farragoes. + +If, as I have often said, it be impossible to believe what we cannot +comprehend, or to be intimately convinced of that of which we can form +no distinct and clear ideas, we may thence conclude that, when the +Christians assure us they believe that God has announced himself in +some secret and peculiar way to them that he has not done to other +men, either they are themselves deceived, or they wish to deceive us. +Their faith, or their belief in God, is merely an acceptance of what +their priests have taught them of a Being whose existence they have +rendered more than doubtful to those who would reason and meditate. +The Deity cannot, assuredly, be the being whom the Christians admit on +the word of their theologians. Is there, in good truth, a man in the +world who can form any idea of a spirit? If we ask the priests what a +spirit is, they will tell us that a spirit is an immaterial being who +has none of the passions of which men are the subjects. But what is an +immaterial spirit? It is a being that has none of the qualities which +we can fathom; that has neither form, nor extension, nor color. + +But how can we be assured of the existence of a being who has none of +these qualities? It is by _faith_, say the priests, that we must be +assured of his existence. But what is this _faith_? It is to adhere, +without examination, to what the priests tell us. But what is it the +priests tell us of God? They tell us of things which we can neither +comprehend nor they reconcile among themselves. The existence, even of +God, has, in their hands, become the most impenetrable mystery in +religion. But do the priests themselves comprehend this ineffable God, +whom they announce to other men? Have they just ideas of him? Are they +themselves sincerely convinced of the existence of a being who unites +incompatible qualities which reciprocally exclude the one or the +other? We cannot admit it; and we are authorized to conclude, that +when the priests profess to believe in God, either they know not what +they say, or they wish to deceive us. + +Do not then be surprised, Madam, if you should find that there are, in +fact, people who have ventured to doubt of the existence of the Deity +of the theologians, because, on meditating on the descriptions given +of him, they have discovered them to be incomprehensible, or replete +with contradiction. Do not be astonished if they never listen, in +reasoning, to any arguments that oppose themselves to common sense, +and seek, for the existence of the priests' Deity, other proofs than +have yet been offered mankind. His existence cannot be demonstrated in +revelations, which we discover, on examination, to be the work of +imposture; revelations sap the foundations laid down for belief in a +Divinity, which they would wish to establish. This existence cannot +be founded on the qualities which our priests have assigned to the +Divinity, seeing that, in the association of these qualities, there +only results a God whom we cannot comprehend, and by consequence of +whom we can form no certain ideas. This existence cannot be founded on +the moral qualities which our priests attribute to the Divinity, +seeing these are irreconcilable in the same subject, who cannot be at +once good and evil, just and unjust, merciful and implacable, wise and +the enemy of human reason. + +On what, then, ought we to found the existence of God? The priests +themselves tell us that it is on reason, the spectacle of nature, and +on the marvellous order which appears in the universe. Those to whom +these motives for believing in the existence of the Divinity do not +appear convincing, find not, in any of the religions in the world, +motives more persuasive; for all systems of theology, framed for the +exercise of the imagination, plunge us into more uncertainty +respecting their evidence, when they appeal to nature for proofs of +what they advance. + +What, then, are we to think of the God of the clergy? Can we think +that he exists, without reasoning on that existence? And what shall we +think of those who are ignorant of this God, or have no belief in his +existence; who cannot discover him in the works of nature, either as +good or evil; who behold only order and disorder succeeding +alternately? What idea shall we form of those men who regard matter as +eternal, as actuated on by laws, peculiar to itself; as sufficiently +powerful to produce itself under all the forms we behold; as +perpetually exerting itself in nourishing and destroying itself, in +combining and dissolving itself; as incapable of love or of hatred; as +deprived of the faculties of _intelligence_ and _sentiment_ known to +belong to beings of our species, but capable of supporting those +beings whose organization has made them intelligent, sensible, and +reasonable? + +What shall we say of those Freethinkers who find neither good nor +evil, neither order nor disorder, in the universe; that all things are +but relative to different conditions of beings, of which they have +evidence; and that all that happens in the universe is necessary, and +subjected to destiny? In a word, what shall we think of these men? + +Shall we say that they have only a different manner of viewing things, +or that they use different words in expressing themselves? They call +that _Nature_ which others call the _Divinity_; they call that +_Necessity_ which all others call the _Divine decrees_; they call that +the _Energy_ of _Nature_ which others call the _Author_ of _Nature_; +they call that _Destiny_, or _Fate_, which others call _God_, whose +laws are always going forward. + +Have we, then, any right to hate and to exterminate them? No, without +doubt; at least, we cannot admit that we have any reason that those +should perish, who speak only the same language with ourselves, and +who are reciprocally beneficial to us. Nevertheless, it is to this +degree of extravagance that the baneful ideas of religion have +carried the human mind. Harassed, and set on by their priests, men +have hated and assassinated each other, because that in religious +matters they agree not to one creed. Vanity has made some imagine +that they are better than others, more intelligible, although they +see that theology is a language which they neither understand, nor +which they themselves could invent. The very name of Freethinker +suffices to irritate them, and to arm the fury of others, who repeat, +without ceasing, the name of God, without having any precise idea of +the Deity. If, by chance, they imagine that they have any notions of +him, they are only confused, contradictory, incompatible, and +senseless notions, which have been inspired in their infancy by their +priests, and those who, as we have seen, have painted God in all +those traits which their imagination furnished, or those who appear +more conformed to their passions and interests than to the well-being +of their fellow-creatures. + +The least reflection will, nevertheless, suffice to make any one +perceive, that God, if he is just and good, cannot exist as a being +known to some, but unknown to others. If Freethinkers are men void of +reason, God would be unjust to punish them for being blind and +insensible, or for having too little penetration and understanding to +perceive the force of those natural proofs on which the existence of +the Deity has been founded. A God full of equity cannot punish men +for having been blind or devoid of reason. The Freethinkers, as +foolish as they are supposed, are beings less insensible than those +who make professions of believing in a God full of qualities that +destroy one another; they are less dangerous than the adorers of a +changeable Deity, who, they imagine, is pleased with the extermination +of a large portion of mankind, on account of their opinions. Our +speculations are indifferent to God, whose glory man cannot +tarnish--whose power mortals cannot abridge. They may, however, be +advantageous to ourselves; they may be perfectly indifferent to +society, whose happiness they may not affect; or they may be the +reverse of all this. For it is evident that the opinions of men do not +influence the happiness of society. + +Hence, Madam, let us leave men to think as they please, provided that +they act in such a manner as promotes the general good of society. The +thoughts of men injure not others; their actions may--their reveries +never. Our ideas, our thoughts, our systems, depend not on us. He who +is fully convinced on one point, is not satisfied on another. All men +have not the same eyes, nor the same brains; all have not the same +ideas, the same education, or the same opinions; they never agree +wholly, when they have the temerity to reason on matters that are +enveloped in the obscurity of imaginative fiction, and which cannot be +subject to the usual evidence accompanying matters of report, or +historic relation. + +Men do not long dispute on objects that are cognizable to their +senses, and which they can submit to the test of experience. The +number of self-evident truths on which men agree is very small; and +the fundamentals of morality are among this number. It is obvious to +all men of sense, that beings, united in society, require to be +regulated by justice, that they ought to respect the happiness of each +other, that mutual succor is indispensable; in a word, that they are +obliged to practise virtue, and to be useful to society, for personal +happiness. It is evident to demonstration, that the interest of our +preservation excites us to moderate our desires, and put a bridle on +our passions; to renounce dangerous habits, and to abstain from vices +which can only injure our fortune, and undermine our health. These +truths are evident to every being whose passions have not dominion +over his reason; they are totally independent of theological +speculations, which have neither evidence nor demonstration, and which +our mind can never verify; they have nothing in common with the +religious opinions on which the imagination soars from earth to sky, +nor with the fanaticism and credulity which are so frequently +producing among mankind the most opposite principles to morality and +the well-being of society. + +They who are of the Freethinkers' opinions are not more dangerous than +they who are of the priests' opinions. In short, Christianity has +produced effects more appalling than heathenism. The speculative +principles of the Freethinkers have done no injury to society; the +contagious principles of fanaticism and enthusiasm have only served to +spread disorder on the earth. If there are dangerous notions and fatal +speculations in the world, they are those of the devotees, who obey a +religion that divides men, and excites their passions, and who +sacrifice the interests of society, of sovereigns, and their subjects, +to their own ambition, their avarice, their vengeance and fury. + +There is no question that the Freethinker has motives to be good, even +though he admit not notions that bridle his passions. It is true that +the Freethinker has no invisible motives, but he has motives, and a +visible restraint, which, if he reflects, cannot fail to regulate his +actions. If he doubts about religion, he does not question the laws of +moral obligation; nor that it is his duty to moderate his passions, to +labor for his happiness and that of others, to avoid hatred, disdain, +and discord as crimes; and that he should shun vices which may injure +his constitution, reputation, and fortune. Thus, relatively to his +morality, the Freethinker has principles more sure than those of +superstition and fanaticism. In fine, if nothing can restrain the +Freethinker, a thousand forces united would not prevent the fanatic +from the commission of crimes, and the violation of duties the most +sacred. + +Besides, I believe that I have already proved that the morality of +superstition has no certain principles; that it varies with the +interests of the priests, who explain the intentions of the Divinity, +as they find these accordant or discordant to their views and +interests; which, alas! are too often the result of cruel and wicked +purposes. On the contrary, the Freethinker, who has no morality but +what he draws from the nature and character of man, and the constant +events which transpire in society, has a certain morality that is not +founded either on the caprice of circumstances or the prejudices of +mankind; a morality that tells him when he does evil, and blames him +for the evil so done, and that is superior to the morality of the +intolerant fanatic and persecutor. + +You thus perceive, Madam, on which side the morality of the +Freethinkers leans, what advantages it possesses over that inculcated +on the superstitious devotee, who knows no other rule than the caprice +of his priest, nor any other morality than what suits the interest of +the clergy, nor any other virtues than such as make him the slave of +their will, and which are too often in opposition to the great +interests of mankind. Thus you perceive, that what is understood by +the natural morality of the Freethinker, is much more constant and +more sure than that of the superstitious, who believe they can render +themselves agreeable to God by the intercession of priests. If the +Freethinker is blind or corrupted, by not knowing his duties which +nature prescribes to him, it is precisely in the same way as the +superstitious, whose invisible motives and sacred guides prevent him +not from going occasionally astray. + +These reflections will serve to confirm what I have already said, to +prove that morality has nothing in common with religion; and that +religion is its own enemy, though it pretends to dispense with support +from other sources. True morality is founded on the nature of man; the +morality of religion is founded only on the chimeras of imagination, +and on the caprice of those who speak of the Deity in a language too +often contrary to nature and right reason. + +Allow me, then, Madam, to repeat to you, that morality is the only +natural religion for man; the only object worthy his notice on earth; +the only worship which he is required to render to the Deity. It is +uniform, and replete with obvious duties, which rest not on the +dictation of priests, blabbing chit-chat they do not understand. If it +be this morality which I have defined, that makes us what we are, +ought we not to labor strenuously for the happiness of our race? If it +be this morality that makes us reasonable; that enables us to +distinguish good from evil, the useful from the hurtful; that makes us +sociable, and enables us to live in society to receive and repay +mutual benefits; we ought at least to respect all those who are its +friends. If it be this morality which sets bounds to our temper, it is +that which interdicts the commission in thought, word, or action, of +what would injure another, or disturb the happiness of society. If it +attach us to the preservation of all that is dear to us, it points out +how by a certain line of conduct we may preserve ourselves; for its +laws, clear and of easy practice, inflict on those who disobey them +instant punishment, fear, and remorse; on the other hand, the +observance of its duties is accompanied with immediate and real +advantages, and notwithstanding the depravity which prevails on earth, +vice always finds itself punished, and virtue is not always deprived +of the satisfaction it yields, of the esteem of men, and the +recompense of society; even if men are in other respects unjust, they +will concede to the virtuous the due meed of praise. + +Behold, Madam, to what the dogmas of natural religion reduce us: in +meditating on it, and in practising its duties, we shall be truly +religious, and filled with the spirit of the Divinity; we shall be +admired and respected by men; we shall be in the right way to be loved +by those who rule over us, and respected by those who serve us; we +shall be truly happy in this world, and we shall have nothing to fear +in the next. + +These are laws so clear, so demonstrable, and whose infraction is so +evidently punished, whose observance is so surely recompensed, that +they constitute the code of nature of all living beings, sentient and +reasoning; all acknowledge their authority; all find in them the +evidence of Deity, and consider those as sceptics who doubt their +efficacy. The Freethinker does not refuse to acknowledge as +fundamental laws, those which are obviously founded on the God of +Nature, and on the immutable and necessary circumstances of things +cognizable to the faculties of sentient natures. The Indian, the +Chinese, the savage, perceives these self-evident laws, whenever he is +not carried headlong by his passions into crime and error. In fine, +these laws, so true, and so evident, never can appear uncertain, +obscure, or false, as are those superstitious chimeras of the +imagination, which knaves have substituted for the truths of nature +and the dicta of common sense; and those devotees who know no other +laws than those of the caprices of their priests, necessarily obey a +morality little calculated to produce personal or general happiness, +but much calculated to lead to extravagance and inconvenient +practices. + +Hence, charming Eugenia, you will allow mankind to think as they +please, and judge of them after their actions. Oppose reason to their +systems, when they are pernicious to themselves or others; remove +their prejudices if you can, that they may not become the victims of +their caprices; show them the truth, which may always remove error; +banish from their minds the phantoms which disturb them; advise them +not to meditate on the mysteries of their priests; bid them renounce +all those illusions they have substituted for morality; and advise +them to turn their thoughts on that which conduces to their happiness. +Meditate yourself on your own nature, and the duties which it imposes +on you. Fear those chastisements which follow inattention to this law. +Be ambitious to be approved by your own understanding, and you will +rarely fail to receive the applauses of the human kind, as a good +member of society. + +If you wish to meditate, think with the greatest strength of your mind +on your nature. Never abandon the torch of reason; cherish truth +sincerely. When you are in uncertainty, pause, or follow what appears +the most probable, always abandoning opinions that are destitute of +foundation, or evidence of their truth and benefit to society. Then +will you, in good truth, yield to the impulse of your heart when +reason is your guide; then will you consult in the calmness of +passion, and counsel yourself on the advantages of virtue, and the +consequences of its want; and you may flatter yourself that you cannot +be displeasing to a wise God, though you disbelieve absurdities, nor +agreeable to a good God in doing things hurtful to yourself or to +others. + +Leaving you now to your own reflections, I shall terminate the series +of Letters you have allowed me to address you. Bidding you an +affectionate farewell, + + I am truly yours. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters to Eugenia, by Baron d'Holbach + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS TO EUGENIA *** + +***** This file should be named 31275-8.txt or 31275-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/7/31275/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |