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THE
RUINS:
...
.
*
W -
smw
T"? &
'
OF THE
RESOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
WITH NOTES
^f^torical, fecgragSical, anh ^Explanatory
TO WHICH IS ANNEXED THE
LAW OF NATURE.
BY C. F. VOLNEY
*
* '
S0N00X:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY T. DAVISON,
2Yo, 10, Duke Street, West Smithfield.
1819,
��THE plan of this publication was formed nearly
forty years ago; and allusions to it may be seen in the
Preface to “Travels in Syria and Egypt, as well as at
the end of that work, published in 1787. The per
formance was in some forwardness when the events of
1788 in France interrupted it.
Persuaded that a de-
velopement of the theory of political truth could not
sufficiently acquit a citizen of his debt to society, the
author wished to add practice ; and that particularly
at a time when a single arm Was of consequence in the
defence of the general caùse. The same desire of pub
lic benefit which induced him to suspend his work, has
since engaged him to resume it; and though it may not
possess the same merit as if it had appeared under the
cbcumstances that gave rise to it, yet he imagines that
at a time when new passions are bursting Jorih, pas
sions that must communicate their activity to the relb
pious opinions of me it * of importance to dissemb
*
�IV.
PREFACE,
nate such moral truths as are calculated to operate
as a sort of curb and restraint. It is with this view
he has endeavoured to give to these truths, hitherto
treated as abstract, a form likely to gain them a
reception. It was found impossible not to shock the
violent prejudices of some readers; but the work, so
far from being the fruit of a disorderly and pertur
bed spirit, has been dictated by a sincere love of order
and humanity.
•After reading this performance it will be asked, how
it was possible, in 1784, to have had an idea of what
did not take place till the year 1790? The solution
is simple: in the original plan, the legislator was a
fictitious and hypothetical being: in the present, the
author has substituted an existing legislator ; and the
reality has only made the subject additionally inter
esting.
�CONTENTS.. . .
INVOCATION .. ........... Pas« m
CHAP. I.
The Tour ....*..........
CHAP. II.
Meditations......................
CHAP. ïlîo
The Apparition
.........
CHAP. IV.
The Hemisphere.............
1
3
6
9
CHAP. XII.
^*11*
Lessons taught by Ancient, re
peated in Modern Times ... 32
CHAP. XU I»
Will the Human Race be ever
in a better Condition than
at present
CHAP. XIV.
Grand Obstacle to Improvement 48
CHAP. XV.
CHAP. V.
New Age.......................
CHAP. VI.
A free ar‘^ legislative People.. 54
Condition of Man in the Uni
verse ................................
Original state of Man........
CHAP. VII.
Principles of Society ........
CHAP. VIII.
Source of the evils of Society
51
CHAP. XVI.
17
CHAP. XVII.
18
Universal Basis of all Right and
all Law .........
55
19
CHAP. XVIII.
CHAP. IX.
Consternation and Conspiracy
of Tyrants ........................ . 57
CHAP. X.
General Assembly of the People 59
Origin of Government and Laws 20
General Causes of the Prospe
rity of Ancient States ......
22
CHAP. XI.
General Causes of the Revolu
tions, and Ruins of Ancient
States ..................
CHAP. XIX.
CHAP. XX.
Investigation of Truth...........
CHAP. XXI.
25
Problem of Religious Contra
dictions ...........
70
�eONTE.NTSé
pag«
CHAP. Xtll.
Origin and Genealogy of Reli
gious Ideas...........
91
the vital Principle of the
Universe ........................... 119
SECT. I.
SECT. VIII.
SECT. n.
Religion of Moses, or Worship
of the Soul of the World,
(You-Piter) ....................... 124
Eighth System : The World &
Origin of the Idea of God:
Machine: Worship of the
Worship of the Elements and
Demi-ourgos, or supreme Ar
the physical Powers of Na
tificer ............................... . 121
ture ...............
95
SECT. IX.
Second System: Worship of the
Stars, or Sabeism .............. 97
SECT. III.
SECT. X
*
Third System : Worship of
Symbols, or Idolatry.......... 100
SECT. IV.
Fourth System: Worship of two
Principles, or Dualism .... 108
SECT. V.
Mystical or Moral Worship, or
the System of a Future State 112
SECT. I.
Sixth System: the animated
World, or Worship of the
Universe under different Em
blems ................................ 118
Religion of Zoroaster ......
126
SECT. XI.
Budoism, or Religion of the
Samaneans............................127
SECT. XII.
Braminism, or the Indian Sys
tem ..................
127
SECT. XIII.
Christianity, or the allegorical
Worship of the Sun under
the cabalistical Names of
CHRIS-EN or CHRIST and
YES-US or JESUS .......... 127
c h a p . Xxm.
End of all Religions the same 135
SECT. VII.
Seventh System: Worship of
the SOUL of the WORLD,
that is, the Element of Fire,
CHAP. XXIV.
ERRATA.
In page 70, Note
**
Solution of the Problem of
Contradictions .................. 144
after last line insert “ charged.”
�INVOCATION.
SOLITARY Ruins, sacred Tombs, ye mouldering and silent
Walls, all hail! To you, I address my In v o c a t io n . Whilei the
vulgar shrink from your aspect with secret terror, my h^rt find,
in the contemplation a thSSSmd delicious sentiments, a thousand
admirable recollections. Pregnant, I may truly call you with
useful lessons, with pathetic and irresisUble advice, to the man
who knows how to consult yon. A while ago the whole world
bowed the neck in silence before the tyrants that oppressed it,
and yet in that hopeless moment you already proclaimed the
truths that tyrants hold in abhorrence: mixing the dust of the
»roudest kings with that of the meanest slaves, you called upon
US to contemplate this example of Eq u a l it y . From your ca,
verns, whither the musing and anxious love of Lib e r t y led me,
. I saw escape its venerable shade, and with unexpectedfeli city
direct its flight, and marshal my steps the way to renovate»
France.
Tombs, what virtues and potency do you exhibit! Tyrants
tremble at your aspect; you poison with secret alarm tneir im
pious pleasures; they turn from you with impatience, and, coward
like, endeavour to forget you amid the sumptuousness of their
palaces. It is you that bring home the rod of justice to the pow
erful oppressor; it is you that wrest the ill-gotten gold from tne
merciless extortioner, and avenge the cause of him that has none
�Fïili
WVOCAT1W.
to help|, y6u compensate the narrow enjoyments of the poor, by
dashing with care the goblet of the rich 'to the unfortunate you
ofler a last and inviolable asylum : in fine, you give to the soul
that just equilibrium of strength and tenderness, which consti
tutes the wisdom of the sage and the seience of life. The wise
man looks towards you, and scorns to amass vain granduer and
useless riches with which he soon must part; y^u check his law
less flights without disarming his adventure and his courage • he
feels the necessity of passing through the period assigned him
and be gives employment to his hours, and makes use of thé
goods that fortune has assigned him. Thus do you rein in the
wild sallies of cupidity, calm the fever of tumultuous enjoyment,
free the mind from the anarchy of the passions, and raise it
above those little interests which torment the mass of mankind.
We ascend the eminence you afford us, and, viewing with one
glance the limits of nations and the succession of ages, are inca
pable of any affections but such as are sublime, and entertain
no ideas but those of virtue and glory. Alas! when this un
certain dream of life shall be over, what then will avail all our
busy passions, unless they have left behind them the footsteps
of utility !
.
Ye Rums, I will return once more to attend your lessons!
I will resume my place in the midst of your wide spreading soliu e.
will leave the tragic scene of the passions, will love '
my species rather from recollection than actual survey, will eraP °y
activity in promoting their happiness, and compose my
own appines» of the pleasing remembrance that I haye hastened
theirs.
��Nflrí/t-
>S
"X
fr*
5^
b*
�twj— rum * III«
ili
��(11
THE
RUINS:
OR,
'*
A SURVEY
OF THU
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES
*
CHAP. I.
Th e
To u r *
TN the eleventh year of the reign of Abd-ul Hamid * son of
I Ahmed, emperor of the Turks ? when the Nogain Tartars
were driven from the Crimea, and a Mussulman prince, of the
blood of Gengis Khan,f became the vassal and guard of a
woman, a Christian, and a queen; I journeyed in the empire
of the Ottomans, and traversed the provinces which formerly
were kingdoms of Egypt and of Syria.
„
Directing all my attention to what concerns the happiness of
mankind in a state of society, ! entered cities, and studied the
' manners of their inhabitants; I gained admission into palaces,
and observed the conduct of those who govern; I wandered over
the country, and examined the condition of the peasants : and
no where perceiving aught but robbery and devastation, tyranny
and wretchedness, my heart was oppressed with sorrow and
W Every day I found in my route fields abandoned by the plough,
villages deserted, and cities in ruins. Frequently I met with
antique monuments ; wrecks of temples, palaces, and fortifica
tions; pillars, aqueducts, sepulchres. By these objects my
* That is, 1784 of the Christian sera, and 1198 of the Hegira* The emigra
tion of the Tartars took place in March, immediately on the manifesto of the
empress declaring the Crimea to be incorporated with Russia.
■f It was Chahin Guerai. Geugis Khan was borne and served by the kinos
-whom he conquered : Chahin, on the contrary, after selling his country for a
pension of eighty thousand roubles, accepted the commission of captain of guards
to Catherine ll/ He afterwards returned home, and, according to custom, was
strangled by the Turks,
H
�2
A SURVEY OF THE
thoughts were directed to past ages, and my mind absorbed in
serious and profound meditatioh.
*
Arrived at Hamsa on the borders of the Orontes, and being
at no great distance from the city of Palmyra, situated in the
desert, I resolved to examine for myself its boasted monuments.
After three days travel in barren solitude, and having passed
through a valley filled with grottoes and tombs, my eyes were
suddenly struck, on leaving this valley and entering a plain,
with a most astonishing scene of ruins. It consisted of a count
less multitude of superb columns standing erect, and which, like
the avenues of our parks, extended in regular files farther than
the eye could reach. Among these columns magnificent edifices
were observeable, some entire, others in a state half demolished.
The ground was covered on all sides with fragments of similar
buildings, cornices, capitals, shafts, entablatures, and pilasters,
all constructed of a marble of admirable whiteness and exquisite
workmanship. After a walk of three quarters of an hour along
these ruins, I entered the inclosure of a vast edifice which had
formerly been a temple dedicated to the sun; and I accepted the
hospitality of some poor Arabian peasants, who had established
their huts in the very area of the temple. Here I resolved for
some days to remain, that I might contemplate, at leisure, the
beauty of so many stupendous works.
. Every day I visited some of the monuments which covered the
plain; and one evening that, my mind lost in reflection,“ I had
advanced as far as the Valley of. Sepulchres, I ascended the
heights that bound it, and from which the eye commands at once
the whole of the ruins and the immensity of the desert.—The
sun had just sunk below the horizon; a streak of red still marked
the place of his descent, behind the distant mountains of Syria;
the full moon, appearing with brightness upon a ground of deep
blue, rose in the east from the smooth bank of the Euphrates :
the sky was unclouded; the air calm and serene ; the expiring
light of day served to soften the horror of approaching darkness;
the refreshing breeze of the night gratefully relieved the intoler
able sultriness of the day that had preceded it; the shepherds
had led the camels to their stalls; the grey firmament bounded
the silent landscape; through the whole desert every thing was
marked with stillness, undisturbed but by the mournful cries of
the brid of night, and of some chacals —The dusk increased,
.
*
and already I could distinguish nothing more than the pale
phantoms of walls and columns.—The solitariness of the situa
tion, the serenity of evening, and the grandeur of the scene,
impressed my mind with religious thoughtfulness. The view
* An animal considerably like the fox, but less cunning, and of a frightful
aspect. It lives upon dead bodies, and rocks and ruins are the places of its
habitation.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
3
nf an illustrious city deserted, the remembrance qf past times,
their comparison with the present state of things, all combine!
o raise my heart to a strain of sublime meditation. I sat down
tn the base of a column; and there, my elbow on my knee, and
niv head restin«- on my hand, sometimes turning my eyes inwards
tte desert, and’sometimes fixing them on the rums, I fell into a
profound reverie.
CHAP. II.
Me d it a t io n s .
i
‘ He r e , said I to myself, an opulent city °"ce /X'e^niwso
was the seat of a powerful empire. Yes,
e p
, active
desert, a living multitude formerly animated, and an activ
crowd circulated in the streets whic!\at.Prese"t„?J‘;gSOIe1noi£
Within those walls, where a mournful silence reigns the noi.
of the arts and the shouts of joy and “VO“Xs ly re
sounded. These heaps of marble formed regular P^ces, the.
prostrate pillars were the majestic ornaments of temples.Y _
ruinous galleries present the outlines of public places. T :tg
a numerous people assembled for the respectab e du, e i ofts
worship, or the anxious cares of its subsistence = there ,nd“st5>>
the fruitful inventor of sources of enjoyment, c<d,“ted »
the riches of every climate aud the purpte of Tyre was: ex
changed for the precious thread of Serica the soft tissuesol
;
*
Cass?mere+ for the sumptuous carpets of Lydia; the‘
Baltic for the pearls and perfumes of Arabia, the o
P +
for the pewter of Thule.
nF this
And now a mournful skeleton is all that subsists of th^
onulent citv and nothing remains of its powerful goveinment
bPut a vain ayAd obscure remembrance! To the tumultuous throng ,
which crowded under these porticos, the solitude
succeeded. The silence of the tomb is substituted foi the hum
of public places. The opulence of a commercial city is changed
• r i •i
m.rxinto hideous poverty. Tlw nalaees of kins's are become IIflrvleIne palaces oi
CQnPt the nf
ceptacle of deer, and unclean reptiles inhabit the sanctuaiy ol
z
* That is, the silk originally derived from the
o^the
x the great wall terminates, and which appears to have been the ciadle
C tThesÉSwhich Ezekiel seems to have described under the appellation
°ftCThisd comdry, which was one of the twelve Arab cantons, and which.has
unsuccessfully been sought for
üæ ant.quanes, has left
however some trace of itself in Ôfoi, in the province
PPi’Phrated bv Strabo
Gulph, neighbouring on one side to the Sabeans who are celeb, ated bj shabo
for their plenty of gold, and on the other to Aula or Hevfi ; ''^es a very
fishery was carned’oiu See the 27th chapter of
<f
^es Vtry
curious and extensive picture of the commeice of s '
p
l
�4
A SURVEY OF THE
the gods,—What glory is here eclipsed, and how many labours
are annihilated !—Thus perish the works of men, and thus do
nations and empires vanish away.
The history of past times strongly presented itself to my
thoughts. I called to mind those distant ages when twenty ce
lebrated nations inhabited the country around me. I pictured
to myself the Assyrian on the banks of the Tygris, the Chaldeean on those of the Euphrates, the Persian w hose power ex
*
tended from the Indus to the Mediterranean. I enumerated the
kingdoms of Damascus and Idumea ; of Jerusalem and Samaria;
and the warlike states of the Philistines ; and the commercial
rupublics of Phenicia. This Syria, said I to myself, now almost
depopulated, then contained a hundred flourishing cities, and
».bounded with towns, villages, and hamlets. Every where one
*
might have seen cultivated fields, frequented roads, and crowded
habitations. Ah ! w hat are become of those ages of abundance
and of life ? What are become of so many productions of the
hand of man ? Where are those ramparts of Nineveh, those
w alls of Babylon, those palaces of Persepolis, and those tem
ples of Balbec and of J erusalem ? Where are those fleets of Tyre,
those dock-yards of Arad, those work-shops of Sidon, and that
multitude of mariners, pilots, merchants, and soldiers ? Where
those husbandmen, those harvests, that picture of animated na
ture of which the earth seemed proud ? Alas ! I have traversed
this desolate country, I have visited the places that "were the
theatre of so much splendour, and I have nothing beheld but
solitude and desertion ! I looked for those ancient people and
their works; and all I could find was a faint trace, like to what
the foot of a passenger leaves on the sand. The temples are
thrown down, the palaces demolished, the ports filled up, the
towns destroyed, and the earth, stript of inhabitants, seems a
dreary burying-place.—Great God ! from whence proceed such
melancholy revolutions ? Eor what cause is the fortune of these
countries so strikingly changed ? Why are so many cities de
stroyed ? Why is not that ancient population reproduced and
perpetuated ?
- Thus absorbed in contemplation, new ideas continually pre
sented themselves to my thoughts. Every thing, continued I,
misleads my judgment and fills my heart with trouble and un
certainty. When these countries enjoyed what constitutes the
glory and felicity of mankind, they w ere an unbelieving people
who inhabited them : It was the Phenician, offering human sa
crifices to Moloch, w ho brought together within his walls the
riches of every climate ; it wras the Chaldaean, prostrating him
self before a serpentf, who subjugated opulent cities, and laid
According to Josephus and Strabo, there were in Syria twelve millions of
so.ulsj and the traces that remain of culture and habitation confirm the calculation.
f The dragon Bel,
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
5
waste the palaces of kings and the temples of the gods : it was
the Persian, the worshipper of fire, who collected the tributes
of a hundred nations; they were the inhabitants of this very
city, adorers of the sun and stars, who erected so many monu
ments of affluence and luxury. Numerous flocks, fertile fields,
abundant harvests, every thing that should have been the re
ward of piety, was in the hands of idolaters : and now that a be
lieving and holy people occupy these countries, nothing is to be
seen but solitude and sterility. The earth under these blessed
hands produces only briars and wormwood. Man sows in an
guish, and reaps vexation and cares; war, famine, and pesti
lence, assault him in turn. Yet, are not these the children of
the prophets ? This Christian, this Mussulman, this Jew, are
they not the elect of Heaven, loaded with gifts and miracles ?
Why then is this race, beloved of the Divinity, deprived of the
favours which were formerly showered upon the Heathen ? Why
do these lands, consecrated by the blood of the martyrs, no
longer boast their former temperature and fertility ? Why have
those favours been banished, as it were, and transferred for so
many ages to other nations and different climes ?
And here, pursuing the course of vicissitudes, which have, in
turn, transmitted the sceptre of the world to people so various
in manners and religion, from those of ancient Asia down to the
more recent ones of Europe, my native country, designated by
this name, was awakened in my mind, and turning my eyes to
wards it, all my thoughts fixed upon the situation in which I had
left it
.
*
I recollected its fields, so richly cultivated |, its roads, so ad
mirably executedits towns inhabited by an immense multi
tude f, its ships scattered over every ocean its ports filled with
the produce of either India and comparing the activity of its
commerce, the extent of its navigation, the magnificence of its
buildings, the arts and industry of its inhabitants, with all that
Egypt and Syria could formerly boast of a similar nature, I
pleased myself with the idea that I had found in modern Europe
the past splendour of Asia : but the charm of my reverie was
presently dissolved by the last step of the comparison. Reflect
ing that if the places before me had once exhibited this animated
picture |( who, said I to myself, can assure me, that their present
desolation will not one day be the lot of our own country ? who
knows but that hereafter some traveller like myself will sit down
upon the banks of the Seine, the Thames, or the Zuyder sea
where now, in the tumult of enjoyment, the heart and the eyes
are too slow to take in the multitude of sensations ; who knows
but he will sit down solitary, amid silent ruins, and weep a people inurned, and their greatness changed into an empty name.
* In the year 1/82, at the close of the American war.
�0.
A SURVEY OF THE
The idea brought tears into ray eyes ; and covering my head
with the flap of my garment, I gave myself up to the most gloomy
meditations on human affair. Unhappy man ! said I m my grief,
a blind fatality plays with thy destiny
!
*
a fatal necessity rules
by- chance the lot of mortals ! But, no : they are the decrees of
celestial justice that are accomplishing A mysterious God ex
ercises his incomprehensible judgments ! He has doubtless pro
nounced a secret malediction against the earth; he has struck
with a curse the present race of men, in revenge of past genera
tions. Oh ! who shall dare to fathom the depths of the Divinity ?
And I remained immoveable, plunged in profound melancholy.
CHAP. III.
Th e Appa r it io n .
In the mean time a noise struck my ear like to the agitation
of a flowing robe, and the slow steps of a foot, upon the dry and
rustling grass. Alarmed, I drew my mantle from my head, and
casting round me a timid glance, suddenly, by the obscure light
of the moon, through the pillars and ruins of a temple, I thought
I saw at my left, a pale apparition, enveloped in an immense
drapery, similar to what spectres are painted when issuing out
of the tombs. I shuddered; and while, in this troubled state, 1
was hesitating whether to fly, or ascertain the reality of the
vision, a hollow voice, in grave and solemn accents, thus ad
dressed me:
-n
• .
How long will man importune the heavens with unjust com
plaint • How long, with vain clamours, will he accuse Fate as
the author of his calamities ? Will he then never open his eyes
to the light, and his heart to the insinuations of truth and reason ?
This truth every where presents itself in radiant brightness, and
he does not see it! The voice of reason strikes his ear, and he
does not hear it I Unjust man ! if you can for a moment suspend
the delusion which fascinates your senses, jf vour heart be capa
ble of comprehending the language of argumentation, interroo-ate these ruins ! read the lessons which they present to you!
And you, sacred temples! venerable tombs! w alls once glorious!
the witnesses of twenty different ages, appear in the cause of
nature herself! come to the tribunal of sound understanding, to
bear testimony against an unjust accusation, to confound the
declamations of false wisdom or hypocritical piety, and avenge
the heavens and the earth of man ; w ho culminates tnem !
What is this blind fatality, that, without order or laws, sports
w ith the lot of mortals ? What this unjust necessity, which con
•
* This is the universal and rooted prejudice of the East. “ It was written,”
is there the answer to every thing, lienee result an unconcern and apathy,
the most powerful impediments to instruction and civilization.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
7
founds the issue of actions, be they those of prudence or those
of folly ? In what consists the maledictions of Heaven denounced
against these countries ? where is the divine curse that perpetu
ates this scene of desolation ? Monuments of past ages 1 say,
have the heavens changed their laws, and the earth its course ?
Has the sun extinguished his fires in the region of space ? Do
the seas no longer send forth clouds ? Are the rain and the dew
fixed in the air ?. Do the mountains retain their springs ? Are
the streams dried up ? and do the plants no more bear fruit and
seed ? Answer, race of falshood and iniquity! has God troubled
the primitive and invariable order which he himself assigned to
nature ? Has heayen denied to the earth, and the earth to its in
habitants, the blessings that were formerly dispensed ? If the
creation has remained the same, if its sources a.nd its instruments
are exactly what they once were, w herefore should not the pre
sent race haye every thing within their reach that their ancestors
'enjoyed ? Falsely do you accuse Fate and the Divinity ; injuri
ously do you refer to God the cause of your evils. Tell me, '
perverse and hypocritical race ! if these places are desolate, if
powerful cities are reduced to solitude, is it he that has occa
sioned the ruin ? Is it his hand that has thrown down these walli,
sapped these temples, mutilated these pillars ? or is it the hand of
man ? Is it the arm of God that has introduced the sword into the
city and set fire to the country, murdered the people, burned the
harvests, rooted up the trees, and ravaged the pastures ? or is it
the arm of man ? And when, after this devastation, famine has
started up, is it the vengeance of God that has sent it, or the
mad fury of mortals ? When, during the famine, the people are
fed with unwholesome provision, and pestilence ensues, is it in
flicted by the anger of Heaven, or brought about by human im
prudence ? When war, famine, and pestilence united, have swept
away the inhabitants, and the land is become a desert, is it God
who has depopulated it ? Is it it his rapacity that plunders the
labourer, ravages the productive fields, and lays waste the coun
try ? or the rapacity of those who govern ? Is it his pride that
creates murderous w ars ? or the pride of kings and their minis
ters ? Is it the venality of his decisions that overthrows the for
tune of families ? or the venality of the organs of the laws ? Are
they his passions that, under a thousand forms, torment indivi
duals and nations ? or the passions of human beings ? And if iji
the anguish of their misfortunes they perceive not the remedies,
is it the ignorance of God that isjn fault ? or their own ignorance ?
Cease, then, to accuse the decrees of Fate or the judgments of
Heaven ! If God is good, will he be the author of your punish
ment ? If he is just, w ill he be the accomplice of your crimes ’
No, no : the caprice of which man complains, is not the caprice
of destiny ; the darkness that misleads his reason, is not the dark
�8
A SURVEY OF THE
ness of God : the source of his calamities is not in the distant
heavens, but near to him upon the earth : it is not concealed in •
the bosom of the Divinity ; it resides in himself, man bears it
in his heart.
You murmur, and say : Why have an unbelieving people en
joyed the blessings of heaven and of the earth ? Why is a holy
and chosen race less fortunate than impious generations ? De
luded man ! where is the contradiction at which you take offence ?
Where the inconsistency in which you suppose the justice of
God to be involved ? Take the balance of blessings and cala
mities, of causes and effects, and tell me,—When those infidels
observed the laws of the earth and the heavens, when they re
gulated their intelligent labours by the order of the seasons and
the course of the stars, ought God to have troubled the equili
brium of the world to defeat their prudence ? When they culti
vated w ith care and toil the face of the country around you,
ought he to have turned aside the rain, to have withheld the fer
tilizing dews, and caused thorns to spring up ? When, to render
this parched and barren soil productive, their industry constructed
aqueducts, dug canals, and brought the distant waters across
the deserts, ought he to have blighted the harvest which art had
created; to have desolated a country that had been peopled in
peace; to have demolished the towns which labour had caused
to flourish ; in fine, to have deranged and confounded the order
established by the wisdom of man ? And what is this infidelity
which fonnded empires by prudence, defended them by courage,
and strengthened them by justice; which raised magnificent
cities, formed vast ports, drained pestilential marshes, covered
the sea with ships, the earth with inhabitants, and, like the
creative spirit, diffused life and motion through the world. If
such is impiety, what is true belief ? Does holiness consist in
destruction ? Is then the God that peoples the air with birds, the
earth with animals, and the waters w ith reptiles ; the God that
animates universal nature, a God that delights in ruins and
sepulchres ? Does he ask devestation for homage, and conflagra
tion for sacrifice ? Would he have groans for hymns, murderers
to worship him, and a desert and ravaged w orld for his temple ?
Yet such, holy and faithful generation, are your works ! These
are the fruits of youi’ piety! You have massacred the people,
reduced cities to ashes, destroyed all traces of cultivation, made
the earth a solitude; and you demand the reward of your la
bours! Miracles are not too much for your advantage ! For you
the peasants that you have murdered should be revived; the walls
you have thrown down should rise again; the harvests you have
ravaged should flourish; the conduits that you have broken
xdown should be renewed ; the laws of heaven and earth, those
laws which God has established for the display of his greatness
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
9
and his Magnificence, those laws anterior to all revelations and
♦ to all prophets, those laWs which passion cannot alter, and
ignorance cannot pervert, should be superseded. Passion knows
them not; ignorance, which observes no cause and predicts no
effect, has said in the foolishness of hei heart: “ Every thing
*
*
• Comes from chance; a blind fatality distributes good and evil
Upon the earth ; success is not to the prudent, nor felicity to the
wise/’ Or else, assuming the language of hypocrisy, she has
said : if Every thing comes from God ; and it is his sovereign
pleasure to deceive the sage, and to confound the judicious.’
And she has contemplated the imaginary scene with complacency.
« Good !” she has exclaimed. “ I then am as well endowed as
the science that despises me ! The Cold prudence which ever
more haunts and torments me, I will render useless by a lucky
intervention of Providence.” Cupidity has joined the chorus.
£i I too will oppress the weak; I will wring from him the fruits of
*
his labour : for such is the decree of Heaven, such the omnipo
tent will of Fate.”—For myself, I swear by all laws human
and divine, by the laws of the human heart, that the hypocrite
and the deceiver shall be themselves deceived ; the unjust man
shall perish in his rapacity, and the tyrant in his usurpation : the
sun shall change its course, before folly shall prevail over wisdom
and science, before stupidity shall surpass prudence in the delicate
art of procuring to man his true enjoyment, and of building his
happiness upon aolid foundation.
s
*
«
CHAP. IV.
Th e He m is ph e r e .
.
• ’ ■’ ’
Astonished at his discourse,
and my heart agitated by a diversity of reflections, I was for
some time silent. At length assuming the courage to speak, I
thus addressed him : O Genius of tombs and ruins ! your sudden
appearance and your severity have thrown my senses into dis
order, but the justness of your reasoning restores confidence to
my soul. Pardon my ignorance. Alas! if man is blind, can
that which constitutes his torment be also his crime ? I was un
able to distinguish the voice of reason ; but the moment it was
known to me, I gave it welcome. Oh! if you can read my
heart, you know how desirous it is df truth, and with what
ardour it seeks it; you know that it is in this pursuit I am now
found in these remote places. Alas ! I have wandered over the
earth, I have visited cities and countries; and perceiving every
where misery and desolation, the sentiment of the evils by which,
my fellow creatures are tormented has deeply afflicted my mind !
1 have said to myself with a sigh : Is man, then, created to be
the victim of pain and anguish ? And I have meditated upon •
human evils, that I might find out their remedy. I have said,
Th u s spoke the Apparition.
�10
A SURVEY OF THE
I will separate myself from corrupt societies ; I will remove far
from palaces where the soul is depraved by satiety, and from
cottages where it is humbled by misery. I will dwell in solitude
amidst the ruins of cities : I will enquire of the monuments of
antiquity what w as the wisdom of former ages f in the very
bosom of sepulchres I will invoke the spirit that formerly in
Asia gave splendour to states and glory to their people : I will
enquire of the ashes of legislators what causes have erected and
overthrown empires; what are the principles of national pros
perity and misfortune ; what the maxims upon which the peace
of society and the happiness of man ought to be founded.
I stopped ; and casting down my eyes, I waited the reply of
the Genius. _ Peace and happiness, said he, descend upon him
who practises justice ! Young man, since your heart searches
after truth with sincerity; since you can distinguish her form
through the midst of prejudices w hich blind the eyes, your in
quiry shall not be vain : I will display to your view this truth
of which you are in pursuit; I will show to your reason the
knowledge which you desire; I will reveal to you the wisdom
of the tombs, and the science of ages.—Then approaching me,
and placing his hand upon my head, Rise, mortal, said he, and
disengage yourself from that corporeal frame with which you
are incumbered.—Instantly, penetrated as with a celestial flame,
the ties that fix us to the earth seemed to be loosened; and
lifted by the wing of the Genius, I felt myself like a light vapour
conveyed in the uppermost region. There, from above the
atmosphere, looking down towards the earth I had quitted, I
beheld a scene entirely new, Under my feet, floating in empty
space, a globe similar to that of the moon, but smaller, and less
luminous, presented to me one of its faces ; and this face had
*
the appearance of a disk variegated with spots, some of them
white and nebulous, others brown, green and grey ; and while
I exerted my powers in discerning and discriminating these
spots—Disciple of truth, said the Genius to me, have you any
recollection of this spectacle ? O Genius, I replied, if I did not
perceive the moon in a different part of the heavens, I should
suppose the orb below me to be that planet; for its appearance
resembles perfectly the moon viewed through a telescope at the
time of an eclipse : one might be apt to think the variegated
spots to ^e seas and continents.
Yes, said he to me, they are the seas and continents of the
yery hemisphere you inhabit.
What, exclaimed I, is that the earth that is inhabited by hu41 man beings?
It is, replied he. That brown space which occupies irregularly
a considerable partion of the disk, and nearly surrounds it on
* See Plate I. representing half the terrestrial globe
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
11
all sides is what you call the main ocean, which, from the
, south pole advancing towards the equator, first forms the great
o-ulf of Africa and India, then stretches to the east across the
Slalay Islands, as far as the confines of Tartary, while at the
west it incloses the continents of Africa and of Europe, reach
ing to the north of Asia.
n
• *,
1
Under our feet, that peninsula of a square figure is the desert
country of Arabia, and on the left you perceive that great conti
nent, scarcely less barren in its interior parts, and only verdant
as it approaches the sea, the inhabitants of which are dis
tinguished by a sable complexion
.
*
To the north, and on the
other side of an irregular and narrow seat, are the tracts of
Europe, rich in fertile meadows and in all the luxuriance of
Cultivation. To the right from the Caspian, extend the rugged
surface and snow-topt hills of Tartary. In bringing back the
eye again to the spot over which we are elevated, you see a
large white space, the melancholy and uniform desert of Gobi,
cutting off the empire of China from the rest of the world. China
itself is that furrowed surface which seems by a sudden obliquity
to escape from the view. Farther on, those vast tongues of
land and scattered points, are the peninsula, and islands of the
Malayans, the unfortunate proprietors of aromatics and per
fumes. Still nearer you observe a triangle which Projects
strono-ly into the sea, and is the too famous peninsula of India.;
You ^see the crooked windings of the Ganges, the ambitious
mountains of Thibet, the unfortunate valley of Cassimere (12),
the discouraging deserts of Persia, the banks of the Euphrates
and the Tigris, the rough bed of Jordan (4), and the mouths of
the solitary Nile. (See the Plate.)
O Genius, said I, interrupting him, the organ of a mortal
would in vain attempt to disinguish objects at so great a dis
tance. Immediately he touched my eyes, and they became
more piercing than those of the eagle ; notwithstanding which,
rivers appeared to me no more than meandering, ribands, ridges,
of mountains, irregular furrows, and great cities a nest of
boxes varied among themselves like the squares in a chess
board.
1 • X .
The Genius proceeded to point out the different objects to me
with his finger, and to develope them as he proceeded. These
heaps of ruins, said he, that you observe in this narrow valley,
laved by the Nile, are all that remains of the opulent cities that
gave lustre to the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia||. Here is the
* Africa.
+ The Mediterranean.
J Of what real good has been the commerce of India to the mass of peo
ple ? On the contrary, how great the evil occasioned by the superstition of this
country having been added to the general superstition
Ü lu the next volume of the Encyelopædia will appear a memoir respecting
�12
A SURVEY OF THE
monument of its splendid metropolis, Thebes with its hundred
,
*
palaces the progenitor of cities, the memento of human frailty,
the chronology of the twelve ages anteriorto the passing of Xerxesinto Greece
in which I conceive myself to have proved, that Upper Egypt formerly pomposed a distinct kingdom, known to the Hebrews by the name of
and to
which the appellation of Ethiopia was specially given. This kingdom pre
served its independence to the time of Psammeticus, at which period, bein' *
United to the Lower Egypt, it Jost its name of Ethiopia, which thenceforth was
bestowed upon the nations of Nubia, and upon the different hordes of Blacks,
including Thebes, their metropolis.
* The idea of a city with a hundred gates, in the common acceptation of the
word, is so absurd, that I am astonished the equivoque has not before been felt.
It has ever been the custom of the East to cal J palaces and houses of the great
by the name of gates, because the principal luxury of these buildings consist^
in the singular gate leading from the street into the court, at the farthest exr
tremity of which the palace is situated. It is under the vestihule of this gate
that conversation is held with passengers, and a sort of audience and hospita
lity given. All this was doubtless known to Homer; but poets made, no com
mentaries, and readers love the marvellous.
This city of Thebes, now Longsor, reduced to the condition of a miserable
village, has left astonishing monuments of its magnificence, Particulars of this
may be seen in the plates of Norden, in Pocock, and in the recent travels of
Bruce. These monuments give credibility to all that Homer has related of its
gplendoui and led us to infer of its political power and external commerce.
Its geographical position was favourable to this twofold object. For, on one
Side, the valley of the Nile, singularly fertile, must have early occasioned a nu
merous population; apd, on the other, the Red Sea giving communication with
Arabia and India, and the Nile with Abyssinia and the Mediterranean, Thebes
was thus naturally allied to the richest countries on the globe ; an alliance that
procured it an activity so much the greater, as Lower Egypt, at first a swamp,
was nearly, if not totally uninhabited. But when at length this country had
been drained by the canals and dikes which Sesostris constructed, population
was introduced there, and wars arose which proved fatal to the power of
1 hebes. Commerce then took another route, and descended to the point of
the Red Sea, to the canals of Sesostris (see Strabo), and wealth and activity
were transferred to Memphis. This is manifestly what Diodorus means, when
he tells us (Lib. I. Sect. 2.) that as soon as Memphis was established and made
a wholesome and delicious abode, kings abandoned Thebes to fix themselves
there. Ihus Thebes continued to decline, and Memphis to flourish, till the
time of Alexander, who, building Alexandria on the border of the sea, caused
Memphis to fall in its turn; so that prosperity and power seem to have desceuded historically step by step along the Nile : whence it results, both phy
sically and historically, that the existence of Thebes was prior to that of the
other cities. The testimony of writers is very positive in this respect. “ The
lhebans, ’ says Diodorus, consider themselves as the most ancient people of
the earth, and assert, that with them originated philosophy and the science of
he stais. Iheir sitpation, it is true, is infinitely favourable to astronomical
observation, and they have a more accurate division pf time into months and
years than other nations,” tec.
What Diodorus says of the Thebans, every author, and himself elsewhere,
repeat of the Ethiopians, which tends more firmly to establish the identity of
place o< vyhich I have spoken. “The Ethiopians conceive themselves (says
Ik I u-1 t0 bf of £reatf“r antiquity than any other nation ; and it is probae that, born under the sun’s path, its warmth may have ripened them earlier
than other men. They suppose themselves also to be the inventors of divine
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
IS
It was there that a people since forgotten, discovered the elements
of science and art, at a time when all other men were barbarous,
and that a race, now regarded as the refuse of society, because
their hair is woolly, and their skin is dark, explored among the
phenomena of nature, those civil and religious systems which
have since held mankind in awe, A little lower the dark spots
that you observe are the pyramids (1) whose names have over
whelmed your imagination. Farther on, the coast (3) that you
behold limited by the sea on one side, and bv a ridge of moun
tains on the other, was the abode of the Phenician nations ;
there stood the powerful cities of Tyre, Sidon, Ascalon, Gaza,
and Berytus. This stream of water, which seems to disembogue
itself into no sea (4), is the Jordan ; and these barren rocks were
formerly the scene of events, whose tale may not be forgotten.
Here you find the desert of Horeb, and the hill of Sinai (5),
where, by artifice which the vulgar were unable to penetrate, a
subtle and daring leader gave birth to institutions of memorable
influence upon the history of mankind. Upon the barren strip
of land which borders upon this desert, you see no longer any
worship, of festivals, of solemn assemblies, of sacrifices, and of every other re
ligious practice. They affirm, that the Egyptians are one of their colonies,
and that the Delta, which was formerly sea, became land by the conglomera
tion of the earth of the higher country, which was washed down by the Nile.
They have, like the Egyptians, two species of letters, hieroglyphics and the
alphabet; but among the Egyptians the first was known only to the priests,
and by them transmitted from father to son, whereas both species are common
among the Ethiopians.”
“ The Ethiopians,” says Lucian, page 985. “ were the first who invented the
science of the stars, and gave names to the planets, not at random and without
meaning, but descriptive of the qualities which they conceived them to pos
sess; and it was from them that this art passed, still in an imperfect state, to
the Egyptians.
It would be easy to multiply citations upon this subject; from all which it
follows, that we have the strongest reason to believe that the country neigh
bouring to the tropic, was the cradle of the sciences, and of consequence that
the first learned nation was a nation of Blacks, for it is incontrovertible, that
by the term Ethiopians, the ancients meant to represent a people of black
complexion, thick lips, and woolly hair. I am therefore inclined to believe
that the inhabitants of Lower Egypt were formerly a foreign colony imported
from Syria and Arabia, a medley of different tribes of Savages, originally shep
herds and fishermen, who by degrees formed themselves into a nation, and
who, by nature and descent, were enemies of the Thebans, by whom they
were no doubt despised and treated as barbarians.
I have suggested the same ideas in my Travels info Syria, founded upon the
' black complexion of the Sphinx. I have since ascertained, that the antique
images of Thebais have the same characteristics ; and Mr. Bruce has offered a
multitude of analogous facts: but this traveller, of whom I beard some men
tion at Cairo, has so interwoven these facts, with certain systematic opinions,
that we should have recourse to his narratives with caution.
If is singular that Africa, situated so near us, should be the country on earth
which is the least known. The English are at this moment making attempts,
the success of which ought to excite our emulation.
�11
A SURVEY OF THE
trace of splendor ; and yet here was formerly the magazine of
the world. Here were the ports of the Idumeans from whence
,
*
the fleets of the Phenicians and the Jews, coasting the peninsula
of Arabia, bent their voyages to the Persian gulf, and imported
from thence the pearls of Havila, the gold of Saba and Ophir.
It was here, on the side of Oman and BSrhain, that existed that
site of magnificent and luxurious commerce, which, as it was
transplanted from country to country, decided upon the fate of
ancient nations. Hither were brought the vegetable aromatics,
and the precious stones of Ceylon, the shawls of Cassimere, the
diamonds of Golconda, the amber of the Maldives, the musk of
* Ailah (Eloth), Atsiom-Gaber (Hesion-Geber). The name of the first of
these towns still subsists in its ruins, at the point of the gulph of the Red Sea,
and in the route which the pilgrims take to Mecca. Hesion has at present no
trace, anv more than Quolsoum and Faran : it was, however, the harbour for
the fleets of Solomon. < The vessels of this prince, conducted by the Tyrians,
sailed along the coast of Arabia to Ophir in the Persian Gulph, thus opening a
communication with the merchants of India and Ceylon. That this naviga*
tion was entirely of Tyrian invention, appears both from the pilots and ship
builders employed by the Jews, and the names that were given to the trading
islands, viz. Tyrus and Aradus, now Barhain. The voyage was performed in
two different inodes, either in canoes of osier and rushes, covered on the out
side with skins done over with pitch: these vessels were unable to quit the
Red Sea, or so much as to leave the shore. The second mode of carrying on
the trade was by means of vessels with decks of the size of our long boats,
which were able to pass the strait and to weather the dangers of the ocean :
but for this purpose it was necessary to bring the wood from Mount Lebanus
and Cilicia, where it is very fine and in great abundance. This wood was first
conveyed in floats from Tarsus to Phenicia, for which reason the vessels were
called ships of Tarsus: from whence it has been ridiculously inferred, that
they went round the promontory of Africa as far as Tortosa in Spain. From
Phenicia it was transported on the backs of camels to the Red Sea, which
practice still continues, because theshores of this sea are absolutely unprovided .
with wood even for fuel. These vessels spent a complete year in their voyage,
that is, sailed one year, sojourned another, and did not return till the third.
This teadiousness was owing, first to their cruizing from port to port, as they
do at present; secondly,to their being detained by the Monsoon currents; aijd
thirdly, because according to the calculation of Pliny and Strabo, it was the
ordinary practice among the ancients to spend three years in a voyage of
twelve hundred leagues. Such a commerce must have been very expensive,
particularly as they were obliged to carry with them their provisions and even
fresh water. For this reason Solomon made himself master of Palmyra, which
was at 1hat time inhabited, and was already the magazine and high road of
merchants by way of the Euphrates. This conquest brought Solomon much
nearer to the country of gold and pearls. This alternative of a route either
by the Red Sea or by the river Euphrates was to the ancients, what in latter
times has been the alternative in a voyage to the Indies, either by crossingthe
Isthmus of Suez or doubling the Cape of Good Hope. It appears that till the
time of Moses this trade was carried on across the desert of Syria and Theais;
that afterwards it fell into the hands of the Phenicians, who fixed its site upon
the Red Sea, and that it was mutual jealousy that induced the kings of Nineveh
and Bab) Ion Io undertake the destruction of Tyre and Jerusalem. 1 insist the
more upon these facts, because I have never seen any thing reasonable upon
the subject.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
15
these commodities, which constituted the opulence oi l heoes
Sidon Memphis, and Jerusalem ; sometimes ascending the course
of the’ TyZ and the Euphrates they awakenedth«, acbvrtof
the Assyrians the Medes, the Chaldeans, and the Persians, ana
according as ¿hey were used or abused, cherished or overturned
the earth of Babylon (10), the ruins of which are trodden under foot of men of Nineveh (11), whose name seems to be
,
*
threatened with the same oblivion that has overtaken
Sre **
ness • of Thansacus, of Anatho, of Gerra, and of the melancholy
and memorable Palmyra. O names, for
fo^Xct“i
*
brated fields! famous countries! how replete is your aspect wiin
sublime instruction ! How many profound truths are written on
he Surface of this earth 1 Ye places that here ~;drt.e bfe
of man, in so many different ages, alll my recollec ton while 1
endeavour to trace the revolutions of his fortune! Say, what
were the motives of his conduct, and what his powers . L avert
the causes of his misfortunes, teach him ^X^Sion and
the experience of past ages become a mirror of insti notion, and
a germ of happiness to present and future generations .
CHAP. V.
Co n d it io n o f Ma n in t h e Un iv e r s e .
Af t e r a short silence, the Genius thus ^nmed Hs jnstau.cti on:
I have already observed to you, O friend of truth, that man
vainly attributes his misfortunes to obscure and imag
and seeks out remote and mysterious causes, from ^‘ch to deduce
his evils. In the general order of the universe, h. cond tmn »
doubtless subjected to inconveniences, and u
...
.. ue
ruled by sunerior powers ; but these powers «re nerther the de
crees ol a blind destiny, nor the .caprices of fantast e be
Man is governed, like the world of which he forms a part,, by
natural laws, regular in their operat.on consequent in them et.
fects, immutable in tharessencejjmd these laws, the commjl
9
“• It append th« Babyfen'oecupied on the Eastern Bank.of thei Euphrates
space of ground six leagues in length. Throng ou
P
. Helle,
fa fes
of Babylon, a
and his veracity.
“powledge ¿fa.tr.nomy
*
M&v ’
�16
4 SURVEY OF TIES
source of good and evil, are neither written in the distant star?,
or concealed in mysterious codes: inherent in the nature of all
errestnal beings, identified with their existence, they are at all
times and In all places present to the human mind’; they act
nnnid nSeS’. inf^m th* inteIlect’ and a™ax
every^actio/Ft"
punishment and its reward. Let man study these laws let him
understand his own nature, and the nature of the beings that
/' surround him, and he will know the springs of his desturv the
/ causes of hI8 evils, and the remedies to b? appM
b
the eart^animate*tbe universe, formed the
& ooe or tiieearth. he stamped on the beings which comnosed it
«on''t'h1tie°K,V tha( l>eC!7C the rude °f their ^dividual achannonv of th. 11r,reclPcocal connections, and the cause of the
of causes and effiJt C'
!ler.<f p established a regular order
“ ts’ of principles and consequences which
under an appearance of chance, governs the universe “ndmain’
tains the equtlibnum of the world. Thus he -ave t o’ftre motion
and activity, to air elasticity, to matter weiHit and density • he
made air lighter than water, metals heaver than earth wood’lesZ
cohesive than steel■ he ordered the flame to assend, the stone to
fall, the plant to vegetate ; to man, whom he decreed to S °
serve^fra“" exist?0 T”7 substances> and Yet wished to preve hls trad existence, he gave the faculty of perception Rv
th s faculty, every action injurious to his life gives£
1•
nd Preserve his existence. Self-love the
° happiness, and an aversion to pain, are tile essential
the8"!'™ “fThe^elements aro°un'd h?m h” ™
°
*
of inevitnhlo / elements around him, he is exposed to a variety
severe on the JthU h“d, 'f- ™
dpCTee Mature appears too
diminishing the other Qi/i?
a^menting the one, and
work of mv hands i
“S 'Wem[n"'y «>id «» him, “ Feeble
The world in whkhT nUWe J°U n°thin^’ and 1 8ive ™u life,
and yet I grant you t ,e us“ it
™ y°"r
Of good and evil Tt IT * \ Y»u will find in it a mixture
the arbitrator of your lot; I place your destiny i„yo“r hands® ’
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
17
—Yes, man is become the artificer of his fate ; it is himself who
has created in turn the vicissitudes of his fortune, his successes
and his disappointments; and if, when he reflects on the sorrows
which he has associated to human life, he has reason to lament
his weakness and his folly, he has perhaps still more right to
presume upon his force, and be confident in his energies, when
he recollects from what point he has set out, and to what height
he has been capable of elevating himself.
CHAP. VI.
Or
ig in a l
St
at e of
Ma n .
In the origin of things, man, formed equally naked both as
to body and mind, found himself thrown by chance upon a land
confused and savage. An orphan, deserted by the unknown
power that had produced him, he saw no supernatural beings at
hand to advertise him of wants that he owed merely to his senses
*
and inform him of duties springing solely from those wants.
Like other animals, without experience of the past, without
knowledge of the future, he wandered in forests, guided and
governed purely by the affections of his nature. By the pain of
hunger he was directed to seek food, and he provided for his
subsistence; by the inclemencies of the weather, the desire was
excited of covering his body, and he made himself cloathing;
by the attraction of a powerful pleasure, he approached a fellow
being, and perpetuated his species.
Thus the impressions he received from external objects,
awakening his faculties, developed by degrees his understand
ing, and began to instruct his profound ignorance; his wants
called forth his industry ; his dangers formed his mind to courage ;
he learned to distinguish useful from pernicious plants, to resist the
elements, to seize upon his prey, to defend his life; and his misery
was alleviated.
Thus self-love, aversion to pain, and desire of happiness, were
the simple and powerful motiyes which drew man from the savage
and barbarous state in which Nature had placed him: and now
that his life is sown with enjoyment, that he can every day count
upon some pleasure, he may applaud himself and say, “ It is I'
who have produced the blessings that encompass me ; Jft am the
fabricator of my own felicity ; a secure habitation, commodious
raiment, an abundance of wholesome provision in rich variety,
smiling valleys, fertile hills, populous empires, these are the
works of my hand: but for me, the earth, given up to disorder,
would have been nothing more than a poisonous swamp, a savage
forest, and a hideous desert!” True, mortal creator! I pay
thee homage ! Thou hast measured the extent of the heavens,
and counted the stars; thou hast drawn the lightning from the
D
�18
A SURVEY OF THE
clouds, conquered the fury of the sea and the tempest, and
subjected all the elements to thy will! But oh ! how many errors
are mixed with these sublime energies !
CHAP. VII.
Pr in c ipl e s o f So c ie t y .
In the mean time, wandering in woods and upon the borders
of rivers, in pursuit of deer and of fish, the first human beings,
hunters and fishermen, beset with dangers, assailed by enemies,
tormented by hunger, by reptiles, and by the animals they
chased, felt their individual weakness; and, impelled by a com
mon want of safety, and a common sentiment of the same evils,
they united their powers and their strength. When one man
was exposed to danger, numbers succoured and defended him ;
when one failed in provision, another shared with him his prey.
Men thus associated for the security of their existence, for the
augmentation of their faculties, for the protection of their enjoy
ment ; and the principle of society was that of self-love.
Afterwards, instructed by the repeated experience of divers
accidents, by the fatigues of a wandering life, by the anxiety
resulting from frequent scarcity, men reasoned with themselves,
and said, “ Why should we consume our days in search of the
scattered fruits which a parsimonious soil affords ? Why weary
ourselves in the pursuit of prey that escape us in the woods or
the waters ? Let us assemble under our hand the animals that
nourish us ; let us apply our cares to the increase and defence
of them. Their produce will afford us a supply of food, with
their spoils we may clothe ourselves, and we shall live exempt
from the fatigues of the day, and solicitude for the morrow.”
And aiding each other, they seized the nimble kid and the timid
sheep ; they tamed the patient camel, the ferocious bull, and
the impetuous horse ; and applauding themselves on the success
of their industry, they sat down in the joy of their hearts, and
began to taste repose and tranquillity: and thus self-love, the prin
ciple of all their reasoning, was the instigator to every art and
every enjoyment.
Now that men could pass their days in leisure, and the com
munication of their ideas, they turned upon the earth, upon the
heavens, and upon themselves an eye of curiosity and reflection.
They observed the course of the seasons, the action of the
elements, the properties of fruits and plants; and they applied
their minds to the multiplication of their enjoyments. Remark
ing in certain countries the nature of seeds, which contain within
themselves the faculty of reproducing the parent plant, they
employed to their own advantage this property of Nature ; they
committed to the earth barley, wheat, and rice, and reaped a
�r e v o l u t io n s OF EMPIRES.
19
nroduce equal to their most sanguine hopes. Thus they found
Of obtaining witbin.a small .
necessity of perpetual wandering, a plentiful and durable s io c k
of provision:and encouraged by this discovery, they prepared
for themselves fixed habitations, they constructed houses, villages,
and towns' they assumed the form of tribes and of nations : and
thusZs^-Le rendered the parent of everything that genius
has effected or human power performed.
By the sole aid then of his faculties, has man been able to raise
himself to the astonishing height of his present fortune,
hapnv would have been his lot, had he, scrupulously observing
the law imprinted on his nature, constantly fulfilled the object o
it ’ But, by a fatal imprudence, sometimes overlooking and some
times transgressing its limits, he plunged in an abysss of errors an
misfortunes, and self-love, now disordered, and now blind, was
converted into a prolific source of calamities.
iili
CHAP. VIII.
So u r c e
of t he
Ev il s o f So c ie t y .
,
In reality, scarcely were the faculties of men expanded, than,
seized by the attraction of objects which flatter the senses, they
gave themselves up to unbridled desires. The s^eet sensations
which nature had annexed to their true wants, to attach them
to life, no longer sufficed. Not satisfied with the fruits which
the earth offered them, or their industry produced they were
desirous of heaping up enjoyments, and they coveted those which
their fellow-creatures possessed. A strong man rose up'
’
weak one to tear from him the profit of his labour; the weak
man solicited the succour of a neighbour weak like himself, to
repel the violence. The strong- man in his turn associated him
self with another strong man, and they said, ‘‘ Why shoul we
fatigue our arms in producing enjoyments which we find m
hands of the feeble, who are unable to defend themselves . Let
us unite and plunder them. They shall toil for us,, andwe
shall enjoy in indolence the fruit of their exertions.
The s1jong
thus associated for the purpose of oppression, and the weak t
resistance, men reciprocally tormented each other, and a fatal
and general discord was established upon the earth, m which
the passions, assuming a thousand new forms, have never cease
to generate a regular train of calamities.
Thus that very principle of self-love, which, when restrained
within the limits of prudence, was a source of improvement and
felicity, became transformed, in its blind and disordered state
into a contagious poison. Cupidity, the daughter and companion
of ignorance, has produced all the mischiefs that have desolat
the globe.
�20
A SURVEY OF THE
Yes, ignorance and the love of accumulation, these are the
two sources of all the plagues that infest the life of man ! Thev
have inspired him with false ideas of his happiness, and promoted
him to misconstrue and infringe the laws of nature, as they re
lated to the connexion between him and exterior objects. Through
them his conduct has been injurious to his own existence, and
he has thus violated the duty he owes to himself; they have for
tified his heart against compassion, and his mind against the
dictates of justice, and he has thus violated the duty he owes to
others By ignorance and inordinate desire, man has armed
himself against man, family against family, tribe against tribe
and the earth is converted into a bloody theatre of discord and
robbery. They have sown the seeds of secret war in the bosom
ot every state, divided the citizens from each other, and the
same society is constituted of oppressors and oppressed, of mas
ters and slaves. They have taught the heads of nations, with
audacious insolence, to turn the arms of the society against itself
and to build upon mercenary avidity the fabric of political despo
tism: or they have taught a more hypocritical and deep-laid
project, that imposed, as the dictate of heaven, lying sanctions
and a sacrilegious yoke; thus rendering avarice the source of
credulity. In fine, they have corrupted every idea of good and
evil, just and unjust, virtue and vice: they have misled nations
m a never ending labyrinth of calamity and mistake. Ignorance
S?dJhe ?V?,0f accumulation!—These are the malevolent beino's
that have laid waste the earth; these are the decrees of fate that
have overturned empires; these are the celestial maledictions
that have struck those walls once so glorious, and converted the
splendour of a populous city into a sad spectacle of ruin!—Since
thenA™ Jr°™ his own bosom a11 the evils proceeded that have
vexed the life of man, it was there also he ought to have sought
the remedies, where only they are to be found.
CHAP. IX.
Th e Or
ig in
of
Go v e r n m e n t a n d La w s .
In truth, the period soon arrived when men, tired of the ills
they occasioned each other, sighed after peace; and reflecting on
the nature and causes of those ills, they said, “ We mutually
injure one another by our passions, and from a desire to grasD
every thing we m reality possess nothing. What one rawshes
to-day, another tears from him to-morrow, and our cupidity renS T °Ur °,Wn heads- Let us es^blish arbitrators, who
shall decide our claims and appease our variances. When the
strong rises up against the weak, the arbitrator shall repel him •
and the life and property of each being under a common guaran
tee and protection, we shall enjoy all the blessings of nature ”
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
21
Conventions, tacit or expressed, were thus introduced into
society, and became the rule of the actions of individuals, the
measure of their claims, and the law of their reciprocal relations.
Chiefs were appointed to enforce the observance of the compact,
and to these the people > entrusted the balance of rights, and the
sword to punish violations.
Then a happy equilibrium of powers and of action was esta
blished, which constituted the public safety. The names of
equity and justice were acknowledged and revered. Every man,
able to enjoy in peace the fruits of his labour, gave himself up
to all the energies of his soul; and activity, awakened and kept
alive by the reality or the hopes of enjoyment, forced art and
nature to display all their treasures. The fields were covered
with harvests, the valleys with flocks, the hills with vines, the
sea with ships, and man was happy and powerful upon the earth.
The disorder his imprudence had caused, his wisdom thus re
medied. But this wisdom was still the effect of the laws of na
ture in the organization of his being. It was to secure his own en
joyments, that he was led to respect those of another, and the de
sire of accumulation found its corrective in enlightened self-love.
Self-love, the eternal spring of action in every individual, was
thus the necessary basis of all associations; and upon the obser
vance of this natural law has the fate of every nation depended.
Have the factitious and conventional laws of any society accorded
with this law, and corresponded to its demands ? In that case
every man, prompted by an overpowering instinct, has exerted
all the faculties of his nature, and the public felicity has been
the result of the various portions of individual felicity. Have
these laws, on the contrary, restrained the effort of man in his
pursuit of happiness ? In that case his heart, deprived of all
its natural motives, has languished in inaction, a»d the oppres
sion of individuals has engendered general weakness.
Self-love, impetuous and rash, renders man the enemy of man,
and of consequence perpetually tends to the dissolution of society.
It is for the art of legislation, and for the virtue of ministers, to
temper the grasping selfishness of individuals, to keep each man’s
desire to possess every thing in a nice equipoise, and thus to ren
der the subjects happy, in order that, in the struggle of this
with any other society, all the members should have an equal
interest in the preservation and defence of the common wealth.
From hence it follows, that the internal splendour and pros
perity of empires, have been in proportion to the. equity of their
governments; and their external power respectively, in propor
tion to the number of persons interested in the maintenance of
the political constitution, and their degree of interest in that
maintenance.
On the other hand, the multiplication of men by complicating
�A SURVEY OF THE
22
their ties, having rendered the demarcation of their rights a
point of difficult decision; the perpetual play of the passions
having given rise to unexpected incidents; the conventions that
were formed having proved vicious, inadequate, or null; the
authors of the laws having either misunderstood the object of
them, or dissembled it, and the persons appointed to execute
them, instead of restraining the inordinate desires of others,
having abandoned themselves to the sway of their own avidity
society has, by these causes united, »been thrown into trouble
and disorder; and defective laws and unjust governments, the
result of cupidity and ignorance, have been the foundatio’n of
the misfortunes of the people, and the subversion of states.
CHAP. X.
Ge n e r
al
Ca u s e s
of t he
Pr
o s pe r it y o f
An c ie n t St
a t es.
Su c h , O man, who enquirest after wisdom, have been the
causes of the revolutions of those ancient states, of which you
contemplate the ruins! Upon whatever spot I fix my view, or to
whatever period my thoughts recur, the same principles of eleva
tion and decline, of prosperity and destruction, present them
selves to the mind. If a people were powerful, if an empire
nourished, it was because the laws of convention were conform
able to those of nature; because the government procured to
every man respectively the free use of his faculties, the equal
security of his person and property. On the contrary, if an em
pire has fallen to ruin or disappeared, it is because the laws were
vicious or imperfect, or a corrupt government has checked their
operation. If laws and government, at first rational and just,
have afterwards become depraved, it is because the alternative
of good and evil derives from the nature of the heart of man, from
the succession of his inclinations, the progress of his knowledge,
the combination of events and circumstances, as the history of
the human species proves.
In the infancy of nations, when men still lived in forests, all
subject to the same wants, and endowed with the same faculties
they were nearly equal in strength; and this equality was a
circumstance highly advantageous to the formation of society.
Each individual finding himself independent of every other,.no
one was the slave, and no one had the idea of being master of
another. Untaught man knew neither servitude nor tyranny.
Supplied with the means of providing sufficiency for his sub
sistence, he thought not of borrowing from strangers. Owing
nothing, and exacting nothing, he judged of the rights of others
y his own. Ignorant also of the art of multiplying enjoyments,
he provided only what was necessary; and superfluity being
unknown to him, the desire to engross of consequence remained
unexcited; or if excited, as it attacked others in those posses-
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES,
23
sions that were wholly indispensable, it was resisted with energy,
and the very foresight of this resistance maintained a salutary
anTh^sm/rtghjaieequah\/,mwithout the aid of convention main
tained personal liberty,' secured individual property, and pro
duced order and good manners. Each man laboured separate y
and for himself; and his heart being occupied, he wandered not
in pursuit of unlawful desires. His enjoyments were few, u
his^wants were satisfied: and, as nature had made these wants
"tensive than his ability, the labourr of his hands soon pro
duced abundance ; abundance population, the arts deveiopea
themselves, cultivation extended, and the earth, covered with
numerous inhabitants, was divided into different domains
The relations of men becoming more complicated, the inter or
order of society was more difficult to maintain. lime and in
dustry having created affluence, cupidity awoke from its slum
ber/and as Equality, easy between individuals, could not sub
sist between families, the natural balance was destroyed
It
was necessary to supply the loss by means of an a^ial * a>
lance • it was necessary to appoint chiefs, and establish laws,
but as these were occasioned by cupidity m the experience of
primitive times they could not but partake of the origin from
which they sprung. Various circumstances, however, concurred
to temper the disorder, and make it indispensable for govern
ments to be just. ,
States being at first weak, and having external enemies to fear,
it was in reality of importance to the chiefs not to oppress the
subiect. By diminishing the interest of the citizens in their
government, they would have diminished their means of resist
ance- they would have facilitated foreign invasion, and thus
endangered their own existence for superfluous enjoyments.
Internally, the character of the people was repellant to
tvranny. Men had too long contracted habits of independence ;
their wants were too limited, and the consciousness of their own
strength too inseparable from their minds.
States being closely knit together, it was difficult to divide
the citizens, in order to oppress some by means of others. lheir
communication with each other was too easy, and their interests
too simple and evident. Besides, every man being at once pro
prietor and cultivator, he had no inducement to sell himseli,
and th© despot would have been unable to find mercenaries.
If dissensions arose, it was between family and family, one
faction with another; and a considerable number had still one
common interest. Disputes, it is true, were in this case more
warm but the fear of foreign invasion appeased the discord, it
the oppression of a party was effected-, the earth being open be
fore it, and men still simple in their manners, finding every
where the same advantages, the party migrated and carried their
independence to another quarter.
�24
A SURVEY OF THE
prosperity and power.” enjOyed “ t’lemselves
-»«ans of
eorat^Te T4t" JT1 h.is(welI-'?‘>i* i" the constitution of his
^
ountry, he felt a lively interest in its preservation • and if a fn
reign power invaded it, having his habitation and his field to
defend, he carried to the combat the ardour of a personal cause
and his patriotic exertions were prompted by self-defence
’
USeM tO the Public “Clted its esieem and
tues were multiplied by^sdf-love.
taIentS and C’ViI vir“
h
£VCry cltlz.en was called upon indiscriminately to contriandt^t pr°P°rtl°nvof property and personal effort,7the armies
a
treasury of the state were inexhaustible.
6 eaPth WSS free’ and its Possession easy and secure
every man was a proprietor, and the division of propertv bv
rendering luxury impossible, preserved the purity of manners
7
A« every man ploughed his own field" cultivation was more
œnXS^
-d “al opulent
abuJdan?e of Provision rendered subsistence easv ponula
ptenitSdIy '~d- “d states « arriveTaHSr’
of Aeommercé°ïarted an/reatHr ‘''“r" the consl™P‘!«b the desire
actrnly, and increased their reciprocal enjoyments
advantage’ of
plaC6S’
Certain eP°chas< combined the
avantage of good government with that of bein«- nlaced in
Xr of lrOadeC,rCand‘nO„n an? ,C°““erce< ‘hey became’rifh mÎgàz.uies or rraae, and powerful seats of dominion T+
•
Z“of ‘{he Nn“
“a^gX
¡S’*
‘he Sp'end0Ur of a ‘housX ’mft ™
tC-eïïs^
I
retsPe<:ting these monuments, my Travels into Syria, vol. ii n 211
rom the town or village of Samaouat the course of the Fnnhrnt«^’ •
compamed with a double bank, which descends as far a? in,
r !'rate.s,is ac‘
Tigris, and from thence to the sea bein°- a length nf »hr. <■ Junction with the
French measure. The height o'f these “arrifio Lm 2f °Ut a hundred lea&ues
creases as y„„ ad™“ fS he sea ■ it
>>«
aheen feet. But for them, the tauda&nhe riverwild btT.ho”1™,’0
around, which is ta, to an extent of twenty or twenty“nd™“?
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
25
those conduits of Medea those fortresses of the Desert, those
,
*
aqueducts of Palmyra, those temples, those Port^^o“^
these immense labours were little oppressive to the nafrons that
completed them, because they were the fruit of the equal and
united effort of individuals free to act and ardent to desìi e
Thus ancient states prospered, because social
were conformable to the true laws of nature, and because the
subjects of those states, enjoying .liberty and the purity of
their persons and their property, could display all the extent of
their faculties, and all the energy of self-love.
CHAP. XI.
Ge n e r a l Ca u s e s o f t h e Re v o l u t io n s a n d Ru in o f An c ie n t
St a t e s .
In the mean time the inordinate desire of accumulation had
excited- a constant and universal struggle among men ; and this
struggle, prompting individuals and societies to reciprocal in
vasions, occasioned perpetual commotions and successive revo-
1U At'first, in the savage and barbarous state of the first human ,
beings, this inordinate desire, daring and ferocious in its natuie,
taught rapine, violence, and murder; and the progress of
civilization, was for a long time at a stand.
,
Afterwards, when societies began to be formed, tne effect, ot
bad habits communicating itself to laws and government, civil
institutions became corrupt, and arbitrary and factitious rights
notwithstanding these banks, there has been ¿n ^oder,\ timeJ
to
which has covered the whole triangle formed by the junction of this l ive
.
the Tigris, being a space of country of 130 square leagues. By the stagnation
of tl'eie Outers 1 epiden.ical disease oftl.e most fatal nature was o=e<
It follows from hence, 1. That all <he flat country border»? upon these tvers
was originally a marsh; 2. That this marsh e°uld not have been luhcib
previously to the construction of the banks m question; 3. That these bank
could not have been the work but of a population prior as to date;.an t
elevation of Babylon therefore must have been posterior to that ot M“en,
*
as I think I have chronologically demonstrated in the memoir above cited.
See Encyclopedia, vol. xiii. of Antiquities.
* The modern Aberbidjan, which was a part of Medea, the mountains of
Kourdestan, and those of Diarbekr, abound with subterranean canals, by
means of which the ancient inhabitants conveyed water to their parched soil
in order to fertilize it. It was regarded as a meritorious act, and a religions
duty prescribed by Zoroaster, who, instead of preaching celibacy, mortifica
tions, and other pretended virtues of the Monkish sort, repeats continually in
the passages that are preserved respecting him in the Sad-der and the Aenciavesta, “ That the action most pleasing to God is to plough and cultivate the
earth, to water it with running streams, to multiply vegetation and living
beings, to have numerous flocks, young and fruitful virgins, a multitude ot
children, &c. &c.”
E
�26
A SURVEY OF THE
were established, which gave the people depraved ideas of
Justice and morality,
Be.cause ®ne nj-aib for example, was stronger than another
this inequality, the result of accident, was takerrfor the law of
;
*
nature
and because the life of the weak was in his power
and he did not take it from him, he arrogated over his person
the absurd right of property, and individual slavery prepared
the way for. the slavery of nations.
1 F
Because^ the chief of a family could exercise an absolute au
thority in his own house, he made his inclinations and affections
the sole rule of his conduct; he conferred and withheld the
conveniences and enjoyments of life without respect to the law
of equality or justice, and paternal tyranny laid the foundation
of political despotism+.
In societies formed upon such bases, time and industry.having
developed riches, inordinate desire, restricted by the laws be
*
came artificial without being less active. Under the mask of
union and civil peace, it engendered in the bosom of every state
an intestine war; in which the citizens, divided into opposite
corps of orders, classes, and families, aimed to appropriate to
PrXTe^thaX a“CiT1 Philos°Phie»s and politicians have Jaknrd^wT^Ta’
ave laid it down as a
inciple, that mtn are born unequal, that nature has created some to be free
and others to
slaves. Expressions of this kind are to be found in Arktotle’
and eyen ln Plato, called the divine, doubtless in the X iías t e
thV CmSlca¡ rev^nes which he promulgated. With all the people of antiquity
Íí/htGof m 6 Roinan!’ lhe ¿^heñíaos, the right of the strongest was the
díordeis ánd°DübHnd p01« the
Pd»^P¡e are derived all the political
Oisorcleis and public national crimes that al present exist.
*
charter0'’ We
u C"'d J e“y '” ite a lo“8 «”<• Important .
*
cnapter. We might prove in it beyond contradictmn, that all the abuses of
that0* 3 g0Veril“ent* 53Ve sPl unSfrom those of domestic government from
!
th« government called patriarch,|, wWd> sup„ficia| mi'ds
"¿„Hed
yitbout having analyzed it. Numberless facts demonstrate, that with every
w Wj i s "» rase
b,carous sts,e’1110
the chi drendhV
")So!ent desP0<- The wife is his slave,
wife and da i! Sfcl vanis’ This king sleeps or smokes his pipe, while his
X and c?Í vWi/erfOr? a,i thedrudge“'y of the house, aXen that of
such5 sXlu
? ’ as far. as occ,’patioiis of this nature are practised in
allowed to beat She
T'‘er iave,th£tb°yS actluired strength, than they are
dff uprni them Idhl^3 Q'ani
w"’" Serve ar,d wait uPon them as they
peasant
In n l
S,mi'a*' 1.tO U1IS is the state of onr own uncivilized
an J tlm co diboT!^LaS CIVll,2at,on sPreads> the manners become milder,
“
me condition of the women improves, till, by a contrary excess thev
�RÉVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
27
themselves, under the name of supreme power, the ability of
grasping and controlling every thing at the will of their passion .
ït is this spirit of rapacity, the disguises of which are rnnumerable, but its operation and end-uniformly the same, that has
been the perpetual scourge of nations.
.
Sometimes opposing social compact, or destroying that whic
already existed, it has abandoned the inhabitants of a coun y
to the tumultuous shock of all their jarring principles ; and the
dissolved states, under the name of anarchy, have been tormented
by the passions of every individual member.
.
.
‘Sometimes a people jealous of its liberty, haying appointed
agents to administer, these agents have assumed to themselves
the powers of which they were only the guardians ; have em
ployed the public funds in corrupting elections, gaming partisans,
and dividing the people against itself. By these means, from
temporary, they have become perpetual, from elective, hereditary
magistrates ; and the state, agitated by the intrigues o
ambitious, by the bribes of the wealthy leaders of factions, by
the venality of the indolent poor, by the empiricism of deciaimers,
has been troubled with all the inconveniences of democracy.
In one country, the chiefs equal in strength, mutually afraid
of each other, have formed vile compacts and coalitions, and
portioning out power, rank, honours, have arrogated to them
selves privileges and immunities ; have erected themselves in o
separate bodies and distinct classes ; have tyrannised in common
over the people, and, under the name of aristocracy the state
has been tormented by the passions of the wealthy and the greaL
In another country, tending to the same end by different
means, sacred impostors have taken advantage of the creduli y
of the ignorant. In the secrecy of temples, and behind the veil
of altars, thy have made the Gods speak and act ; have delivered
oracles, worked pretended miracles, ordered sacrifices, imposed
offerings, prescribed endowments ; and under the name theocracy
and religion, the state has been tormented by the passions oi
priests.
Sometimes, weary of its disorders, or of its tyrants, à nation,
to diminish the sources of its evils, gave itself a single master.
In that case, if the powers of the prince were limited, his only
desire was to extend them ; if indefinite, he abused the trust
that was confided to him; and, under the name of monarchy,
the state was tormented by the passions of kings and princes.
Then the factions, taking advantage of the general discontent,
flattered the people with the hope of a better master ; 5^^
scattered gifts and promises, dethroned the despot to substitut»
themselves in his stead; and disputes for the succession or the
division^of power have tormented the state with the disorder©
' and devastations of cioil war.
�28
A SURVEY OF THE
In fine, among these rivals, one individual more artful or
more fortunate than the rest, gainingthe ascendancy, concentred
the whole power m himself. By a singular phenomenon, one man
obtained the mastery over millions of his fellow creatures, against
their will and without their consent; and thus the art of tyranny
appears also to have been the offspring of inordinate desire.
Observing the spirit of egotism that divided mankind, the ambitious adroitly fomented this spirithe flattered the vanity of
one excited the jealousy of another, favoured the avarice of A
third inflamed the resentment of a fourth, irritated the passions
■ - oPPosjng interests or prejudices, he sowed the seeds
tlLdl.visi°lls and hatred. He promised to the poor the spoil of
the rich, to the rich the subjugation of the poor; threatened this
bv di.trnS h T Tiby an°ther; and isolating the citizens
by distrust, he formed his own strength out of their weakness
and imposed on them the yoke of opinion, the knots of which they
i T r tbeirKowa hands- By means of the army he extorted
conti ibuhons ; by the contributions he disposed of the armyby the corresponding play of money and places, he bound all
whicPh °t£e
a T cnnhat W%S nOt tO be broken’ and ^e states
™ tbJ.y composed fe11 into the slow decay of
the1 fnrmdJdibnie
Same Spnn®’ varyinS its action under all
the forms that have been enumerated, incessantly attack the
continuity of states, and an eternal circle of vicissitudes have
b °m an eternal circle of passions.
enualivXn!tanrSpiriii°f e^otis,m 0Pei ted two principal effects
a
*
equally destructive : the one, that by dividing societies into all
thX dh^T1?’ a StltG °f deblhty was Produced, which facilitated
the ni • °n; the other, that always tending to concentre
t le powei in a single hand, it occasioned a successive absorption
existence?
tO
pe&Ce and to their coram™
nJh8* 8 +n a sblSde state? the nation had been absorbed in a
«
1
Pafty ma family, and that family in an individual,
' and statT
Id
a^SOnPrOn °f a similar kind be^een state
of nation^ Tw l W 5 aU the fllschiefe m the relative situation
divPduX ’
°t iar P?duced in the civil relation of inOf thp
°?e 7 subjected its neighbour city, and the result
and !In? JUe a WaS# prOV1"ce Province swallowed up province:
and thus produced a kingdom; between two kingdoms a con-of societies: beyimnncr 3V^1S has 111 a11 insfances been the constant progress
^great division ofYmw S 7^ a state
anarchy or democracy, that is, with a
monarchy Does iV’nni 1^
BaS3ed to aristocracy, and from aristocracy
the“democratic for• n d°
th7 those who institute states under
between that and nionarchv^and^aÎ tl Uudergo afl the intervening troubles
chief is the most mini-.i y ’ and *lat f ,e suPreWe administration by a single
is the most natuial government, as well as that best calculated for peace ?
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
29
quest took place, and thus furnished an empire of unwieldy bulk.
Did the internal force of these states increase in proportion to
their mass ? On the contrary, it was diminished ; and far front
the condition of the people being happier, it became every day
more oppressive and wretched, by causes inevitably flowing from
the nature of things.
.
Because, as the boundaries of states became extended, their
administration became more complicated and difficult; and to
give motion to the mass, it was necessary to increase the prero
gatives of the sovereign, and all proportion was thus annihilated
between the duty of governors and their power.
Because despots, feeling their weakness, dreaded all those
circumstances that developed, the force of nations, and made it
their study to attenuate it.
Because nations, estranged from each other by the prejudices
of ignorance and the ferocity of hatred, seconded the perversity
of governments, and employing a standing force for reciprocal
offence, aggravated their slavery.
Because, in proportion as the balance between states' was
broken, it became easy for the strong to overwhelm the weak.
Because, in proportion as state became blended with state, the
people were stripped of their laws, their customs, everything
by which they were distinguished from each other, and thus lost
the great mover selfishness, which gave them energy.
And despots, considering empires in the light of domains, and
the people as their property, abandoned themselves to depreda
tions, and the licentiousness of the most arbitrary authority.
And all the force and w ealth of nations were converted into
a supply for individual expence and personal caprice; and kings,
in the wearisomeness of satiety, followed the dictates of every
'factious and depraved taste
.
*
They must have gardens con
structed upon arches, and rivers carried to the summit of moun
tains; for them fertile fields must be changed into parks for deer;
lakes formed where there was no water, and rocks elevated hi
those lakes ; they must have palaces constructed of marble and
* It is equally worthy of remark, that the conduct and manners of princes
and kings of every country and every age, are found to be precisely the same
at similar periods, whether of the formation or dissolution of empires. History
every where presents the same pictures of luxury and folly ; of parks, gardfus,
lakes, rocks, palaces/ pavilions, furniture, excess of the table, wine, women,
concluding with brutality.
The absurd rock in the garden of Versailles has alone cost three millions.
I have sometimes calculated what might have been done with the expence of
the three pyramids of Gizah, and 1 have found that it would easily have con
structed, from the Red Sea to Alexandria, a canal 150 feet wide, and .30 deep,
completely covered with cut stones and a parapet, together with a fortified
and commercial town, Consisting of 400 houses furnished with cisterns. V hat
difference in point of utility between such a canal and these pyramids.
�30
A SURVEY OF THE
porphyry, and the furniture ornamented with gold and diamonds.xttilh°ns of hands were thus employed in sterile labours • and
the luxury of princes being imitated by their parasites, anil de
scending-step by step to the lowest ranks, became a general
source of corruption and empoverishment.
And the ordinary tributes being no longer adequate to the in.
satiable thirst ot enjoyment, they were augmented: the conse
quence of which was, that the cultivator, finding his toil increase
without any indemnity, lost his courage ; the merchant, seeing
himself robbed, took a disgust to industry; the multitude, con
demned to a state of poverty, exerted themselves no farther than
the procurement of necessaries required, and every species of
productive activity was at a stand.
And the surcharge of taxes rendering the possession of lands
burthensome, the humble proprietor abandoned his field, or sold
it to the man of opulence ; and the mass of wealth centered in
a tew individuals. As the laws and institutions favoured this
accumulation, nations were divided into a small body of indolent
rich, and a multitude of mercenary poor.' The people, reduced
to indigence, debased themselves ; the great, cloyed with super
fluity, became depraved ; and the number of citizens interested
in the preservation of the state decreasing, its strength and ex
istence were by so much the more precarious.
In another view, as there -was nothing to excite emulation or
encourage instruction, the minds of men sunk into profound
ignorance.
1
The administration of affairs being secret and mysterious, there
existed no means of reform or hope of better times ; and as the
chiefs ruled only by violence and fraud, the people considered
taem but as a faction of public enemies, and all harmony be,e governed, and the governors was at an end.
1 he states of opulent Asia became enervated by all these vices,
it happened at length that the vagrant and poor inhabitants
ot the deserts and the mountains adjacent, coveted the enjoy
ments of the fertile plains, and, instigated by a common cupidity,
they attacked polished empires, and overturned the thrones of
despots Such revolutions were rapid and easy, because the
policy of tyrants had enfeebled the citizens, raised the fortresses,
destroyed the warlike spirit of resistance, and because the op
pressed subject was without personal interest, and the mercenary
soldier without courage.
Hordes of barbarians having reduced whole nations to a state
Of slavery, it followeu that empires, formed of a conquering and
a v anquished people, united in their bosom two classes of men es
sentially opposite and inimical to each other. All the principles
of society were dissolved. There was no longer either a com
mon interest or public spirit: on the contrary, a distinction of
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
31
easts and conditions was established, that reduced the mainten
ance of disorder to a regular system ; and accordingly as a man
was descended from this or that blood, he was born vassal or
tyrant, live stock or proprietor.
The oppressors being in this case Less numerous than the op
pressed, it became necessary, in order to support this false equi
librium, to bring the science of tyranny to perfection. The art
of governing was now nothing more than that of subjecting the
many to the few. To obtain an obedience so contrary to in
stinct, it was necessary to establish the most severe penalties ;
and the cruelty of the laws rendered the manners atrocious.
The distinction of persons also establishing in the state two codes
ofjustice, two species of rights, the people, placed between the
natural inclinations of their hearts, and the oath they were
obliged to pronounce, had two contradictory consciences; and
their ideas of just and unjust had no longer any foundation in
the understanding.
Under such a system the people fell into a state of depression
and despair ; and, the accidents of nature increasing the prepon
derance of evil, terrified at this groupe of calamities, they re
ferred the causes of them to superior and invisible powers be
cause they had tyrants upon earth, they supposed there to be
tyrants in heaven ; and superstition came in aid to aggravate
the disasters of nations.
Hence originated gloomy and misanthropic systems of reli
gion, which painted the gods malignant and envious like human
despots. To appease them, man offered the sacrifice of all his
enjoyments, punished himself with privations, and overturned
the laws of nature. Considering his pleasures as crimes, his
sufferings as expiations, he endeavoured to cherish a passion for
pain, and to renounce self-love ; he persecuted his senses, de
tested his life, and by a self-denying and unsocial system of
morals, nations were plunged in the sluggishness of death.
But, as provident nature had endowed the heart of man with
inexhaustible hope, perceiving his desires disappointed of hap
piness here, he pursued it elsewhere ; by a sweet illusion, he
formed to himself another country, an asylum, where, out of the
reach of tyrants, he should regain all his rights. Hence a new
disorder arose. Smitten with his imaginary world, man de
spised the world of nature : for chimerical hopes he neglected
the reality. He no longer considered his life but as a fatiguing
journey, a painful dream ; his body as a prison that withheld him
from his felicity ; the earth as a place of exile and pilgrimage,
which he disdained to cultivate. A sacred sloth then established
itself in the world: the fields were deserted, waste lands in
creased, empires were dispeopled, monuments neglected, and
every where ignorance, superstition, and fanaticism, uniting
their baleful effects, multiplied devastations and ruins.
�32'
A SURVEY OF THE
Thus, agitated by their own passions, men, whether in t<heir
individual capacity or as collective bodies, always rapacious
and improvident, passing from tyranny to slavery, from pride to
abjectness, from presumption to despair, have been themselves
the eternal instruments of their misfortunes.
Such was the simplicity of the principles that regulated the
fate of ancient states ; such was the series of causes and effects
consecutive and connected with each other, according to which
they rose or fell in the scale of human welfare, just as the phy
sical causes of the human heart were therein observed or in
fringed. A hundred divers nations, a hundred powerful empires,
in their incessant vicissitudes, have read again and again these
instructive lessons to mankind.—And these lessons are mute and
forgotten ! The diseases of past times have appeared again in
the present I The heads of the different governments have prac
tised again, without restraint, exploded projects of deception
and despotism ! The people have wandered as before in the
labyrinths of superstition and ignorance 1
And what, added the Genius, calling up his energies afresh,
is the consequence of all this? Since experience is useless, since
salutary examples are forgotten, the scenes which were acted
before are now about to be renew ed; revolutions will again
agitate people and empires ; powerful thrones will, as before,
be overturned; and terrible catastrophes remind the human
species, that the laws of nature, and the precepts of wisdom and
truth, cannot be trampled upon in vain.
CHAP. XII.
Le s s o n s
t aught
bv
An c ie n t , r e pe a t e d in Mo d e r n Tim e s .
In this manner did the Genius address me. Struck with the
reasonableness and coherence of his discourse, and a multipli
city of ideas crowding upon my mind, which, while they thwarted
my habits, led my judgment at the same time captive, I remained
absorbed in profound silence. Meanwhile, as in this sombre
and thoughtful disposition 1 kept my eyes fixed upon Asia, clouds
of smoke and of flames at the north, on the shores of the Black
Sea, and in the fields of the Crimea, suddenly attracted my at
tention. They appeared to ascend at once from every part of
the peninsula, and passing by the isthmus to the continent, they1
pursued their course, as if driven by an easterly wind, along the
miry lake of Asoph, and were lost in the verdant plains of the
Coban.' Observing more attentively the course of these clouds,
I perceived that they w ere preceded or followed by swarms of
living beings, which, like ants disturbed by the foot of a passen
ger, were in lively action. Sometimes they seemed to move to
wards and rush against each other, and numbers after the com-
�REVOLUTIOlSrS OF EMPIRES.
S3
cussion remained motionless. Disquieted at this spectacle, I
Was endeavouring to distinguish the objects, when the Genius
said to me : Do you see those fires which spread over the earth,
and are you acquainted with their causes and effects?—O Genius!
I replied, I see columns of flame and smoke, and as it were
insects that accompany them ; but discerning with difficulty, as
I do, the masses of towns and monuments, how can I distinguish
such petty creatures ? I can see nothing more than that these
insects seem to carry oh a sort of mock battles ♦ they advance,
they approach towards each other, they attack, they pursue.—■
It is no mockery, said the Genius, it is the thing itself.—And
what name, replied I, shall we give to these foolish animalculae
that destroy each other ? Do they live only for a day, and is this
shortlife further abridged by violence and murder ?—The Genius
then once more touched my eyes and my ears. Listen, said he
to me, and observe.x Immediately, turning ray eyes.inthe same
direction, alas I said I, transpierced with anguish, these columns
of flame, these insects, 0 Genius ! they are men, and the
ravages of war ! These torrents of flame ascend from towns and
villages set on fire ! I see the horsemen that light them. I see
them sword in hand overrun the country. Old men, women,
and children, in confused multitudes, fly before them. I see
other horsemen, who, with their pikes upon their shoulders,
accompany and direct them : I can even distinguish by their led
horses, by their kalpacks, and by their tufts of hair that they
,
*
are Tartars ; and without doubt those who pursue them in tri
angular hats and green uniforms are Muscovites. I understand
the whole : I perceive that the war has just broken out afresh
between the empire of the Czars and the Sultans.—Not yet,
replied the Genius ; this is only the prelude. These Tartars
have been, and would still be troublesome neighbours ; the
Muscovites are ridding themselves of them. Their country is
an object of convenience to their less uncivilized enemies; it
rounds and makes complete their dominions ; and as the first
step in the project that has been conceived, the throne of the
Guerais is overturned.
In reality I saw the Russian flag hoisted over the Crimea, and
their vessels scattered upon the Euxine.
Meanwhile, at the cries of the fugitive Tartars, the Mussul
man empire was in commotion. “ Our brethren,” exclaimed
• A Tarter horseman has always two horses^ of which he leads orie in hand.
The Kalpak is a bonnet made of the skin of a sheep or other animal. The
part of the head covered by this bonnet is shaved, with the exception of a
tuft about the size of a crown-piece, and which is suffered to grow to the
length of seven or eight inches, precisely where our priests place their tonsure.
It is by this tuff of hair, worn by the majority of Mussulmans, that the a^igel
of the tomb is to take the elect and carry them into Paradise.
�34
A SURVEY OF THE
-the children of Mahomet, ££ are driven from their habitations ;
the people of the prophet are outraged ; infidels are in posses
sion of a consecrated land and profane the temples of Islamism !
,
*
Eet us arm ourselves to,avenge the glory of God and our own
cause.”
A general preparation for war then took place in the two
empires. Armed men, provisions, ammunition, and all the
murderous accoutrements of battle, were every where assembled.
My attention was particularly attracted by the immense crowds
•that in either nation thronged to the temples. On one side the
Mussulmans, assembled before their mosques, washed their
hands and feet, pared their nails, and combed their beard : then
spreading carpets upon the ground, and turning themselves to
wards the south, with their arms sometimes crossed and some
times extended, they performed their genuflections and prostra
tions. Recollecting the disasters they had experienced during
*
the last war, they cried : ££ God of clemency and pity, hast thou
then abandoned thy faithful people ? Why dost thou, who hast
promised to thy prophet the dominion of nations, and signalized
religion by so many triumphs, deliver up true believers to the
sword of infidels ;” And the Imans and the Santons said to the
people : “ It is the chastisement of your sins. You eat pork,
you drink wine, you touch things that are unclean : God has
punished you. Do penance; purify vourselvefe; say your creed ;
*
fast from the rising of the sun to its setting; give the tenth of
your goods to the mosques ; go to Mecca; and God will make
your arms victorious.” Then, assuming courage, the people
gave a general shout. ££ There is but one God,” said they in a
transport of rage, ££ and Mahomet is his prophet! accursed be
every one that believeth not!—Indulgent God ! grant us the
favour to exterminate these Christians: it is for thy glory we
fight, and by our death we are martyrs to thy name.”—And
having offered sacrifices, they prepared themselves for battle.
On the other hand, the Russians on their knees exclaimed :
££ Let us give thanks to God, and celebrate his power : he has
strengthened our arm to humble his enemies. Beneficent God!
incline thine ear to our prayers. To please thee we will for
three days eat neither meat nor eggs. Permit us to exterminate
these impious Mahometans, and overthrow their empire, and
we will give thee the tenth of the spoil, and erect new temples
to thy honour.” The priests then filled the churches with smoke,
* It is not in the power of the sultan to cede to a foreign power a province
inhabited by TRUE BELIEVERS. The people, instigated by the lawyers,
would not fail to,revolt. This is one reason which has led those who know
the Turks, to regard as chimerical the ceding of Candia, Cyprus, and Egypt,
projected by certain European potentates.
f There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
ft
35
and said to the people: “ We pray for you, and God accepts
our incense, and blesses your arms. Continue to fast and to
fight; tell us the faults you have secretly committed; bestow
your goods on the church ; we will absolve you of your sins, and
you shan die in a state of grace.” And they sprinkled water on
the people, distributed among them little bones of departed
saints to serve as amulets and talismans; and the people breathed
nothing but war and destruction.
Struck with this contrasting picture of the same passions, and
lamenting to myself their pernicious consequences, I was re
flecting on the difficulty the common Judge would find in com-,
plying with such opposite demands, when the Genius, from an
impulse of angeiq vehemently exclaimed.
What madness is this which strikes my ear ? What blind and
fatal insanity possesses the human mind ? Sacrilegious prayers,
return to the earth from whence you came ! Ye concave heavens,
repel these murderous vows, these impious thanksgivings ! Is
it thus, O man, you worship the Divinity .’ And do you think
that he, whom you call Father of all, can receive with com
placence the homage of free-booters and murderers ? Ye
conquerors, with what sentiments does he behold your arms
reeking with blood that he has created ? Ye conquered, what
hope can you place in useless moans ? Is he a man that he should
change, or the son of man that he should repent ? Is he governed
like you by vengeance and compassion, by rage and by weariness!
Base idea, how much unworthy of the Being of Beings ! Hear
these men, and you would imagine that God is a being capricious
and mutable ; that now he loves, and now he hates ; that he
chastises one and indulges another: that hatred is engendered
and nourished in his bosom ; that Jie spreads snares for men,
and delights in the fatal effects of imprudence ; that he permits
ill, and punishes it; that he foresees guilt, and acquiesces ; that
he is to be bought with gifts like a partial judge ; that he reverses
his edicts like an undiscerning despot; that he gives and revokes
his favours because it is his will, and is to be appeased only by
servility like a savage tyrant. I now completely understand
what is the deceit of mankind, who have pretended that God
made man in his own image, and who have really made God in
theirs ; who have ascribed to him their weakness, their errors,
ánd their vices; and in the conclusion, surprised at the con
tradictory nature of their own assertions, have attempted to cloke
it with hypocritical humility, and the pretended impotence of
human reason, calling the delirium of their own understandings
the sacred mysteries of heaven.
They have said, God is without variableness, and they pray
to him to change. They have said that he is incomprehensible,
and they have undertaken to be interpreters of his will.
�36
A SURVEY OF THE
A race of impostors has made its appearance upon the earth,
who, pretending to be in the confidence of God, and taking
*
upon themselves the office of instructing the people, have opened
the flood-gates of falsehood and iniquity. They have affixed
merit to actions which either are indifferent or absurd. They
have dignified w ith the appellation of virtue the observance of
certain postures, and the repetition of certain words and names.
They have taught the impiety of eating certain meats on certain
days rather than on others. It is thus the Jew would sooner
die than wo.rk on the sabbath. It is thus the Persian would
endure suffocation before he would blow the fire with his breath.
It is thus the Indian places supreme perfection in smearing him
self with cow-dung, and mysteriously pronouncing the word
*
Aum : It is thus the Mussulman believes himself purified from
all his sins by the ablution of his head and his arms ; and dis
putes sabre in hand, whether he ought to begin the ceremony
at the elbowt or the points of his fingers. It is thus the
Christian would believe himself damned, were he to eat the juice
of animal food instead of milk or butter. What sublime and
truly celestial doctrines! What purity of morals, and how
worthy of apostleship and martyrdom ! I will cross the seas to
teach these admirable laws to savage people and distant nations.
I will say to them : i( Children of nature, how long will you
wander in the paths of ignorance ? How long will you be blind
to the true principles of morality and religion ? Visit civilized
nations, and take lessons of pious and learned people. They
will teach you, that to please God, you must in certain months
of the year faint all day with hunger and thirst. They will
teach you how you may shed the blood of your neighbour, and
purify yourselves from the stain, by repeating’ a profession of
faith, and making a methodical ablution : how you may rob him
of his goods, and be absolved from the guilt, by sharing them
with certain persons whose professions it is to live in idleness
upon the labour of others.’’
* This word is in the religion of the Hindoos a sacred emblem of the Divinity.
It is only to be pronounced in secret, without being heard by any one. Jf
is formed of three letters, of which the first, a, signifies the principle of all,
the creator, Brama; the second, u, the conservator, Vichenou ; and the lasr, m,
the destroyer, who puts an end to all, Chiven. It is pronounced like the
monosyllable om, and expresses the unity of those three Gods. The idea is
precisely that of the Alpha and Omega mentioned in the New Testament.
t This is one of the grand points of schism between the partizans of Omar
and those of Ali. Suppose two Mahometans to meet on a journey, and to
accost each other with brotherly affection: the hour of prayer arrives; one be
gins his abolution at his fingers, the other at the elbow, and instantly they
aré mortal enemies. O sublime importance of religious opinions1. O profound
philosophy of the authors of lhepj.
■ '
1
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
37
Sovereign and mysterious Power of the Universe ! secret
Mover of Nature ! Universal Soul of every thing that lives 1
infinite and incomprehensible Being, whom, under so many forms,
mortals have ignorantly worshipped ! God, who in the immen
sity of the heavens dost guide revolving worlds, and people the
abyss of space with millions of suns : say, what appearance do
those human insects, which I can with difficulty distinguish upon
the earth, make in thy eyes ? When thou directest the stars in
their orbits, what to thee are the worms that crawl in the dust ?
Of what importance to thy infinite greatness are their distinctions
of sects and parties ? And how art thou concerned with the sub
tleties engendered by their folly ?
And you, credulous men, shew me the efficacy of your prac
tices ! During the many ages that you have observed or altered
them, what change have yonr prescriplions wrought in the laws
of nature ? Has the sun shone with greater brilliance ? Has the
course of the seasons at all varied? Is the earth more fruitful,
are the people more happy ? If God be good, how can he be
pleased with your penances ? If he be infinite, what can your ho
mage add to his glory ? Inconsistent men, answer these questions!
Ye conquerors, who pretend by your arms to serve God, what
need has he of your aid ? If he wishes to punish, are not earth
quakes, volcanoes, and the thunderbolt in his hand ? And does
a God of clemency know no other way of correcting but by ex
termination ?
Ye Mussulmans, if your misfortunes were the chastisements
of heaven for the violation of the fine precepts, would prosperity
be showered on the Franks who laugh at these things ? If it is
by the laws of the Koran that God judges the earth, what were
the principles by which he governed the nations that existed be
fore the prophet, the numerous people who drank wine, eat pork,
and travelled not to Mecca, yet to whom it was given to raise
powerful empires ? By what laws did he judge the Sabeans of
Nineveh and of Babylon; the Persian, who woi’shipped fire;
the Greek and Roman idolaters ; the ancient kingdoms of the
Nile, and your own progenitors the Arabs and Tartars ? How
does he at present judge the various nations that are ignorant
of your worship, the numerous casts of Indians, the vast em
pire of the Chinese, the swarthy tribes of Africa, the islands of
the Atlantic Ocean, the colonies of America ?
Presumptuous and ignorant men, who arrogate to yourselves
the whole earth, were God to summon at once all past and pre
sent generations, what proportion would those Christian andMussulman sects, calling themselves universal, bear in the vast assem
blage? What would be the judgment of his fair and impartial
justice respecting the actual mass of mankind? It is in estimating
the general system of his government that you wander among
�3S
' A SURVEY OF THE
fiitiliiplied absurdities ; and it is there that, in reality, truth pre*
gents itself in all its evidence. It is there that we trace the simple
But powerful laws of nature and reason ; the laws of the common
mover, the general cause; of a God impartial and just, who,
that he might send his rain upon a country, asks not who is its
prophet; who causes his sun equally to shine on all tribes of
men, whether distinguished by a fair or a sable complexion, on
the Jew as on the Mussulman, on the Christian as on the Hea
then ; who multiplies the inhabitants of every country with whom
Order and industry reign ; who gives prosperity to every empire
where justice is observed, where the powerful is restrained, and
the poor man protected by the laws; where the weak live in
Safety, and where all enjoy the rights which they derive from
nature and an equitable compact.
Such are the principles by which nations are judged ! This is
the true religion by which the fate of empires is regulated, and
which, O Ottomans, has ever decided that of your own empire !
Interrogate your ancestors ; ask them by what means they rose
to greatness, when, idolaters, few in number and poor, they came
from the deserts of Tartary to encamp in these fertile countries ?
Ask them if it was by islamism, at that period unknown to them,
that they conquered the Greeks and Arabs; or by their courage,
prudence, moderation, and unanimity, the true powers of the
social state? Then the Sultan himself administered justice and
maintained order-» then the prevaricating judge and the rapacious
governor were punished, and the multitude lived in ease : the
Cultivator was secure from the rapine of the janizary, and the
fields w ere productive, the public roads were safe, and commerce
flourished. It is true you were a league of robbers, but among
yourselves you wore just. You subjugated nations, but you did
iiot oppress them. Vexed by their own princes they preferred
being your tributaries. “ Of w hat importance is it to me,” said
the Christian, “ whether my master be pleased with images or
breaks them in pieces, provided he is just towards me? God will
judge his doctrine in heaven.” You were temperate and hardy ;
your enemies soft and effeminate : you were skilled in the art of
battle; they had forgotten its principles : you had experienced
chiefs, warlike and disciplined troops; the hope of booty excited
ardour ; bravery was recompensed ; disobedience and cowardice
punished, and all the springs of the human heart were in action.
You thus conquered a hundred nations, and out of the massfounded an immense empire,•
x
|^ut other manners succeeded. The laws of nature, however,
>
*
4tid not less operate in your misfortunes than in your prosperity.
V ou destroyed your enemies, and your grasping ambition, still
in force, preyed upon yourselves. Having become rich, you
commenced an internal contest respecting the division and the
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
gg
enjoyn.ent of yo.ui riches, and disorder was generated throuMi
every class of your society. The Sultan, intoxicated with hi.
g. eatneos, misunderstood the object of his functions ard all the
vices of arbitrary power.presently unfolded themselves Meeting '
with no obstacle to his desires, he became a depraved character
**
Weak, and arrogant at the same time, he spurned the Jeonle’
and would no longer be influenced and directed by their voice’
Tgnoxant, and yet flattered, he neglected all instruction all study'
and sunk into total incapacity. Become himself unified
these hirers ^Xed^Z”“^
^elingsy and
they stimulated and increased his; they multiplied"iXnts’
and Ins enormous luxury devoured every thin? He «W
longer content with the frugal table the modest ifitj
?
simple habitation of his aimestors ’the KTl
a
’ a"‘l ‘,h®
exhausted to satisfy his priX^XX^ tVlSTfrV
Sic
nty , and the munificenceparasites I? imitVo? °J?i LWer%de,
tvered into the hands of and treasures of tho
of empire was swallowed up in the Serai. '
. th UeaIth ■
1° supply this inordinate luxury the slaves Qnrl
sold their influence; and venality inLdSeid a general de'p™V“
Visier srfd thTempite The?VoO KT ‘° ‘Visier> a"‘! the
Cadi sold justict7 The old V ‘u V ‘T” Cadi>and t!“'
*StThe pXVvVpKXsed hi
the cXnd of the treopV
re
"th”
cultivation was degraded T'fX ■ P‘ the hilsl>a:idinan. and
capital, hadTtXrew ii Xw h“S
°f 'W
became due, and he was unable tej^ £;’ XXVS
�40
=
A SURVEY OF THE
with corporal punishment, and driven to the expedient of a Ioan 1
specie, for want of security, was withdrawn from circulation :
the interest of money became enormous, and usury aggravated
the misery of the poor.
Inclement seasons, periods of dearth, had rendered the har
vests abortive, but government would neither forgive nor post
pone its demands. Distress began its career : a part of the in
habitants of the villages took refuge in the cities ; the burthen
upon those that remained became greater ; their ruin was con
summated, and the country depopulated.
Driven to the last extremity by tyranny and insult, certain
villages broke out into open rebellion. The Pacha considered
the event as a subject of rejoicing; he made war upon them,
took their houses by storm, ransacked their goods, and carried
off their cattle. The soil beceme a desert, and he exclaimed,
u What care I: I shall be removed from it to-morrow.’
Yet again, the want of cultivation led one step further. Pe
riodical rains or swelling tides overflowed the banks, and covered
the country with swamps : these swamps exhaled a putrid air,
which spread chronical diseases, pestilence, and sickness of a
thousand forms, and was followed by a still farther decrease of
population, by penury and ruin.
• T
Oh ! who can enumerate all the evils of this tyrannical sys
tem of government!
Sometimes the Pachas made war of themselves, and to avenge
their personal quarrels, provinces are laid waste. Sometimes,
dreading their masters, they aim at independence, and draw upon
their subjects the chastisement of their revolt. Sometimes, tear
in«3' these very subjects, they call to their aid and keep in pay
foreign troops ; and to be sure of them, they indulge them in
every kind of robbery. In one place, they commence an action
against a rich man, and plunder him upon false pretences. In
another, they suborn witnesses, and impose a fine for an lmagi•' nary offence. On all occasions they excite the hatred of sects
against each other, and encourage informations for the sake of
increasing their own corrupt advantages. They extort from men
their property ; they attack their persons ; and when their im
prudent avarice has heaped into one mass the riches of a pro
vince, the supreme government, with execrable perfidy, Pr®“^
tending to avenge the oppressed inhabitants, draws to itself then
spoil in the spoil of the culprit, and wantonly and vainly expiate
in blood the crime of which it was itself the accomplice.
O iniquitous beings, sovereigns or ministers, who sport with
the life and property of the people ! was it you who gave breath
to man, that you take it from him ? Is it you who fertilize the
earth, that you dissipate its fruits ? Do you fatigue your arms
with ploughing the fields ? Do you expose yourselves to the
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRE^.
41
heat of the sun, and endure the torment of thirst in cutting down
the harvest and binding it into sheaves ? Do you watch like!
the shepherd in the nocturnal dew ? Do you traverse deserts
like the indefatigable merchant ? Alas! when I have reflected
on the cruelty and insolence of the powerful, my indignation has
been roused, and I have said in my anger, What! will there
never appear upon the earth a race of men who shall avenge
people and punish tyrants ? A small number of robbers devou
the multitude, and the multitude suffer themselves to be de
voured ! O degraded people, awake to the recognition ot your
rights ! authority proceeds from you; yours is all the power..
Vainly do kings command you in the name of God and by their
lance: soldiers, obey not the summons. Since God supports
the Sultan, your succour is useless; since the sword of heaven:
suffices him, he has no need of yours ; let4us see what he can do
of himself.—The soldiers have laid down their arms; and io,
the masters of the world are as feeble as the meanest of their
subjects! Ye people, know then that those who govern you axe
your chiefs and not your masters; your guardians appointed by
yourselves, and not your proprietors; that your wealth is your
own, and to you they are accountable for the administration ot
it; that kings or subjects, God has made all men equal, and no
human being-has a right to oppress his fellow-creature.
But this nation and its chiefs acknowledge not these sacred
truths.—Be it so ; they will suffer the consequences of their error.
The decree is gone forth; the day approaches when this colossus
of power shall be dashed to pieces, and fall, crushed by its own
weight. Yes, I swear by the ruins of so many demolished em
pires, that the crescent shall undergo the same fate as the states
w hose mode of government it has imitated ! A foreign people
shall drive the Sultans from their metropolis; the throne of
Orkhan shall be subverted; the last shoot of his race shall be
cut off; and the horde of the Oguzians deprived of their chief,
,
*
shall be dispersed like that of the Nogaians. In this dissolution
the subjects of the empire, freed from the yoke that held them
together, will resume their ancient distinctions, anti, a genetat
anarchy will take place, as happened in the empire of the So
phist, till there shall arise among the Arabs, the Armenians, or
* Before the Turks took the name of their chief Othman I. they bore that
of Oguzians: and it was under this appellation that they were driven out ot
Tartary by Gengis, and came from the borders of Gihoun to settle themselves
io Anatolia.
.
,
,.
t In Persia, after the death of. Thamas-Koulikan, each province had its chief,
and for forty years these chiefs were in a constant state of war. In this view the
Turks do not say without reason: “Ten years of a tyrant are less destructive
than a single night of anarchy.”
G
�42
A SURVEY OF THE
the Greeks, legislators who shall form new states. Oh! were a
sagacious and hardy race of men to be found, what materials of
greatness and glory are here !-But the hour of destiny is arlived The cry of war strikes my ear, and the catastrophe is
about to commence. In vain the Sultan draws out his arms • his
ignorant soldiers are beaten and scattered. In vain he calls
upon his subjects : their hearts are callous; his subjects reply r
It is decreed; and what is it to us who is to be our master ?
we cannot lose by the change.” In vain these true believers ini
voke heaven and the prophet, the prophet is dead, and heaven
without pity answers : “ Cease to call upon me. You are the
authors of your calamities, find yourselves their remedy. Na
ture has established laws, it becomes you to practise them. Exa
mine and reflect upon the events that take place, and profit bv
experience It is the folly of man that works his destruction^
it is his wisdom that must save him. The people are ignorant
let them get understanding; their chiefs are depraved, let them
correct their vices and amend their lives, for such is the decree
o nature:
the evils of society flow from ig n o r a n c e and
1 . OEEIXATE DESIRE? men will never cease to be tormented till they
N
shall become intelligent and wise; till they shall practise the art of
i founded °n & knowledge of the various relations in which
they stand and the laws of their own organization ”
*
*
S1"&ular'mor.al phenomenon made its appearance in Europe in the vear
the enemj of hbeity , a nation friendly to the arts for a nation that detests
them; a mild and tolerant nation for a persecuting and fanatic one • asocial
tothe FreVh1'00 wbose chanmterisHes are gloom and misanthropy:
in a woid, the French were smitten with a passion for the Turks : tbev were
desirous of engaging in a war for them, and that at a time when a revolution
n then- own country was just at its commencement. A man who ne.ceived
the true nature of the situation, wrote a book to dissuade them fromtoe war
rLl t 1™™ejl,ate,y Pretended that he was paid by the government, which in
it 2
AnoH31’ aBd Whii\WaS UP°n thp Point
hinTup to a
state piison. Another man wrote to recommend the war: he was applauded
and his word was taken in payment for the science, the politenesss and im
portance of the Turks. It is true that he believed in his own thesis for he had
forbmPani0nn ?em Pe°P e-Wh° CaSt a nativity> and alchemists who wined his
foitune ; as he found Martimsts at Paris, who enabled him to sup with Se«os
tns, and Magnetisers who concluded with destroying his ex stmice Notw th"
pred1cteSd tlm
fH
beate" by
and the Z who Tien
p edicted the fall of their empire, persists in the prediction. The result of this
fall will be a complete change of the political system, as far as it relates to the
coast of the Mediterranean If, however, the French become important in
proportion as they become free, and if they will make use of the advantaoe
iuas^wch^h’ ueir progrfss may easi'y Prove ofthe most honourable sort,
m»™* »Ilhb.hd;,lSreUetC2t°/a,e’
trne in,erfSt
«’«-
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
43
CHAP. XIII.
Wil l t h e Hu m a n Ra c e b e e v e r in a b e t t e r Co n d it io n
THAN AT PRESENT ?
Oppr e s s e d with sorrow at the predictions of the Genius, and
the severity of his reasoning: unhappy nations, cried I, bursting
into tears! Unhappy my own lot! I now despair of the felicity
of man ! since his evils flow from his own heart, since he must
himself apply the remedy, woe for ever to his existence ! For
what can restrain the inordinate desire of the powerful? Who
shall enlighten the ignorance of the weak ? Who instruct the
multitude in the knowledge of its rights, and force the chiefs to
discharge the duties of their station ? Individual will not cease
to oppress individual, one nation to attack another nation, and
never will the day of prosperity and glory again dawn upon these
countries. Alas! conquerors will come; they will drive away
the oppressors, and will establish themselves in their place; but,
succeeding to their power, they will succeed also to their rapa
city, and the earth will have changed its tyrants, without lessen
ing the tyranny.
Then turning towards the Genius : O Genius ! said I, de
spair has taken hold of my heart. While you have instructed
me ifi the nature of man, the depravity of governors, and the
abjectness of those who are governed, have given me a disgust
to life; and since there is no alternative but to be the accomplice
or the victim of oppression, what has the virtuous man to do
but to join his ashes to those of the tombs.
The Genius, fixing upon me a look of severity mixed with
compassion, was silent. After a few minutes he replied: Is it
then in dying that virtue consists ? The wicked man is indefatig
able in the consummation of vice, and the just disheartened at
the first obstacle which stands in the way of doing good!—But
such is the human heart: success intoxicates it to presumption,
disappointment dejects and terrifies it. Always the victim of
the sensation of the moment; it judges not of things by their na
ture but by the impulse of passion.—Mortal, who despairs of
the human race, upon what profound calculation of reasoning
and events is your judgment formed? Have you scrutinized the
organization of sensible beings, to determine with precision
whether the springs that incline them to happiness are weaker
than those which repel ? or rather, viewing at a glance the his
tory of the species, and judging of the future by the example of
the past, have you hence discovered with certainty, that all pro
ficiency is impossible ? Let. me ask : Have societies, since their
origin, made no step towards instruction and a better state of
things ? Are men still in the woods, destitute of every thing,
ignorant, stupid, and ferocious ? Are there no nations advanced
beyond the period, when nothing was to be seen upon the face
�A SURVEY.OF THE
of the globe but savage freebooters or savage slaves ? If indi
viduals have at certain times, and in certain places, become bet
ter, why should not the mass improve ? If particular societies
have attained a considerable degree of perfection, why should
pot the progress of the general society advance ? If first obsta
cles have been overcome, why should succeeding ones be in
surmountable.
But you are of opinion that the human race is degenerating?
Guard yourself against the illusion and paradoxes of misanthrophy. Dissatisfied with the present, man supposes in the past
a perfection which does not exist, and which is merely the dis.coloration of his chagrin, He praises the dead from enmity to
the living, and employs the bones of the fathers as an instrument
of chastisement against the children.
To establish this principle of a retrograde perfection, it is ne
cessary that we should contradict the testimony of facts and rea
son, Nor is this all; the facts of history might indeed be equi
vocal, but it is farther necessary that we should contradict the
living fact of the nature of man; that we should assert that he
is born with a perfect science in the use of his senses; that, pre
vious to experience, he is able to distinguish poison from aliment;
that the sagacity of the infant is greater than that of his bearded
progenitor ; that the blind man can walk with more assurance
than the man endued with sig’ht| that man, the creature of civi
lization, is less favoured by circumstances than the cannibal; in
a word, that there is no truth in the existing gradation of in
struction and experience.
1 oung man, believe the voice of tombs and the testimony of
monuments. There are countries which have doubtless fallen
off from what they were at certain epochas : but if the under
standing were to analyse thoroughly the wisdom and felicity of
their inhabitants at those periods, their glory would be found to
have less of reality than of splendor; it jvould be seen, that even
in the most celebrated states of antiquity, there existed enormous
vices and pruel abuses, the precise pause of their instability ;
that in general the principles of government were atrpejous; that,
from people to people, audacious robbery, barbarous wars, and
implacable animosities were prevalent ; that natural right was
*
unknown; that morality was perverted by senseless fanaticism
and deplorable superstition; that a dream, a vision, an oracle,
iveie the frequent occasion of the most terrible commptiens. Na
tions are not perhaps yet free from the power of these evils; but
their force is at least diminished, and the experience pf past times
. a IV3'** die history pf the wqrs of liome and Carthage, of Sparta and Messina,
pr Athens apd Syracuse, of the Hebrews and the Phenicians : yet these are the
patipns pi whiefi antiquity bo^tf
being" most polished !
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
45
has not been wholly lost. Within the three last centuries espe
cially, the light of knowledge has been increased and dissemi
nated ; civilization, aided by various happy circumstances, has
perceptibly advanced, and even inconveniencies and abuses have
proved advantageous to it: for if conquest have extended king
doms and states beyond due bounds, the people of different coun
tries, uniting under the same yoke, have lost that spirit of es
trangement and division which made them all enemies to one
another. If the hands of power have been strengthened, an ad
ditional degree of system and harmony has at least been intro
duced in its exercise. If wars have become more general in the
mass of their influence and operation, they have been less de
structive in their details. If the people carry to their combat
less personality and less exertion, their struggles are less san
guinary and ferocious. If they are less free, they are less tur
bulent; if they are more effeminate, they are more pacific. Des
potism itself seems not to have been unproductive of advantages:
for if the government has been absolute, it has been less per
turbed and tempestuous; if thrones have been regarded as here
ditary property, they have excited less dissension, and exposed
the people to fewer convulsions : in fine, if despots, with timid
and mysterious jealousy, have interdicted all knowledge of their
administration, all rivalship for the direction of affairs, the pas
sions of mankind, excluded from the political career, have fixed
upon the uarts and the sciences of nature ; the sphere of ideas
has been enlarged on every side ; man, devoted to abstract
studies, has better understood his place in the system of nature,
and his social relations; principles have been more fully dis
cussed, objects more accurately discerned, knowledge more
widely diffused, individuals made more capable, manners more
sociable, life more benevolent and pleasing; the species at large,
particularly in certain countries, have been evidently gainers;
nor can this improvement fail to proceed, since its two principal
obstacles, those which have hitherto rendered it so slow, and
frequently retrograde, the difficulty of transmitting ideas from
age to age, and communicating thdm rapidly from man to man,
have been removed.
With the people of antiquity, every canton and every city,
having a language peculiar to itself, stood aloof from the rest,
and the result was favourable to ignorance and anarchy : they
had no communication of ideas, no participation of discoveries,
no harmony of interests or of will, no unity of action or conduct.
Beside, the only means of diffusing and transmitting ideas being
that of speech, fugitive and limited, and that of writing, slow of
execution, expensive, and acquired by few, there resulted an
extreme difficulty as to instrcution in the first instance, the loss
pf advantages one generation might derive from the experience
�A. SURVEY OF THE
of another, instability, retrogradation of science, and one un
varied scene of chaos and childhood.
'
^le contraOh *n
modern world, and particularly in
Europe, great nations having allied themselves by a sort of uni
versal language, the firm of opinion has been placed upon a broad
basis ; the minds of men have sympathised, their hearts have
enlarged; we have seen agreement in thinking, and concord in
acting : in fine, that sacred art, that memorable gift of celestial
genius, the press, furnished a means of communicating, of diffus
ing at one instance any idea to millions of the species, and of
giving it a permanence which all the power of tyrants has been
able neither to suspend nor suppress. Hence has the vast mass
of instruction perpetually increased; hence has the atmosphere
of truth continually grown brighter, and a strength of mind been
produced that is in no fear of counteraction. And this improve
ment is the necessary effect of the laws of nature; for by the
law of sensation, man as invincibly tends to make himself happy,
as the flame to ascend, the stone to gravitate, the water to gadi
its level. His ignorance is the obstacle which misleads him as
to the means, and deceives him respecting causes and effects.
By force or experience he will become enlightened; by force of
errors he will set nimself right; he will become wise and good,
because it is his interest to be so : and ideas communicating
themselves through a nation, whole classes will be instructed,
science will be universally familiar, and all men will understand
what are the principles of individual happiness, and of public
felicity.. They will understand what are their respective rela
tions, their rights, and their duties, in the social order; they will
no longer be the dupes of inordinate desire ; they will perceive
that morality is a branch of the science of physics, composed, it is
flue, of elements complicated in their operation, but simple and
invariable in their nature, as being no other, than the elements
of human organization itself. They will feel the necessity of
being moderate and just, because therein consists the advantage
and security of each ; that to wish to enjoy at the expence of
another is a false calculation of ignorance, because the result
of such proceeding, are reprisals, enmity, and revenge; and that
dishonesty is invariably the offspring of folly.
Individual^ will feel that private happiness is allied to the
happiness of society.
I he weak, that instead of dividing their interests, they ought
to unite, because equality constitutes their strength.
The rich, that the measure of enjoyment is limited by the con
stitution of the organs, and that lassitude follows satiety.
. The poor, that the highest degree of human felicity consists
in peace of mind and the due employment of time.
Public opinion, reaching' kings on their thrones, will oblige
them to keep tueraseives wiihin-flie bounds of a regular authority.
�<
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
47
Chance itself, serving the cause of nations, will give them
sometimes incapable chiefs, who, through weakness, will suffer
them to become free ; and sometimes enlightened chiefs, who
will virtuously emancipate them.
Individuality will be a term of greater comprehension, and
nations, free and enlightened, will hereafter become one com
plex individual, as single men are now : the consequences will
be proportioned to the state of things. The communication of
knowledge will extend from society to society, till it compre
hends the whole earth. By the law of imitation the example of
one people will be followed by others, who will adopt its spirit
and its laws. Despots themselves, perceiving that they can no
longer maintain their power without justice and beneficence,
will be induced, both from necessity and rivalship, to soften the
rigour of their government; and civilization will be universal.
—Among nations there will be established an equilibrium of
force, which, confining them within the limits of just respect for
their reciprocal rights, will put an end to the barbarous practice
of war, and induce them to submit to civil arbitration the deci
sion of their disputes ; and the whole species will become one
*
grand society, one individual family governed by the same spirit,,
by common laws, and enjoying all the felicity of which human
nature is capable.
This great work will doubtless be long accomplishing, because
it is necessary that one and the same motion should be commu
nicated to the various parts of an immense body, that the same
leaven should assimilate an enormous mass of heterogeneous
elements : but this motion will effectually operate. Already
sociafat at large, having passed through the same stages as par
ticular societies have done, promises to lead to the same results.
At first, disconnected in its parts, each individual stood alone;
and this intellectual solitude constituted its age of anarchy and
childhood. Divided afterwards into sections of irregulär size,
as chance directed, which have been called states and kingdoms,
it has experienced the fatal effects which result from the ine
quality of wealth and conditions; and the aristocracy by which
great empires have domineered over their dependencies, have
formed its second age. In process of time, these paramount
chiefs of the globe have disputed with each other for superiority,
and then was seen the period of factions and civil broils. And
now the parties, tired of their discords and feeling the want
of laws, sigh for the epocha of order and tranquillity. Let but
t What is a people? An individual of the society at large. What a war?
A duel between two individual people. In what manner ought a society to
act when two of its members fight ? Interfere and reconcile, or repress therm
In the days of the Abbe de Saint Pierre this was treated as a dream, but
happily for the human race it begins to be realized.
�A SURVEY OF THEf
48
a virtuous chief arise, a powerful and just people appear, tfnd
the earth will arrive at supreme power. It waits a legislative
people ; this is the object of its wishes and its prayers, and my
heart hears its voice.—Then turning to the quarter of the West
:
*
Yes, continued he, a hollow noise already strikes my ear • the
cry of liberty, uttered upon the farther shore of the Atlantic,
has reached to the old continent. At this cry a secret murmur
against oppression is excited in a powerful nation J a salutary
,
alarm takes place respecting its situation; it inquires what it is
and what it ought to be ; it examines into its rights, its resources,
and what has been the conduct of its chiefs.—One day, one reflection more—and an immense agitation will arise, a new age
will make its appearance, an age of astonishment to vulgar
minds, of surprise and dread to tyrants, of emancipation to a
great people, and off hope to the whole world,
CHAP. XIV,
Gr
and
Ob s t a c l e t o Im pr o v e m e n t .
Th e Genius stopt. My mind, however, pre-occupied with
gloomy forebodings, yielded not to persuasion ; but fearful of
offending him by opposition, I made no reply. After a short
interval: fixing on me a look that transpierced my soul: You
are silent, said he, and your heart is agitated with thoughts
which it dares not utter!—Confused and terrified : O Genius,
I made answer, pardon my weakness : truth alone has doubt
less proceeded from your lips ; but your celestial intelligence
can distinguish its traits, where to my gross faculties there appear
nothing but clouds. I acknowledge it, conviction has not pene
trated my soul, and I feared that my doubts might give you
offence.
And what is doubt, replied he, that it should be regarded as
a crime ? Has man the power of thinking’ contrary to the im
pressions that are made upon him ? If a truth be palpable, and
its observance important, let us pity the man who does not per
ceive it: his punishment will infallibly spring from his blindness.
If it be uncertain and equivocal, how is he to find in it what does
not exist ? To believe without evidence and demonstration is an
act of ignorance and folly. The credulous man involves himself
in a labyrinth of contradictions ; the man of sense examines and
discusses every question, that he may be consistent in his opi
nions ; he can endure contradiction, because from the collision
evidence arises. Violence is the argument of falsehood; and
to impose a creed authoritatively, is the index and proceeding
of a tyrant.
Emboldened by these sentiments, I replied : O Genius, since
my reason is free, I strive in vain to welcome the flattering hope
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
49
with which you wbuld console me. The sensible and virtuous
soul is prone enough to be hurried away by dreams of fancied
happiness ; but a cruel reality incessantly reeals its attention to
suffering and wretchedness. The more I meditate on the nature
of man, the more I examine the present state of society, the less
possible does it appear to me that a world of wisdom and felicity
should ever be realized. I purvey the face of our whole hemi
sphere, and no where can I perceive the germ of a happy revo
lution. All Asia is buried in the most profound darkness. The
Chinese, subjected to an insolent despotism * dependent for
,
their fortune upon the decision of lots, and held in awe by strokes
of the bamboo, inslaved by the immutability of the codé, and by
the irremediable vice of their language, offer to view an abortive
civilization and a race of automata. The Indian, fettered by
prejudice, and manacled by the inviolable institution of his casts,
vegetates in an incurable apathy. The Tartar, wandering or
fixed, at all times ignorant and ferocious, lives in the barbarity
of his ancestors. The Arab, endowed with a happy genius, loses
its force and the fruit of his labour in the anarchy of his tribes,
and the jealousy of his families. The African, degraded from
the state of man, seems irremediably devoted to servitude. In
the North I see nothing but serfs, reduced to the level of cattle,
the live stock of the estate upon which they livet. Ignorance,
tyranny, and wretchedness, have every where struck the nations
* The emperor of China calls himself the son of heaven, that is, of God ;
for in the opinion of the Chinese, the material heaven, the arbiter of fatality,
is the Deity himself. “The emperor only shows himself once in ten months,
lest the people accustomed to see him, might lose their respect ; for he holds
it as a maxim, that power can only be supported by force, that the people have
no idea of justice, and are not to be governed but by coercion.” Narrative of
two Mahometan Travellers in 851 and 877, translated by the Abbé Renaudot
in 1718.
Notwithstanding what is asserted by the missionaries, this situation has
undergone no change. The bamboo still reigns in China, and the son of
heaven bastinades, for the most trivial fault, the Mandarin, who, in his turn,
bastinades the people. The Jesuits may tell us that this is the best governed
country in the world, and its inhabitants the happiest of men ; but a single
letter from Amyot has convinced me, that China is a Iruly Turkish govern
ment, and the account of Sonnerat confirms it. See Vol. II. of Voudqe aux
Indes, in 4to.
J
As long as the Chinese shall in writing make use of their present characters,
they can be expected to make no progress in civilization. The necessary in
troductory step must be the giving them an alphabet like our own, or the
substituting m the room of their language that of the Tartars; the improve
ment made in the latter by M. de JLengles, is calculated to introduce the
change. See the Mantchou alphabet, the production of a mind truly learned
in the formation of language.
t When this was written the revolution in Poland had not taken place. I
beg leave to apologize to the virtuous nobles and the enfightened »rince by
whom it was effected.
r
}
H
�50
A SURVEY OF THE
with stupor; and vicious habits, depraving the natural senses,
have destroyed the very instinct of happiness and truth. In some
countries of Europe, indeed, reason begins to expand its wings;
but even there, is the knowledge of individual minds common to
the nation ? Has the superiority of the government been turned
to the advantage of the people ? And these people, who call them
selves polished, are they not those who three centuries ago filled
the earth with their injustice ? Are they not those who, under
the pretext of commerce, laid India waste, dispeopled a new con
tinent, and who at present subject Africa to the most inhumane
slavery ? Can liberty spring up out of the bosom of despots, and
justice be administered by the hands of rapacity and avarice ? 0
Genius ! I have beheld civilized countries, and the illusion of
their wisdom has vanished from my sight. I saw riches accu
mulated in the hands of a few individuals, and the multitude
poor and destitute. I saw all right and power concentered in
certain classes, and the mass of the people passive and depend
ent. I saw the palaces of princes, but no incorporation of indi
viduals as such, no common-hall of nations. I perceived the
deep attention that was given to the interests of government;
but no public interest, no sympathetic spirit. I saw that the
w hole science of those who command consisted in prudently op
pressing ; and the refined servitude of polished nations only ap
peared to me the more irremediable.
With one obstacle in particular my mind was sensibly struck.
In surveying the globe, I perceived that it was divided into twenty
different systems of religious worship. Each nation has received,
or formed for itself, opposite opinions, and ascribing to itself ex
clusively the truth, has imagined every other to be in error. But
if, as is the fact, in this discordance the majority deceive them
selves with sincerity, it follows that the human mind as readily
imbibes falsehood as truth ; and in that case how is it to be en
lightened ? How are prejudices to be extirpated that first take
root in the mind ? How is the bandage to be removed from the
eyes, when the first article in every creed, the first dogma of all
religions, is the proscription of doubt, of examination, and of the
right of private judgment ? How is truth to make itself known?
If she resort to the demonstration of argument, pusillanimous
man appeals against evidence to his conscience. If she call in
the aid of divine authority, already prepossessed, he opposes an
authority of a similar kind, and treats all innovation as blas
phemy. Thus, in his blindness, rivetting the chains upon him
self, does he become the sport of his ignorance and passions.
To dissolve these fatal shackles, a miraculous concurrence of
happy circumstances would be necessary. It would be necessary
that a whole nation, cured of the delirium of superstition, should
no longer be liable to the impressions of fanaticism; that, freed
�REVOLUTIONS o f e m pir e s .
51
from the yoke of a false doctrine, it should voluntarily embrace
the genuine system of morality and reason ; that it should be
come at once courageous and prudent, Wise and docile ; t
every individual, acquainted with his rights, should scrupulously
observe their limits; and the poor should know howJo resist
seduction, and the rich the allurements of avarice; that thei e
should be found upright and disinterested chiefs; that its tyrants
should be seized with a spirit of madness and folly; that the
people, recovering their powers, should perceive their inability
to exercise them, and consent to appoint delegates ; that having
first created their magistrates, they should know both how to
respect and how to judge them ; that in the rapid renovation oi
a whole nation pervaded with abuse, each individual, removed
from his former habits, should suffer patiently the pains and self
denials annexed; in fine that the nation should have the courage
to conquer its liberty, the wisdom to secure it, the power to de
fend it, and the generosity to communicate it. Can sober judg
ment expect this combination of circumstances! Should fortune
in the infinite variety of her caprices produce them; is it likely
that I should live to see that day ? Will not this frame long be
fore that have mouldered in the tomb ?
Here, oppressed with sorrow, my heart deprived me of utter
ance. The Genius made no reply,; but in a low tone of voice I
heard him say to himself: “ Let us revive the hope of this man;
for if he who loves his fellow-creatures be suffered to despair,
what is to become of nations ? The past is perhaps but too much
calculated to deject him. Let us then anticipate futurity; let
us unveil the astonishing age that is about to rise, that virtue,
seeing the end of its wishes, animated with new vigour, my re
double its efforts to hasten the accomplishment of it.”
CHAP. XV.
Ne w Ag e .
Sc a r c e l y had the Genius uttered to himself these woids
than an immense noise proceeded from the West; and turning
my eyes to that quarter, I perceived at the extremity of the
Mediterranean, in the country of one ot the European nations,
a prodigious movement, similar to what exists in the bosom of
a large city when, pervaded with sedition, an innumerable
people, like waves, fluctuate in the streets and public places.
My ear, struck with their cries, which ascended to the very
heavens, distinguished at intervals these phrases :
4‘ What is this new prodigy ? What this cruel and mysterious
scourge ? We are a numerous people, and we want strength!
We have an excellent soil, and we are destitute of provision !
We are active and laborious, and we live in indigence ’. We pay
�52
A SURVEY OF THE
Wer“-eUattneac‘eewithn<1 T "d ‘°Id ‘hat they are "ot sufficient!
safe witbi/' WhVtih’1*’ -“la °Ur Peisons and property are not
From he Zrt „m" ” the Secret enemf that devours us!"
plied • “Erert e of.the,c<>nc““rse, some individual voices reL useful labour«
,aru °/ fl,st[nct‘0n> and let all those who,
society «rathe, r’
?t!’‘bute,ta the support and maintenance of
■preys on your vitaT” ’ “ y°“
diSC°TCr the enemy that
divTdedS.-ntndtld
eracted> 11,e na*
ion found itself suddenly
pearance the o„o°d‘eS °f una3ual “agni‘ude and dissimilar appearance . the one innumerable and nearly inteo-ral exhibited
unlurnTS1 P0™r
‘^d-ss,
¡" th’eir'me^re‘anil
a X
’ th m?rks of to11 and wretchedness ; the other
P y grouPe, a valueless faction, presented in their rich
atare, embrotdered with gold and silver, and in their sleek and
“le Sympt°“S °f laisure aad abundance
1
these men more attentively, I perceived that the
anFevS V“?‘ituted of labourers, artisan^, and tradesmen“
grounetheJwerr'0" tseful.‘° socif!ty> a»d that in the lesser
fommande™ of r
Pnests courtiers, public accountants,
Pgen^of government"
*
°r
looked „lit. bodties- ?eing front ‘° front assembled, and bavinlooked with astonishment at each other, I saw the feelings of
panFcTn X
resen‘|ne“‘ spring up in the one, and a sort of
P Whv V d hCr; and ’! large said t0 the small body:
V hy stand you apart? Are you not of our number?
nriv-?’ ?!plbed the g'rouPe; you are the people- we are a
purselvel
’
’
haVC liWSj customs and rites peculiar to
wIlatK}abour do y°u Perform in the society ?
llC aS+i ^i°ne : WG Hre not made to labour.
p
How then have you acquired your wealth ?
B?' taking the pains to g’overn you.
VC +r>;i " n ° govern us • an(l is this what you call governing ?
dotvs 1 o,n"d y°U ?JOy; "ePf°duce. and you dissipate; wealth
tinct frn ?? ? and i°U absorb ^-—Privileged men, class dis
*
solves
t ie pe°ple? form a nation aPart a«d govern your,
to *Terv soeie?^
e
“• thf PeoP’e aild the indolent classes, is applicable
' m Jrt? P
b 5 t.c°'lta,lis the stJeds of all the political vices and d borders
devO th ’T ,hU& ? defìned 5 men Wh° d0
a"d
ridhts and ex In v °f Ot 'ers ’
me,J who arrogatelo themselves particular
ònt-1 of P
h N0b ie ty
*
A?altl^PatriI- P"v'p^s of wealth and eindolence. India? the Emirs of
li‘ Nairs of Compare he Mam-
the Bonze the
R°Ine’
Christia,J ck'gy> the Imans, theBramins,
feature “’Men HvS?’ &m&C’ a“d
wiil find 111 aI1 the same characteristic
ieatme,— Men living m idleness at the expence of those vvho labour."
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
53
Then deliberating on their new situation, some among the
«'roupe said : Let us join the people, and partake their burthens
and cares; for they are men like ourselves. Others replied :
To mix with the herd would be degrading and vile ; they are
born to serve us, who are men of a superior race. The civil
governors said : the people are mild and naturally servile; let
us speak to them in the name of the King and the law, and they
will return to their duty. People; the King decrees, the sove
reign ordains.
People. The King cannot decree any thing which the safety
of the people does not demand; the sovereign cannot ordain
but according to law.
Civil Governors. The law calls upon you for submission.
People. The law is the general will; and we will a new
order.
Civil Governors. You are in that case rebels.
People. A nation cannot be a rebel; tyrants only are rebels.
Civil Governors. The King is on our side, and he enjoins you
to submit.
.
People. Kings cannot be separated from the nation in which
they reign. Our King cannot be on your side ; you have only
the phantom of his countenance.
Then the military governors advanced, and they said : The
people are timorous ; it is proper to threaten them ; they will
yield to the influence of force.—Soldiers, chastise this insolent
multitude.
People. Soldiers, our blood flows in your veins ! will you
strike your brothers ? If the people be destroyed, w7ho will main
tain the army ?
And the soldiers, grounding their arms, said to their chiefs :
We are a part of the people ; we whom you call upon to fight
against them.
Then the ecclesiastical governors said : There is but one re
source left. The people are superstitious ; it is proper to over
awe them with the name of God and religion.
Priests. Our dear brethren, our children, God has com
missioned us to govern you.
People. Produce the patent of his commission.
Priests. You must have faith ; reason leads men into guilt.
People. And would you govern us without reason ?
Priests. God is the God of peace ; religion enjoins you to
obey.
.
■ v
People. No : justice goes before peace , obedience implies a
law, and renders necessary the cognizance of it.
Priests. This world was intended for trial and suffering.
People. Do you then shew us the example of suffering.
Priests. Would you live without Gods or Kings ?
�A SURVEY OF THE
54
People. We abjure tyranny of every kind.
yourbehalfY0“ mUS‘
lnedia,or’’ Persons who
act in
People. Mediators with God, and mediators with the Kin»'
Coiirhers and priests, your services are too expensive • hencei
forth we take our affairs into our own hands.
’
Then the smaller groupe exclaimed : It is over with us • the
multitude are enlightened. And the people replied : You shall
not be hurt; we are enlightened, and we will commit no violence
We desire nothing but our rights : resentment we cannot bui
feel, but we consent to pass it by: we were slaves, we might
now command; but we ask only to be free, and free we are.g
CHAP. XVI.
A
Fr
ee a nd
Le g is l a t iv e Pe o pl e .
IhnY'Z 1? w?“'! With mj9elf thaf Public po«'« was at a stand,
that the habitual government of this people was annihilated
and I shuddered at the idea of their falling into the dissolution
of anarchy. But taking their affairs immediately into their con
sideration, they quickly dispelled my apprehensions.
It is not enough,” said they, “ that we have freed ourselves
from parasites and tyrants we must prevent for ever the revival We.arehuman beings, and we know, by dearought experience, that every human being incessantly grasps
*
Z y’ and Wlshes to enJ°y k atthe expence of others. It
theiefoie necessary to guardourselves beforehand against this
unfortunate propensity, the prolific parent of discord ; it is ne!
ee^aiy to establish rules by which our rights are to be deter
mined and our conduct governed. But in this investigation ab^nse and difficult questions are involved, which demand all the
attention and faculties of the wisest men. Occupied in our re
spective callings, we have neither leisure for these studies, nor
l7t
ofo7sJlves tothe exercise of such functions.
Let us select from our body certain individuals, to whom the emPoyment will be proper. To them let our common powers be
delegated, to frame for us a system of government and lawsivilFGn8tltll ij
t W rePresentatiyes of our interests and
our v ilk, and that t.as representation may be as accurate as
possible and have comprehended in it the whole diversity of our
wihs and interests, let the individuals that comprise it be nu
merous, and citizens like ourselves.”
1
The selection being made, the people thus addressed their
delegates : ‘ We have hitherto lived % a society formed by
chance, without used clauses, without free conventions, without
tipuiation of rights, without reciprocal engagements- and a
multitude of disorders and evils have been the result of this con-
�REVOLUTIONS o f e m pir e s .
55
fused state of things. We would now, with mature deliberation,
frame a regular compact; and we have made choice of you to
draw up the articles of it. Examine with care what ought to be
its basis and principles. Investigate the object and tendency of
every association ; observe what are the rights which every inividual brings into it, the powers he cedes for the! Publ*c
and the powers which he reserves entire to himself
nicate to us equitable laws and rules of conduct. Prepaie for
us a new system of government, for we feel that the pnnc.nles
which to this day have guided us, are corrupt. Our fathers have
wandered in the paths of ignorance, and we from habit have
trod in their steps. Every thing is conducted by vlolei?P®’£r^jI2
or delusion ; and the laws of morality and reason are still buried
in obscuritv. Do you unfold the chaos ; discover the time, 01der and connexion of things; publish your code of laws and
rights ; and we will conform to it.
.
c ,
And the people raised an immense throne in the form of a
pyramid, and seating upon it the men they had chosen, said to
them : 44 We raise you this day above us, that you may take a
more comprehensive view of our relations, and be exalted above
the atmosphere of our passions.
<c But remember that you are citizens like ourselves; that the
power which we confer upon you belongs to us ; that we give it
as a trust for which you are responsible, not as exclusive property,
or hereditary right; that the laws which you make, you will be
the first to submit to ; that to-morrow you will descend trom
your stations, and rank again with us ; and that you will have
acquired no distinguishing right, but the right.to our gratitude
and esteem. And oh ! with what glory will the universe, that
reveres so many apostles of error, honour the first assembly of
enlightened and reasonable men, who shall have declared the
immutable principles of justice to mankind, and consecrated, in
the very face of tyrants, the rights of nations.”
CHAP. XVII.
Un iv e r s a l Ba s is o f a l l Rig h t a n d a l l La w .
Th e s e men, chosen by the people to investigate the true prin
ciples of morality and reason, then proceeded to the object ot
their mission ; and, after a long examination, having discovered
a universal and fundamental principle, they said to their consti
tuents : 44 We have employed our faculties in the investigation
you demand of us, and we conceive the following to be the prim
ordial basis and physical origin of all justice and all right.
« Whatever be 'the active power, the moving cause, that
directs the universe, this power having given to all men the
same organs, the same sensations, and the same wants, has there-
�ès
À SURVEY OÉ THÉ
by sufficierftly declared that it has also Hven them the «ma,
its
anJ
o^cr°?dl inasrnucI1 as this power has given to every man
elearlv foItowsPthaTall”8’ Hnd mainta.lnin§’ his °wn existence, it
othec,^^
~ «r^^““hat aH men arc the u"iimited p^-
te“A»ai?n tIlep,’ty,slcal Properties of inanimate nature.11 lmmU'
S8SS5S S=; - '■•■ - ••'X
th^othm^i^a of equiîyVnd6 justice e^Ua^i^1F^me^ a^iy^^
*
*
‘V
We are bound, however, to observe to von
r
a.^“"±0^0 'rU,t aTfreme S110Ck tâ “red in
contracts must be dissolv^unjust^rgudice^lbolisbed 'im^”3
perty abXatedS.S^r?ndered>and ¡>"9^0,^'descriptions of pK
perty abrogated : m fine, yon must set out once more from the
■K?e- etym°l°gy of the words themselves trace out tn
<j •
eçuîWrzum> equalitas, equitas are al J of
F È Î ? tl,s connex>on ■
equality in the scales of a balance is f he
family, and the physical idea of
t In the declaration of rfJhtX.^"''06
a" the Pt
liberty being placed before pninlik J Ulvfrsi°n of ideas in the first article, .
defect is not to be wondered^!- th/ 0™ whlcb lt,HI reality springs. This
*
science it was invented yesterday bv the’°f
ngl!fS °f man is a ilew
perfecting it, but there vet remain«
.
Amencans, to-day the French are
constitute it there is aY genealogical ^rd^V-0?6 JOne’. I»the ideas that
equality, to the minutest and most re
i W n,c ’’ from ifs basis- physical
proceed in an uninterrupted series of f * brauchea,°.f government, ought to
>n the second part of this work.
’«ferences. This will be demonstrated
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
57
state of nature. Consider whether you are capable of these
mighty sacrifices.”
.
They concluded: and, while I reflected upon the inherent
cupidity of the human heart, I was induced to believe that the
people would reject a melioration presented under such austere
colours. I was mistaken. Instantly a vast crowd of men thronged
towards the throne, and solemnly abjured all riches and all dis
tinctions. “ Unfold to us, (cried they), the laws of equality
and liberty: we disclaim all future possession that is not held
in the sacred name of justice. Equality, liberty, justice^ these
are our inviolable code; these names shall inscribe our standard.
Immediately the people raised a mighty standard, varied with
three colours, and upon which those three words were written.
They unfurled it over the throne of the legislators, and now for
the first time the symbol of universal and equal justice appeared
upon the earth. In front of the throne the people built an
altar, on which they placed golden scales, a sword, and a book
with’this legend: t o e q u a l l a w , t h e pr o t e c t o r , a n d t h e
j u d g e . They then drew round the throne a vast ampitheatre,
and the nation seated itself to hear the publication of the law.
Millions of men, in act of solemn appeal to heaven, lifted up
their hands together, and swore, “ that they would live equal,
free, and just; that they would respect the rights and property
of each other ; that they would yield obedience to the law and
its ministers regularly appointed.
A sight like this, so full of sublimity and energy, so interest
ing by the generous emotions it implied, melted me into tears ;
and addressing myself to the Genius, I said : “ Now may I live 1
for after this there is nothing which I am not daring enough
to hope.”
CHAP. XVIII.
Co n s t e r n a t io n a n d Co n s pir a c y o p Ty r a n t s .
Me a n w h il e , scarcely had the solemn cry of liberty and
equality resounded through the earth, when astonishment and
apprehension were excited in the different nations. In one place,
the multitude, moved by desire, but wavering between hope
and fear, between a sense of their rights and the habitual yoke
of slavery, betrayed symptoms of agitation : in another, kings
suddenly roused from the sleep of indolence and despotism, were
alarmed for the safety of their thrones : every where those
classes of civil and religious tyrants, who deceive princes and
oppress the people, were seized with rage and consternation ;
and, concerting plans of perfidy, they said one to another:
“ Woe be to us, should this fatal cry of liberty reach the ear of
the multitude, and this destructive spirit of justice be dis-
�58
A SURVEY OF THE
seeing the standard waving in the air •
fhZ?2'7™ ?! eviIs’” cried they, “ are included in these
three words . If all men are equal, where is our exclusive right
to honours and power ? If all men are or ought to be free, what
becomes of our slaves, our vassals, our property ? If all are
^ual in a civil capacity, where are our privileges of birth and
succession, and what becomes of nobility ? If all are equal be
fore God, where will be the need of mediators, and what is to
come o the priesthood ? Ah ! let us accomplish, without a
inoment s delay, the destruction of a germ so prolific and contagious. let us employ the whole force of our art against this
Calamity. Let us sound the alarm to kings, that they may ioin
in our cause. Let us divide the people ; let us engage thei in
Si’ and f
aside their attention by conquests and national
j ousj. Let Us excite their apprehensions respecting the
p wei o
is free nation. Let us form a grand league against
the comhion enemy. Let us pull down the sacrilegious standard,
demolish this throne of rebellion, and quench this fire of revolu
tion in its outset,
|Jealit>r the
and religious tyrants of the people
entered into a general combination, and having gained, either
by constraint or seduction, multitudes on thefo side, they adhost,1le1man«er against the free nation. Surround
in the altar ancUhrone of natural law, they demanded, with
loud cries :
What is this new and heretical doctrine ? What
this impious altar, this sacrilegious worship ? True believers
and royal subjects ! Would you not suppose that to-day truth
has been first discovered, and that hitherto you have been in
volved in error! Would you not suppose that these men, more
o tunate than yourselves, have alone the privilege of being
use.
nd you, rebel and guilty nation, do you not feel that
your chiefs mislead you ? that they adulterate the principles of
your faith, and overturn the religion of your fathers ? Tremble
4 Wrali °f heaven !>e lifted against you; and hasten by
speedy repentance to expiate your error.”
, i t.1inaccesSjble \o seduction as to terror, the free nation
p si ence : it maintained an exact discipline in arms, and
continued to exhibit an imposing attitude.
And the legislators said to the chiefs of nations : “If when
we^went on with our eyes hood-winked, our steps did not fail
eenig ened, why now that the bandage is removed, should
We conceive that we are involved in darkness ? If we, who pre6 <1 iPan^ind * exert their faculties, deceive and mislead
°
• ’’
? ca.n
expected from those who desire only to
wa ntam them in blindness ? Ye chiefs of nations, if you possess
truth, communicate it: we shall receive it with gratitude : for
with ardour we pursue it, and with interest shall engage in the
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
59
discovery. We are men and may be deceived ; but you also are
men, and as fallible as ourselves. Assist us in this labyrinth,
in which the human species has wandered fpr so many ages ;
assist us to dissipate the illusion of evil habits and prejudice.
Enter the lists with us in the shock of opinions which dispute
for our acceptance, and engage with us in tracing the pure and
proper character of truth. Let us terminate to-day the long
combat of error; let us establish between it and truth a solemn
contest: let us call in men of every nation to assist us in the
judgment: let us convoke a general assembly of the world; let
them be judges in their own cause ; and in the successive trial
of every system, let no champion and no argument be wanting
to the side of prejudice or of reason. In fine, let a fair exami
nation of the result of the whole give birth to universal harmony
of minds and opinions.”
CHAP. XIX.
Ge n e r
al
As s e m b l y o f t h e Pe o pl e .
Th u » spoke the legislators of this free people; and the multi
tude, seized with the spirit of admiration, which every reasonable
proposition never fails to inspire, shouted their applause, and
the tyrants remained alone, overwhelmed with confusion.
A scene of a new and astonishing nature then presented itself
to my view. All the people and nations of the globle, every
race of men from every climate, advancing on all sides, seemed
to assemble in one inclosure, and form in distinct groupes an
immense congress. The motley appearance of this innumerable
crowd, occasioned by their diversity of dress, of features, and
of complexion, exhibited a most extraordinary and most attrac
tive spectacle.
On one side I could distinguish the European with his short
and close habit, his triangular hat, smooth chin, and powdered
hair; and on the opposite side the Asiatic with a flowing robe,
a long beard, a shaved head, and a circular turban. Here I
observed the inhabitants of Africa, their skin of the colour of
ebony, their hair woolly, their body girt with white and blue
fish-skin, and adorned with bracelets and collars of corals, shells,
and glass-beads ; there the northern tribes, inveloped in bags of
of skin; the Laplander with his piked bonnet and his snow
shoes ; the Saraoiede with glowing limbs and with a strong
odour; the Tongouse with his bonnet shaped like a horn, and
carrying his idols pendant from his neck; the Yakoute with his
freckled skin; the Calmuck with flattened nose and with little
eyes, forced as it were to have ho correspondence with each
other. Farther in the distance were the Chinese, attired in
silk, and with their hair hanging in tresses; the Japanese of
�60
A SURVEY OF THE
mingled race; the Malayans with spreading ears, with a ring
in their nose, and with a vast hat of the leaves of the palm-tree
*
and the Tatoued inhabitants of the islands of the ocean and of
the continent of tl?e Antipodesd. The contemplation of one
species thus infinitely varied, of one understanding thus modified
with extravagance, of one organization assuming so contrary
appearances, gave me a very complicated sensation, and excited
in me a thousand thoughts^. I contemplated with astonishment
this gradation of colour, from a bright carnation to a brown
scarcely less bright, a dark brown, a muddy brown, bronze, olive
leaden, copper, as far as to the black of ebony and jet. I ob
served the Cassimerean, with his rose-coloured cheek, next in
vicinity to the sun-burnt Hindoo; the Georgian standing by
the Tartar; and I reflected upon the effect of climate, hot or cold
of soil mountainous or deep, marshy or dry, wooded or open’
I compared the dwarf of the pole with the giant of the temperate
Zone ; the lank Arab with the pot-bellied Hollander ; the squat
figure of the Samoiede with the tall and slender form of the
Sclavcmian and the Greek; the greasy and woolly head of the
Negro with the shining locks of the Dane ; the flaUfaced
Cal muck, with his eyes angle-wise to each other and his nose
crushed, to the oval and swelling visage, the large blue eyes,
and the aquiline nose, of the Circassian and the Abassin. I
contrasted the painted linens of India with the workmanlike
cloths of Europe ; the rich furs of Silesia : the various clothing
of savage nations, skins of fishes, platting of reeds, interweavin«
*
of leaves and feathers, together with the blue stained figures of
serpents, stars, and flowers, with which their skin is varied.
Sometimes the general appearance of this multitude reminded
me of the enamelled meadows of the Nile and the Euphrates,
when after rains and inundations, millions of flowers unfold them’
selves on all sides ; and sometimes it resembled, in murmuring
*This species oí' the palm-tree is called Latanier. Its leaf, similar to a fan
mount, grows upon a stalk issuing directly from the earth. A specimen may
be seen in the botanic garden,
t The country of the Papons, pr New Guinea.
t A hall of costumas in one of the galleries of the Louvre, would in every
point of view be an interesting establishment ; it would furnish an admirable
treat to the curiosity of a great number of men, excellent models to the artist,
and useful subjects of meditation to the physician, the philosopher, and the
legislator. Picture to yourself a collection of the various faces and figures ¿f
every country and nation, exhibiting accurately colour, features and form ;
what a fieid of investigation and enquiry as to the influence of climate, manners,
aliment, &c 1 It might truly be styled the science, of man 1 Buffon has attempted
a chapter of this nature, but it only serves to exhibit more strikingly our actual
ignorance. Such a collection it is said is begun at Petersburgh, but it is said
at the same time, to be as imperfect as the vocabulary of the 300 languages.
The enterprize would be worthy of the French nation.
■? "■
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
61
sound and busy motion, the innumerable swarms of grasshoppers
which alight in the spring like a cloud upon the plains of Hauran.
At si Hit of so many living and percipient animals, 1 recollected,
on one° side, the immense multitude of thoughts and sensations
which were crowded into this space ; and on the other, reflected
on the contest of so many opinions and prejudices, ana the
struggle of so many capricious passions ; and I was struck with
astonishment, admiration, and apprehension. When the legis
lators, have enjoined silence, presently fixed my attention on
themselves.
« Inhabitants of the earth, (said they), a free and powerful
nation addresses you in the name of justice and of peace, and
offers, as the sure pledge of its sincerity, its conviction and ex
perience. We were for a long time tormented with the same
evils as you ; we have enquired into their origin, and we have
found them to be derived from violence and injustice, which the
inexperience of past ages established into laws, and the pi ejudices
of the present generation have supported and cherished. Then,
abolishing every factious and arbitrary institution, and ascend
ing to thè source of reason and of right, we perceived that there
existed in the order of the universe, and in the physical constitution of man5 eternal and immutable laws^ which waited only his
observance to render him happy. O men of different climes !
look to the heavens that give you light, to the earth that nourishes
you ! Since they present to you all the same gifts ; since the
Power that directs their motions has bestowed on you the same
life, the same organs, the same wants, has it not also given you
the same right to the use of its benefits ? Has it not hereby de
clared you alito be equal and free ? What mortal then shall
dare refuse to his fellow creature that which is granted him by
nature ? O nations ! let us banish all tyranny and discord ; let
us form one society, one vast family ; and, since mankind are all
constituted alike, let there henceforth exist but one law, that of
nature ; one code, that of reason ; one throne, that of justice ;
one altar, that of union.”
They ceased : and the multitude rended the skies with ap
plause and acclamation ; and in their transports made the earth
resound with the words equality, justice, union ! But different
feelings presently succeeded to this first emotion. The doctors
and chiefs of the people exciting in them a spirit of disputation,
there arose a kind of murmur, which, spreading from groupe to
groupe, was converted to uproar, and from uproar into disorder
of the first magnitude. Every nation assumed exclusive preten
sions, and claimed the preference for its own opinions and code.
You are in error,” said the parties, pointing to each other ;
« we alone are in possession of reason and truth : ours is the
true law, the genuine rule of justice and right, the sole means
�A SURVEY OF THE
*
^nd PTrf€ct?on: all other men are either blind or
rebellious
And the agitation became extreme.
1 !he Ieglslators having proclaimed silence : “ People (said
wHWh-y what ImPulse of passion are you agitated .' Where
will this quarrel conduct you ? What advantage do you expect
fi om this dissension? For ages has the earth been a field of
disputation, and torrents of blood have been shed to decide the
controveisy, what profit have you reaped from so many combats
and tears? When the strong has subjected the weakTo his
<’niaS
therTby furthered the cause of evidence and
tiuth. O nations, take counsel of your own wisdom ’ If dis
putes arise between families, or individuals, by what mode do
yqu leconcile them ; do you not appoint arbitrators ?” “ Yes ”
exclaimed the multitude unanimously. “ Treat then the authors
of your present dissensions in a similar manner. Command
ymi^hd^creed tTdelVeS
instructors’ and
™pose oQ
y Ue r creed> to discuss in your presence the arguments on
Stan?’1S1 fo,unded- Since ^ey appeal to your interests, under
stand in what manner your interests are treated by them. And
in fhp HrfS aiid doctoJs of the People, before you involve them
in the discoi dance of your opinions, let the reasons for and
Xmn
T °Pimons be, iahdy discussed. Let us establish a
conhoversy, a public investigation of truth, not before
the tribunal of a frail individual, or a prejudiced pirtv/but in
UPlted lnformation and interests of mankind *
and j1udgl^IlatUral SenSe °f the Wh°le speeies
our arbitrator
In v e s t
CHAP. XX.
ig a t io n
of
Tr u t h .
Th e . people having by shouts expressed their approbation
the legislators sa.d : “ that we may proceed in this grand work
wi ll order and regularity, let a spacious amphitheatre be formed
of reti.d
T r altaruf “mon and peace: let each system
li^ion, and each particular sect, erect its proper and distxngu,shmg standard in points of the circumference; let its
hiets and its doctors place themselves round it and let their
*? " ris!'tline ‘<™™ted by the standard.”
11^ amphitheatre being traced out, and order proclaimed, a
prodigious number of standards were instantly raised, sSar
the’flaaslfVh.111/ CJ>“'1;ercia' P°rt’ wben ™ days of festivity,
si-rlit of this
r-e,-natl^!ls st^eanl prom a barest of masts. At
G"1 ins ■ T spar
‘‘“S d*ve,?“J> 1 addressed myself to the
intn
1 -caieely supposed the earth, said I, to be divided
vnto moie than eight or ten different systems of relio-ion and I
X,dTtt° ,c<)"«iiatio" = !’»"' caa I now'hopeforconcoi’d
when I behold thousands of different parties ’ —These, how-. '
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
63
ever, replied the Genius, are but a part of what exist; and yet
they would be intolerant.
As the groupes advanced to take their stations, the Genius,
pointing out to me the symbols and attributes of each, thus ex
plained to me then- meaning.
That first groupe, said he, with a green standard, on which
you see displayed a cross, a bandage, and a sabre, is formed of
the followers of the Arabian prophet. To believe in a God
(without knowing what he is); to have faith in the words of a man
(without understanding the language in which he speaks); to
travel into a desert in order to pray to the Deity (who is every
where) ; to wash the hands with water (and not abstain from
blood); to fast all day (and practise intemperance at night) ; to
give alms of their own property (and to plunder the property of
their neighbour): such are the means of perfection instituted by
Mahomet, such the signals and characteristics of his true
followers ; and whoever professes not these tenets, is considered
as a reprobate, has the sacred anathema denounced against him,
and he is devoted to the sword. A God of clemency, the author
of life, has, according to them, instituted these laws of oppres
sion and murder; has instituted them for the whole universe,
though he has condescended to reveal them but to one man : has
established them from all eternity, though they were made
known by him but yesterday. These laws are sufficient for all
the purposes of life, and yet a volume is added to them ; this
volume was to diffuse light, to exhibit evidence, to lead to per
fection and happiness, and yet, in the very life-time of its pro
phet, its pages," every where abounding with obscure, ambigu
ous, and contradictory passages, needed explanation and com
mentaries ; and the persons who undertook to interpret them,
varying in opinion, became divided into sects and parties oppo
site and inimical to each other. One maintains that Ali is the
true successor, and another takes the part of Omar and Aboubekre. This denies the eternity of the Koran, that the neces
sity of ablutions and prayers. The Carmite proscribes pilgrim
age, and allows the use of wine ; the Hakemite preaches the
doctrine of transmigration, and thus are there sects to the num
ber of seventy-two, of which you may enumerate the different
.
*
standards
In this discordance, each ascribing the evidence
exclusively to itself, and stigmatising the rest with heresy and
rebellion, has turned against them its sanguinary zeal. And
this religion, which celebrates a beneficent and merciful God,
the common parent of the whole human race, converted into a
* The Mussulmans enumerate in common seventy-two sects ; but I read,
while I resided among them, a work which gave an account of more than
eighty, ail equally wise arid important.
�64
A SURVEY OF THE
torch of discord, and an incentive to Avar, has never ceased for
twelve hundred years to whelm the earth in blood, and spread
ravage and desolation from one extremity of the ancient hemi
sphere to the other
.
*
The men you see distinguished by their vast white turbans,
their hanging sleeves and long rosaries, are the Imans, the
Mollas, and the Muftis ; and not far from them are the Dervises
with a pointed bonnet, and the Santons with their sacred tonsure. They utter with vehemence their several confessions of
faith ; they dispute with eagerness respecting the more or less
important sources of impurity ; the mode of performing ablu-tions ; the attributes and perfections of God ; the Chaitan and
the good and evil Genii; death; the resurrection ; the interro
gatory which succeeds the tomb ; the passage of the perilous
bridge, and its hair-breadth escapes ; the balance of good and
bad works ; the pains of hell, and the joys of paradise.
By the side of these, that still more numerous groupe, with
standards of a white ground strewed with crosses, consists of
the worshippers of Jesus. Acknowledging the same God as the
Mussulmans, founding their belief on the same books, admitting
like them a first man, who lost the whole human race by eating
an apple, they yet feel towards them a holy horror ; and from
motives of piety, these two sects reciprocally treat each other as
impious men and blasphemers. Their chief point of dissension
is, that the Christian, after admitting the unity and indivisibility
of God, proceeds to divide him into three persons, making of
each an entire and complete God, and yet preserving an identical
whole : he adds, that this Being, who fills the universe, reduced
himself to the stature and form of a man, and assumed material,
perishable, and limited organs, w ithout ceasing to be immaterial,
eternal, and infinite. The Mussulman, on the contrary, not
able to comprehend these mysteries, though he readily conceives
of the eternity of the Koran, and the mission of the prophet,
treats them as absurdities, and rejects them as the visions of a
disordered brain. Hence result the most implacable animosities.
Divided among themselves, the Christian sects are not less
numerous than those of the Mussulman religion ; and the quar
rels that agitate them are by so much the more violent, since the
objects for which they contend being inaccessible to the senses,
and of consequence incapable of demonstration, the opinions of
each sectary can have no other foundation than that of his w ill
* Read the history of Islamism by its own writers, and you will be convinced
that one of the principal causes of the wars which have desolated Asia and
Africa since the days of Mahomet, has been the apostolical fanaticism of itsdoctrine. Caesar has been supposed to have destroyed three millions of men : it
would be interesting to make a similar calculation respecting every founder of
a religious system.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
65
or caprice. Thus agreeing that God is an incomprehensible and
unknown being, they nevertheless dispute respecting his essence,
his mode of acting, and his attributes. Agreeing that his sup
posed transformation into man, is an enigma above the human
understanding, they still dispute respecting the confusion or the
distinction of two wills and two natures, the change of sub
stance, the real or fictitious presence, the mode of incarnation,
&c. &c. Hence innumerable sects, of which two or three hun
dred have already perished, and three or four hundred others
still exist, and are represented by that multitude of colours in
which your sight is bewildered. The first in order, surrounded
by a groupe absurd and discordant in their attire, red, purple,
black, white, and speckled, with heads wholly or partially shaved,
Or with their hair short, with red caps, square caps, here with
mitres, there with beards, is the standard of the Roman pontiff,
who, applying to the priesthood the pre-eminence of his city in
the civil order, has erected his supremacy into a point of religion,
and made of his pride an article of faith.
At the right, you see the Greek Pontiff, who, proud of the
rivalship set up by his metropolis, opposes equal pretensions, and
supports them against the Western churcn, by the superior an
tiquity of that of the East. At the left, are the standards of two
recent chiefs who, throwing off a yoke that was become tyran
,
*
nical, have, in their reform, erected altars against altars, and.
gained half Europe from the Pope. Behind them are the inferior
sects into which these grand parties are again subdivided, the
Nestorians, the Eutycheans, the Jacobites, the Iconoclasts, the
Anabaptists, the Presbyterians, the Wiclifites, the Osiandrins,
the Manicheans, the Pietists, the Adamites, the Enthusiasts, the
Quakers, the Weepers, together with a hundred others +; all of
distinct parties, of a persecuting spirit when strong, tolerant when
weak, hating each other in the name of a God of peace, forming
to themselves an exclusive paradise in a religion of universal
charity, each dooming the rest, in another World, to endless tor
ments, and realizing here the imaginary hell of futurity.
Next to this groupe, observing a single standard of a hyacinth
2yr’ round which were gathered men in all the various dresses
of Europe and Asia: Here, said I to the Genius, we shall at
least find unanimity.—At first sight, replied he, and fr om an
incidental and temporary circumstance this would seem to be the
case: but do you not know what system of worship it is ?—Then
perceiving in Hebrew letters the monogram of God, and branches
* Luther and Calvia.
T Consult upon this subject Dictionnaire des Heresies par I'abbe Pluqnet, in
two voiunies, 8vo.; a work admirably calculated to inspire the mind with
philosophy in the sense that the Lacedemonians taught their children tempe
rance, by shewing to them the drunken Heliotes.
K
�66
A SURVEY OF THE
of the palm-tree in the hands of the Rabbins : Are not these,
said I, the children of Moses, dispersed over the earth, and who,
holding every nation in abhorrence, have been themselves uni
versally despised and persecuted ?—Yes, replied the Genius, and
it is for this very reason that, having neither time nor liberty to
dispute, they have preserved the appearance of unanimity. But
in their re-union, no sooner shall they compare their principles,
and reason upon their opinions, than they will be divided, as for
merly, at least into two principal sects one of which, taking
,
*
advantage of the silence of their legislator, and confining itself
to the literal sense of his books, will deny every dogma not there
in clearly understood, and of consequence will reject, as inven
tions, the immortality of the soul, its transmigration into an
abode of happiness or seat of pain, its resurrection, the la.st
judgment, the existence of angels, the revolt of a fallen spirit,
and the poetical system of a world to come: and this favoured
people, whose perfection consists in the cutting oft a moi sei of
their flesh, this atom of people, that, in the ocean of mankind,
is but as a small wave, and that pretends that the whole was made
for them alone, will farther reduce by one half, in consequence
of their schism, their already trivial weight in balance of the universe.
The Genius then directed my attention to another groupe, the
individuals of which were clothed in white robes, had a veil
covering the mouth, and were ranged round a standard of the
colour of the clouds gilded by the rising sun. On this standaid
was painted a globe, one hemisphere of which was black and the
other white. The fate of these disciples of Zoroaster+, con
tinued he, this obscure remnant of a people once so powerful,
will be similar to that of the Jews. Dispersed as they are at
present among other nations, and persecuted by all, they receive
without discussion the precepts that are taught them : but so soon _
as their Mobed and their Destours | shall be restored to their
full prerogatives, the controversy will be revived respecting the
good and the bad principle, the combats of Ormuz, God of light,
and Abrimanes, God of darkness; the literal or allegorical senses
of these combats; the good and evil Genii; the worship of fire
and the elements ; pollution and purification ; the resurrection
of the body, or the soul, or both ||; the renovation of the pre• The Sadducees and the Pharisees.
t They are the Parses, better known by the opprobrious name of’Gaures or
, Guebros, ^npthep wore} for infidels. The namp oftheip pope or high priest is
Mobed.
J Their Destours; that is to sdy, their priests. See, respecting the rites of
this religion, Henry Lord Hyde, and the Zendavesta. Their costnma is a robe
with a belt of four knots, and a veii over the mouth for fear of polluting the
fire with thgir breath.
[| flip Zoroastrian§ are divided between two opinions, one party believing
�EVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
67
S6rtt world, or the production of a new which is to succeed it.
The Parses will ever divide themselves into sects, by so much
the more numerous as their families shall have contracted dif>
ferent manners or opinions during their dispersion,
Next to these are standards, which exhibit upon a blue ground
monstrous figures of human bodies, double, triple, or quadruple,
with the heads of lions, boars, and elephants, and tails of fishes,
tortoises, &c. These are the standards of the Indian sects,-who
find their Gods amidst the animal creation, and the souls of their
kindred in reptiles and insects. These men anxiously support
hospitals for the reception of hawks, serpents, and rats, and look
with horror upon their brethren of mankind! They purify them
selves with the dung and urine of a cow, and consider themselves
as polluted by the touch of a heretic! They wear a net over
their mouths, lest by accident a fly should get down their throat,
and they should thus interrupt the progress of a purified spirit
in its purgatory; but with all this humanity in unintelligible
cases, they think themselves obliged to let a Paria * perish with
hunger rather than relieve him ! They worship the same Gods,
but inlist themselves under hostile standards.
This first standard, separated from the rest, and on which you
see represented a figure with four heads, is the standard of Brama,
who, though the Creator of the universe, has neither followers
nor temples, and who, reduced to serve as a pedestal to the
Lingam +, receives no other mark of attention than a little water
sprinkled every morning over his shoulder by the Bramin, and a
barren song in his praise.
The second standard, on which you see pai nted a kite, his
body scarlet and his head white, is that of the Vichenou, who;,
though the preserver of the universe, has passed a part of his
life in malevolent actions. Sometimes you see him under the
hideous forms of a boar and lion, tearing the entrails of man
kind ; sometimes under that of a horsej, soon to appear upon
the face of the earth, with a sabre in his hand, to destroy the
present inhabitants of the world, to darken the stars, to drive
the planets from their spheres, to shake the whole earth, and
that both soul ancl body will rise ; the other, thrft it will be the soul only. The
Christians and Mahometans have embraced the most solid of the two.
* According to the system of the Metempsychosis, a soul to undergo purifi
cation, passes into the body of some insect or animal. It is of importance not
to disturb this penance, as the work must, in that case, begin afresh.—Pari#.
This is the name of a cast or tritfe' reputed unclean, because they eat of what
has enjoyed life+ Brama,—reduced to serve as a pedestal to the Lingham. See Sonner&t,
Voyage aux Indes, Vol. 1.
j These are the incarnations of Vichenou, or metamorphoses of the sun. He
is to come at the end of the world, that is, at the expiration of the great
period, in the form of a horse, like the four horses of the apocalypse.
�68
A SURVEY OF THE
to oblige the mighty serpent to vomit a flame which shall con
sume the globe.
The third standard is that of Chiven, the destroyer of all
things, the God of desolation, and who nevertheless has for his
emblem the instrument of production ; he is the most detestable
or the three, and he has the greatest number of followers.
Proud of his attribute and character, his partizans in their devo
*
tions express every sort of contempt for the other Gods, his
equals and his brothers, and imitating the inconsistency that
characterises him, they profess modesty and chastity, and at the
same time publicly crown with flowers' and bathe with milk and
honey, the obscene image of the Lingam.
Behind them came the less magnificent standards of a multi
tude of Gods, male, female, and hermaphrodite, related to and
connected with the three principal, who pass their lives in in
testine war, and are in this respect imitate^ by their worshippers.
1 hese Gods have need of nothing, and receive offerings without
ceasing. Their attributes are omnipotence and ubiquity, and a
Bramin with some petty charm imprisons them in an image, or
in a pitcher, and retails their favours according to his will and
pleasure.
At a still greater distance you will observe a multitude of
other standards, which upon a yellow ground, common to them
all, have different emblems figured, and are the standards of one
God, who, under various names, is acknowledged by the nations
of the East. The Chinese worship him under the name of Fot +;
the Japanese denominate him Budso ; the inhabitants of Ceylon,
Beddhou; the people of Laos, Chekia ; the Peguan, Phta ; the
Siamese, Sommona-Kodom; the people of Thibet, Budd and
La; all of them agree as to most points of his history; they
celebrate his penitence, his sufferings, his fasts, his functions of
mediator and expiator, the enmity of another God his adversary,
the combats of that adversary and his defeat: but they disagree
respecting the means of recommending themselves to his favour,
respecting rites and ceremonies, respecting the dogmas of their
* When a sectary of Chi ven hears the name of Vichenon pronounced, he
stops Jus ears, flies, and purifies himself
,,anie this God is Halts, which in Hebrew signifies an egg,
-lie Arabs pronounce it Baidh, giving to the dh an emphatic sound which
makes it approach to dz. Kempfer, an accurate traveller, writes it Budso,
which must be pronounced Boudso, whence is derived the name of Budsoist
and of Bonze, applied to the priests Clement of Alexandria, in his Stromata
writes it Bedov, as it is pronounced also by the Chingulais; and St. Jerome,
Houdda and Benita. At Thibet they call it Budd ; and hence the name of the
countjy caned Boudtan, and Tibudd: it was iii tins province that this system x
f? religion was first inculcated in Upper Asia ; La is a corruption of A llak,
the name of-God in the Syriac language, from which many of the Eastern
laiects appear to be derived. The Chinese having neither 5 nor d9 have
supplied their place by /and t, and have therefore said JW.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
69
interior and their public doctrine. Thus the Japanese Bonze, in .a
yellow robe, and with his head uncovered, preaches the eternity
of souls and their successive transmigration into different bodies ;
while his rival, the Sintoist, denies that the soul can exist independantlv of the senses and maintains that it is the mere
,
*
result of the organization with which it is connected, and with
which it perishes, as Die sound of a flute is annihilated when
you break it in peaces. Near him the Siamese, with shaved
«ye-brows, and with the Talipat screen in his handf, recommends
alms-giving, purifications and offerings, at the very time that li®
believes in blind necessity and immutable fate. The Chinese
Ho-Chang sacrifices to the souls of his ancestors, while his
neighbour the follower of Confucius, pretends to discover his
future destiny by the tossing of counters and the conjunction of
the stars j;. Observe this infant attended by a numerous crowd
of priests with yellow garments and bonnets : he is the grand
Lama, and the God of Thibet has just become incarnate in his
person)}. He however has a rival on the banks of the Baikal;
nor is the Calmuc Tartar in this respect any way behind the
Tartar of La-sa. They are agreed in this important doctrine^,
that God can become incarnate only in a human body, and
scorn the stupidity of the Indian, who looks down with reverence
upon cow-dung, though they themselves preserye with no less
awe the excrements of their pontiff^.
As these standards passed, an innumerable crowd of others
presented themselves to our eyes, and the Genius exclaimed;
See in Kempfer the doctrine of the Sintoists, which is a mixture of that of
Epicurus and of the Stoics. *
t It is a Leaf of the Latanier, species of the palm-tree. Hence the Bonzes of
*• larn take the appellation of Talapoin. The use of this screen is an pyrlnov«
Bonzes. It is, indeed, the malady of every eastern nation.
H 'Ike Grand Lama. The Delai-La-HIa, or immense high priests of La. is
the same person whom we find mentioned in our old books of travels, by the
name of I rester John, from a corruption of the Persian word Djehan, which
sigmhes the world, to which has been prefixed the French word prestre or
pretre, priest. Thus the priest world and the God world are in the Persian
idiom the same.
§ In a recent expedition, the English have found certain idols of the Lamas
"'æd >n the inside with sacred pastils from the close-stool of the high priest.
Air. Hastings, and Colonel Politer, who is now at Lausanne, are living
witnesses of this fact, and undoubtedly worthy of credit. It will be very
extraordinary to observe, that this disgusting ceremony is connected with a
Piotound philosophical system, to wit, that of the metempsychosis, admitted
ny the Lamas. When the Tartars swallow these sacred relics, which they
are accustomed to do, they imitate the laws of the universe, the parts of which
are incessantly absorbed and pass into the substano of each other. It is upmt
t ie model of the serpent who devours his tail, and this serpent is Budd and
�A SURVEY OF THE
'tO
I should never come to a conclusion, were I to detail to you all
the different systems of belief which divide these nations. Here
the Tartar Hordes adore, under the figure of animals, insects,
and birds, the good and the evil Genii, who, under a principal
but indolent divinity, govern the universe, by their idolatry,
giving us an image of the ancient paganj^m of the western world.
You see the strange dress of their Chamans, a robe of leather
fringed with little bells and rattles, embroidered with idols of
iron, claws of birds, skins of serpents, and heads of owls : they
are agitated with artificial convulsions, and with magical cries
evoke the dead to deceive the living. In this place you behold
the sooty inhabitants of Africa, who, while they worship their
Fetiches, entertain the same opinions. The inhabitant of Juida
adores God under the figure of an enormous serpent, which for
their misfortune the swine reward as a delicious morsel
.
*
The
Telutean dresses the figure of his God in a variety of gaudy
colours, like a Russian soldier; and the Kamchadale, finding
that every thing goes on ill in this world, and under his climate,
represents God to himself under the figure of an ill-natured and
arbitrary old manf, smoking his pipe and sitting in his traineau
employed in the hunting of foxes and martins. In line, there
are a hundred other savage nations, who, entertaining none of
these ideas of civilized countries respecting God, the soul, and
a future state, exercise no species of worship, and yet are no
less favoured with the gifts of nature, in the irreligion to which
nature has destined them.
CHAP. XXI.
Pr
obl em o f
Re l
ig io u s
Co n t r a d ic t io n s .
Th e different groupes having taken their stations, and pro
*
found silence succeeding to the confused uproar of the multitude,
the legislators said : “ Chiefs and doctors of the people! you
perceive how the various nations of mankind, living apart, have
hitherto pursued different paths, each believing its own to be
* It frequently happens, that the swine devour the very species of serpents
which the negroes adore, which is a source of great desolation in the country.
President de Brosses has given us in his history of the Fetiche, a curious
collection of absurdities ot this nature. The Teleutean dresses, fyc. 'I be
Tehiteans, a Tartar nation, paint God as wearing a vesture of all colours,
particularly red and green ; and as these constitute the uniform of the Russian
dragoons, they compare him to this description of soldiers. The Egyptians
also dress the God World in a garment of every colour. Eusebius Prap.
Evang. p. 1 15, I. 3. The Teleuteans call God Bou, which is only an alteration
ofBoudd, the God Egg and World.
t The Kamchadale represents God under the figure of an ill-natured and
arbitrary old man. Consult upon this subject a work entitled, Description des
Peoples soumis a la Russe, and it will be found that the picture is not over
charged.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
n
that of truth. If truth, however, is one, and your opinions are .
opposite, it is manifest that some of you must be in error : and
since so many men deceive themselves, what individual shall
dare say, I am not mistaken ? Begin, then, by being indulgent
respecting your disputes and dissensions. Let us all seek truth,
as if none of us had possession of it The opinions which to
this day have governed the earth, produced by chance, dis
seminated in obscurity, admitted without discussion, credited
from a love of novelty and imitation, have in a manner clandes
tinely usurped their empire. It is time, if they are founded in
reality, to give them the solemn stamp of certainty, and to
legitimate their existence. Let us this day cite them to a com
mon and general examination ; let each make known his creed ;
let the united assembly be the judge^ and let us acknowledge that
to be the only true one, which is proper for the whole human
race.”
Then, in order of position, the first standard at the left being
desired to speak : “ There can be no doubt,” said they, “that
ours is the only true and infallible doctrine. In the first place,
it is revealed by God himself.”
“ So also is ours,” exclaimed all the other standards, “and
there can be no room for doubt.”
“ But it is at least necessary to explain it,” said the legis
lators, “ for it is impossible for us to believe any thing of which
we are ignorant.”
“ Our doctrine,” resumed the first standard, is proved by nu
merous facts, by a crowd of miracles, by resurrections from the
dead, by torrents suddenly dried up, mountains removed from
their situations, &c. &c.”
“ We also,” cried the rest, “are in possession of miracles with
out number;” and each began to recite the most incredible things.
“ Their miracles,” replied the first standard, “are imaginary,
or the prestiges of the evil spirit who has deluded them.”
To this it was answered by the others : “ They are yours, on
the contrary, that are imaginaryand each speaking of himself,
added: “ Ours are the only true ones, all other miracles are
false.”
“ Have you living witnesses of their truth ?” the legislators
asked.'
“ No,” they universally answered : “ they are ancient facts,
of which the witnesses are dead, but these facts are recorded.”
k
“ Be it so,” replied the legislators : “ but as they contradict
each other, who shall reconcile them ?”
“ Just arbiters !” cried one of the standards, “ as a proof that
our witnesses have seen the truth, they died in confirmation of
it; and our creed is sealed with the blood of martyrs.”
So also is ours?” exclaimed the rest; “ we have thousands
�A SURVEY OF THE
©f martyrs, who have died in the most agonizing tortures with*
ttut in a single instance abjuring the truth.” And the Christians
ot every sect, the Mussulmans, the Indians, the Japanese re
counted endless legends of confessors, martyrs, penitents &c
One of these parties having denied the martyrology of the
^hers: “We are ready,” cried they, “ to die ourselves to prove
the infallibility of our creed.”
1
Instantly a crowd of men of every sect and of every religion
pi esented themselves to endure whatever torments might be in
flicted on them ; and numbers of them began to tear their arms
and to beat their head and their breast, without discovering anv
symptom of pain.
& J
But the legislator's putting a stop to this violence: “ O men!’*
said they to them, « hear with composure the words we address
to you. If you die to prove that two and two make four, will
this truth gain additional confirmation by your death ?”
iC No,” was the general answer.
“ If you die to prove they are five, will this make them five
No,” they again replied.
w What, then, does your persuasion prove, since it makes no
alteration in the existence of things. Truth is one ; your opi
nions are various; many of you must therefore be mistaken,
Andjince man, as is evident, can persuade himself of error, how
eon his persuasion be regarded as the demonstration of evidence »
Since error has its martyrs, what is the signet of truth ? Since
the evil spirit works miracles, what is the distinguishing charac
teristic of the Divinity ? Beside, why this uniform resort to in
complete and insufficient miracles ? Why not rather, instead of
v x t l 6 v io b t io n s
nature, change the opinions of rational beings ?
Why murder and terrify men, instead of enlightening; and in
structing them ?
O credulous mortals, and obstinate in your credulity ! as we
are none of us certain of what passed yesterday, of what is pass
ing this very day before our eyes, how can we swear to the truth
ot what happened two thousand years ago ? Weak, and at the
same time proud beings ! the laws of nature are immutable and
profound, our understandings full of illusion and frivolity, and
yet we would decide upon and comprehend every thing. Rut in
reality it is easier for the whole human race to fall into error,
than an atom of the universe to change its nature.”
« Well then,’1 said one of the doctors, M let us leave the evi
dence of facts, since such evidence is equivocal, and let us attend
•to5 the proofs of reason, and the intrinsic merit of the doctrine
itself..”1
An Iman of tli’e law of Mahomet, with a look of confidence,
advanced in the sand, and having turned himself towards
Mecca, and uttered with emphasis his confession of faith : “ Let
�DEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
God Be praised !” said he, in a grave and authoritative voice •
“ the light shines in all its splendour, and the truth has no need
of examination.” Then exhibiting the Koran: “ Behold the
light and the truth in their genuine colours! In this book every
doubt is removed, it will conduct the blind man safely, who shall
receive without discussion the divine word, given to the prophet
to save the simple and confound the wise. God hath appointed
Mahomet to be his minister upon earth ; he has delivered up the
world to him, that he might subdue by his sword such as refuse
to believe in his law. Infidels dispute his authority, and resist
the truth : their obduracy proceeds from God, who has hardened
their hearts that he might inflict upon them the most dreadful
.
*
chastisements ”
Here a violent murmur from all sides interrupted the Iman.
“ What man is this,” cried every groupe, cc who thus gratuit
ously commits outrage ? By what right does he pretend, as con
queror and tyrant, to impose his creed on mankind ? Has not
God created us as well as him with eyes, understanding, and rea
son ? Have we not an equal right to make use of them in deter
mining what we ought to reject, and what to believe ? If he
have the right to attack, have not we the right to defend our
selves ? If he be content to believe without examination, are we
therefore not to employ our reason in the choice of our creed ?
<£ And what is this splendid doctrine which fears the light ?
What this apostle of a God of clemency who preaches only car
nage and murder ? What this God of justice who punishes a
blindness which himself has caused ? If violence and persecution
are the arguments of truth, mildness and charity must then be
the indices of falsehood ?”
A man advancing from the next grotipe, then said to the Iman :
i£ Admitting that Mahomet is the apostle of the better doctrine,
the prophet of the true religion, condescend to tell us, in^prdctising this doctrine, whom we are to follow, his Son-in-law Ali,
or his vicars Omar and Aboubekref ?”
At the mention of these names a terrible schism arose among
the Mussulmans. The partisans of Omar and of Ali treating
each other as heretics and blasphemers, were equally lavish of
execrations. The dispute even became so violent, that it was
necessary for the neighbouring groupes to interpose to prevent
their coming to blows.
Some degree of tranquillity being at length restored, the legisla* This passage contains the sense and nearly the very words of the first
chapter of the Koran ; and the reader will observe in general, that in the
*
pictures that follow, the writer has endeavoured to give as accurately as possible
the letter and spirit of the opinion of each party.
f t These are the two grand parties info which the Mussulmans are divided
*
The lurks have embraced the second, the Persians the first.
L
�74
A SURVEY OF THE
tors said to the Imans: “You see what are the consequences which
result from your principles! were they carried into practice, you
would by your enmity destroy each other till not an individual
would remain: and is it not the first law of God, that man should
live ?” Then addressingthemselves to the other groupes : “ this
spirit of intolerance and exclusion,” said they, “is doubtless
shocking to every idea of justice, and destroys the whole basis
of morals and society: shall we not, however, before we entirely
reject this code, agree to hear some of its dogmas recited, that
we may not decide from forms only, without having investigated
the religion itself?”
°
The groupes having consented to the proposal, the Iman be
gan to explain to them how God, who before time had spoken to
the nations sunk in idolatry by twenty-four thousand prophets,
had at length sent the last, the extract and perfection of all the
lest, Mahomet, in whom was vested the salvation of peace: he
informed them that to prevent the word of truth from being any
more perverted by infidels, the Divine clemency had written with
its own fingers the chapters of the Koran; and that the Koran,
bj virtue of its character of the word of God, was, like its au
thor, uncreated and eternal. He proceeded to explain to them
the dogmas of Islamism ; that this book had been transmitted
from heaven leaf by leaf in twenty-four thousand miraculous
visions of the angel Gabriel; that the angel announced his ap
proach by a small still knocking, which threw the prophet into a
cold sweat; that Mahomet had in one night traversed ninety
heavens, mounted upon the animal called Borak, one-half woman
and one-half horse; that being endowed with the gift of miracles,
he walked in the sunshine unattended by a shadow, caused with
a single word trees already withered lo resume their verdure,
filled the wells and the cisterns with water, and cut in two equal
pacts the body of the moon; that, authorized by a commission
from heaven, he had propagated, sword in hand, a religion the
most worthy of God for its sublimity, the most suitable to man
for the simplicity of its injunctions, consisting indeed only of
eight or ten principal doctrines, such as the unity of God ; the
authority of Mahomet the only prophet of God; our duty to
pray five times in a day ; to fast one month in the year; to re
pair to Mecca once at least in our lives; to pay the tenth of all
that we possess ; to drink no wine, to eat no pork, and to make
war upon the infidels ; upon which conditions every Mussulman,
*
being himself an apostle and a martyr, should enjoy in this life
a thousand blessings, and in the world to come, after a solemn
Whatever the advocates for the pbilosoph}r and civilization of the Turks
may asseit, to make war upon infidels is considered by them as an obligatory
pracept, and an act of religion. See lieland de Relig. Moham.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
75
aSf dXhts bathed in riven> of milk and honey, embalmed in
the perfumes of India and Arabia, and live an uninterrupted
eommeree with those chaste females the celestai Honr.s who
present a perpetually renewed virginity to the elect, who pre
SS An involuntary smile was visible in the countenance of every
ont ai this relation ; and the various
these articles of be^»---V^aid
PMight one
nTsuppose thft a chapter had just been read to us from the
^<^S^thesa„dthen^:‘‘Thepa^
of Mahomet is in my opinion excellent: but one of the:means
dlin^Tuyn^eMar^to^bstain from meat and drink between
taTrfsimr and setting of the sun, how in our own country is such
1 fast practicable, where the sun continues above the horizon
%S?v”n'ditchaSteOfhehhronour of their prophet the Mussulman
doctors denied the possibility of this; but ahP^^
ing testimony to the fact, the infallibility of Mahomet sustained
d “iTis Singular,” said a European, “ that God should^con
tinually havf revealed what was going on in heaven, without
ever having informed us of what passes upon earth.
« Their pil°rimage,” said an American, “ is to me an insuper
able difficulty. For let us suppose a generation to be twenty five years and the number of males existing on the globe to be
a hundred millions : in this case, each being obliged to travel
to Mecca once during his life, there would be annually engaged
in the pilgrimage four millions of men ; and as it would be 1mnractFcfbl! fm’ them to return in the same year, the number
would be doubled, or, in other words, would ?™ou^ tO
millions. Where are provisions accommodation,
vessels to be found for this universal procession ? What numerous
miracles would it not be necessary to work
of
«The proof,” said a Catholic Divine, “ that the religion oi
Mahomet is not a revealed religion, is, that the majori Y ®
ideas upon which it is founded existed for a long time before t,
and that it is nothing more than a confused mixture formed out
of the truths of our holy religion and that of
ambitious man has made to serve his projects ofdominion an
his worldly views. Turn over the pages of his book . you will
�J6
A SURVEY OF THE
see Jittle else than the histories nf
fibi
i xt
m
travestied into the most absurd (
vague and contradictory declamation
a tissue of
ous precepts. Analyze the snirii
ndlcllIous or dangereo,dSct of their apX 'you'"'.l’L 7 S
'
*
,a"d
character, which to arrive »t ;g . .1 nna subtle and daring
mirable skill upon the passions of riw«’
*s. true>
a4It addresses itself to simple and cradulm^m ’* "'lsbe.s * 8overn.
°
of prodigies : they are ¡inoran t
a?d 11 tells tlle™
vanity by despising science • the jealous, and it flatters their
it exátes^heiS; by Sé hop? rf E a“d faPaC¡°us’ a“d
at first to give them on earth
+ plunder, having nothing
dasta^dly^ thrlte^s wi?h\eTl-^to 8f“Pr^
. Etf ;P‘odXk
“
raentof ¿ senses, and t^td^LXn ^e'^Ss^^6'
and ho J:muclTdFiLüs emp^^^^^^
!
morality attests —““Vom8
inland ’intpo^VTea^"» res "tf'l V™“ “d“'
ríes.” Then « Uh th eRM ve.lnve,’ted s«eh sublime mysteÉvano-elists nferil
S ln one hand’ and the Four
bSiní GodtofcJu ‘doctolJbega"
relate that in the
any- S’) conce ved »
a,n e“raity without doing
motive) of formino- the worfd
fJeS,gjn. ^vithout aPParent
in a deliothtfulhVard™ntoP aTd n® &’St P“’1' °f buman beinSs
yielded tavern fa?; he' n T-h ’ ‘hat these first Parents having
and of tho c
beloved son, engendered without a mother
t " be ,rnt n T aS ’b; ‘° deScend UP°" earth in order
inaioró’’ ?f ?vb ? >’ and th‘S for the «'Ivnlion of mankind, the
SFj'dF
h?Ve «erertheless continued in the roéd to
the son of a^woj '°n '' ‘í® * remedy tbis inconvenience, this God
* °
bavin» died andbéen'F '™S a‘OnC® “ m°ther and a virSin> after
; vto„ cued and risen again, commences a new existence every
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
77
day, and under the form of a morsel of dough is multiplied a
thousand-fold at the pleasure of the basest of mankind. Having
explained these dogmas, he was going on to treat of the doctrine
,, of the Sacraments, of absolution and anathema, of the means
of purifying men from crimes of every sort with a drop of water
and the muttering half a dozen words; but he had no sooner
pronounced the names of indulgence, papal prerogative, suf
ficient grace, and effectual grace, than he was interrupted by a
thousand voices at once. It is a horrid corruption, cried the
Lutherans, to pretend to sell for money the pardon of sin ; it is
.contrary to the sense of the gospel, said the Calvinists, to talk
,of the real presence in the Sacrament. The Pope, exclaimed
the Jansenists, has no power to decide upon any thing without
a council, thirty sects at once mutually accused each other of
heresy and blasphemy, and their voices wese so confused that it
.was no longer possible to distinguish a word they uttered.
After some time, silence being at length restored, the Mussul
mans said to the legislators : “Since you have rejected our
doctrine as containing things incredible, can you possibly admit
. that of the Christians, which is still more contrary to justice and
< common sense ? An immaterial and infinite God to transform
, himself into a man! To have a son as old as himself! This
God-man to become bread, which is eaten and undergoes diges
tion! What absurdities have we equal to these ? Is it to these
men belong the exclusive right of exacting a blind obedience?
And will you accord to them privileges of faith, to our detri
ment.
Some savage tribes then advanced: “What,” said they,3
because a man and a woman ate an apple-six thousand years I
ago, is the whole human race to be involved in damnation ? (
And do you call God just ? What tyrant ever made the children \ p
responsible for the sins of their fathers ? How can one man /
answer for the actions of another ? Would not this be over-/
throwing every principle of equity'and reason ?”
e h
exclaimed others, “ are the witnesses and proofs
pot all these pretended facts? It is impossible to receive them
without evidence. The most trival action in a court of iudica.ture requires two witnesses, <tnd are we to believe all this upon
\ were tradition and hearsay ?”
r
Jewish Rabbin then addressing the assembly, said : “ For
the general facts we are indeed sureties ; but as to the form and
application of those facts, the case is different, and the Christians
are here condemned out of their own mouth. They cannot deny
that we are the stock from which they are descended, the trunk
upon which they have been grafted; from whence it follows, by
dwnT1- b!6 d;lerama> that either our law is from God, and
pen thens is a heresy, since it differs from ours; or our law is-
�78
A SURVEY OF THE
not from God, and then whatever proves its falsehood is destrue
*
tive of theirs.”
“ But there is a proper line of distinction,” said the Christian,
“to which it is necessary to attend. Your law is of God as
typical and preparative, not as final and absolute ; you are but
the image of which we are the reality.”
£i We are not ignorant,” replied the Rabbin, “ that such are
your pretensions; but they are perfectly suppositious and false.
Your system rests entirely on mystical visionary, and allego
,
*
rical interpretations. You pervert the letter of our books, substi
tute continually for the true sense of a passage the most chimeri
cal ideas, and find in them whatever is agreeable to your fancy,
just as a roving imagination discovers figures in the clouds.
You have thus imagined a spiritual Messiah, where our prophets
speak only of a political king. You have interpreted into a
redemption of the human race, what refers solely to the re
establishment of our nation. Your pretended conception of the
virgin is derived from a phrase which you have wrested from its
true meaning. You construe every thing as you please. You even
find in our books your doctrine of the Trinity, though they con
tain not the most indirect allusion to it, and though the idea was
an invention of profane nations, and admitted into your code,
together with a multitude of other opinions of every worship and
sect of which it is composed, during the chaos and anarchy of
the three first ages.”
At these words, transported with indignation, and crying out
sacrilege ! blasphemy 1 the Christian doators were disposed to
lay violent hands upon the Jew : and a motley groupe of monks,
some in black, some in white, advancing with a standard on
which pincers, a gridiron, and a funeral pile, and the words,/«stice, charity, and mercy, were paintedf, exclaimed : “ It is pro
per to make an example of this impious heretic, and to burn him
alive for the glory of God !” And already they had pictured
to their imaginations the scene of torture, when the Mussulmans
in a tone of irony said to them : “ Such is the religion of peace,
*
whose humble and humane spirit you have so loudly vaunted !
Such that evangelical charity which combats incredulity with no
other weapon than mildness, and opposes only patience to in
juries 1 Hypocrites, it is thus you deceive nations 1 It is in this
* When we read the fathers of the church, and see upon what arguments
they have built the edifice of religion, we are inexpressibly astonished with
their credulity, or their knavery; but allegory was the rage of that period:
the Pagans employed it to explain the actions of their Gods, and the Chris
tian acted in the same spirit when they employed it after their fashion.
t Phis description answers exactly to the colours of the Inquisition of Spanish
Jacobins ; and is a proof of what has been before observed, that the writer has
endeavoured to give a just picture of each party.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
79
manner you have propagated your destructive errors 1 When
weak, you have preached liberty, toleration, and peace ; when
power has been in your hands, you have practised violence and
persecution '.’’—And they were begining to recite the wars and
murders of Christianity, when the legislators, demanding silence,
assuaged for a while the discord.
„ m
« It is not, “ replied the monks in a tone of affected mildness
and humility, “ ourselves that we would avenge, we are desirous
only of defending the cause and glory of God.”
« And what right have you,” said the Imans, to constitute
yourselves his representatives more than we ? Have you privi
leges that we are not favoured with ? Are you beings of a dif
ferent nature from us ?”
.
« To take upon ourselves to defend God, is to insult his wis
dom and power,” said another groupe. “ Does, he not know
better than mortals what is becoming his dignity ?”
« Certainly,” rejoined the monks ; “ but his ways are secret.’
“ You, however,” said the Rabbins, “ will always find the
difficulty insuperable of proving that you enjoy the exclusive
privilege of comprehending them.” And the Jews, proud of
finding their cause supported, fondly pleased themselves with
the idea that their books would be triumphant; when the Mobed
*
of the Parses begged leave to speak.
« We have heard,” said he to the legislators, “ the account
of the Jews and Christians respecting the origin of the world,
and though they have introduced various corruptions, they have
related a number of facts which our religion admits ; but we
deny that they are to be attributed to the Hebrew legislator.
It was not he who made known to mankind these sublime
dogmas, these celestial events : it was not to him that God
revealed them, but to our holy prophet Zoroaster; and proofs
of this are to be found in the very books in question. If
you examine with attention the detail of laws, of rights, and
of precepts established by Moses, you will no where find the
most tacit indication of what constitutes at present the basis
of the Jewish and Christian theology. You will perceive no
trace either of the immortality of the soul, or a life to come,
or hell, or paradise, or the revolt of the principal angel, au
thor of all the evils which have afflicted the human race, &c.
These ideas were unknown to Moses, and this appears from
indisputable evidence, since it was not till four hundred years
after him that they were first promulgated by Zoroaster in
Asia +.”
* High Priest.
t See the Chronology of the Twelve Ages, in which I conceive myself to
have clearly proved that Moses lived about 1400 years before Jesus Christ, and
Zoroaster about a thousand.
�80
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
waTn:Stehde
lhe
these ideas appeared in you^Uf^
calCreTaatLn'rbXeen you^anceTtors^
f “«
thereT§’revv * politi-
of Ninlveh andBab’f"’ C°n<lUered^d d^sed byliFe kinX
of ¿w Wis"nd^heyE^h}XZsP7§7ÌtOr7ìSOrted to the ba”£
trary to their law. When our kin£ Gwith aversion, as confi'om slavery, they felt attached tn ’ C£ U8’ had ,flellvered them
sacred books for your Genesi« in
;
*
Puotication of their
sawssifeaSsSSE?
mons respecting the origin of the world
Chaldean opi-
°PP?,sin8 <°
ssssWBÉsl
t"'?- t
s
mi ’-
conceived Moses to have written neither tìieT w-^? H "T7 °f <he ortllodox'
the work was a compilation made hv ilio «i/i
e
* le Pen^aieuch, but that
Mahoùmt.
See IX SXi
KK«r »'<«>«« <han the ancients, have
turn from the captivity ; but the Drineiml av^V Jeen comPosed °ii Ihe reI meanthatexhibit. m anuh Sr of H>p h P t Pè^fs-S'-S’ *escaPed 1 shali ton
ha VG" wf,ich *These
strale to the tenth analysis
generations of the Man called Noah°"is a°reaH?
tTtS °f tbe preiended
as it was know to the Hebrews at thè enèoh" /?e°g>i>phical picture of the world,
by Greece or Hellas at the West mr>P » 0°^ 'G caPtn'ity, which was bounded
E«- »„.1 Araliai^u X^gyp”;”i'the s'S" "Xn Ì,N<,r,h; “
ages from Adam to Abratóm orhis fathèr rr ’ uAH tbe prete,ided Persou'
»tars, constellations, countries Adam isbRoot^^v3^ m-v’ ,&1,>Sical beings,
Janus, Saturn: that is to sàv CanXL B
5 ,Noab ” Os7ris’ Xisbthrus
the year. The Alexandrian ChrntP i n’ ?J
cekstial Genius that opened
supposed by the Persians to be their first ?’s''-vs e3<pressly, that Nimrod was
hunting, mid that he X transla a I ,"i„ ,
S’ “ ?wi"«
lll<‘ *rt <
*
name of Orion,
0 beaven> where he appears under th-»
'
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
1
E&senians, and through them became the basis of Christianity,
¿lews, Christians, Mahometans, however lofty may be your
pretensions, you are, in your spiritual and immaterial system,
only the blundering followers of Zoroaster !”
Having thus commenced his discourse, the Mobed went on to the
detail of his religion ; and supporting his sentiments by quota
tions from the Zadder and the Zendavesta, he recounted in the
same order as they are found in the book of Genesis, the creation
of the world in six gahans ; the formation of a first man and a
*
first woman in a peculiar and celestial habitation, ujider the reign
of perfect good ; the introduction of evil into the world by the
great lizard, the emblem of Ahrimanes; the revolt and combat
of this magnificent genius of darkness, against Ormuz the bene
volent God of light; the distribution of angels into white and
black, good and ill; their hierarchy consisting of cherubim, sera
phim, thrones, dominions, &c.; the end of the world at the close
of six thousand years ; the coming of the Lamb, the regenerator
of nature : the new world; the life to come in an abode of felicity
or anguish; the- passage of souls over the bridge of the abyss ;
the celebration of the mysteries of Mithra; the unleavened bread
that is set apart for the initiated: the baptism of new-born child
ren ; extreme unction and auricular confessionf; in a word, he
* Creation of the world or in six gahans, or periods, or into six gahan-bars,
that is, six periods of time. These periods are what Zoroaster calls the tAowsands of God or of light, meaning; the six summer months. In the first, say
the Persians, God created (arranged in order)the heavens; in the second the
waters; in the third the earth; in the fourth trees; in the fifth animals; and
in the sixth man : corresponding with the account m Genesis. For particulars,'
see Hyde, ch. 9. and Henry Lord, ch. 2. On the religion of the ancient Persians.'
It is remarkable, that the same tradition is found in the sacred books of the
Etrurians, which relate, “that the Fabricator of all things had comprised the
duration of his work in a period of twelve thousand years, which period was
distributed to the twelve houses of the sun.” In the first thousand, God made
heaven and earth; in the second, the firmament; m the third, the sea and
the waters; in the fourth, the sun, moon, and stars; in the fifth, the soul of
animals, birds, and reptiles; in the sixth, man. See Suidas, at the Tyrrhena;
which shows first, the identity of their theological and astrological opinions ;■
and, secondly, the identity, or rather confusion of ideas, between absolute and*
systematical creation; that is, the periods assigned for renewing the face of
nature, which were at first the period of the year, and afterwards periods of
60, of 600, of 25,000, of 36,000 and of 432,000 years.
t The Modern Parses and the ancient Mithriacs, who are the same sect, ob
serve all the Christian sacraments, even the laying on of hands, in confirm
ation. “ The priest of Mithra,” says Tertullian (de Proescriptione. c. 40.)
promises absolution from sin on confession and baptism ; and, if I rightly re
member, Mithra marks the soldiers in Hie forehead (with the chrism, called in
Egyptian Kou.phi); lie celebrates the sacrifice of bread, whieh'is the resuorection, and presents the crown to his followers, menacing them at the same
time with the sword, &c.”
In these mysteries they tried the courage of the initiated with a thousand
terrors, presenting fire to his face, a sword to hi« breast, &p.; they also offered
M
�82
A SURVEY OF THE
repeated so many articles analogous to those of the three preced
ing religions^ that his discourse seemed to be a commentary or a
continuation of the Koran or the Apocalypse.
But the Jewish, Christian, and Mahometan doctors excepted
to this detail, and treating the Parses as idolatrous worshippers
of fire, charged them with falsehood, invention, and alteration of
fects. A violent dispute then arose respecting the dates of events,
their order and succession, respecting the origin of opinions,
their transmission from one people to another, the authenticity
of the books which establish them, the epocha when these books
were composed, the character of their compilers, the value of
their testimony; and the various parties proving, each against
the rest, contradictions, improbabilities, and the counterfeit na
ture of their books, accused one another of having founded their
creed upon popular rumours, upon vague traditions, upon absurd
fables, invented by folly, and admitted without examination by
unknown, ignorant, or partial writers, at doubtful periods, and
different from those to which their partisans referred them.
A loud rumour was now excited under the standards of the
various Indian sects: and the Bramins, entering their protest
against the claims of the Jew and the Parses, said: “ What ajre
these upstart and almost unknown people who thus arrogantly
consider themselves as the founders of nations, and the deposi
tories of the sacred archieves ? To hear their calculations of five
or six thousand years, one would suppose that the world was but
of yesterday, whereas our monuments prove a duration of many
thousand centuries. And in what respect are their books pre
ferable to ours ? Are then the Vedes, the Chastres, the Pourafls,
inferior to the Bible, the Zendavesta, the Sadder ? Is not the
*
him a crown which he refused, saying, God is my crown : and this crown is to
be seen in the celestial sphere by the side of Bootes. The personages in these
mysteries were distinguished by the names of the animal constellations. The
ceremony of mass is nothing more than an imitation of these mysteries and
those of Eleusis. The benediction the Lord, be with you, is a literal translation
of the formula of admission chon-k, am,p-ak. See Beausob. Hist, du Micnû
dieisme, vol. ii.
v * These are the sacred volumes of thé Hindoos ; they are sometimes written
Vadams, Pouranams, Chastrafis, because the Hindoos, like the Persians, are ac
customed to give a nasal sound to the termination of their words, which we
represent by the affixes on and an, and the Portuguese by the affixes om and
ani. Many of these books have been translated, thanks to the liberal spirit of
Mr. Hastings, who has founded at Calcutta a literary society and a printing
press. At the same time, however, that we express our gratitude to this
society, we must be permitted to complain of its exclusive spirit, the number
of copies printed of each book being such that it is impossible to purchase
them even in England ; they are wholly in the haudsofthe East India pro
prietors. . Scarcely even is the 'Asiatic Miscellany known in Europe, and a
man must be very learned in oriental antiquity before be so much as hears of
the Joneses, the Wilkinses, aad the Hal beds, &c. As to the sacred books of
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
testimony of our progenitors and our Gods, of equal value with
that of the Gods and progenitors of the western world ? Oh I
were we permitted to reveal to profane men the mysteries of our
religion ! Did not a sacred veil justly hide our doctrine from
every eye.”
The Bramins suddenly observing a profound silence: i( How,”
said the legislators, i£ can we admit your doctrine, if you refuse
to make it known ? How could its first authors propagate it, when,
having sole possession of it, they regarded even their own peo
ple as profane ? Has heaven revealed it that it miffht be kept
a secret?”
r
The Bramins however persisted in their silence ; and a Euro
pean at this momnt offering to speak, remarked, that their secrecy
was at present an empty form, that their sacred books were
ivulged and their doctrine explained: he accordingly undertook
to recapitulate its several articles.
Beginning with an abstract of the four Vedes, the twenty
eight Pourans, and the five or six Chastres, he recounted how
an immaterial, infinite, eternal and round Being, after having
passed an unlimited portion of time in self-contemplation, de
sirous at length of manifesting himself, separated the faculties
ot male and female which were in him, and operated an act of
generation of which the Lingam remains the emblem ; how
t 1S
ac^ were born three divine powers, of the names
ot Brama, Bichen or Vichenou, and Chib or Chiven the first
,
*
deputed to create, the second to preserve, the third to destroy
or change the form of the universe. He then detailed the
History of their exploits and adventures, and related how
Brama, proud of having created the world and the eight Bobouns (or spheres) of probation, and of being preferred to his
this pride occasioned between them a combat, in
which the globes or celestial orbits were broken to pieces, as if
ey had been a basket of eggs: how Brama, overcome in this
the Hindoos, all that are yet in our hands are the Bhagvat Geeta, the Ezour.
vedam, the Bagavadam, and certain fragments of the Chastres printed at the
eiid of the Bhagvat Geeta. These books are in Indostan what the Old and
testament are in Christendom, the Koran in Turkey, the Sadder and
e endavesta among tfie Parses, &c. When I have taken an extensive survey
of t leir contents, I have sometimes asked myself, what would be the loss to
the human race if a new Omar condemned them to the flames? and unable to
iscover any mischief that would ensue, I call the imaginary chest that con
tains them, the box of Pandora.
nanl?? are differently pronounced according to the different dialects:
118 hey say Birmah, Bremma, Brouma. Bichenhas been turned into Vichen
ex5' *ange of a B for a V, and into Vichenou by means of a gran>
™ } a i ‘
^ie same manner Chib, which is synonimous with Satan, and
s«n'hes adversary, is frequently written CAii-a and Gkiv-en} he is called also
Bonder and Rouffiien, that is, the destroyer.
�81
A SURVEY OF THE
contest, was reduced to serve as a pedestal to Chib, metamor
phosed into the Lingam : how Vichenou, the preserver of the
universe, had, in the discharge of his function, assumed nine
animal and mortal forms, how under the first, that of a fish, he
saved from the universal deluge a family by whom the earth was
repeopled; afterwards, in the shape of a tortoise!-, drew from
the sea of milk the mountain Mandreguii (the Pole); then, under
that of a boar, tore the entrails of the giant Erenniachessen^ by
whom the earth had beeu sunkin the abyss of Djole, from which
he delivered it; how he became incarnate under the form of the
Black Shepherd, and bearing the name of Chris-en rescued the
world from the venomous serpent Calengam, whose head he
crushed, after having himself received a wound in his heel.
Passing to the history of the secondary Genii, he unfolded to the
assembly how the Eternal, for the display of his glory, had created
divers orders of angels, whose office it was to sing his praise and
direct the universe : that a part of thesfe angels had revolted un
der the conduct of an ambitious chief, who wished to usurp the
power of God, and take the reins of government into his own
hands : that God precipitated them into a world of darkness as
a punishment for their misdeeds : that at last, touched with com
passion, he consented to withdraw them from thence, and to re
ceive them again into favour, after previously subjecting them
to a long state of probation: that for this purpose, having created
fifteen orbits or regions of planets, and bodies to inhabit them,
he obliged these rebellious angels to undergo eighty-seven trans
migrations : that the souls, thus purified, returned to their pri
mitive source, to the ocean of life from which they had emanated:
that as all living beings contained a portion of this universal soul,
it was an act of great criminality tp deprive them of it. He was
proceeding to develope the rights and ceremonies of this religion,
when, speaking of offerings and libations of milk and butter to
Gods of wood and of brass, he was interrupted by a universal
murmur mixed with loud bursts of laughter.
Each of the different groupes reasoned in its own prrticular
manner respecting this system. “ They are idolaters,” said the
Mussulmans, “ it is our duty to exterminate them.”—“ They
are mad,” said the followers of Confucius, it is our duty to cure
them.’—“ What absurd gods,” cried the rest, “ a set of fat
monkeys begrimmed with smoke, whom they wash like children
in clouts, and from whom they drive away the flies, lured by the
taste of honey, who would otherwise defile them with their
excrements.”
f This is the constellation testudo, or the lyre, which was at first a tortoise,
on account of its slow motion round the Pole; then a lyre, because it is the
shell of this reptile on which the strings of the lyre are mounted. See aq
excellent memoir of 211. Dupuis, stir I'Origine des Cptistellaiions, in ito-
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
85
At these words a Bramin, bursting with indignation, exclaimed.
■<i These are inscrutable mysteries, the profound emblems of truth,
which you are not worthy to know.”
u And how comes it,” replied a Lama of Tuibet,
that you
are more worthy than we ? Is it because you pretend to be sprung
from the head of Brama, while the rest of mankind deiive the r.
origin from the less noble parts of his body? If you would sup
port the fable of your origin, and the vain distinctions of your
casts, prove that you are of a nature different from us; prove
at least by historical testimony the allegories you maintain ; nay,
prove that you are really the authors of this system ; foi on our
part we are able to prove, if that were necessary, that you have
only stolen and disfigured it; that you have borrowed the an
cient paganism of the western world, and blended it by an absurd
conceit with the purely spiritual nature of our Gods a nature
,
*
which stoops not to address itself to the senses, and was wholly
unknown to the world till the mission of Beddou. ,
Instantly innumerable voices demanded to be infoimed of this
nature, and to hear of that God w ith w'hose very name the ma
jority of them were unacquainted. In pursuance of this demand,
the Lama resumed :
“ In the beginning,” said he, “there was one God, self exis
tent, who passed through a whole eternity, absorbed in the con
templation of his own reflections, ere he determined to manifest
those perfections to created beings, when he produced the mat
ter of the word. The four elements, at their production, lay in
a state of mingled confusion, till he breathed upon the face of the
waters, and they immediately became an immense bubble, shaped
like an egg, which when complete became the vault or globe of
the heavens in which the world is inclosed!". No sooner was the
earth and the bodies of animals produced, than God, the source
of motion, bestowed upon them as a living soul a portion of his
* All the ancient opinions of the Egyptian and Grecian theologians aie to be
found in India, and they appear to have been introduced, by means of the conjjnerce of Arabia and the vicinity of Persia, time immemorial.
.•
t This cosmogony of the Lamas, the Bonzes, and even the Bramins, as Henry
Lord asserts, is literally that of the ancient Egyptians. “ The Egyptians, says
Porphyry, “ call Kneph, intelligence, or efficient cause of the universe. 1 hey
relate that this God vomited an egg, from which was produced another God
named P/it/rn or Vulcan, (igneous principle, or the sun,) and they add, that
this egg is tbe world.” Euseb. Prcep. Evang. p. 115.
“ They represent,” says the same author in another place, the God Kneph,
or efficient cause, under the form of a man in deep blue (the coloui of the sky),
having in his hand a sceptre, a belt round his body, and a small bonnet royal
of light feathers on his head, to'denote how very subtile and fugacious the idea
of that being is.” Upon which I shall observe, that Kneph in Hebrew signifies
a wing, a feather, and that this colour of 6ky-blue is to be found in the majority
of the Indian Gods, aud is, under the name of Narayan, one of their most
drstinguishiRg epithets.
�86
A SURVEY OF THE
substance. Thus the soul of every living thing bein<r onlv a
fraction or separate part of the universal sSul, nf’percipient be
wg is liable to perish, but merely changes its form and mould as
t passes successively into different bodies. But of all the sub2 ”tlaJ forms’,tbat
man is most pleasing to the Divine Being
h
t reseiPbling his uncreated perfections ; and man when
y withdrawing himself from the commerce of the senses’ he be
*
comes absorbed in the contemplation of his own nature, discovers
DiviSiv1” Thha- r81^8 U1 il’ aind himSelf becomes worthy <>f
JJivinit}. Thus is God incessantly rendering himself incarnate ♦
years'i^6 inethend
incarnation was three thousand
or
’ r n Provmce of Cassimere, under the name of Fot
Pu,rP°se of Caching the doctrine of self-denial
and self-annihilation.
The Lama proceeded to detail the his
tory of Fot, observing, that he had sprung from the right intermntt1
f ithe r°yal blood’ who> when she became a
mother, did not the less continue to be a virgin : that the king
dPiOl’6 C°?ntry’ Jn?.asy at his birth> was desirous to put him to
death, and caused all the males who were born at the same period
to be massacred : that being saved by shepherds, Beddou lived
in the desert to the age of thirty years, at which time he opened
his commission, preaching the doctrine of truth and castino- out
devils : that he performed a multitude of the most astonishing
miracles, spent his life m fasting and the severest mortifications’
,
at.hl? death bequeathed to his disciples the volume in which
^gfn'to’read- hlS rell§1°D are. contained- The Lama then
“ He that forsaketh his father and his mother,” says Fot «to
follow me shall become a perfect Samanean (a heavenly bein-L
keePeth my precepts to the fourth degree of per
fection, shall acquire the power of flying in the air, of moving
rising aa^nheaVeD? °f Protraciin? or shortening his life, and of
£i The Samanean looks with contempt on riches, and makes
Te nn i °f lUjCh thingS aS are strictly necessary. He mortifies
the flesh, subdues his passions, fixes his desires and affections
on nothing terrestrial, meditates without ceasing upon my doerme, enuures injuries with patience, and bears no enmity a°ainst
Ins neighbour.
J °
« Heaven and earth,” says Fot, « shall pass away; despise
there tore your bodies which are composed ofthe four perishable
elements : and think only of your immortal soul.
“ Hearken not to the suggestions of the flesh : fear and sor
row are the produce of the passions : stifle the passions, and fear ’
gnd sorrow wall thus be destroyed.
« Whosoever dies,” says Fot, « without having received my
«loctnoe, becomes again and again an inhabitant of the earth,
tut he shall have embraced it.”
i
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
87
The Lama was going on with his extracts, when the Christians
interrupted him, observing, that this religion was an alteratioii
of theirs ; that F6t was Jesus himself disfigured; and that the
llamas were nothing more than a degenerate sect of the Nes»tori&ns and Manicheans.
But the Lama
,
*
supported by all the Chaihans, Bonzea,
* This is asserted by our missionaries, and among others by Georgi in hi«
unfinished work of the Thibetan alphabet: but if it can be proved that the
Manicheans were but plagiarists, and the ignorant echo of a doctrine that
existed fifteen hundred years before them, what becomes of the declarations of
Georgi ? See upon this subject Beausob. Hist, du Manicheisme.
The eastern writers in general agree in placing the birth of Bedou 1027
years before Jesus Christ, which makes him the contemporary of Zoroaster,
with whom, in my opinion, they confound him. It is certain that his doctrine
notoriously existed at this epoch : it is found entire in that of Orpheus, Pytha.
goras, and the Indian gymtiosophists. But the gymnosophists are cited at the
Ume of Alexander as an ancient sect already divided into Brachmans and
Samancatis. See Bardesanes en Saint Jerome, Epitre d Joviem. Pythagoras
lived in the ninth century before Jesus Christ; see Chronology of the Twelve
Ages; and Orpheus is of still greater antiquity. If, as is the case, the doctrine
of Pythagoras and that of Orpheus are of Egyptian origin, that of Bedou goes
hack to the common source; and in reality the Egyptian priests recite that
Hermes, as he was dying, said: “I have hitherto lived an exile from my
country, to which I now return. Weep not for me, I ascend to the celestial
abode, where each of you will follow in his turn : there God is : this life is only
death.” Clialcidius in Thimaam. Such was the profession of faith of the
Samaneans, the sectaries of Orpheus, and the Pythagoreans. Farther, Hermes
is no other than Bedou himself; for among the Indians, Chinese, Lamas, &o.
the planet Mercury, and the corresponding day of the week (Wednesday), bear
the name of Bedou: and this accounts for his being placed in the rank of my
thological beings, and discovers the illusion of his pretended existence as a
man, since it is evident that Mercury was not a human being, but the Genius
or Decan, who, placed at the summer solstice, opened the Egyptian year:
hence liis attributes taken from the constellation Syrius, and his name of
Anubis, as well as that of Esculapius, having the figure of a man and the head
of a dog : hence his serpent, which is the Hydra, emblem of the Nile (Hydor,
humidity); and from this serpent he seems to have derived his name of Hermes*
as Remes (with a soilin'}, in the oriental languages, signifies serpent Now
Bedou and Hermes being the same names, it is manifest of what antiquity is
the system ascribed to the former. As to the name of Samanean, it is precisely
that of Chaman preserved in Tartary, China, and India. The interpretation
given to it is, man of the woods, a hermit mortifying the flesh, such being the
characteristic of this sect; but its literal meaning is celestial (Sainaoui), and
explains the system of those who are called by it. This system is the same as
that of the sectaries of Orpheus, of the Essenians, of the ancient Anchorets of
Persia, and the whole Eastern country. See Porphyry, de Abstin. Animal.
These celestial and penitent men, carried in India their insanity to such an
extreme, as to wish not to touch the earth, and they accordingly lived in cages
suspended to trees, where the people, whose admiration was not less absurd,
brought them provisions. During the night there were frequent robberies,
rapes, and murders, and it was at length discovered that they were committed
by those meu, who, descending from their cages, thus indemnified themselves
for. their restraint during the day. The B rami ns, their rivals, embraced the
�86
A SURVEY OF THE?
Gonitis, Talapoins of Siam, of Coylon, of Japan, and of Chin#,
demonstrated to the Christians, from their own theologians, that
the doctrine of the Samaneans was known through the East up
wards of a thousand years before Christianity existed ; that their
name was cited previous to the reign of Alexander ; and that of
Boutta or Beddou could be traced to a more remote antiquity
than that of Jesus—“And now,” said they, retorting upon tho
Christians, “ do you prove to us that you are not yourselves
degenerated Samaneans; that the man whom you consider as
the author of your sect is not Fot himself in a different form.
Demonstrate his existence by historical monuments of so remote
a period as those which we have adduced ; for as it appears to
*
be founded on no authentic testimony, rve absolutely deny its
truth; and we maintain, that your gospels are taken from the
books of the Mithriacs of Persia, and the Essenians of Syria,
who were themselves only reformed Samaneansf.”
These words excited a general outcry on the part of the'
Christians, and a new dispute more violent than any precedingone was on the point of taking place, when a groupe of Chinese’
,
Chamans, and Talapoins of Siam came forward, petending that
,
opportunity of exterminating them ; and from that time their name in India
has been synonymous with hypocrite. See Hist, de la Chine, in 5 vols. 4th at
the note page 50 ; Hist, de Hans, 2 vols.; and Preface to the Ezour-Vedam.
* There are absolutely no other monuments of the existence of Jesus Christ
as a human being, than a passage in Josephus, {Antiq. Jud. lib. 18. c. 3,) a
single phrase in Tacitus, {Anna!. lib. 15. c. 44) and the Gospels. But the
passage in Josephus is unanimously acknowledged to be apocryphal, and to
have been interpolated towards the close of the third century, '{See Trad. de.
Josephe, par M. Gillet}; and that of Tacitus is so vague, and so evidently taken
from the deposition of the Christians before the tribunals, that it may be
ranked in the class of evangelical records. It remains to enquire of what au
thority are these records. “All the world knows,” says Faustus, who, though
a Manichean, was one of the most learned men of the third century; “All the
world knows, that the Gospels were neither written bv Jesus Christ, nor his
apostles, but by certain unknown persons, who, rightly judging that tlxty
should not obtain belief respecting things which they had not seen, placed at
the head of their recitals the names of contemporary apostles.” See Beausob.
v<A. i. nnd Hist; des Apologistes de la Relig. Chret. par Burigni, a sagacious
writer, who has demonstrated the absolute uncertainty of those foundations of
the Christian religion; so that the existence of Jesus is no better proved than
that of Osiris and Hercules, or that, of Fot or Bedou, with whom, says M. de
Guignes, the Chinese continually confound him, for they never call Jesus by
any other name than Fot. Hist, de Huns.
+ That is to say, from the pious romances formed out of 1he sacred legends
of the Mysteries of Mithra, Ceres, Isis, &c.; from whence are equally derived
the books of the Hindoos and the Bonzes. Our missionaries have long re
marked a striking resemblance between those books and the Gospels. M. Wil
kins expressly mentions it in a note in the Bbagvat Geeta. Ail agree that Kristia,
Fot, and Jesus, leave the same characteristic features ; but religious prejudice
has stood in the way of drawing from this circumstance t lie proper and »atural
inference. To time and reason nfust it be left to display the truth.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
89
they could easily adjust every difference, and produce in the
assembly an uniformity of opinion ; and one of them speaking
for the rest, said' : “ It is time that we should put an end to all
those frivolous disputes, by drawing aside the veil and exposing
to your view the interior and secret doctrine which Fôt himself,;
on his death-bed, revealed to his disciples * These various
.
theological opinions are mere chimeras ; these accounts of the
attributes, actions and life of the Gods, are nothing more than
allegories, and mysterious symbols, under which moral ideas,and the knowledge of the operations of nature in the action of
the elements and the revolutions of the planets, are ingeniously
depicted.
“The truth is, that there is no reality in any thing; that all
is illusion, appearance, and dream ; that the moral metemsychosis is nothing more than a figurative sense of the physical metemsychosis, of that successive motion by which the elements of
which a body is composed, and which never perish, pass, when
the body itself is dissolved, into a thousand others, and form new
combinations. The soul is merely the vital principle resulting
from the properties of matter, and the action of the elements in
bodies, in which they create a spontaneous movement. To sup
pose that this result of organization, which is born with it,
developed with it, sleeps with it, continues to exist when organi
zation is no more, is a romance that may be pleasing enough,
but that is certainly chimerical. God himself is nothing more than
the principal mover, the occult power diffused through every
thing that has being, the sum of its laws and its properties, the
animating principle : in a word, the soul of the universe ; which,
by reason of the infinite diversity of its connections and opera
tions, considered sometimes as simple and sometimes as multiple,
sometimes as active and sotnetimes as passive, has ever presented
to the human mind an insolvable enigma. What we can com
prehend with great perspicuity is, that matter does not perish ;
that it possesses essential properties, by which the world is
governed in a mode similar to that of a living and organized
being; that, with respect toman, the knowledge of its laws is
what constitutes his wisdom ; that in their observance consist
virtue and merit ; and evil, sin, vice, in the ignorance and viola
tion of them ; that happiness and misfortune are the respective
result of this observance or neglect, by the same necessity that
* The Budsoists have two doctrines, the one public and ostensible, the other
interior and secret, precisely like the Egyptian priests. It may be asked, why
this distinction? It is, that as the public doctrine recommends offerings, expi
ations, endowments, &c. the priests find their profit in teaching it to the peo
ple ; whereas the other, teaching the vanity of worldly things, and attended
with no lucre, it is thought proper to make it known only to adepts. Can the
teachers and followers of this religion bb better classed thanUKder the heads
of knavery and credulity ?
�90
A SURVEY OF THE
occasions light substances to ascend, heavy ones to fall, and by a
fatality of causes and effects, the chain of which extends from the
smallest atom to the stars of greatest magnitude and elevation ”
.
*
A crowd of Theologians of every sect instantly exclaimed that
this doctrine was rank materialism, and those who professed it
impious Atheists, enemies both of God and man, who ought to be
extirpated from the earth. “ Strange reasoning,” replied the Cha
maos. “ Supposing us to be mistaken, which is by no means im
possible, since it is one of the attributes of the human mind to be
subject to illusion, what right have you to deprive beings like
yourselves of the life which God has given them ? If heaven con
siders us as culpable, and looks upon us with horror, why does it
dispense to us the same blessings as to you ? If it treats us with
endurance, what right have you to be less indulgent? Pious men,'
who speak of God with so much certainty and confidence, conde
scend to tell us what be is; explain, so that we may comprehend
them, those abstract and metaphysical beings which you call God
and the soul; substances without matter, existence without body,
life without organs or sensations. If you discover these beings
by means of your senses, render them in like manner perceptible
to us. If you speak of them only upon testimony and tradition,
show us a uniform recital, and give an identical and determinate
basis to your creed.”
There now arose a warm controversy between the Theologians
respecting the nature of God and his mode of acting and mani
festing himself; respecting the soul and its union with the body,
whether it has existence previous to the organs, or from the time
of their formation only; respecting the life to come and another
world : and every sect, every school, every individual, differing
from the re8t as to all these points, and assigning for its dissent
plausible reasons and respectable but opposite authorities, they
were all involved in an inextricable labyrinth of contradictions.
At length, the legislators having restored silence, recalled the
dispute to its true object, and said : “ Leaders and instructors of
the people, you came hither for the purpose of investigating truth ;
and at first every one of you, confident in his own infallibility, de
manded an implicit faith : presently, however, you felt the contra
riety of your opinions, and consented to submit them to a fair
comparison and a common rule of evidence. You proceeded to
expose your proofs : you began with the allegation of facts ; but
it presently appeared that every religión and every sect had its
miracles and its martyrs, and had an equal cloud of witnesses to
* These are the expressions of La Loubere, in his description of the king
dom of Siam and the theology of the Bonzes. Their dogmas, compared with
those of the ancient philosophers of Greece and Italy, give a complete repre?
sentation of the whole system of the Stoics, and Epicureans, mixed with as
trological superstitions, and some traits of Pythágorism.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
91
boast, who were ready to prove the rectitude of their sentiments
by the sacrifice of their lives. Upon this first point therefore the
balance remained equal.
“You next passed to proofs of reasoning: the same arguments
were alternately applied to the support of opposite propositions;
the same assertions, equally gratuitous, were successively ad
vanced and repelled ; every one was found to have an equal reason
for denying his assent to the system of the others. A farther con
sequence that arose from thus confronting your system was, that,
notwithstanding their dissimilitude in some points, their resem
blance in others was not less striking. Each of you claimed the
first deposit and the original discovery ; each of you taxed his
neighbour with adulteration and plagiarism ; and a previous ques
tion to the embracing of any of your doctrines appeared to result
from the history of opinions.
“A still greater embarrassment arose when you entered into the
explication of your doctrines : the more assiduous were your en
deavours, the more confused did they appear; they rested upon
a basis inaccessible to human understanding, of consequence you
had no means to judge of their validity, and you readily admitted
that, in asserting them, you were the echoes of your fathers.
Hence it became important to know how they had come into the
hands of that former generation, who had no means of learning
them different from yourselves. Thus the transmission of theo
logical ideas from country to country, and their first rise in the
human understanding, were equally mysterious, and the question
became every moment more complicated with metaphysical sub
tlety and antiquarian research.
“ But as these opinions, however extraordinary, have some origin;
as all ideas, even the most abstracted and fantastical, have in na
ture some physical model, we must ascend to that origin in order
to discover what this model is, and how the understanding came
by those ideas of Deity, the soul and immaterial beings, that are
so obscure, and which form the foundation of so many religious
systems; we must trace their lineal descent and the alterations
they have undergone in their various successions and ramifications.
If, therefore, there are in this assembly men who have made these
objects their peculiar study, let them come forward and endeavour
to dispel, in the presence of the nations of the earth, the obscurity
of opinions in which for so long a period they have all wandered.”
CHAP. XXII,
Or
ig in
a nd
Ge n e a l o g y o f Re l ig io u s Id e a s .
At these words a new groupe, formed in an instant, of indivi
duals from every standard, but undistinguished by any, advanced
in the sand; and one of the members, speaking in the name of the
general body, said :
�S&
A SURVEY
OF THE
6i Legislators, friends of evidence and of truth!
“ That the subject of which we treat should be involved in so
many clouds, is by no means astonishing, since, beside the
difficulties that are peculiar to it, thought itself has, till this
moment, ever had shackles imposed upon it, and free enquiry
by the intolerance of every religious system, been interdicted.
But now that thought is unrestrained, and may develope all its
powers, we will expose in the face of day, and submit to the
common judgment of assembled nations, such rational truths as
unprejudiced minds have by long and laborious study discovered :
and this, not with the design of imposing them as a creed, but
from a desire of provoking new lights, and obtaining better in
formation.
“ Chiefs and instructors of the people, you are not ignorant
of the profound obscurity in which the nature, origin, and history
of the dogmas you teach are inveloped. Imposed by force and
authority, inculcated by education, maintained by the influence
of example, they were perpetuated from age to age, and habit
and inattention strengthened their empire. But if man, en
lightened by experience and reflection, summoned to the bar of
mature examination the prejudices of his infamy, he presently
discovers a multitude of incongruities and contradictions, which
awaken his sagacity, and call forth the exertion of his reasoning
powers.
°
“ At first, remarking the various and opposite creeds into
which nations are divided, we are led boldly to reject the in
fallibility claimed by each; and arming ourselves alternately
with their reciprocal pretensions, to conceive that the senses
and the understanding emanating directly from God, are a law
not less sacred, and a guide not less sure, than the indirect and
contradictory codes of the prophets.
i£ If we proceed to examine the texture of the codes themselves,
we shall observe that their pretended divine laws, that is to say,
laws immutable and eternal, have risen from the complexion of
times, of places, and of persons; that these codes issue one
from another in a kind of genealogical order, mutually borrow
ing a common and similar fund of ideas, which every institutor
modifies agreeably to his fancy.
If we ascend to the source of those ideas, we shall find that it
is lost in the nig’ht of time, in the infancy of nations, in the very
origin of the world, to which they claim alliance; and there,
immersed in the obscurity of chaos, and the fabulous empire of
tradition, they are attended with so many prodigies as to be
seemingly inaccessible to the human understanding.- But this
prodigious state of things gives birth itself to a ray of reasoning,
that resolves the difficulty; for if the miracles held out in sys
tems of religion have actually existed; if, for instance, meta-
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
93
morphoses, apparitions, and the conversations of one or more
Gods, recorded in the sacred books of the Hindoos, the He
brews, and the Parses, are indeed events in real history, it
follows that nature in those times was perfectly unlike the nature
that we are acquainted with now ; that men of the present age
are totally different from the men that formerly existed; and,
consequently, that we ought not to trouble our heads about thenl.
“ On the contrary, if those miraculous facts have had no real
existence in the physical order of things, they must be regarded
solely as productions of the human intellect : and the nature of
man, at this day, capable of making the most fantastic combina
tions, explains the phenomena of those monsters in history.
The only difficulty is to ascertain how and for what purpose the
imagination invented them. If we examine with attention the
subjects that are exhibited by them, if we analyze the ideas
which they combine and associate, and weigh with accuracy all
their concomitant circumstances, we shall find a solution per
fectly conformable to the laws of nature. Those fabulous storieg
have a figurative sense different from their apparent one, they
are founded on simple and physical facts : but these facts, being
ill conceived and erroneously represented, have been disfigured
and changed from their original nature by accidental causes
dependent on the human mind, by the confusion of signs made
use of in the representation of objects, by the equivocation of
words, the defect of language, and the imperfection of writing.
These Gods, for example, who act such singular parts in every
system, are no other than the physical powers of nature, the ele
ments, the winds, the meteors, the stars, all which have been per
sonified by the necessary mechanism of language, and the manner
in which objects are conceived by the understanding. Their life,
their manners, their actions, are only the operation of the same
powers, and the whole of their pretended history no more than
a description of their various phenomena, traced by the first na
turalist that observed them, but taken in a contrary sense by the
vulgar, who did not understand it, or by succeeding generations,
who forgot it. In a word, all the theological dogmas respecting
the origin of the world, the nature of God, the revelation of his
laws, the manifestation of his person, are but recitals of astro
nomical facts, figurative and emblematical narratives of the mo
tion and influence of the heavenly bodies. The very idea itself
of the Divinity, which is at present so obscure, abstracted, and
metaphysical, was in its origin merely a composite of the powers
of the material universe, considered sometimes analytically, as
they appeal' in their agents and their phenomena, and sometimes
synthetically, as forming one whole, and exhibiting an harmoni
ous relation in all its parts. Thus the name God has been be
stowed sometimes upon the wind, upon fire, water, and the ele
�94
A SURVEY OF THE
ments; sometimes upon the sun, the stars, the planets, and their
influences; sometimes upon the universe at large, and the mat
ter of which the world is composed, sometimes upon abstract and
metaphysical properties, such as space, duration, motion, and in
telligence ; but m every instance, the idea of a deity has not
flowed from the maraculous revelation of an invisible world but
lias been the natural result of human reflection, has followed the
progiess and undergone the change of the successive improve
ment of intellect, and has had for its subject the visible universe
and its different agents.
“ It is then in vain that nations refer the origin of their reli
gion to heavenly inspiration ; it is in vain that they pretend to
describe a supernatural state of things as first in the order of
events : the original barbarous state of mankind, attested by their
own monuments * belies all their assertions. These assertions
,
are still more victoriously refuted by considering this great prin
ciple, that man receives no ideas but through the medium of his
senses + : for from hence it appears, that every system which as
cribes human wisdom to any other source than experience and
sensation, represents the last results of understanding as earliest
in the order of time. If we examine the different religious sys
tems which have been formed respecting the actions of the Gods
and the origin of the world, we shall discover at every turn an
anticipation in the order of narrating things, which could only be
suggested by subsequent reflection. Reason, then, emboldened
by these contradictions, hesitates not to reject whatever does not
accord with the nature of things, and accepts nothing for his
torical truth that is not capable of being established by argument
and ratiocination. Its ideas and suggestions are as follow:
“ Before any nation received from a neighbour nation dogmas
already invented; before one generation inherited the ideas of
another, none of these complicated systems had existence. The
- first men, the children of nature, whose consciousness was ante
rior to experience, and who brought no preconceived knowled°-e
into the world with them, -were born without any idea of those
articles of faith which are the result of learned contention; of
those religious rites which had relation to arts and practices not
yet in existence ; of those precepts which suppose the passions
already developed : of those laws which have reference to a lan
guage and a social order hereafter to be produced; of that God,
I
It is tne unanimous testimony of history, and even of legends, that the
first human beings were every where savages, and that it was to civilize them,
and teach them to make bread, that the Gods manifested themselves.
t 1 he rock on which all the ancients have split, and which has occasioned
all theii eirois, has been their supposing the idea of God to be innate and eoeternal with the soul; and hence al! the reveries developed in Plato and Jamblicus. See the linusus, the Phcdon, and De Myst. ¿Egyptiorum, sect. 1, c. 21,
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
95
whose attributes are abstractions of the knowledge of nature,
and the idea of whose conduct is suggested by the experience of
a despotic government; in fine, of that soul and those spiritual
existences which are said not to be the object of the senses, but
which, however, we must for ever have remained unacquainted
with, if our senses had not introduced them to us. Previously
to arriving at these notions, an immense catalogue of existing
facts must have been observed. Man, originally savage, must
have learned from repeated trials the use of his organs. Succes
sive generations must have invented and refined upon the means
of subsistence ; and the understanding, at liberty to disengage
itself from the wants of nature, must have risen to the compli
cated art of comparing ideas, digesting reasonings, and seizing
upon abstract similitudes.
Se c t .
I. Origin of the idea of God: Worship of the elements,
and the physical powers of nature.
Ci It was not till after having surmounted those obstacles, and
run a long career in the night of history, that man, reflecting on
his state, began to perceive his subjection to forces superior to
his own and independant of his will. The sun gave him light
und warmth ; fire burned, thunder terrified, the winds buffeted,
water overwhelmed him ; all the various natural existences acted
upon him in a manner not to be resisted. For a long time, an
automaton, he remained passive, without enquiring into the
cause of this action ; but the very moment he was desirous of
accounting to himself for it, astonishment seized his mind; and
passing from the surprise of a first thought to the reverie of curi
osity, he formed a chain of reasoning.
“ At first, considering only the action of the elements upon
him, he inferred, relatively to himself, an idea of weakness, of
subjection, and relatively to them, an idea of power, of domina
tion ; and this idea was the primitive and fundamental type of all
his conceptions of the Divinity.
“ The action of the natural existences, in the second place,
excited in him sensations of pleasure or pain, of good or evil ;
by virtue of his organization, he conceived love or aversion for
them, he desired or dreaded their presence; and fear or hope
was the principle of every idea of religion.
“ Afterwards, judging every thing by comparison, and remark
ing in those beings a motion spontaneous like his own, he sup
posed there to be a' will, an intelligence inherent in that motion,
pf a nature similar to what existed in himself; and hence, by
way of inference, he started a fresh argument.—Having experi
enced that certain modes of behaviour towards his fellow-crea
tures wrought a change in their affections and governed their
�96
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
conduct, he applied those practices to the powerful beings of the?
universe. “ When my fellow creature of superior strength,” said
he to himself, “ is disposed to injure me, I humble myself before
him, and my prayer has the art of appeasing him. I will pray to
the powerful beings that strike me. I will supplicate the faculties
of the winds, the planets, the waters, and they will hear me. I
will conjure them to avert the calamities, and to grant me the
blessings which are at their disposal. My tears will move, my
offerings propitiate them, and I shall enjoy complete felicity.”
“ And, simple in the infancy of his reason, man spoke to the'
sun and the moon, he animated with his understanding and his
passions the great agents of nature; he thought by vain sounds
and useless practices to change their inflexible laws. Fatal error!
He desired that the water should ascend, the mountains be re
moved, the stone mount in the air ; and substituting a fantastic to
a real world, he constituted for himself beings of opinion, to the
terror of his mind and the torment of his race.
, “Thus the ideas of God and religion sprung, like all others,
from physical objects, and were in the understanding of man the
produce of his sensations, his wants, the circumstances of his life,
and the progressive state of his knowledge.
“ As these ideas had natural beings for their first models, it
resulted from hence that the Divinity was originally as various
and manifold as the forms under which he seemed to act : each
being was a Power, a Genius, and the first men found the universe
, crowded with innumerable Gods.
“ In like manner the ideas of the Divinity having had for mo
tors the affections of the human heart, they underwent an order
of division calculated from the sensations of pain and pleasure, of
love and hatred : the powers of nature, the Gods, the Genii, were
classed into benign and maleficent, into good and evil ones : and
this constitutes the universality of these two ideas in every system
of religion.
“ These ideas, analogous to the condition of their inventors,
were for a long time confused and gross. Wandering in woods,
beset with wants, destitute of resources, men in their savage state
had no leisure to make comparisons and draw conclusions. Suffer
ing more ills than they tasted enjoyments, their most habitual
sentiment was fear, their theology terror, their worship confined
to certain modes of salutation, of offerings which they presented to
beings whom they supposed to be ferocious and greedy like them
selves. In their state of equality and independance, no one took
upon him the office of mediator with Gods as insubordinate and
poor as himself. No one having any superfluity to dispose of,
there existed no parasite under the name of priest, nor tribute
under the name of victim, nor empire under the name of altar ;
their dogma and morality, jumbled together, were only self
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
97
preservation; and their religion, an arbitrary idea without influence
on the mutual relations existing’ between men, was but a vain
homage paid to the visible powers of nature.
p/.Suen was th® first and necessary origin of every idea of th©
The orator then addressing the savage nations, said:
W#
appeal to. you, who have received no foreign fictitious ideas,
whether your conceptions have not been formed precisely in this
manner? We ask you also, learned theologians, if such be not
the unanimous record of all the monuments of antiquity ”
?
*
Se c t . II. Second system.; Worship of the Stars, or Sabeism.
Bu t those same monuments offer us a more methodical and
more complicated system, that of the worship of all the stars,
adored at one time under their proper form, at another under
emblems and figurative symbols. This worship was also the
©fiect of the knowledge of man in physics, and derived imme„ lately from the first causes of the social state; that is to say,
wants and arts of the first degree, the elements as it were in
tne formation of society.
bookLnf eib!2^,reSUJ^S’ says1
Prom
verses of Orpheus and the. sacred
Greeks h
T a"d Phr^ails> tha* the ancient theology, not only of the
Xe onerationf nJ ”™
mOre ihan a
P^ics, a picture of
svmhnls in
f nat«re, wrapped up in mysterious allegories and enigmatical
rent than n
h the. lgnOrant multitude attended rather to their appa“ the hT
den m,eaning’ and even in what they understood of the latter,
a S of P/LL 7 SOniet ,niS
deePthaa
they perceived. Fragment of
The mat d
P™P™- Evan. lib. 3. ch. I. p. 83.
fwho livedJ in r
+ • 1 .°i!°
Porphyry, and among others Chaeremon,
been anv other
M AY 6 Af8* age 01 Christianity), imagine there never to have
those re^oJn^pH°h<1thhav’the °ne we,_se(h and acknowledge no other Gods of al! '
'■'itrns of the 7 r y 6 E§yPtlai?s? than such as are commonly called planets,
sitting are
dlaC»aad constellations; whose aspects, that is, rising and
the r gdivl7on« Tth
lndUen? the ^cnes of men;’ to which the/add,
style lordl of
S^nS?nt? decans and dispensers ‘ of time, whom they
pers riiin/LA ascendant, whose names, virtues in the relieving of dist^mnacks (for he J n
apr,lsaget °f future eveats’ are the sub>ts of
counterpart of WnAuSerVfd’ l,hat, tberE^Ptia11 Priests had almanacks the exact
the architect of
Lansber s;) for when the priests affirmed that the sun was
fives respeetin! T • U™e’. Chaeremon presently concludes that all their narrapaA to the Sets th ?S‘nS' l°rther With their °ther sacred fables’ ^ferred in
part to the sL
c X Pa ieS °fJhe m00n’ and the revolution of the sun, and in
word to All X tn 1
*
hendsPbe'cs, and the river Nile; in a
be immaterial and i phySICaI ?ndxn1atu5al eWeiices, and never to such as mifi-ht
our'wffil and h
incorporeal. All these philosophers believe, that the acts"of
they a e
i J d £ °ur bodies’ dePead «P«« those of the stars to which
which therein dl\ nd
r.efer eve,-y tbinS t0 the laws of physical necessity,
binds bv 1 kno S/n\0/ Paium'. suPposing a chain of causes and effects which
to the sunreA
-hat connection, all beings together, from the meanest atom
their temnlL n ?°^r.aad PrlTry influeuce of the Godsi «>
whether in
r«Wr.%n-J.
°"'y S“bi'“ Cf ’’««»»p i. th. power of desnr.y.
k
o
�98
A SURVEY OF THE
« When men began to unite in society, they found it necessary
to enlarge the means of their subsistence, and consequently to
apply themselves to agriculture; and the practice of agriculture
required the observation and knowledge of the heavens
.
*
It
was necessary to know the periodical return of the same opera
tions of nature, the same phenomena of the skies; it was neces
sary to regulate the duration and succession of the seasons,
months, and years. In order to this, it was requisite to become
acquainted with the march of the sun, which in its zodiacal revo
lution showed itself the first and supreme agent of all creation;
then of the moon, which by its changes and returns regulated
and distributed time; finally of the stars, and even of the planets,
which by their appearance and disappearance on the horizon and
the nocturnal hemisphere, formed the minutest divisions. In a
word, it was necessary to establish an entire system of astronomy,
to form an almanac; and from this labour there quickly and
spontaneously resulted a new manner of considering the domi
nant and governing powers. Having observed that the produc
tions of the earth bore a regular and constant connection with the
phenomena of the heavens; that the birth, growth, and decay o'f
each plant, were allied to the appearance, exaltation, and decline
of the same planet, the same group of stars; in short, that the
languor or activity of vegetation seemed to depend on celestial^
influences; men began to infer from this an idea of action, of
power in those bodies, superior to terrestrial beings; and the
stars, dispensing scarcity or abundance, became Powers, Geniif,
Gods, authors of good and evil.
« As the state of society has already introduced a methodical
hierarchy of ranks, employments, and conditions, men, continuino- to reason from comparison, transferred their new acquired”,
notions to their theology, and the result was a complicated system
of gradual Divinities, in which the sun, as the first God, was a
* It continues to be repeated every day, on the indirect authority of the book
of ■Genesis, that astronomy was the invention of the children of Noah. It has
beer, gravely said, that while wandering shepherds in the plains of Shinar, they
employed their leisure in composing a planetary system: as if shepherds had occasion to know more than the Polar star, and if necessity was not the sole motive of
every invention! If the »ancient shepherds were go studious and sagacious, „how
does it happen that the modern on$s are so stupid, ignorant, and inattentive ? -And
it is a fact, that the Arabs of the desert know not so many as six constellations,
and understand not one word of astronomy. .
+ It appears that by the word genius, the ancients denoted a quality, a gene
rative power; for the following words, which are all of one family, convey thisv.
meaning: generury, genos, genesis, genus, gens.
. .
The Sabear.s, ancient and modern* says Maimonides, acknowledge a principal
God, the maker and inhabitant of heaven; but, on account of bis great distance,
they couceive him to be inaccessible; and in imitation of the conduct Oi people
towards their kings, they employ as mediators with him the planets aim tneir angels,
whom they call princes and potentates, and whom they suppose to reside in those
luminous bodies, as in palaces or tabernacles, &c. More-Nebuchin, purs. 3, c. %9.
�DEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
99
military chief, a political king; the moon, a queen, his consort;
the planets, servants, bearers of commands, messengers; and the
multitude of stars a nation, an army of heroes, of Genii, appointed
to govern the world under the command of their officers; every
Individual had a name, functions, attributes, drawn from its con
nections and influences, and even a sex derived from the gender
of its appellation.
^
*
“ As the state of society had introduced certain usages and
complex practices, worship, leading the van, adopted similar
ones. Ceremonies, simple and private at first, became public
and solemn; offerings were more rich and more numerous ; rites
more methodical; places of assembly, chapels, and temples, were
erected; officers, pontiffs, created to administer; formsand
epochas w'ere settled ; and religion became a civil act, a political
tae. But in this developement it altered not its first principles,
and the idea of God was still that of physical beings, operating
good or ill, that is to say, impressing- sensations of pain or plea
sure : the dogma was the knowledge of their laws or modes of
acting; virtue and sin the observance or infringement of those
laws; and morality, in its native simplicity, a judicious practice
of all that is conducive to the preservation of existence, to the
well being of the individual and of his fellow-creatures^.
, <Cn^ou^ **
asked at what epoch this system took birth, we
shall answ’er, supported by the authority of the monuments of
astronomy itself, that its principles can be traced back with cer
tainty to a period of nearly seventeen thousand yearsj. Should
According as the gender of the object was in the language of the nation mas
culine or feminine, the Divinity who bore its name was male or female. Thus the
Cappadocians called the moon God, and the snn Goddess ; a circumstance which,
, gives to the same beings a perpetual variety in ancient mythology.
f vVe may add, says Plutarch, that these Egyptian priests always regarded the
preservation of health as a point of first importance, and as indispensably neces
sary to the practice of piety and the service of the Gods. See his account of Isis
and Osiris, towards the end.
f The historical orator follows here the opinion of Mr. Dupuis, who, in his learned
memoir concerning the origin of the constellations, has assigned many plausible
•reasons to prove that Libra was formerly the sign of the vernal, and Aries of the
nocturnal equinox ; that is, that since the origin of the actual astronomical system
the equinoxes has carried forward by seven signs the primitive
t
n Zodiac; ^ow estimating the procession at about seventy years and a
in it« f
that \S 2,115 yClirS t0 each sign ’ and obseiving that Aries was
in its fifteenth degree, 1,447 years bt fore Christ, it follows, that the first degree of
i ra could not have coincided with the vernal equinox more lately than 15 104
lTQ«?efOre fhrlst,; to >vhich if JO« add 1790 years since Christ, it appears that
i ¡S yTirSTOaVr P,Sed Siuce the Or5»in the Zodi0c- The vernal pq«inox coin
cided with the first degree of Aries 2.504 years before Christ, had with the first
J-£‘ee of 7auras 4,619 years before Christ. Now it is to be observed, that the
¡snip or .he Bull is the principal article of the theological creed of .the EgyprX’d’ ..trs,ans’ Japanese, &c. from whence it clearly follows, that some genmal
rewiution took place among those nations at that time. The chronology of five
book" of°pSaild. years 111 gnosis is Httle agreeable to this hypothesis; but as the
Ahi .1 f GenCsls
cl:llm ,0 bc considered as a history further back than
that pnTcedvd™ 3t ‘ ><rty tG mUkP Whai ariaIigTmeilts wc l,kasc in the eternity
V.
�100
k
A SURVEY OF THE
we farther be asked to what people or nation it ought to be attri
buted, we shall reply, that those self-same monuments, seconded
by unanimous tradition, attribute it to the first tribes of Egypt.
And when reason finds in that region a concurrence of all the
physical circumstances calculated to give rise to it; when it finds
at once a zone of heaven, in the vicinity of the tropic, equally
free from the rains of the equator and the fogs of the north ;
*
when it finds there the central point of the antique sphere: a sa
lubrious climate; an immense yet manageable river; a land fer
tile without art, without fatigue ; inundated, without pestilential
exhalations; situate between two seas which lave the shores of
the richest countries—it becomes manifest that the inhabitant of
the districts of the Nile, inclined to agriculture from the nature
of his soil; to commerce, from the facility of communication ; to
geometry, from the annual necessity of measuring his possessions;
to astronomy, from the state of his heaven, ever open to obser
vation : must first have passed from the savage to the social state,
and consequently attained that physical and moral knowledge
proper to civilized man.
“ It was thus, upon the distant shores of the Nile, and among
a nation of sable complexion, that the complex system of the
worship of the stars, as connected with the produce of the soil
and the labours of agriculture, was constructed. The worship
of the stars, under their proper forms, or their natural attributes,
was a simple process of the human understanding; but in a
short time the multiplicity of objects, their relations, their action
and re-action, having confounded the ideas and the signs that
represented them, a consequence resulted as absurd in its nature
as pernicious in its tendency.
Se c t . III.
Third system; Worship of Symbols, or Idolatry.
41 Fr o m the instant this agricolar race had turned an eye of
observation on the stars, they found it necessary to distinguish
individuals or groupes, and to assign to each a proper name. A
considerable difficulty here presented itself; for, on the one hand,
the celestial bodies, similar in form, offered no peculiar character
by which to denominate them: and on the other hand, language,
poor and in a state of infancy, had no expressions of so many
new and metayhysical ideas. The usual stimulus for genius, ne
cessity, conquered all obstacles. Having remarked that in the
annual revolution, the renewal and periodical appearance of the
productions of the earth were constantly connected with the
* Mr. Bailli, in placing .the first astronomers at Selingenskoy, near the lake
Baikal, paid no attention to this twofold circumstance: it equally argues against
their being placet! at Axoum on account of the rains, and the Zimb-fly of which
Mr. Bruce speaks.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
101
rising and setting of certain stars, and with their position rela
tively to the sun, the mind, by a natural mechanism, associated in
its thought terrestrial and celestial objects, which had in fact a
certain alliance; and applying to them the same sign, it gave to
the stars, and the groupes it formed of them, the very names of
the terrestrial objects to which they bore affinity
.
*
“ Thus the Ethiopian of Thebes called stars of inundation, or
of Aquarius, those under which the river began to overflow^;
stars of the ox or bull, those under which it was convenient to
plough the earth; stars of the lion, those under which that animal,
driven by thirst from the deserts, made his appearance on the
banks of the Nile; stars of the sheaf, or of the harvest maid, those
under which the harvests were got in; stars of the lambs, stars
of the goat, those under which those valuable animals brought
forth their young; and thus was a first part of the difficulty re
solved.
“ On the other hand, man, having remarked in the beings
that surrounded him certain qualities peculiar to each species,
and having invented a name by which to design them, speedily
discovered an ingenious mode of generalizing his ideas, and
transferring the name already invented to every thing bearing a
similar or analagous property or agency, enriched his language
with a multiplicity of metaphors and tropes.
“ Thus the same Ethiopian, having observed that the return of
the inundation answered constantly to the appearance of a very
beautiful star towards the source of the Nile, which seemed to
warn the husbandmen against being surprised by the waters,
he compared this action with that of the animal, who by barking
gives notice of danger, and called this star the dog, the barker
(Syrw). In the same manner he called stars of the crab, those
which shewed themselves when the sun, having reached the
bounds of the tropic, returned backwards and sideways like the
crab, or Cancer ; stars of the wild goat, those which, the sun
being arrived at its greatest altitude, at the top of the horary
gnomon, imitated the action of that animal, who delights in climb
ing the highest rocks; stars of the balance, these which, the days
and nights being of the same length, seemed to observe an equi
librium like that instrument; stars of the scorpion, those which
were perceptible when certain regular winds brought a burning
vapour like the poison of the scorpion. In the same manner he
called by the names of rings and serpents the figured traces of
the orbits oi the stars and planetsj; and this was the general
♦ “ The ancients” says ftlaimoiiides, “ directing-all their attention to agriculture,
g-ave names to the stars derived from their occupation durin®- the year.” UbrcNeb. pars 3.
”
' ’
t This must have been Jone. See Note * p. 99.
I The ancients had verbs from the substantives crab, ffoat, tortoise as the
French have at present the verbs serpcnter, coqtiet-:er. The history fef’all lan
guage.«« is nearly the same,
'
�102
A SURVEY OF THE
means of appellation of all the heavenly bodies, taken in grouper
or individually, according to their connection with rural and ter
restrial operations, and the analogies which every nation found
tnem to bear to the labours of the fields, and the objects of their
climate and soil,
“ From this proceeding it resulted, that abject and terrestrial
being's entered into association with the superior and powerful
beings of the heavens; and this association became more rivetted.
every day by the very constitution of language and the mechan
ism of the mind. Men would say, by a natural metaphor, “ The
bull spreads upon the earth the germins of fecundity (in spring),
and brings back abundance by the revival of vegetation. The
lamb (or ram) delivers the heavens from the malevolent Genii of
winter; and saves the world from the serpent (emblem of the wet
season). The scorpion pours out his venom upon the earth, and
spreads diseases and death, &c.”
“ This language, understood by every body, was at first at
tended with no inconvenience; but, in process of time, when the
almanac had been regulated, the people who could do without
further observation of the skies, lost sight of the motive which
led to the adoption of these expressions; and the allegory still
remaining in the practices of life, became a fatal stumbling-bjock
to the understanding and reason. Habituated to join to symbols
the ideas of their models, the mind finally confounded them;
then those same animals, which the imagination had raised to
heaven, descended again on the earth; but in this return, decked
in the livery and invested with the attributes of stars, they im
posed upon their own authors. The people, imagining that they
saw their gods before them, found it a more easy task to offer up
their prayers. They demanded of the ram of their flock the in
fluence which they expected from the celestial ram5 they prayed
the scorpion not to pour out its venom upon nature ; they revered
the fish in the river, the crab of the sea, and the scarabeus of the
slime ; and by a series of corrupt but inseparable analogies, they
lost themselves in a, labyrinth of consequent absurdities.
“ Such was the origin of this ancient and sing'ular worship of
animals; such the tram of ideas by which the character of the
Divinity became common to the meanest of the brute creation;
and thus was formed the vast, complicated, and learned theolo
gical system, which, from die banks of the Nile, conveyed fi’ftm
country to country by commerce, war, and conquest, invaded
all the old world; and which, modified by times, by circum
stances, and by prejudices, is still to be found among a hundred
nations, and subsists to this day as the secret and inseparable
basis of the theology of those even who despise and reject it.”
At these words, murmurs being heard in various groupes: c< I
repeat it,” continued the orator. “ People of Africa! hence, for
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
103
example, has arisen among-you the adoration of your Feteches,
plants, animals, pebbles, bits of wood, before which your ances
tors would never have been so absurd as to prostrate themselves,
if they had not seen in them talismans, partaking of the nature of
the stars
.
*
Nations of Tartary! this is equally the origin of your
Aiarmousets, and of the whole train of animals with which your
Chamans ornament their magic robes. This is the origin of those
figures of birds and serpents, which all the savage nations, with
mystic and sacred ceremonies, imprint on their skin. Indians !
it is in vain you cover yourselves with the veil of mysterythe
hawk of your god Vichenou is but one of the thousand emblems,
ot the sun m Egypt, and his incarnations in a fish, boar, lion,
turtle, together with all his monstrous adventures, are nothingmore than the metamorphoses of the same star, which, passin"
successively through the signs of the twelve animalsf, was
supposed to assume their forms, and to act their astronomical
partsf. Japanese! your bull, which breaks the egg of th»
world, is merely that of the heavens, which, in times of vor'e.
opened the age of the creation, the equinox of sprino-. Rab
bins, Jews ! that same bull is the Apis worshipped in Eo-ypt
and which your ancestors adored in the idol of the golden calf’
It is also your bull, children of Zoroaster! that, sacrificed ia
the symbolic mysteries of Mithra, shed a blood fertilizing- to
the world. Lastly, your bull of the Apocalypse, Christians»
with Ins wings, the symbol of the air, has no other originyour lamb of God, immolated, like the bull of Mithra, for the
salvation of the world, is the self-same sun in the sign of the
celestial ram, which, in a subsequent age, opening the equinox in
his turn, was deemed to have rid the world of the reign of evil, that
* The ancient astrologers, says the most learned of the Jews (Maimonides)
havmg sacredly assigned to each planet a colour, an animal, a tree, a meial a fruH
a plant, formed from them all a figure or representation of the star, taking care to
select for the purpose a proper moment, a fortunate day, such as the coinunction
ot the star, or some ot her favourable aspect. They conceived, that by their magic
ceremonies they could introduce into those figures or idols the influences
the superior beings after which they were modelled. These were the idols that th^
Cnaldcan-Sabeans auored; and in tie performance of their worship they weroohged to be dressed in their proper colour. 7 he astrologers, by their practices’
thus introduced ido atry, desirous of being regarded as the dispensers of the fa’
vouis of heaven ; and as agriculture was the sole employment of the ancients thea tiSJlsnoSr Th‘g
rT and °th " ^CSSin* °f the
at tilcir disposal. Thus the whole art of agriculture was exercised by rules of
n’-andclhe P!!CStS niade talismans or charms which were to drive awav
locitsts, flies, &c. Matmonfdes, More-Nebuchim, pars 3, c. 29.
, i 16 Pr?ests
Egypt, Persia, India, &c. pretended to bind the Gods to fhp;r
idols, and to make them come from heaven at their pleasure. They threatened tb<^ebediei^t0 ™ai
secret mvJeri^ w
XIA
i^cep. VUng' P‘ 198j atld iamblicus de ^teriis
t The Zodiac.
t These are the very words of Iamblicus de Svmbolis .Egyptiorum c
The sun was tke grind Proteus, the universal metamorphist.
’
sect 7
’
�104
A SURVEY OF THE
is to say, of the serpent, -of the large snake, the mother of winter
and emblem of the Ahrimanes or ¡Satan of the Persians, your institutors. 1 es, vainly does your imprudent zeal consign idolaters
to the torments of the Tartarus which they have invented: the
whole basis of your system is nothing more than the worship of
the star of day, whose attributes you have heaped upon your
chief personage. It is the sun, which, under the name of Orus,
was born, like your God, in the arms of the celestial virgin, and
passed through an obscure, indigent, and destitute childhood,
answering to the season of cold and frost. It is the sun, which
*
under the name of Osiris persecuted by Typhon and and the
tyrants of the air, was put to death, laid in a dark tomb, the em
blem of the hemisphere of winter, and which, rising afterwards
from the inferior zone to the highest point of the heavens, awoke
triumphant over giants and the destroying angels. Ye priests,
from whom the murmers proceed, you wear yourselves its signs
all over your bodies. Your tonsure is the disk of the sun.; your
stole its Zodiac ; your rosaries the symbols of the stars and
*
planets. Pontiffs and prelates! your mitre, your crosier, your
mantle, are the emblems of Osiris; and that crucifix of which you
boast the mystery, without comprehending it, is the cross of Se->
rapis, traced by the hands of Egyptian priests on the plan of the
figurative world, which, passing- through the equinoxes and die
tropics, became the emblem of future life and resurrection, be
cause it touched the gates of ivory and horn through which the
scul was to pass in its w ay to heaven.”
Here the doctors of the different groups looked with astonish
ment at one another, but none of them breaking silence, the ora
tor continued.
“ Three principal causes concurred to produce this confusion
of ideas. First, the necessity, on account of the infant stage of
language, of making use of fig-urative expressions to depict the
relations of things ; expressions that, passing afterwards from a
proper to a general, from a physical to a moral sense, occasioned,
by their equivocal and synonymous terms, a multiplicity of mis
takes.
“ Thus having at first said, that the sum surmounted and passed
* The Arabs, says Herodotus, shave their heads in a circle and about the tem
ples, in imitation of Bacchus (that is the sun,) who shaves himsell, they say, in this
manner. Jeremiah speaks also of this custom. The tuft of hair which the Maho
metans preserve, is also taken from the sun, who was painted by the Egyptians at
the winter solstice, as having but a single hair on his head. The robes of the god
dess of Syria and Diana of Ephesus, from whence are borrowed the dress of priests,
have the twelve animals of the Zodiac painted on them. Rosaries are found upon
all the Indian idols, constructed more than four thousand years ago: and their use
in the east has been universal from time immemorial. The crosier is precisely the
staff of Bootes or Osiris (See Plate II.) All the Lamas wear the mitre or cap in.
the shape of a cone, which was an emblem of the sun.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
105
ni its course through the twelve animals, they afterwards sup
posed chat it combated, conquered, and killed them, and from this
was composed the historical life of Hercules.
“ Having said that it regulated the period of rural operations
of seed time and of harvest; that it distributed the seasons, ran
through the climates, swayed the earth, &c. it was taken fora
legislative king, a conquering warrior, aud hence they formed
the stories of Osiris, of Bacchus, and other similar Gods.
“ Having said that a planet entered into a sign, the conjunction
was denominated a marriage, adultery, incest : having further
*
said, that it was buried, because it sunk below the horizon, re
turned to light and gained its state of eminence, they gave it the
epithet of dead, risen again, carried into heaven, &c.
“ The second cause of confusion was the material figures
themselves, by which thoughts were originally painted, and
which, under the name of hieroglyphics, or sacred characters,
were the first invention of the mind. Thus to denote an inunda
tion, and the necessity of preserving one’s-self from it, they
painted a boat, the vessel Argo; to express the wind, they painted
a bird’s wing; to specify the season, the month, they delineated
the bird of passage, insect, or animal, which made its appearance
at that epoch ; to express winter they drew' a hog, or a serpent,
which are fond of moist and miry places. The combination of
these figures had also a meaning, and was substituted for words
and phrasest. But as there was nothing fixed or precise in this
* These are. the very words of Plutarch in his account of Isis and Osiris. Tiie
Hebrews say, in speaking of the generations of the Patriarchs, et ingressus est in
earn From this continual equivoque of ancient language, proceeds every mistake.
t See the examples cited in Note f p. 98
The reader will doubtless see, with pleasure, some examples of ancient hiero
glyphics
“ The Egyptians (says Hor-apollo) represent eternity by the figure of the sun
and moon. They designate the world by a blue serpent with yellow scales (stars,
it is the Chinese Dragon). If they were desirous of expressing the year, they drew
a pieture of Isis, who is also in their language called Sothis, or dog-star, one of the
first constellations, by the rising of which the year commences : its inscription at
Sais was, it is I that rise in the constellation of the Dog.
“ They also represent the year by a palm-tree, and the month by one of its
branches; because it is the nature of this tree to produce a branch every month.
They farther represent it by the fourth part of an acre of land.” (The whole acre
divided into four denotes the bissextile period of four years. The abbreviation of
this figure of a field in four divisions, is manifestly the letter ha or het, the seventh
in the Samaritan alphabet; and in general all the letters of the alphabet are merely
astronomical hieroglyphics: and it is for this reason that the mode of writing is
from right to left, fike the march of the stars)—“ They denote a prophet by the,
image of a dog, because the dog-star (Anoubis) by its rising gives notice of the
inundation, No itbi in Hebrew signifies prophet,—-They represent inundation by
a lion, because it takes place under that sign: and hence, says Plutarch, the cus
tom of placing at the gates of temples figures of lions with water issuing from
their mouths—They express the idea of God and Destiny by a star. They also
represent God, says Porphyry, by a black stone, because his nature is dark and ob
scure. All white things express the celestial and luminous Gods: all circular ones
P
�105
A SURVEY OF THE
sort of language, as the number of those figures and their com
binations became excessive and burdensome to the memory,
confusions and false interpretations were the first and obvious re
sult. Genius having afterwards invented the more simple art of
applying signs to sounds, of which the number is limited, and of
painting the word instead of the thought, hieroglyphic pictures
the world, the moon, the sun, the destinies: all semicircular ones, as bowsand
crescents, are also descriptive of the moon. Fire and the Gods of Olympus, they
represent by pyramids and obelisks: (the name of the son Baal is found in th«s
latter word): the sun, -by a cone (the mitre of Osiris): the earth, by a cylinder
(which revolves): the generative power of the air, by the phalus, and that of the
earth, by a triangle, emblem of the female organ. Eseb. Preecep. Erap p. 98.
u Clay, (says Iamblicus de Symbolis, sect. 7. c.2.) denotes- matter, the genera
tive and nutrimental power, every thing which receives the warmth and mriaeatation of life.
M A man sitting upon the Zofws or Nenuphar, represents the moving spirit (the
sun), which, in like manner as the plant move in the water without any commu
nication with clay, exists equally distinct from matter, swimming in empty space,
resting on itself: it is round also in all its parts, like the leaves, the flowers, and
the fruit of the Lotoe. (Brama has the eyes of the Lotos, says Chaster Neadizs«n,
to denote his intelligence: his eyes swim over everv thing: like the flowers of the
Lotos on the waters). A man at the helm of a ship, adds Iamblicus, is descriptive
of the sun which governs all. And Porphyry tells us, that the sun is also repre
sented by the man in a ship resting upon an amphibious crocodile (emblem of air
and water).
“ At Elephantine, they worshipped the figure of a man in a sitting posture,
painted blue, having the head of a ¡ram, and the horns of a goat, which encom
passed a disk ; all which represented the sun and moon’s conjunction at the sign of
the ram ; the blue colour denoting the power of the moon at the period of junc
tion, to raise water into clouds. Euseb. Prcecep. Brang, p. 116.
“ The hawk is an emblem of the sun and of light, on account of his rapid
flight, and his soaring into the highest regions of the air, where light abounds.
“ A fish is the emblem of aversion, and the Hippopotamus of violence, because
it is said to kill its father and ravish its mother. Hence, says Plutarch, the emble
matical Inscription of the temple ofSais, where we see painted on the vestibule, 1.
A child. 2. An old man. 3. A hawk. 4. A fish. 5. A hippopotamus; which signify,
1. Entrance (into life). 2. Departure. 3. Gcd. 4. Hatred. 5. Injustice. (See
Isis and Osiris).
“ The Egyptians, adds he, represents the world by a Scarabens, because thia in
sect pushes, in a direction contrary to that in which it proceeds, a ball containing
its eggs, just as the heaven of the fixed stars causes the revolution of the sun (the
yolk of an egg) in an opposite direction to his own.
“ They represent the world also by the number Jive, being that of the elements,
which, says Diodorus, are earth, water, air, fire, and ether dr spiritus. The Indians
have the same number of elements, and according to Macrobius’s Mystics, they
are the supreme God, or primum mobile, the intelligence, or mens, born of him, tho
soul of the world which proceeds from him, the celestial spheres and all things ter
restrial. Hence, adds Plutarch, the analogy between the Greek pente, five, and
pan, all.
“‘The ass" says he again, “ is the emblem of Typhon, because, like that anima?,
he is of a reddish colour. Noty Typhon signifies whatever is of a nylrey or clayeynature ; and in Hebrew I find the three words, c/tty, red, and ass, to fie formed from
the same root hamr. lamblicus has farther told us, that clay was: the emblem of
matter; and he elsewhere adds, that all evil and corruption proceeded from matter,
which compared with the phrase of Macrobius, all is perishable, liable to change in
the •'elestial sphere, gives us the theory, first physical, then moral, of the system of
good and evil of the ancients.'”
�r e v o l u t io n s o f e m pir e s .
107
by means of alphabetical writing, brought into disuse ; and
from day to day their forgotten significations made way tor a
variety of illusions, equivoques, and errors.
« Lastly the civil organization of the first states was a third
cause of confusion. Indeed, when the people began to apply
themselves to agriculture, the formation of the rural calendar re
quiring continual astronomical observations, it was necessary to
chuseIndividuals whose province it should be to watch the ap
pearance and setting of certain stars, to giVe notice of the return
of the inundation, of particular winds and rains, and the proper
time for sowing every species of grain. These men, on account
of their office, were exempted from the common occupations, ana
the society provided for their subsistence. In this situation,
solely occupied in making observations, they soon penetrated the
great phenomena of nature, and dived into the secret of various^
of her operations. They became acquainted with the course ot
the stars and planets; the connection which their absence and
return had witn the productions of the earth and the activity of
vegetation: the medicinal or nutritive properties of fruits and
plants • the action of the elements, and their reciprocal affinities.
But as there were no means of communicating this knowledge,
otherwise than by the painful and laborious one of oral instruc
tion, they imparted it only to their friends and kindred; and
hence resulted a concentration of science in certain families, who,
on this account, assumed to themselves exclusive privileges, and
a spirit or corporation and separate distinction fatal to the public
weal. By this continued succession of the same laoours amt
enquiries, the progress of knowledge it is true was hastened, bur,
by the mystery that accompanied it, the people, plunged daily in
the thickest darkness, become more superstitious and more slavish.
Seeing human beings produce certain phenomena, announce, as
it were at will, eclipses and comets, cure diseases, handle noxious
serpents, they supposed them to have intercom se with celestial
powers; and, to obtain the good or have the ills aveited which
they .expected from those powers, they adopted these extraordinary
human beings as mediators and interpieteis. And thus viere
established in the very bosom of states, sacrilegious corporations
of hypocritical and deceitful men, who arrogated to themselves
every kind of power; and priests, being at once astronomers,
divines, naturalists, physicians, necromancers, intei preters oi the
gods, oracles of the people, rivals of kings or then accomplices,
instituted under the name of religion an empire of mystery, whicn
to this very hour has proved ruinous to the nations 01 mankind.
At these words the priests of all the groupes interrupted the
orator; with loud cries, they accused him of impiety, irreligion,
blasphemy, and were unwilling he should proceed : but the legis
lators having observed, that what he related was merely a naira-
�A SURVEY OF THE
five of historical facts ; that if those facts were false or forced, it
would be an easy matter to refute them ; and that if every one
were not allowed the perfect liberty to declare his opinion, it
would be impossible to arrive at truth—he thus went on with his
discourse:
• “ Froma11 th®se causes’ ahd thè perpetual association of di®XTiar ldea8’
followed a strange mass of disorders in
eo ogy, morality, and tradition. And first, because the stars
were represented by animals, the qualities of the animals, their
mungs, their sympathies, their aversions, were transferred to the
<jods and supposed to be their actions. Thus the God Ichneumon
war against thè God crocodile ; the God wolf wanted to eat
he God sheep; the God stork devoured the God serpent; and
tae Deity became a strange, whimsical, ferocious being, whose
idea misled the judgment of man, and corrupted both his morals
and his reason.
“Again, as every family, every nation, in the spirit of its
worship adopted a particular star or constellation for its patron,
the affections and antipathies of the emblematical brute were
1t0 the sectaries of this worship ; and the partisans of
the God dog were enemies to those of the God wolf; the wor
shippers of the God bull abhorred those who fed upon beef, and
religion became the author of combats and animosities, the sense
less cause of frenzy and superstition.
*
“ Farther, the names of the animal stars having, on account of
this same patronage, been conferred on nations, countries, moun
tains, and rivers, those objects were also taken for Gods ; and
hence there arose a medley of geographical, historical, and myhological beings, by which all tradition was involved in con
fusion.
“ In fine, from the analogy of their supposed actions the plane
tary gods having been taken for men, heroes, and kings ; kings
and heroes took in their turn the actions of the Gods for models,
and became, from imitation, warlike, conquering, sanguinary,
proud, lascivious, indolent ; and religion consecrated the crimes
of despots, and perverted the principles of governments.
Se c t . IV.
Fourth system ; Worship of Two Principles, or
Dualism.
“Meanwhile the astronomical priests, enjoying in their temples
peace and abundance, made every day fresh progress in the sci. These are properly the words of. Plutarch, who relates that those various worups weie given by a King o Egypt to the difiereat towns to disunite and enslave
*
em (and these Kings had been takes from the east of nriestsh See />ij nad
ciWk
«
. *
z
i'
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
109
<&Hoes j and the system of the world gradually displaying itself bebefore their eyes, they stated successively various hypotheses as
to its agents and effects, which became so many systems of the
ology.
.
.
z
c
« The navigators of the maritime nations, and the caravans or
Asiatic and African Nomades, having given them a knowledge of
the earth from the Fortunate Islands to Serica, and from the Bal
tic to the sources of the Nile, they discovered, by a comparison of
the different Zones, the rotundity of the globe, which gave rise
to a ne v theory. Observing that all the operations of Nature
*
duriiirr the annual period, were summed up m two principal ones,,
that of producing and that of destroying ; that upon the major
part of the globe, each of these operations was eguaLy accom
plished from one to the other ecjuinox; that is to say, teat during
the six months of summer all was in a state of procreation and in
crease, and during the six months of winter ail in a state of laiii—
guor and nearly dead, they supposed nature to contain two con
trary powers always struggling with and resisting each other;
and considering in the same light the celestial sphere, they di
vided the pictures, by which they represented it, into two halves
or hemispheres, so that those constellations which appeared ip
the summer heaven formed a direct and superior empire, and
those in the winter heaven an opposite and inferior one. Norwas
the summer constellations were accompanied with the season of
long, warm, and unclouded days, together With that of fruits and
harvests, they were deemed to be the powers of light, fecundity,
and creation; and by transition from a physical to a moral sew.
to be Genii, angels of science, beneficence, purity, virtue : in hkw
manner the winter constellations, being attended with long nights
and the polar fogs, were regarded as genii of darkness, destruc
tion, death, and, by similar transition, as angels of wickedness,
ignorance, sm, vice. By this disposal heaven was divided into
two domains, two factions; and the analogy of human ideas
opened already a vast career to the flights of imagination; but a
particular circumstance determined, if it did not occasion, the
mistake and illusion. (Consult Plate II, at the end of -the vo
lume.)
6i In the projection of the celestial sphere drawn by astronomi
cal priests the Zodiac and the constellations disposed in a cir,
*
* The ancient priests had three kinds of spheres, which it may be useful to make
known to the reader.
,
,
« Wc read in Eusebius,” says Porphyry, “ that Zoroaster was the first who, hav
ing fixed upon a cavern pleasantly situated in the mountains adjacent to Persia,
formed the idea of consecrating it to Mithra (the sun), creator and father of »11
things; that is to sav; having made m this cavern several geometrical divisions,
representing the seaEascad the eiemeats, he imitated on a small scale-the oruer
�no
A SURVEY OF THE
oihr order, presented their halves in diametrical opposition • the
Zt nntem7 rre Tas adwrse* contrary, opposite to, bein- She
‘ P CS °f ^at <d summer* By the continued metaphor These
*
andi/-KC°nVeriel \nt° ‘\moral sense’ and the adveise ano-els
nd Genii became rebels and enemies.
*
From that neriod^thp
a,T"omiCa!.
°f tb0 “'«telktion was ^Xd ¿o :
Sdn^r hlistoU'; tne heavens became a human state, where every
in happened as it does on earth. Now as the existing state/
xor the most part despotic, had their monarchs, and as The sun
/em thC
S0^erei3'n of the sk,es» the summer hemisphere
btd
"®hi)’and ‘is constellations (a nation of white anUls)’
had for km<g- an enlightened, intelligent, creative, benign O
and aS every rebellious faction must have its chief, the hemis’
X °f ™f.er’ the subterraneous empire of darkness and woe)
together witn its stars (a nation of black angels, giants, or demons)
hvM Fd Veader a mab»nant Genius’ wbSse P
«
*
-as assumed
by the different people of the earth, to that star which appeared’
and disposition of the universe by Mithra After 7ornn«tP>- Ok,,
consecrate caverns for the celebration of mystenes so thaH
*
to
pies were dedicated to the Gods, rural altars to heroes and terrèstri^ Sie^ &
subterraneous abo.ies to infernal deities, so caverns and
j
II at is, the ancient priests had arinillary spheres like ourseive!us
u,-'d
th^atÌlv’/h7 h'ld
W0^'
ihe Uat"re of Piate IL wi‘h Aia difference, that
-»d subdccau, with*
( yn in-i at, J
»
t? i ’ d r
.«P'1“'™ «" similar pla„s ■ „d if , ¿ic„„i
?ò'.h™p rd “ s ’ " *scr,Plwn S™» by Miger at (he rod if “M.nilius ••
"V
““*
“P1"«'- »f ihdr biK-oglyphics, for every ar.iX
�r e v o l u t io n s o f EMPIRES.
-
Hi
to them the most remarkable. In Egypt it was originally the
Scorpion, the first sign of the Zodiac after the balance, and the
hoarv chief of the wmtry signs: then it was the bear or the polar
ass, called Typhon, that is to say, deluge on account of the yams
,
*
which poured down upon the earth during tne dominion of th a.,
star. In Persia, at a subsequent penodf, it was the serpent,
which, under the name of Abrimanes, formed the basis of the
system of Zoroater; and it is the same, Christians and dews, that
is become your serpent of Eve (the celestial origin), and that o
the cross; ’in both cases the emblem of Satan, the great adversary
of the Ancient of days, sung by Daniel. In Syria it was the hog
or wild boar, enemy of Adonis, because iu that country the oftce
of the Northern bear was made to devolve upon the animal whose
fondness for mire and dirt is emblematical of winter And it is
for this reason that you, children of Moses and Mahomet, hold
this animal in abhorrence, in imitation of the priests of Memphis
and Balbec, who detested him as the murderer of their God the
sun. This is likewise,, O Indians 1 the type of your Chio-en,
which was once the Pluto of your brethren the Greeks and Ro
mans : your Brama also, (God the creator,) is only tne 1 ersian
Ormuzd, and the Osiris of Egypt, whose very name expresses a
creative power, producer of forms. And these Gods were woishipoed in a manner analogous to their real or fictitious attri
butes, and this worship, on account of the difference of its objects,
was divided into two distinct branches. In one, the benign God
received a worship of joy and love, whence are derived all relw
o-ious acts of a sray nature festivals, dances, banquets, offerings
,
*
of flowers, milkT honey, perfumes; in a word, of everything that
delights the senses and the soul. In the other, the malign God,
on the contrary, received a worship of fear and pam ; whence
* It was for this reason the Persians always wrote the name of Ahrimanes inVqViypboX3pv»Ro?«^d Touphan by the Greeks, is precisely the Tmipkw of the
Arabs 'which signifies deluge ; and these deluges in my thology are nothing mo.-e
Sian wSian/the rains, o? thb overflowing of the Nile; aS their pre ended fire
which are to destroy the world, are simply the summer season, ^ditis tor tine
reason that Aristotle (De Meteor lib. i. e. XI^
tha\^V F
’^avs
cyclic year is a deluge; and its summer a conflagration.
The E^Ptia"s’ ,® /
i Porphyry, “ employ every year a talisman in remembrance or the world : at die „um' mersoUice they mirk them houses, flocks, and trees with red, supposing that on .hat
day the whole world had been set on fire. It was also at the same permd tl.aUey
celebrated the pyrric or fire dance.” (And this illustrates the origin of punfie tmVs
by fire and by water: for having denominated the tropic o. Cancer the saU i
heaven, and of genial heat of celestial fire, and that of Capricorn the ^ «f deluge
er of water, it was imagined that the spirits of souls who passed through these
gates in their way to and from heaven, were roasted or bathed : hence the baptism
if Mithra, and the passage through flames, observed throughout the East long bct That is when the ram became the eouinoyial sign, or rather, when the aktra
tion of the skies shewed that it was no longer the Bull. Sc® Note * p. 1-0.
�112
a su r v ey
'Of Th e
enginatea all religious acis of the SOmbre kind . tears ~ii¥r
*
«Troxf\^tniaL
truel kcrifiX’.
intn ™
i •
souree floued íbe Vision of terrestrial behms
into pure and impure, sacred or abominable, accordingas S
Cod
fTnd amon^t3;e respective constellations of the two
God, and made a part of their domains. This produced on one
S t XXTX P°i,UtiOn a"d
and °n ’he
« Yon nn\v
1 d eflicaeious virtues of amulets and talismans.
self m tL l r
e5 nid’ contmued tbe orator addressing himself to the Indians, Persians, Jews, Christians, and Mussulmans
*
rebenionWwhidcTStandnhe Or’S3n of those ideas °f combats and
You n ’ • h Í e<Iuany pervade your respective mythology.
You perceive what is meant by white and black ano-els • by the
dm n 8 anj Se.jaPhs Tth heads of an eaSk, a bon or a bull
*
eq Deus, devils or demons with horns of goats and tails of
ther¿ronfs ñnd dominionsb ranged in seven orders or
gradations, like the seven spheres of the planets; all of them
the Vedaf”heb Ib T Pa£%Jariakiog ob
*
attribuies in
we vedas, the Bibles, or the Zendavasta: whether their chief be
S^íd0rrBra?a,iryPbí)il or Chib-en, Michael or Satan • whe^erpentTorX ofG
g,a”tS
* í¡Undred arms and ’feet of
■ erpenis, or that of Gods metamorphosed into lions, storks bulls
<md cats, as they appear in the sacred tales of the Greeks and’
Egyptians : you perceive the successive genealogy of these ideas
and how in proportion to their remoteness from their source?
n?rifiSdthe 7mÍ °f ?an became refined, their gross forms were
purified and reduced to a state less shocking and repulsive.
... •
ibe/^siein of two oPPosde principles or deities
engmatea in that of symbols ; in the same manner you will fid
a new system spring out of this, to which it served in its turn as
as a foundation and support.1’
Se c t .
V. Mystical or Moral Worship, or the System of a
Future State.
*■
refeiitiy; Wien the vul§ar heard talk of a new heaven and
Xis’ WO-?5 thT7,80011 §'avo a body to these fictions; they
ected on it a solid stage and real scenes ; and their notions of
geography and astronomy served to strengthen, if they did not
give rise to the allusion.
'
* On the one hand, the Phenician navigators, those who passed
«f^dÌccrintion1 Sa,tVe7vCHng ^ht’ retnrn and rxaltati™
sun wee
passate (Pascha') of wTT tb<; hllarta of the Roman calendar at the period of thè
Those o?X ^q"ln<>X- nThC danCCS Wcre Citations of the march
mose of the Dervises still represent it to this day.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
tie pillars of Hercules to fetch the pewter of Thule and the t
amber of the Baltic, related that at the extremity of the world,
the boundaries of the ocean (the Mediterranean), where the
sun sets to the countries of Asia, there were fortunate islands,
the abode of an everlasting- spring-; and at a farther distance,
hyperborean regions, placed under the earth (relatively to the
tropics), where reigned an eternal night.
*
From these stories,
badly understood, and no doubt confusedly related, the imagina
tion of the people composed the Elysian Fields t, delightful
sports in a world below, having- their heaven, their sun, and their
stars: and Tartarus, a place of darkness, humidity, mire, and
chillin«- frost. Now, inasmuch as mankind, inquisitive about all
that of which they are ignorant, and desirous of a protracted
existence, had already exerted their faculties respecting what was
to become of them after death, inasmuch, as they had early
reasoned upon that principle of life which animates the body, and
which quits it without changing the form of the body, and had
conceived to themselves airy substances, phantoms and shades;
they loved to believe that they should resume in the subterranean
world that life which it was so painful to lose; and this abode ap
peared commodious for the reception of those beloved objects
which they could not prevail on themselves to renounce.
« On the other hand, the astrological and phdosophical priests
told such stories of their heavens as perfectly quadrated with
these fictions. Having, in their metaphorical language, deno
minated the equinoxes and solstices the gates of heaven, or the
entrance of the seasons, they explained the terrestrial phenomena
by saying, that through the gate of horn (first the bull, after
wards the ram,) vivifying fires descended, which, in spring, gave
life to vegetation, and aquatic Spirits, which caused, at the sol
stice, the overflowing of the Nile: that through the gate of ivory,
(originally the Bowman, or Sagittarius, then the Balance,) and
through that of Capricorn, or the urn, the emanations or influences
of the^heavens returned to their source and re-ascended to their
origin; and the Milky Way which passed through the doors of the
solstices, seemed to them to have been placed there on purpose to
be their road and vehicle f. The celestial scene farther presented,
according to their Atlas, a river (the Nile, designated by the
windings of the Hydra) ; together with a barge (the vessel Arg-o),
and the dog Sirius, both bearing relation to that river, of which
they foreboded the overflowing, These circumstances, added to
• * Nights of six months duration,f AKz, in the Phoenician or Hebrew language signifies dancing and joyous,
* j-See Jfatrofr. Sow. Scfp. c. 12 5 and Note * p. 120.
Q
�114
A SURVEY OF THE
“ The inhabitants of Egypt having remarked that the putrefac
tion or dead bodies became in their burnino- climate the source of
on.,™«
ot
burning
pestilence and diseases, the custom was introduced in a «rent
number of states, of burying the dead at a distance from the in
habited districts, m the desert which lies at the West. To arrive
there it was necessary to cross the canals of the river in a boat
and to Bay a toll to the ferrvmnn nfhornrica the body, ____ • • *
pay
ferryman, otherwise
remaining
unburied, would have been left a prey to wild beasts. Th£
custom suggested to her civil and religious legislators, a powerful
means ot affecting the manners of her inhabitants ; and addressing
savage and uncultivated men with the motives of filial piety and
reverence for the dead, they introduced, as a necessary condition.,
the undergoing that previous trial, which should decide whether
the deceased deserved to be admitted nnnn tlw.
family honours into the black city. Such an idea too well accoided with the rest of the business not to be incorporated with
? n1lajCOrd^1§’ly eniered for an article into religious creeds, and
feen had its Minos and its Radamanthus, with the wand, the chair
the guards and the uro, after the exact model of this civil transact
lion. The Divinity then, for the first time, became a subject of
inoral and political consideration; a legislator, by so much the
more formidable as, while his judgment was final and his de
crees without appeal, he was unapproachable to his subjects.
This mythological and fabulous creation, composed as it was of
scattered and discordant parts, then became a source of future
punishment and rewards, in which divine justice was supposed to
correct the vices and errors of this transitory state. A spiritual
mystical system, such as I have Mentioned, acquired so much
the more credit as it applied itself to the mind by every argument suited to it. The oppressed looked thither for an indemni
fication, and entertained the consoling hope of vengeance; the
oppressor expected by the costliness of his offerings to secure to
himself impunity, and at the same time employed this principle
to inspire the vulgar with timidity; kings and priests, the heads
ot the people, saw in it a new' source of power, as they reserved
to themselves the privilege of awarding the favours or the censure
. the great Judge of all, according to the opinion they should
inculcate of the odiousness of crimes and the meritoriousness of
virtue.
“ thus,, the», an invisible and imaginary world entered into
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
competition with that which was real. Such, O Persians ! was
the origin of your renovated earth, your city of resurrection.,
placed under the equator, and distinguished from all other cities
by this singular attribute, that the bodies of its inhabitants cast no
*
shade. Such, 0 Jews and Christians ! disciples of the Persians,
was the source of your new Jerusalem, your paradise and your
heaven, modelled upon the astrological heaven of Hermes.
Meanwhile, your hell, O ye Mussulmans! a subterraneous pit
surmounted by a bridge, your balance of souls and good works,
your judgment pronounced by the angels Monkir and Nekir,
derives its attributes from the mysterious ceremonies of the cave
of Mithraf; and your heaven is exactly coincident with that of
Osiris, Ormudz, and Brama.’’
* There is on this subject a passage in Plutarch, so interesting and explanatory’
of the whole of this system, that we shall cite it entire. Having observed that the
theory of good and evil had at all times occupied the attention of philosophers
and theologians, he adds: “ Many suppose ther e to be two Gods of opposite in
clinations, one delighting in good the other in evil; the first of these is called par
ticularly by the name of God, the second by that of Genins Or Demon. Zoroaster
has denominated them Oromaze and Ahrimanes, and has said that, of whatever
falls under the cognizance of our senses, light is the best representation of the one,
anp darkness and ignorance of the other. He adds that Mithra is an intermediate
being, and it is for this reason that the Persians call Mithra the mediator or inter
mediator. Each of these gods has distinct planets and animals consecrated to him;
for example, dogs, birds and hedge-hogs, belonging to the good Genius, and aji
aquatic animals to the evil one.
“ The Persians also say, that Oromaze was born or formed out of the purest
light; Ahrimanes, on the contrary, out of the thickest darkness; that Oroiaaze
made six Gods as good as himself, and Ahrimanes opposed to him six wicked ones »
that Oromaze afterwards multiplied himself threefold (Hermes Tfismegistus), and
removed to a distance as remote from the sun as the sun is remote from the earth ;
that he there formed stars, and among others, Syrius, which he placed in the
heavens as a guard and centinel. He made also twenty-four other Gods, which he
.inclosed in an egg; but Ahrimanes created an equal number on his part, who broke
the egg, and from that moment good and evil were mixed (in the universe). But
Ahrimanes is one day to be conquered, and the earth to be made equal and smooth^
that all men may live happy.
Theopompus adds, from the books of the Magi, that one of these Gods reigns in
turn every three thousand years, during which the other is kept in subjection; that
they afterwards contend with equal weapons during a similar portion of time, but
that in the end the evil Genius will fall (never to rise again). Then men will be
come happy, and their bodies cast no shade. The God who meditates all these
things reclines at present in repose, waiting till he shall be pleased to execute
them.” (See [sis and Osiris').
There is an apparent allegory through the whole of this passage. The egg is the
fixed sphere, the world ; the six Gods of Oromaze are the six sigus of summer, those
of Ahrimanes the six signs of winter. The forty-eight other Gods arc the forty
eight constellations of the ancient sphere, divided equally between Ahrimanes and
Otomaze. The office of Si/riizs, as guard and centinel, tell us that the origin of
these ideas was Egyptian: finally, the expression that the earth is to become equal
and smooth, and that the bodies of happy beinghare to cast no shade, proves that
the equator was considered as their true paradise.
t In the caves which priests every where constructed, they celebrated .mysterifs
�116
A SURVEY OF THE lAX
Se c t . VI. Sixth System: The Animated World, or Worship 'op
the Universe under different Emblems.
<e Vk h il e the nations were losuig themselves in the dark laby
rinth of mythology and fables, the physiological priests, pursuing
their Studies and enquiries about the order and disposition of the
universe, came to fresh results, and set up fresh systems of
powers and moving causes.
*
1
“ Long confined to simple appearances, they had only seen in
the motion of the stars an unknown play of luminous bodies,
which they supposed to roll round the earth, the central point of
all the spheres ; but from the moment they had discovered the
rotundity of our planet, the consequences of this first fact led.
them to other considerations, and from inference to inference they
rose to the highest conceptions of astronomy and physics.
“ In truth, having conceived the enlightened and simple idea,
that the celestial globe is a small circle inscribed in the greater
circle of the heavens, the theory of the concentrai circles na
turally presented itself to their hypothesis, to resolve the un
known circle of the terrestrial globe by known points of the
celestial circle ; and the measure of one or several degrees of the
meridian, gave precisely the total circumference. Then taking
for compass the diameter of the earth, a fortunate genius de
scribed with auspicious boldness the immense orbits of the hea
vens; and, by an unheard of abstraction, man, who scarcely
peoples the grain of sand of which he is the inhabitant, embraced
the infinite distances of the stars, and launched himself into thé
abyss of space and duration. There a new order of the universe
presented itself, of which the petty globe that he inhabited no
longer appeared to him to be the centre : this important part was
transferred to the enormous mass of the sun, which became the
which consisted (says Origen against Celsus) in imitating the motion of the stars,
the planets, and the heavens. The initiated took the name of constellations, and
assumed the figures of animals. One was a lion, another a raven, and a third a
ram. Hence the use of masks in the first representation of the drama. See Ant.
Devoile, vol. ii. p. 244. “ In the mysteries of Ceres, the chief in the procession
called himself the creator; the bearer of the torch was denominated the sun: the
person nearest the altar, the moon : the herald or deacon, Mercury. In Egypt there
was a festival in which the men and women represented the year, the age, the sea
sons, the different parts’of the day, and they walked in procession after Bacchus.
.Aiken, lib. v. c. 7. Jn the eave of JVIithra was a ladder with'severi steps, represent
ing the seven spheres of the planets, by means of which souls ascended and de
scended. This is precisely the ladder in Jacob’s vision, which shows that at that
epocha the whole system was formed. There is in the French’ iune’e library a su
perb volume of pictures of the Indian Gods, in which the ladder is represented with
the souls of men mounting it.”
•< • ■ rtsift .■ »
�DEVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
117
inflamed pivot of eight circumjacent spheres, the movements of
which were henceforward submitted to exact calculation.
*
« The human mind had already done a great deal, by undertakino- to resolve the disposition and order of the great beings of
nature; but not contented with this first effort, it wished also to
resolve its mechanism, and discover its origin and motive princi
ple. And here it is that, involved in the abstract and metaphysi
cal depths of motion and its first cause—of the inherent or com
municated properties of matter, together with its successive
forms and extent, or, in other words, of boundless space and time,
these physiological divines lost themselves in a chaos of subtle
arguments and scholastic controversy.
The action of the sun upon terrestrial bodies, having first
led them to consider its substance as pure and elementary fire,
they made it the focus and reservoir of an ocean of igneous and
luminous fluid, which, under the name of ether, filled the uni
verse, and nourished the beings contained therein. They after
wards discovered, by the analysis of a more accurate philosophy,
ibis fire, or a fire similar to it, entering into the composition of ail
bodies, and perceived that it was the grand agent in that spon
taneous motion, which in animals is denominated life, and in
plants vegetation. From hence they were led to conceive of the
mechanism and action of the universe, as of a homogeneous
w h o l e , a single body, whose parts, however distant in place, had
a reciprocal connection with each otherj-; and of the world as a
living substance, animated by the organical circulation of an
igneous or rather electrical fluidj, which by an analogy borrowed
from men and animals, was supposed to have the sun for its
heart §.
« Meanwhile, among the theological philosophers, one sect be
ginning from these principles, the result of experiment, said: That*
§
* Consult the ancient astronomy of M. Bailly, and you will find our assertions
respecting the knowledge of the priests amply proved.
f These are the very words of Jamblicus. De Myst. ¿Egypt.
t The more I'consider what the ancients understood by ether and spirit, and what
the Indians call aAmcfte; the stronger do I find the analogy between it and electri
cal fluid. A luminous fluid, principle of warmth and motion, pervading the uni
verse, forming the matter of the stars, having small round particles, which insinu
ate themselves into bodies, and fill them by dilating itself, be their extent what it
will, what can more strongly resemble electricity ?
..
§ Natural philosophers, says Macrobius, cal! the sun the heart of the world.
AW Scrp. c. 20. The Egyptians, says Plutarch, calls the East the /ace, the North
trie right side, and the South the left side of the world, because there the heart is
placed. They continually compare the universe to a man; and hence the cele
brated microcosm of the Alchvmists. We observe, by the bye, that the Alchymist«,
Cabaiists, Freemasons, Magnetisers, Martinists, and every other such sort of vi
sionaries, are but the mistaken disciples of this ancient school: we say mistaken,
because in spite of their pretensions, the thread of the O8cult science is broken.
�118
A SURVEY OF THE
nothing- was annihilated in the world: that the dements were
unpeusbable; that they changed their combinations, but not
5•
ihvl,fe and death of bein§s were nothing more
than the vmied modifications of the same atoms; that matter
contained in itself properties, which were the cause of all its
inodes of existing; that the world was eternal
,
*
having no
bounds either of space or duration, ~ Others said: Tha? the
whole universe was God; and, according to them, God was at
once effect and cause, agent and patient, moving principle and
thing moved, having for laws the invariable properties which
constitute fatality; apd they designated their idPea Lmedmlsby
^ emblem Ox Pa n (the g r e a t a l l ) ; or of Jupiter, with a starry
front, a pmnetaiy body, and feet of animals; or by the symbol
of the Orphic eggf, whose yolk suspended in the middle of a
liquid encompassed by a vault, represented the glob© of the sun
swimming m ether in the middle of the vault of heaven or by
;
*
the emblem or a large round serpent, figurative of the heavens,
where they placed the first principle of motion, and for that rea
son of an azure colour, studded with gold spots (the stars), and
devouring hisHail that is, re-entering into Weifs by winding
continually like the revolution of the spheres ; or by the emblem
of a man, with his feet pressed and tied together to denote im
mutable existence, covered with a mantle of all colours, like the
appearance of nature, and wearing on his head a sphere of gold?
figurative of the sphere of the planets; or by that of another
man sometimes seated upon the flower of Lotos, borne upon the
abyss of the waters; at others reclined upon a pile of twelve cush- signifying the twelve celestial s gns. And this, O nations
of India, Japan, Siam, Thibet, aud China! is the theology, which
invented by the Egyptians, has been transmitted down and pre-’
served among yourselves, in the pictures you gave of Brama,
Beddou, Sommanacodom, and Omito. This, 0 ye Jews and
Christians ! is the counterpart of an opinion, of which you have*
§
. ^e.the Pythagorean Ocellus Lucanus.
f Vide CEdip. JEgypt. tom II » 205
* This comparison of the sun with the yolk of an egg refers, 1. To its round and
yellow figure; 2 To its central situation; 3. To the germ or principle of life con
tained in the yolk. May not the oval form of the egg- allude to the ellipsis of tire
orbs ; l am inclined to this opinion. The word Orphic offers a flrthef observa
toon. Macrobius says (Som. Scip. c. 11. and c. 20), that the sun is the brain of the
universe, and that it is from analogy that the skull of a human being is round, like
the planet the seat of intelligence. Now the word Orph (with «in) signifies in He
and'the Rblain 3ad <iS SEat
’ OrPheus’ then, is «he same.as Bedou or Baits;
and the Bonzes are those very Orphics vthich Plutarch represents as quacks, who ate
no meat, vended talismans, and little stones, and deceived individuals, and even go
*
11
™ », Orpki^., Ac'iid.
§ See Porphyry in Eusebuis. Prop. Etun, lib, 3.p. 115,
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
119
retained a certain portion, when you describe God as the breath
of life moving upon the face of the waters, alluding to the wind
*
which at the origin of the world, that is, at the departure of the
spheres from the sign of the Crab, announced the overflowing of
the Nile, and seemed to be tile preliminary of creation.”
Se c t . VII. Seventh System: Worship of the So u l of the Wo r l p ;
that is, the Element of Fire, the Vital Principle
of the Universe.
*
« But a third sect of the theological philosophers, disgusted
with the idea of a being at once effect and cause, agent and pa
tient, and uniting in one and the same nature all contrary attri
butes, distinguished the moving principle from the thing moved;
and laying it down as a datura that matter was in itself inert, they
*
pretended that it received its properties from a distinct agent, of
which it was only the envelope or case. Some made this agent
the igneous principle, the acknowledged author of all motion ;
others made it the fluid called ether, because it was thought to be
more active and subtile: now’, as they denominated the vital and
motive principle in animals, a soul, a spirit; and as they always
reasoned by comparison, and particularly by comparison with
human existence, they gave to the motive principle of the wrhole
universe the name of soul, intelligence, spirit; and God was the
vital spirit, which, diffused through all being, animated the vast
body of the wrorld. This idea was represented sometimes by
Jupiter or You-piter, essence of motion and animation, principle
of existence, or rather existence itself f ; at other times by V ulcan, of Phtha, elementary principle of fire, or by the altar of
Vesta, placed centrally in her temple, like the sun in the spheres ;
and again by Kneph, a human being dressed in deep blue, holding
in his hands a sceptre and a girdle (the Zodiac), wearing on his
head a cap with feathers, to express the fugacity of thought, and
producing from his mouth the great egg
.
*
M As a consequence from this system, every being containing
in itself a portion of the igneous or etherial fluid, the universal
and common mover ; and that fluid, soul of the world, being the
JDeity, it follow ed that the souls of all beings w7ere a part of God
himself, partaking of all his attributes, that is, being an ittdivi* The Northern or F.lisian wind, which commences regularly at the solstice with
the inundation.
_
.
h This is the true pronunciation of the Jupiter of the Latins. This is the sig
nification of the word you. See note in follow ing NWher, commencing “ Sm h
is the true pronunciation of the Jehovahei the lncguinis. ’
J See note , p. 8a.
.
�120
A SURVEY ÔF THÉ
sible simple, and immortal substance: and hence is derived titr
whole system of the immortality of the soul, which at first was
eternity . Hence also its transmigrations known by the name
metempsychosis, that is to say; passage ot the vital principle from
one body to another; an idea which sprung from the real trans
migration of the material elements. Such O Indians, Budsoists,
Christians, Mussulmans, was the origin of all your ideas of the
spintuallity of the soul ! Such was the source of the reveries of
Fythag'oras and Plato, your institutorsj and who were them
selves but the echoes of another, the last sect of visionary phi
losophers that it is necessary to examinefi
■ In the system of the first spiritualists, the soul was not created with, or at the
same tune as the body, in order to be inserted in it: its existence was supposed to be
anterior and from ali eternity. Such, in a few words, is the doctrine of Macrobius
on this head. Som. Scip. Passim.
1 here exists a luminous, igneous, subtle fluid, which, under the name of ether
a , ,s.PlrltJls.’ ”, "lc universe. It is the essential principle and agent of motion
and life; it is the Deity. Vi hen an earthly body is to be animated, a small round
^particle of this fluid gravitates through the miiky way towards the lunar sphere,
where, w hen it arrives, it unites with a grosser air, and becomes fit to associate with
matter: it then enters and entirely fills the body, animates it, suffers, grows, in
creases, and diminishes with it: lastly, when the body dies, and its gross elements
dissolve, this incorruptible particle takes its leave of it, and returns to the grand
ocean of ether, if not retained by its union with the lunar air: it is this air or o-as,
which, retaining- the shape of the body, becomes a phantom or ghost, the perfect
Tepiesentation of the deceased. The Greeks called this phantom the image or idol
of the soul; the Pythagoreans, its chariot, its frame; and the Rabbinical school, its
vessel, or boat. When a man had conducted himself well in this world, his whole
soul, that is, its chariot and ether, ascended to the moon, where a separation took
place: the chariot lived in the lunar Elysium, and the ether returned to the fixed
sphere, that is, to God ; for the fixed heaven, says Macrobius, was by many called
by the uame of God, (c. 14.) If a man had not lived virtuously, the soul remained
cm earth to undergo purification, and was to wander to and fro, like the ghosts of
Homer, to which this doctrine must have been known, since he wrote after the time
of Pherecydes and Pythagoras, who were its promulgators in Greece. Herodotus,
upon tuis occasion, says, that the whole romance of the soul and its transmigra
tions was invented by the Egyptians, and propogated in Greece by men, who pre
tended to be its authors. 1 know their names, adds he, but shall not mention them,
(ho 2.J Cicero, however,has positively informed us, that it wasPherecydes, master
cf Pythagoras. Tescul. lib. I. sect. 16. Now admitting that this system was at
that period a novelty, it accounts for Solomon’s treating it as a fable, who lived 130
years before Pherecydes. “ Who knoweth,” says he. “ the spirit of a man that it
goeth upwards ? 1 said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that
God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
For that which befalleth the sons of man, befalleth beasts-; even one thing befalletltthem; as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, so
that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast, for all is vanitv ” Eccles, c. i ii.
V. 18.
3
And such had been the opinionofMoses, as a translator of Herodotus, (M. Archer,,
of the Academy of Inscriptions,) justly observes in note 389 of the second book,
where he says also, that the immortality of the soul was not introduced among tine
Hebrews, till their intercourse with the Assyrians. In other respects, the whole
Pythagorean system, properly analysed, appears to be merely a system of physics
badly understood.
+ All the arguments of the spiritualists arc founded on this .See JJacrahiiw, at the
end of the second book, and Plato with the comments of Sfareitfatt FMnyj.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
121
Eighth System: The World a Machine: Worship
of the Demi-ourgos, or Supreme Artificer,
Se c t . VIII.
“ Hit h e r t o the theologians, in exercising their faculties on the
detached and subtile substances of ether and the igneous prin
ciple, had not however ceased to treat of existences palpable and
perceptible to the senses, and their theology had continued to be
the theory of physical powers, placed sometimes exclusively in
the stars, and sometimes disseminated through the universe. But
at the period at which we are arrived, some superficial minds,
lasing the chain of ideas which had directed these profound enSuiries, or ignorant of the facts which served as their basis, renered abortive all the results that had been obtained from them,
by the introduction of a strange and novel chimera. They
pretended that the universe, the heavens, the stars, the sun,
«. differed in no respect from an ordinary machine; and applying
to this hypothesis a comparison drawn from the works of ait,
they erected an edifice of the most whimsical sophisms, “ A
machine,” said they, “ cannot form itself, there must be a work
man to construct it; its very existence implies this:—The world is
a machine : it has therefore an artificer.”*
Hence the Demi-ourgos, or supreme artificer, the autocrator
and sovereign of the universe. It was in vain that the ancient
philosophy objected to the hypothesis, that this artificer did not
stand in less need of parents and an author, and that a scheme,
which added only one link to the chain, by taking the attribute of
eternity from the world and giving it to the creator, was of little
value. These innovators, not contented with a first paradox,
added a second, and applying to their artificer the theory of hu
man understanding-, pretended that the Demi-ourgos fashioned hjs
machine upon an archetype or idea extant in his mind. In a
word, just as their masters, the natural philosophers, had placed
the Primum mobile in the sphere of the fixed stars, under the
appellation of intelligence and reason, so their apes, the spiritual
ists, adopting the same principle, made it an attribute of the
Demi-ourgos, representing this being as a distinct substance,
necessarily existing, to which they applied the term of Mens or
Logos; in other words, understanding and speech. Separately
from this being, they held the existence of a solar principle, or
soul of the world, which, taken with the preceding, made three
gradations of divine personages; first the Demi-ourgos or supreme
artificer; secondly, the Logos, understanding or speech: and
'
* See Nate j- at the bottom of the preceding page.
R
�122
A SURVEY OF THE
thirdly, the spirit or soul of the world * And this, O Christians
,
is the fiction on which you have founded your doctrine of the
Trinity; this is the system, which, born a Heretic in the Egyptian
temples, transmitted a Heathen to the schools of Greece and Italy,
is now Catholic or Orthodox by the conversion of its partisans,
the disciples of Pythagoras and Plato, to Christianity.
“ Thus the Deity, after having been originally considered
as the sensible a'.d various action of meteors and the elements ;
then as the combined power of the stars, considered in their
relation to terrestrial, objects; then as those terrestrial objects
themselves, in consequence of confounding symbols with the
things they represented; then as the complex power of Na
ture, in her two principal operations of production and de
struction ; then as the animated world without distinction of
agent and patient, cause and effect; then as the solar principle
or element of fire acknowledged as the sole cause of motion —
the Deity, I say, considered under all these different views, became
at last a chimerical and abstract being; a scholastic subtlety of’
substance without form, of body without figure; a true delirium
of the mind beyond the power of reason at all to comprehend.
But in this its last transformation, it seeks in vain to conceal
itself from the senses: the seal of its origin is indelibly stamped
upon it. All its attributes, borrowed from the physical attributes
of the universe, as immensity, eternity, indivisibility, incompre
hensibleness ; or from the moral qualities of man, as goodness,
justice, majesty; and its very names f, derived from the physical
♦ These are the real types of the Christian Trinity.
In our last analysis we found all the names of the Deity to be derived from
some material object in which it was supposed to reside. We have given a consi
derable number of instances; let us add one more relative to our word God. This
is known to be the Dens of the Latins, and the Theos of the Greeks. Now, by the
confession of Plato, (in Cratylo,') of Macrobius (Saturn, lib. 1. c. 24.), and of Plu
tarch (Isis and Osyris), its root is thein, which signifies to wander, like planein,
that is to say, it is synonimous with planets; because all our authors, both the
ancient Greeks and barbarians, particularly worshipped the planets. I know that
such inquiries into etymologies have been much decried; but if, as is the case,
words are the representative signs of ideas, the genealogy of the one becomes that of
the other, and a good etymological dictionary would be the most perfect history Of
the human understanding. It would only be necessary, in this inquiry, to observe
certain precautions, which have hitherto been neglected, and particularly to make
an exact comparison of the value of the letters of the different alphabets, but, t»
continue our subject, we shall add, that in the Phoenician language, the word thah,
(with ain) signifies also to wander, and appears to be the derivation of thein. If we
suppose Deus to be derived from the Greek Zeus, a proper name of You-piter having
sate, 1 live, for its root, its sense will be precisely that of you, and will mean soul of
the world, igneous principle. See Note -f, p. 124. Div-us, which only signifies Ge
nius, God of the second order, appears to me to come from the oriental word div
substituted for dib, wolf and chacal, one of the emblems of the sun. At Thebes,
says Macrobius, the sun was painted under the form of a wolf or chacal, for there
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
123
beings tvhich were its types, particularly the sun, the planets, and
the world, present to us continually, in spite of those who would
corrupt and disguise it, infallible marks of its genuine nature.
“ Such is the chain of ideas through which the human mind
had already run at a period anterior to the positive recitals of
history; and since their systematic form proves them to have been
the result of one scene of study and investigation, every thing
inclines us to place the theatre of investigation, where its primi
tive elements were generated, in Egypt. There their progress
was rapid, because the idle curiosity of the theological philoso
phers had, in the retirement of the temples, no other food than
the enigma of the universe, which was ever present to their
minds ; and because, in the political dissensions which long dis
united that country, each state had its college of priests, who,
being in turns auxiliaries or rivals, hastened by their disputes the
progress of science and discovery
.
*
are no wolves in Egypt. The reason of this emblem, doubtless is that the chacal,
like the cock, announces by its cries the sun’s rising; and this reason is confirmed
by the analogy of the words likos, wolf, and tyke, light of the morning, whence
comes lux.
Dius, which is to be understood also of the sun, must be derived from dih, a hawk.
“ lhe Egyptians,” says Porphyry, (Euscb. Prcecep. Evang. p. 92.) “ represent the
sun under the emblem of a hawk, because this bird soars to the highest regions of
air where light abounds. And in reality we continually see at Cairo large flights
of these birds, hovering in the air, from whence they descend not but to stun us
with their shrieks, which are like the monosyllable dih: and here, as in the pre
ceding example, we find an analogy between the words dies, day, light, and Dim,
God, Sun.
* One of the proofs that all these systems were invented in Egypt, is, that this
is the only country where we see a complete body of doctrine formed from the
remotest antiquity.
Clements Alexandrinus has transmitted to us (Stromat. lib. 6.) a curious detail
of the forty-two volumes which were borne in the procession of Isis. “ The priest,”
says he, “ or chanter, carries one of the symbolic instruments of music, and two of
the books of Mercury; one containing hymns of the Gods, the other the list of
kings. Next to him the Horoscope (the regulator of time), carries a palm and a
dial, symbols of astrology ; he must know by heart the four books of Mercury, which
treat of astrology : the first on the order of the planets ; the second on the risings of
the sun and moon, and the two last on the rising and aspect of the stars. Then
comes the sacred author, with feathers on his head, (like Knepli) and a bookin his
hand, together with ink, and a reed to write with (as is still the practice among the
Arabs.) He must be versed in hieroglyphics, must understand the description of
the universe, the course of the sun, moon, stars, aud planets ; be acquainted with
the division of Egypt into 36 nowtei, with the course'of the Nile, with instruments,
measures, sacred ornaments and sacred places. Next comes the stole bearer, who
carries the cubit of justice, or measure of the Nile, and a cup for the libations; he
bears also in the procession ten volumes on the subject of sacrifices, hymns, prayers
offerings, ceremonies, festivals. Lastly arrives the prophet, bearing in his bosom a
«pitcher, so as to be exposed to view: he is followed bv persons carrying bread (as at
the marriage of Cana). This prophet, as president of the mysteries, learns ten other
sac red volumes, which treat of the laws, the Gods, and the discipline of the priests.
Now there are in all forty-two volumes, thirty-six of which are studied, and got by
�124
'
A SURVEY OF THE
“ On the borders of the Nile there happened at that distant
period, what has since been repeated all over the globe. In pro
portion as each system was formed, it excited by its novelty quar
rels and schisms: then gaining credit even by persecution, it
either destroyed anterior ideas, or incorporated itself with and
modified them. But political institutions taking place, all opinions,
by the aggregation of statesand mixture of different people, were
at length confounded; and the chain of ideas being lost, theo
logy, plunged in a chaos, became a mere logogryph of old tradi
tions no longer understood. Religion, losing its object, was now
nothing more than a political expedient by which to rule the cre
dulous vulgar; and was embraced either by men credulous
themselves and the dupes of their own visions, or by bold and
energetic spirits, who formed vast projects of ambition.”
Se c t . IX.
Religion of Mose.% or Worship of the Soul of the
World (You-piter).
“ Of this latter description was the Hebrew legislator, who,
desirous of separating his nation from every other, and of forming
a distinct and exclusive empire, conceived the design of taking
for its basis religious prejudices, and of erecting’ round it a sacred
rampart of rites and opinions. But in vain did he proscribe the
worship of symbols, the reigning religion at that time in Lower
Egypt and Phenecia : his God was not on that account the less
*
an Egyptian God, of the invention of those priests whose disciple
Moses had been, and Yahouh'Y, detected by his very name, which
heart by these personages, and the remaining six are set apart to be consulted by
the pastophores: they treat of medicine, the construction of the human body
(anatomy), diseases, remedies, instruments, &c.” «
We leave the reader to deduce all the consequences of such an Encyclopedia,
It is ascribed to Mercury; but Jamblicus tells us that each book, composed by
priests, was dedicated to that God, who, on account of, his title of Genius, orfcoin
opening the Zodiac, presided over every enterprise. He is the Janus of the Romans
and the Guiunesa of the Indians, and it is remarkable that 1 anus and Guianes are
homonymous. In short, it appears that these books are the source of all that has
been transmitted to us by the Greeks and Latins in every science, even in alcbymy,
necromancy, &c. What is most to be regretted in their loss, is that pait which
related to the principles of medicine and diet, in which the Egyptians appear to have
made a considerable progress, and to have delivered many useful observations.
* “ At a certain period,” says Plutarch (rZe Iside), “ all the Egyptians have their
animal Gods painted. The Thebans are the only people who do not employ pain
ters, because they worship a God whose form comes not under the senses, and can
not be represented.” And this is the God whom Moses, educated at Heliopolis,
adopted; but the idea was not of his invention.
.
•
*
y Such is the true pronunciation of the Jehovah of the moderns, who violate in
this respect every rule of criticism; since it is evident, that the ancients, particu
larly the Eastern Syrians and Phenecians were acquainted neither with the Je nor
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
125
means essence of beings, and by his symbol, the fiery bush, is
i
*
th signification tobe.the
one of the dialects of the common language of
Lo-U, Yahouh is the ’participle of
existing; inotberwords,thepnnciple of l‘^the^fclth°e Greeks an(1 ¿atinS! (.xpiaia
T-lbeX)- ^EevntifnJ” says Diodorus, after Manatho, priest of Mem-
!Sui:0§f^
the vital principle m animals; and tor this reason tneycul*
,
f en
the generator of beings.” For the same reason Homer says, Father, and king oimen
“! <&£££ liVh“ «¿»s - .0 wd« Y.b-pita; as th. sol. bf
”
Hence the woX of Virgil: “Muses, let us begin with You-piter; the world is full
nf Von niter-” /'’Sown. Sc':p. ch. 17 J And in the Saturnalia he says, Jupitei
toe sun himself ” It was this also which made Virgil say: “ The spirit nourishes; to e
life (of beings), and the soul diffused through the vast members kof the umveise,,
ao-itates the whole mass, and forms but one immense body.
_ .
.
Ioupiter ” says the ancient verses of the Orphic sect, which originated in Egvp,
„r,e°“oikct.a by Onom.crit.s i. the toys of Piei.tr.tus, 1 loupurr » repr.su.kd
IS?ihonder in hisb.ud, is the beginning, origin, «1. “d™’ddU “f ‘^'t“ 'te
bod) . U eydare
if sun and moon; he is space and eternity; in fine
the world the universe, that which constitutes the essence and lite of all ba
.
Now ” continues the same author, “ as philosophers differed 111 opinion respectng
toe nature and constituent parts of this God, and as ^ey could imreiff no figure
that should representall his attributes, they painted him in the .j .uj of mat., t
asiting posture, in allusion to his immutabe essence: the upper pan of bis
body is uncovered, because it is in the upper regions of the umvere (the stars), tort
he most conspicuously displays himself He is covered from the waist to, k
because respecting tereestrial things, he is more secret and concealed. He holds a
«eeptrTiiihis left hand, because on the left side is the heart, and the heart, is toe
Ut of the understanding, which (in human beings) regulates every action. Eu-
and
Strabo, amoves
An-iM as to the identity of the ideas of Moses, and those of t.ic heathen tneolo .^ns.
. . “ Moses, who was one of the Egyptian priests, taught his
an e°-gregious error to represent the Deity under the rorm of animals, as toe E p
£ns did or in the shape of man, as was the practice of the Greeks and Ate cans.
That alone, is the Deity, said he, which constitutes heaven, earth, and cveiy Lying
thing- that which we call the world the sum. of all things, nature; and no
abIeSperson will think of representing such a being by the image of any one o. tie
5 ects around us. It is for this reason, that, rejecting every species of images ar
?dols Moses wished the Deity to be worshipped without emblems and according to
Xis proper nature; and he accordingly ordered a temple worthy of him to be erected,
6 The toSJvftcf Mores LVthmi^diffemHn no re
that is to saygfrom the Stoics and Epicureans, who consider toe Deity <.s the .out
* of Xe world5 This philosophy appears to have taken birth, or to have been oisSXS wh.u Ab^han, ?am. into Egypt. (MO.y.ar. bfto M.,«, -j. he
quitted his system of idols for that of tee God Fa.toito; so that we may pia.e its
.
�126
A SURVEY OF THE
nothing more than the soul of the wnrM
,
which Greece shortly after adontod
1’
PnnciP]e °f motion,
in her You-piter, generative nrinei
Sa”?e denomination
existence* • which the Tbok
Principle, and under that of Fi
which Sails
uXr °th
tbe ”ame <>f A
/
*
this inscription, / JK X/L ? embl«m of Isis veiledf
and no mortal
is.’ ^d all that
honoured under the appellation of
^¿7 which Pythagoras
philosophy defined witXrerissmn ,
an(? which the Stoic
&e. ik vain did Moses
to bloyfr“1^ *
PrinciPJe <
*
could bring to remembrance the wnrfl/”1 X [eh£,on whatever
Phcity of traits in spite of hl ixeX^iH
it out: the seven lamps of the orcat
re.™flned to point
stones or signs of the fel oftlmhXk^1
ibe twelve
two equinoxes, each of whiclatth'f P^’?6 feast of the
the ceremony of the laml7orcelelia^X:«
degree; lastly the name of Osiris f>ve>n « ’ ben,a! lts fifteenth
and the ark or coffer an
Pres®rYed m his seng+,
was inclosed; all these remain tn h
u *” wbicil that God
his ideas, and their derivatio^f^
Se c t . X.
Religion of Zoroaster.
step™whoWfive ceutuJL after'm X"'6 T® b?Id a”d energetic
;>vived and moralized ;XngThe
Da’id>
L?ypuan System of Osiris, ’under the
““ T'hole
Anrimanes. He called thl
c
mes of Ormuzd and
the reign of winter, sin and evil’ the ’rOTSon^f’1"1. g°°d !
of ihe’con^inetion^resurrection
*” rr®
]n
secular periods
™ the Tartarus and Elysi^o^
w
,
7
^ncient astrologers and
and 40?« kX
before Christ; which cor
says,
34
counhy was full of foreigners, and that Moses num
°f ^arth> wben t5»e
^í.™"ra^
l¡,is «ppom.nUy of «,w¡£¿
i f A •It. W1 seem Paradoxical to assert that 600 (inn „
7 the rnoun,a">s of
ducted thither ought to he reduced to 6 000 but1 eT 7^ 7™ who,n W conmen whom he
many proofs drawn fro.m the books themselves X it wi?I a "*
aSSCrtion b-v 80
-- .... .,j
errorThis wasPthe nXsyulbi’ v^iS^on th"1^?1 11 Wli* ‘libéis, to correct an ■
which appears to have arican
»6 ?
necessary
■y
*
tarch hrs made it the subject of a dissertaíon.g
°f DclPho) Plu.
>s.
works of Tsourare perke^^o^T^^h^00^ °f Deuterononiy> ch. 32. “The
its proper signkXn isU
Osiris in Plutarch.
8
jormst and this is one of the definitions of
�'
REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
127
geographers; in a word, he only consecrated the already-existmg
reveries of the mystic system.’^
Se c t . XI.
Budoism, or religion of the Samaneans.
« In the same rank must be included the promulgators of the
sepulchral doctrine of the Samaneans; who, on the basis of the
metempsychosis, raised the misanthrophic system of self-renauciation and denial; who, laying it down as a principle, that the
body is only a prison where the soul lives in impure confinement;
that life is but a dream, an illusion, and the world a place of pas
sage to another country, to a life without end; placed virtue ami
perfection in absolute insensibility, in the abnegation of physical
organs, in the annihilation of all being; whence resulted tae^fa&is,
penances, macerations, solitude, contemplations, and all the ueplorable practices of the mad-headed Anchorets.''’
Se c t . XII.
Braminism, or the Indian System.
« Fin a l l y , of the same cast were the founders of the Indian
system; who, refining after Zoroaster upon the two principles of
creation and destruction, introduced an intermediate one, that of
conservation, and upon their trinity in unity, of Brama, Chivcn,
and Bichenou, accumulated a multitude of traditional allego
ries, and the alembicated subtleties of their metaphysics.
4- These are the materials, which, scattered through Asia, existed
there for many ages, when, by a fortuitous course of events and
circumstances, new combinations of them were introduced on the
banks of the Euphrates and on the shores of the Mediterranean. ’
Christianity, or the Allegorical Worship of tire
Sun, under the Cabalistical Names 0/’Ch r is e s
or Ch r is t , and Yesus ar Je s u s .
Se c t . XIII.
« In constituting a separate people, Moses had vainly imagined
that he should guard them from the influence of every foreign
idea: but an invincible inclination, founded on affinity of origin,
continually called back the Hebrews to the worship of the neigh
bouring nations; and the relations of commerce that necessarily
subsisted between them, tended every day to strengthen the pro
pensity. While the Mosaic institution maintained its ground, the
coercion of the government and the laws was a considerable ob
stacle to the inlet of innovations; yet even then the principal
places were full of idols, and God the sun had his chariot and
horses painted in the palaces sof k’mgs, and in the very temple
�128
A SURVEY OF THE
Ya'ioiih : but when the conquest of the kings of Nineveh and
+ f/ OU I* 1* dissolved the bands of public power, the people left
'
to themselves, and solicited by their conquerors,’no longer kept
a restranit ou th ir inc]iuatioHS> and profa^e opinions werf openFy
StnX 7 u ° m AS firSVhe Assyriaa colonies, placed in the
the d D °f
°i( t”bes> fil!ed tbe kingdom of Samaria with
he dogmas of the Magi, which soon penetrated into Judea.
Ahcrwaids Jerusalem having been subjugated, the Eoyptians
Syrians and Arabs, entering this open country, introduced their
tenets, and the religion of Moses thus underwent a second alreiation. In like manner, the priests and great men, removing to
jabylon, and educated in the science of the Chaldeans, imbibed,
a re?idenee
seventy years, every principle of their
Weology, and from that moment the dogmas of the evil Genius
G>atm), of the archangel Michael of the Ancient of Days (Or,
*
inudz), of the rebellious angels, the celestial combats, the immor a ltj of the soul, and the resurrection ; dogmas unknown to
1 oses, oi 1 ejected by him, since he observes a perfect silence
respectmo- them, became naturalized among the Jews.
. ,
ibeir return to their country, the emigrants brought back
with taem these ideas: and at first the innovations occasioned
disputes between their partisans, the Pharisees, and the adherents
to the ancient national worship, the Sadducees: but the former,
seconded by the inclination of the people, and the habits they had
aiready contracted, and supported by the authority of the Persians,
their deliverers, finally gained the ascendancy, and the theology of
Zoroaster was consecrated by the children of Moses f.
A fortuitous analogy between two leading ideas, proved par
ticularly favorable to this coalition and formed the basis of a last
system, not less surprising in its fortune than in the causes of its
formation.
dle thnethat the Assyrians had destroyed the kingdom
of Samaria, some sagacious spirits foresaw, announced, arid pre'icte the same fate to Jerusalem: and all their predictions were
'
K). n Ve names °f the aiJgels and of the months, such as Gabriel, Michael, Yar,
C.UU‘VroiU PabRlon Wlth the JewfY says expressly the Talmud of
Jciusalem. See Beausob. Hut. du Munich. Vol. II. p. 624. where he proves that
tire saints of the Almanac are in imitation of the 365 angels of the Persians, and
.amoiicus in his Egyg’tian Mysteries, sect. 2. c. 3. speaks of angels, archangels, seraphims, kc. like a true Christian.
t “ The whole philosophy of the gymnosophists,” says Diogenes Laertius on the
^7
°Tan an7ellt wylter’ “ is derived from that of the Magi, and many assert
a 0 ne-e'’s to have the same origin.” laZ>. 1. c. 9. Majasthenes, an historian of
repute is the days of Seleucus Nicanor, and who wrote particularly upon India,
™
Phdosophy of the ancients respecting natural things, puts the Brachthe Jews precisely on the same footing
.
*
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
12£t
stamped by this particularity, that they always concluded with
prayers for a happy re-establishment and regeneration, which were
in like manner spoken of in the way of prophecies. The enthu
siasm of the Hierophants had figured a royal deliverer, who was
to re-establish the nation in its ancient glory: the Hebrews were
again to become a powerful and conquering people, and Jerusalem
the capital ®f an empire that was to extend over the whole world.
“ Events having realized the first part of those predictions, the
ruin of Jerusalem, the people clung to the second with a firmness
of belief proportioned to their misfortunes; and the afflicted Jews
waited with the impatience of want and of desire for that victorious
king and deliverer that was to come, in order to save the nation of
Moses, and restore the throne of David.
“ The sacred and mythological traditions of preceding times
bad spread over all Asia a tenet perfectly analagous. A great
mediator, a final judge, a future saviour was spoken of, who, as
king, God, and victorious legislator, was to restore the golden
age upon earth to deliver the world from evil, and regain for
,
*
mankind the reign of good, the kingdom of peace and happiness.
These ideas and expressions were in every mouth, and they con
soled the people under that deplorable state of real suffering into
which they had been plunged by successive conquests and conquei ors, and the barbarous despotism of their g’overnments.__
This resemblance between the oracles of different nations and the
predictions of the prophets, excited the attention of the Jews;
and the prophets had doubtless been careful to infuse into their
pictures, the spirit and style of the sacred books employed in the
Pagan mysteries. The arrival of a great ambassador, of a final
saviour, was therefore the general expectation in Judea, when at
length a singular circumstance was made to determine the precise
period of his coming.
r
was lecoided in the sacred books of the Persians and the
Chaldeans, that the world, composed of a total revolution of
twelve thousand periods, was divided into two partial revolu
tions, of which one, the age and reign of good was to terminate
at the expiration of six thousand, and the other, the age and
reign of evil, at the expiration of another six thousand.
heir fiist authors had meant by these recitals, the annual
revolution of the great celestial orb (a revolution composed of
twelve months or signs, each divided into a thousand parts), and
the<wo systematic periods of winter and summer, each consistin»'
*.ThjS ,is thefeas°n °f the application of the-m&ny Pagan oracles to Jesus, and
particularly the fourth eclogue of Virgil, and the Sybilline verses so celebrated a montne ancients.
®
s
�ISO
A SURVEY OF THE
equally of six thousand. But these equivocal expressions' having?
been erroneously explained, and having- received an absolute and
moral, instead of their astrological and physical sense, the re
sult was, that the annual was taken for a secular’ world, the thou
sand periods for a thousand years ; and judging, from the ap
pearance of things, that the present was the age of misfortune,
they inferred that it would terminate at the the expiration of the
six thousand pretended years.
*
* We have already seen, (p. 81, note *), this tradition current among the Tuscans,
it was disseminated through most nations, and shews us what we ought to think of
all the pretended creations and terminations of the world, which are merely thè
beginnings and ending^ of astronomical periods invented by astrologers. That of
the year or solar revolution being the most simple and perceptible, served as a
model to the rest, and its comparison gave rise to the most whimsical ideas. Of
this description is the idea of the four ages of the world among the Indians. Origi
nally these four ages were merely the four seasons ; and as each season was under
the supposedinfluence of a planet, it bore the name of the metal appiopiiated to
that planet : thus spring was the age of the sun, or of gold: summer the age of
the moon, or of silver; autumn the age of Venus, or of brass; and winter the age of
Mars, or of iron. Afterwards, when astronomers invented the great year of 25 and
36 thousand common years, which had for its object the bringing back all the stars
to one point of departure and a general conjunction, the ambiguity of the terras
introduced a similar ambiguity of ideas ; and the myriads of celestial signs and
periods of duration which were thus measured, were easily converted into so many
revolutions of the sun. Thus the different periods of creation which have been so
great a source of difficulty and misapprehension to curious inquirers, were in reality
nothin«- more than hypothetical calculations of astronomical periods In the same
maniier the creation of the world has been attributed to different seasons of the
year, just as these different seasons have served for the fictitious period of these
conjunctions : and of consequence has been adopted by different nations for tite
commencement of an ordinary year. Among the Egyptians this period fell upon
the summer solstice, which was the commencement of their year ; and the depar
ture of the spheres, according to their conjectures, fell, in like manner, upon the
period when the sun enters Cancer. Among the Persians the year commenced, at
first in the spring, or when the sun enters Aries; and from thence the first Christ
ians were led to suppose that God created the world in the spring: this opinion is
also favoured by the book of Genesis ; and it is further remarkable, that the world
is not there said to be created by the God of Moses (Yahouli), but by the Elohiva
or gods in the plural, that is, by the angels or genii, for so the word constantly means
in the Hebrew books. If we farther observe that the root of the word Elohim
signifies strong or powerful, and that the Egyptians called their decaws strong and
powerful leaders, attributing to them the creation of the world, we shall presently
perceive that the book of Genesis affirms neither more nor less than that the world
was created by the decans, by those very genii whom, according to Sanchonlathon,
Mercury existed against Saturn, and who were called Elohim. It may be further
asked, why the plural substantive Elohim is made to agree with the singular verb
bara (the Elohim creates)? The reason is, that after the Babylonish captivity the
unity of the Supreme Being was the prevailing opinion of th® Jews; it was there
fore thought proper to introduce a pious solecism in language, which it is evident
had no existence before Moses : thus in the names of the children of Jacob many
them are compounded of a plural verb to which Elohim is the nominative case un
derstood, as
(Reuben), they have looked upon me, and Sawmomu (Simeon),
they have granted me my prayer, to wit, the Elohim. The reason of this etymology
is to be found in the religious creeds af the wives of Jacob, whose gods were the
/crrapJttni of Laban, that is, the angels of the Persians and the Egyptian decans.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
131
<« No t t , according to the Jewish computation, six thousand
years had already nearly elapsed since the supposed creation of
the world This coincidence produced considerable fermentation
.
*
in the minds of the people. Nothing was thought of but the ap
proaching termination. The Hierophants were interrogated, and
their sacred books examined. The great Mediator and final Judge
\ was expected, and his advent desired, that an end might be put to
so many calamities. This was so much the subject of conversation,
that some one was said to have seen him, and a rumour of this
kind was all that was wanting to establish a general certainty.
The popular report became a demonstrated fact; the imaginary
being was realized ; and all the circumstances of mythological
tradition being in some manner connected with this phantom, the
-result was an authentic and regular history, which from hence
forth it was blasphemy to doubt.
« In this mythological history the following traditions were
recorded : “ That, in the beginning, a man and a woman had, by
their fall brought sin and evil into the world'’ (Examine
plate II.)
“ By this was denoted the astronomical fact of the celestial Vir
gin, and the herdsman (Bootes) who, setting heliacally at the au
tumnal equinox, resigned the heavens to the wintry constellations,
and seemed, in sinking below the horizon, to introduce into the
world the genius of evil, Ahrimanes, represented by the constel
lation of the serpentf.
That the woman had decoyed and seduced the rrtanf.
And in reallity, the Virgin setting first, appears to draw the
Herdsman (Bootes) after her.
That the woman had tempted him, by offering him fruit plea
sant to the sight and good for food, which gave the knw ledge of
good and evil”
* According to the computation of the Seventy, the period elapsed consisted of
about 5,600 years, and this computation was principally followed. It is well known
how much, in the first ages of the church, this opinion of the end of the world agitated
the minds of men. In the sequel, the general councils, encouraged by finding that
the general conflagration did not come, pronounced the expectation that prevailed
heretical, and its believers were called Millenarians ; a circumstance curious enough,
since .it is evident from the history of the Gospels that Jesus Christ was a Mil leñ
arían, and of consequence a heretic.
f The Persians,” says Chardin, “call the constellation of the serpent Ophiucus,
serpent of Eve; and this serpent Ophiucus or Ophionev.s plays a similar part in the
theology of the Pheuicians for Pherecydes, their disciple, and the master of Py
thagoras, said “that Ophioneus serpentinus had been chief of the rebels against
Jupiter.” See Mars, Ficin. Apol. Socratj.p. m. 797. cel. 2. I shall add, that aiphah
(with ain) signifies in Hebrew serpent.
J In a physical sense to seduce, sednccre, means only to attract, to draw after us,
�132
A SURVEY OF THE
“ Manifestly alluding to the Virgin, who is depicted holding
a bunch of fruit in her hand, which she appears to extend to
wards the Herdsman ; in like manner the branch, emblem of au
tumn, placed in the picture of Mithra on the front of winter and
*
summer, seems to open the door, and to give the knowledge, the
key, of good and evil.
“ That this couple had been driven from the celestial garden,
and that a cherub with a flaming sword had been placed at the
door to guard it.”
“And when the Virgin and the Herdsman sink below the W es
tern horizon, Perseus rises on the opposite sidef, and sword in
hand, this Genius may be said to drive them from the summer
heaven, the garden and reign of fruits and flowers.
“ That from this virgin would be born, would spring up a shoot,
a child, that should crush the serpent’s head, and deliver the
worldfrom sin.”
“ By this was denoted the Sun, which at the period of the
summer solstice, at the precise moment that the Persian Magi
drew the horoscope of the new year, found itself in the bosom of
the Virgin, and which, on this account, was represented in their
astrological pictures, in the form of an infant suckled by a chaste
virgin^, and afterwards became, at the vernal equinox the Ram
* See this picture in Hyde, page 111, edition of 1760.
•f Rather the head of Medusa; that head of a woman, once so beautiful, which
Perseus cut off, and which he holds in his hand, is only that of the virgin, whose
head sinks below the horizon at the very moment that Perseus rises; and the ser
pents which surround it are Ophiucus and the Polar Dragon, who then occupy the
Zenith. This shews us in what manner the ancients composed all their figures and
fables. They took such constellations as they found at the same time on the circle
of the horizon, and collecting the different parts, they formed groupes which served
them as an almanack in hieroglyphic characters. Such is the secret of all their pic
tures, and the solution of all their mythological monsters. The Virgin is also
Andromeda, delivered by Perseus from the whale that pursues her (prosequitor.)
f Such was the picture of the Persian sphere, cited by Aben Ezra in the Cesium,
Foeticum of Blacu, p. 71. “ The picture of the first decan of the Virgin,” says that
writer, u represents a beautiful virgin with flowing hair, sitting in a chair, with two
ears of corn in her hand, and suckling an infant, called Jesus by some nations, and
Christ in Greek.”—In the library of the King of France is a manuscript in Arabic,
marked 1165, in which is a picture of the 12 signs; and that of the Virgin repre
sents a young woman with an infant by her side: the whole scene, indeed, of the
birth of Jesus, is to be found in the adjacent part of the heavens. The stable is
the constellation of the charioteer and the goat, formerly Capricorn ; a constellation
called prasepe Jovis Henioehi, stable of lou ; and the word lou is found in the
name of louseph (Joseph). At no great distance is the ass of Typhon (the great
she-bear) and the ox or bull, the ancient attendants of the manger. Peter the por
ter, is Janus with his keys and bald forehead; the twelve apostles are the genii of
of the twelvemonths, &c. This Virgin has acted very different parts in the various
systems of mythology; she has been the Isis of the Egyptians, who said of her in
©ne of their inscriptions cited by Julian, thefruit I have brought forth is the sun.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
133
or Lamb, conqueror of the constellation of the Serpent, which dis
appeared from the heavens.
That in his infancy, this restorer of the divine or celestial
nature, would lead a mean, humble, obscure, and indigent life’*
“ By which was meant, that the winter sun was humbled, depres- •
sed below the horizon, and that this first period of his four a«-es
or the seasons, was a period of obscurity and indigence, of ^st
ing and privation.
. That being put to death by the wicked, he would gloriously
rise again, ascend from hell into heaven, where he would reian
jo t ever.
J
“ By these expressions was described the life of the same Sun,
Wj
career at the winter solstice, when Typhon
and_ the rebellious angels exercised their sway, seemed to be put
to death by them; but shortly after revived and rose again in
*
the firmament, where he still remains.
These traditions went still farther, specifying his astrological
and mysterious names, maintaining that he was called sometimes
Chris, or Conservatorf; and hence the Hindoo God, Chris-en,
5rai« dr?WU b/ Platarch aPP7 t0
in the same manner as those
of Osins apply to Bootes: also the seven principal stars of the she-bear called
Dayiu s chariot, were called the chariot of Osiris (See Kirher,') and the crown that
is situated behind, formed of ivy, was Called Chen Osiris, the tree of Osiris The
Virgin has likewise been Ceres, whose mysteries were the same with those of Iris and
M thra: she has been the Diana of tlie Ephesians; the great Goddess of Syria, Cy
bele, drawn by lions; Minerva, the mother of Bacchus; Astrea, a chaste virrin taken
up into heaven at the end of the golden age; Thems, at whose feet is the balance
Sw JT'”1! hCr ha“ds’Kthe W of Virgil, who descends into hell, or sinks below the hemisphere with a branch in her hand, &c.
’
* Resurgere to rise a second time, cannot signify to return to life, but in a meta,
phoncal sense; but we see continually mistakes of this kind result from the am
biguous meaning of the words made use of in ancient tradition,
nJ 3^ GTks TJ t0 eXTpreTX’ Or SPanish iota’ the aspirated ha of the
Onenta.s, who saidI hans. In Hebrew heres signifies the sun, but in Arabic the
meaning of the radical word is, to guard, to preserve, and ofguardian, pre
server Hj s the proper epithet of Vichenou, which demonstrates at once the iden
tity ot the Indian and Christian Trinities, and their common origin. It is manifestly
but one system, which, divided into two branches, one extending to the east and thother to the west, assumed two different forms : its principal trunk is the Pythago
rean system of the soul of the world, or Ioupitcr. The epithet pifer, o/fathes',
having been applied to the demi-ourgos of Plato, gave rise to an ambiguity which
caused an inquiry to be made respecting the son of this father. In the opinion of the
taJpherrJh,e S0U
u}1(ierstandin^’ ^ns and Logos, from which the Latins
And huS
Perceive the origin of the eternal father
and of the Verbum his son, proceeding from him (Mens ex Deg nata, says MacrohC ““7 ^»y^™^iwas the Holy Ghost; and it is for this reason
that Manes, Basiledes, Valentimus, and other pretended heretics of the first a^cs
who traced things to their source, said that God the Father was the supreme innaccessible light (that of the heaven, the primum mobile, orthe aplanes); the Son, the
secondary light resident in the sun; and the Holy Ghost the atmosphei- of the earth
�134
A SURVEY OF THE
or Christna and the Christian Chris-tos, the Son of Mary. That
,
*
at other times he was called Yes, by the union of three letters,
which, according to their numerical value, form the number 608,
one of the solar periods. And behold, O Europeans, the name
which, with a Latin termination has become your Yes-us or Jesus ;
the ancient and cabilistical name given to young- Bacchus, the
clandestine son of the virgin Minerva, who in the whole history
of his life, and even in his death, calls to mind the history of the
God of the Christians: that this is, the star of day, of which they
are both of them emblems.”
At these words a violent murmur arose on the part of the Chris
tian groupes; but the Mahometans, the Lamas, and the Hindoos,
having called them to order, the orator thus concluded his dis
course.
“ You are not to be told,” said he, u in what manner the rest
of this system was formed in the chaos qnd anarchy Of the three
first centuries: how a multiplicity of opinions divided the peo
ple, all of which were embraced with equal zeal, and retained
with equal obstinacy, because alike founded on ancient tradi
tion, they were alike sacred. You know how, at the end of three
centuries, government having espoused one of these sects, made
it the orthodox religion; that is to say, the predominated religion,
to the exclusion of the rest, which, on account of their inferiority,
were denominated heresies ; how, and by what means of violence
and seduction this religion was propagated and gained strength,
and afterwards became divided and weakened; how, six centu
ries after the innovation of Christianity, another system was formed
out of its materials and those of the Jews, and a political and the
ological empire was created by Mahomet at the expence of that
of Moses and the vicars of Jesus.
« Now if you take a retrospect of the whole history of the spirit of
religion, you.will find, that in its origin it had no other author than
the sensations and wants of man: that the idea of God had no
other type, no other model, than that of physical powers, material
(See Beausob. Vol. II. p. 586); hence, among the Syrians, the representation of the
Holy Ghost by awlove, the bird of Venus Urania, that is, of the air. The Syrians, (says
Nigidius de Germanieo), assert that a dove sat for a certain number of days on the
fcgg of a fish, and that from this incubation Venus was born; Sextus Empiricus also
observes (/nrf. Fyrrh. lib. 3. c. 23.) that the Syrians abstain from eating doves;
■which intimates to us a period commencing in the sign Pisces, in the winter solstice.
We may farther observe, that if Chris comes from Harisch by a chin it will signify
artificer, an epithet belonging to the sun. These variations which must have em
barrassed the ancients, prove it to be the real type of Jesus, as nad been already
remarked in the time of Tertullian. “ Many,” says this writer, “ suppose with
.greater probability that the sun is our God, and they refer us to the religion of the
Persians.” Apologet. c. 16.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
135
existences, operating good or evil, by impressions of pleasure or
pain on sensible beings. You will find that in the formation of
every system, this spirit of religion pursued the same track, and
was uniform in its proceedings; that in all, the dogma never
failed to represent, under the name of God, the operations of na
ture, and the passions and prejudices of men; that in all, morality
had for its sole end, desire of happiness and aversion to pain;
but that the people and the majority of legislators, ignorant of the
true road that led thereto, invented false, and therefore contrary
ideas of virtue and vice, of good and evil; that is, of what renders
man happy or miserable. You will find, that in all, the means
and causes of propagation and establishment exhibited the same
scenes, the same passions, and the same events, continual disputes
about words, false pretexts for inordinate zeal, for revolutions,
for wars, lighted up by the ambition of chiefs, by the chicanery
of promulgators, by the credulity of proselytes, by the ignorance
of the vulgar, and by the grasping cupidity and the intolerant
pride' of all. In short, you will find that the whole history of the
spirit of religion is, merely that of the fallibility and uncertainty
of the human mind, which, placed in a world that it does not
comprehend, is yet desirous of solving the enigma; and which,
the astonished spectator of this mysterious and visible prodigy,
invents causes, supposes ends, builds systems; then finding one
defective, abandons it for another not less vicious; hates the error
that it has renounced, is ignorant of the new one that it adopts;
rejects the truth of which it is in pursuit, invents chimeras of he
terogeneous and contradictory beings, and; ever dreaming of
*
wisdom and happiness, loses itself in a labyrinth of torments and
illusions.”
CHAP. XXIII.
En d o f Al l Re l ig io n s t h e Sa m e .
THUS spoke the orator, in the name of those who had made the
origin and genealogy of religious ideas their peculiar study.
The theologians of the different systems now expressed their
opinions of this discourse. “ It is an impious representation,^
said some, “ which aims at nothing, less than the subversion of
all belief, the introducing insubordination into the minds of men,
and annihilating our power and ministry.’’—“ It is a romance,”
said others,“ a tissue of conjectures, fabricated with art, but de
stitute of foundation.”—The moderate and prudent said, “ Sup
posing all this to be true, where is the use of revealing these
mysteries I Our opinions are doubtless pervaded with errors,
�136
A SURVEY OF THE
but those errors are a necessary curb on the multitude The
*
world hag gone on thus for two thousand years: why should we
now alter its course?0
J
The murmur of disapprobation, which never fails to rise against
every kind of innovation, already began to increase, when a
numerous groupe of plebians and untaught men of every country
and nation, without prophets, without doctors, without religious
worship, advancing in the sand, attracted the attention of the
whole assembly: and one of them, addressing himself to the le
gislators, spoke as follows;
, “ Mediators and umpires of nations ! The strange recitals that
have been made during the whole of the present debate, we never
till this day heard of; and our understanding, astonished and
bewildered at such a multitude of doctrines, some of them learned,
others absurd, and all unintelligible, remains in doubt and uncer
tainty. One reflection however has struck us: in reviewing
so many prodigious facts, so many contradictory assertions, we
could not avoid asking ourselves, Of what importance to us
are all these discussions ? Where is the necessity of our know
ing what happened five or six thousand years ago, in countries of
which we are ignorant, among men who will ever be unknown to
us ? True or false, of what importance is it to us to know whether
the world has existed six thousand years or twenty thousand;
whether it was made of something' or of nothing; of itself, or by
an artificer, equally in his turn requiring an author? W hat!
uncertain as we are of what is passing around us, shall we pretend
to ascertain what is transacting in the sun, the moon, and
imaginary spaces ? Having forgotten our own infancy, shall we
pretend to know the infancy of the world? Who can attest what
be has never seen ? Who can certify the truth of what no one
comprehends ?
“ Beside, what will it avail as to our existence, whether we
believe or reject these chimeras ? Hitherto neither our fathers nor
ourselves have had any idea of them, and yet we do not perceive
that on that account we have experienced more or less sun, more
or less subsistence, more or less good or evil.
“ If the knowledge of these things be necessary, how is
it that we have lived as happily without it as those whom it
has so much disquieted? If it be superfluous, why should we
now take upon ourselves the burthen ?”•—Then addressing himself
to the doctors and theologians: “ How can it be required of us,
poor and ignorant as we are, whose every moment is scarcely
adequate to the cares of our subsistence and the labours of which
you reap the profit ; how can it be required of us to be versed, in
the numerous histories you have related, to read the variety of
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
137
Looks which you have quoted, and to learn the different languages
in which they are written ? If our lives were protracted to a
thousand years, scarcely would it be sufficient for this purpose.”
“ It is not necessary,” said the doctors, “ that you should
Acquire all this science : we possess it in your stead.”
“ Meanwhile,” replied these children of simplicity., “ with all
'•« your science, do you agree among yourselves? What then is
its utility? Besides, how can you answer for us? If the faith of
one man may be the substitute of the faith of many, what need
was there that you should believe? Your fathers might believe
for you ; and that would have been the more reasonable, since
they were the eye-witnesses upon whose credit you depend.
Lastly, what is this circumstance which you call belief, if it has
no practical tendency ? And what practical tendency can you
discover in this question, whether the world be eternal or no?”
“ To believe Wrong respecting it would be offensive to God,”
said the doctors.
“ How do you know that ?” cried the children of simplicity.
Ci From our scriptures ” replied the doctors.
« We do not understand them,” rejoined the simple men.
« We understand them for you,” said the doctors.
“ There lies the difficulty,” resumed the simple men. “ By
what right have you appointed yourselves mediators betweeu God
and us ?”
“ By the command of God,” said the doctors.
“ Give us the proof of that command,” said the simple men.
« It is in our scriptures,” said the doctors.
“ We do not understand them,” answered the simple men;
u nor can we understand how a just God can place you over our
heads. Why does our common Father require us to believe the
same propositions with a less degree of evidence ? lie has spoken
to you; be it so; he is infallible, he cannot deceive you. But
we are spoken to by you ; and who w ill assure us that you are not
deceived, or that you are incapable of deceiving? If we are mis
taken, how can It consist with the'justice of God, to condemn us
for the neglect of a rule with which We w ere never acquainted ?”
“ He has given you the law of nature,” said the doctors.
“ What is the law of nature?” said the simple men. “ If this
law be sufficient, why does he give us another ? If it be insuffi
cient, why did he give us that ?”
“ The judgements of God,” replied the doctors, “ are mysteri
ous; his justice is not restrained by the rules of human justice.”
Ct If justice with him and with us,” said the simple men, “ mean
a different thing, what criterion can we have to judge' of his justice ?
And once more, to what purpose all these laws?
he propose by them ?”
What end does
�138
A SURVEY OF THE
<c To render you more happy,” replied a doctor, “ by render
*
hig you better and more virtuous. God has manifested himself by
so many oracles and prodigies to teach mankind the proper use of
his benefits, and to dissuade them from injuring each other.” '
“ If that be the case,” said the simple men, “ the studies and
reasonings you told us of are unnecessary: we want nothing but
to have it clearly made out to us, which is the religion that best
fulfils the end that all propose to themselves.”
Instantly, every groupe boastingof the superior excellence of its
morality, there arose among the partisans of the different systems
of worship, a new dispute more violent than any preceding one.
“Ours,” said the Mahometans, “is the purest morality,which teaches
every virtue useful to men and acceptable to God. We profess
justice, disinterestedness, resignation, charity, alms-giving, and
devotion. AVe torment not the soul with superstitious fears; we
live free from alarm, and we die without remorse.”
“ And have you the presumption,” replied the Christian priests,
“ to talk of morality; you, whose chief has practised licentious
ness, and preached doctrines that are a scandal to all purity, and
the leading principle of whose religion is homicide and war? For
the truth of this we appeal to experience. For twelve centuries
past your fanatism has never ceased to spread desolation and car
nage through the nations of the earth ; and that Asia, once so
flourishing, now languishes in insignificance and barbarism, is
ascribable to your doctrine; to that doctrine, the friend of igno
rance, the enemy of all instruction, which, on the one hand, con
secrating the most absolute despotism in him who commands, a!nd
on the other, imposing the most blind and passive obedience on
those who are governed, has benumbed all the faculties of matt,
and plunged nations in a state of brutality.
“ How different is the case with our sublime and celestial mora- •
lity ! It is she that drew the earth from its primitive barbarity,
from the absurd and cruel superstitions of idolatry, from human
,
*
sacrifices and the orgies of Pagan mystery : it is she that
has purified the manners of men, proscribed incest and adultery,
polished savage nations, abolished slavery, introduced new and
unknown virtues to the world, universal charity, the equality of
mankind in the eyes of God, forgiveness and forgetfulness of inuries, extinction of the passions, contempt of worldly greatness.
* Read the cold declaration of Eusebius (Prcep. Evan. lib. 1, p. 11,) who pre
tends that since the coming of Christ, there have been neither wars, nor tyrants,
nor cannibals, nor sodomites, nor persons committing incest, nor savages devour
ing their pareuts, &c. When we read these fathers of the church, w’e are astonished
at their insincerity or infatuation.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
139
and, in short, taught the necessity of a life perfectly holy arid
spiritual.”
.
.
« We admire,” said the Mahometans, « the ease with which you
tan reconcile that evangelical charity and meekness of which you
so much boast, with the injuries and outrages that you are con
tinually exercising towards your neighbour. When you criminate
with so little ceremony the morals of the great characters revered
by us, we have a fair opportunity of retorting upon you in the con
duct of him whom you adore: but we disdain such advantages,
and, confining ourselves to the real object of the question, we
maintain, that your gospel morality is by no means characterised
by the perfection which you ascribe to it. It is not tiue that it
has introduced into the world new and unknown virtues: for ex
ample, the equality of mankind in the eyes of God, and the fra
ternity and benevolence which are the consequence of this equa
lity, were tenets formerly professed by the sect of the Hermetics
and Samaneans from whom you have your descent. As to for
,
*
giveness of injuries it had been taught by the Pagans themselves;
but in the latitude you give it, it ceases to be a virtue, and becomes
an immorality and a crime. Your boasted precept, to him that
strikes thee on thy right cheek, turn the other also, is not only
contrary to the feelings of man, but a flagrant violation of every
principle of justice; it emboldens the wicked by impunity, de
grades the virtuous by the servility to which it subjects them;
delivers up the world to disorder and tyranny, and dissolves the
bands of society: such is the true spirit of your doctrine. The
precepts and parables of your gospel also never represent God
other thanas a despot, acting by no rule of equity; than as a par
tial father, treating a debauched and prodigal son with greater
favor than his obedient and virtuous children; than as a capricious
master, g'iving the same wages to him who has wrought but one
hour, as to those who have borne the burthen and heat of the day;
and preferring1 the last comers to the first. In short, your morali
ty throughout is unfriendly to human intercourse, a code of mis- anthropy, calculated to give men a disgust for life and society,
and attach them to solitude and celibacy.
“ With respect to the manner in whichyou have practiced your
boasted doctrine, we in our turn appeal to the testimony of fact
and ask; Was it your evangelical lqeekness and iorbearance
which excited those endless wars among your sectaries, those atro
cious persecutions of what you call heretics, those crusades against
* The equality of mankind in a state of nature, and in the eyes of.God, was one
-of the principal tenets of the Sainaneans, and they appear tQ he the only ancients
that entertained this opinion.
�140
A SURVEY OF THE
,
Jh® f" V®i,the ^icheans,. and the Protestants; not to mention
2«nriZSCh W bT C°inmiited aS'ainst us’ nor the sacrilegious
associations still subsisting among you, formed of men who have
sworn to perpetuate them
?
*
Was it the charity of yotir gospel
that led you to exterminate whole nations in America, and to des,
troy the empires of Mexico and Peru; that makes you still desothe?nbab,tanis of which you sell like cattle, notwith®tand“?g‘ tbe abolition of slavery that you pretend your religion
Has effected - that makes you ravage India whose domains vou
usurp; in short, is it charity that has prompted you for three cen
turies past to disturb the peaceable inhabitants of three continents,
the most prudent of whom, those of Japan and China, have been
constrained to banish you from their country, that they might cs,
cape your chains and recover their domestic tranquility?”
«ere the Bramms, the Rabbins, the Bonzes, the Chamans, th<?
Priests of the Molucca Islands, and of the coast of Guinea, over,
whelming the Christian doctors with reproaches, cried, “ Yes
these men are robbers and hypocrites, preaching simplicity to in
*
veigle confidence; humility, the more easy to enslave; poverty,
m order to appropriate all riches to themselves; they promise
another world the better to invade this; and while they preach
toleration and chanty, they commit to the flames, in the name of
God, those who do not worship him exactly as they do.”
pnests,” retorted the missionaries, « it is you who abuse
the credulity of ignorant nations, that you may bend them to your
yoke; your ministry is the art of imposture and deception: you
have made religion a system of avarice iyjd cupidity; you feign
to have correspondence with spirits, and the oracles they issue
are your own wi Is : you pretend to read the stars, and your de
sires only are what destiny decrees: you make idols speak, and
the gods are the mere instruments of your passions; you have in
vented sacrifices and libations for the sake of the profit you would
thus derive from the milk of the flocks, and the flesh and fat of
victims; and under the cloak of piety you devour the offerings
made to Gods, who cannot eat and the substance of the people
*
obtained by industry and toil.”
r r s
« <eiAnd 70U’”
the Bramins> the Bonzes, and the Chamans,
sell to the credulous survivor vain prayers for the souls of his
dead relatives.' With your indulgences and absolutions you have
arrogated to yourselves the power and functions of God himself;
and making a traffic qf his grace, you have put heaven up to
Mah^nit2iV»>?ien by/he .En>hts of the Order of Malta, is to kill, or make the
Manometans pnsoners, for the glory of God^
>
'
’
'
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
141
auction, and have founded, by your system of expiation, a tariff'
©f crimes that has perverted the consciences of men ”
.
*
“ Add to this, ** said the Imans, “ that with tht se men has ori
ginated the most insidious of all wickedness, the absurd and im
pious obligation, of recounting to them the most impenetrabla
Sfecrets of actions, of thoughts of' vellei es, (confession): by means
of Which their insolent curiosity has carried its inquisition even to
the sacred sanctuary of the nuptial bed+, and the inviolable asy
lum of the heart.”
By thus reproaching each other, the chiefs of the different wor
ships revealed all the crimes of their ministry, all the hiddea
vices of their profession, and it appeared that the spirit, the system
of conduct, tne actions and manners of priests, were, among all
nations, uniformly the same; that every where they had formed
secret assosiations, corporations of idividuals, enemies to the rest
of the society
*
-that they had attributed to themselves certain
*
* As long as it shall be possible to obtain purification from crimes, and ex
emption from punishment by means of money or other frivolous practices; as long
as kings and great men shall Suppose that building temples or instituting founda
tions, will absolve them from the guilt of oppression and homicide : as long as in
dividuals shall imagine that they may rob and cheat, provided they observe fast
during Lent, go to confession, and receive extreme unction, it is impossible there
should exist in society any morality or virtue; and it is from a deep conviction of
truth, that a modern philosopher has called the doctrine of expiations la ierole
ties societies.
t The Mussulmans, who suppose women to have no souls, are shocked at the
idea of confession, and say, How can an honest man think of listening to the recital
of the actions or the secret thoughts of a woman ? May we not also ask, on the other
hand, how can an honest woman consent to reveal-them ?
X That we may understand the general feelings of priests respecting the rest of
mankind, whom they always call by thename of the people, let-us heamne-of tire
doctors of the church. « The people,” says Bishop Synnesius, in Calvit. page 315,'
are desirous of being deceived, we cannot act otherwise respecting them. The
case was similar with the ancient priests of Egypt, and for this reason they shut
themselves up pi their temples, and there composed their mysteries out of the
reach of the eye of the people.” And forgetting what he had just before said, he
pdds, “ For had the. people been in the secret, they might have been offended at the
deception played upon them. In the mean time, how is it possible to conduct
one’s self otherwise with the people, so long as they are the people ? For my owij
part, to myself I shall always be a philosopher, but in dealing with the mass of '
mankind I shall be a priest.”
1
“ A little jargon,” says Gregory Nazianzem to St. Jerome, (Hieron. ad Nepk.J
“ is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they comprehend, the
more they admire. Our forefathers and doctors of the church have often said, not
W'hat they thought, but what circumstances and necessity dictated to them ”
“ We endeavour,” says Sanconiathan, b to excite admiration by means of the
marvellous.” (Prvp. Erang. lib. 3.)
Such was the conduct of ail the priests of antiquity, and is still that of the Bramins and Lamas, who are the exact counterpart of the Egyptian priests. Such was
the practice of the Jesuits, who marched with hasty strides in th« same career. It
is useless to point out the whole depravity of such a doctrine. In general, every
association which has mystery for its basis, or an oath of secresy, is a league of rob
bers against society, a league divided in its very bosoip into knaves and dupes ; or,
�142
A SURVEY OF THE
Prerogatives and immunities, in order to be exempt from the bur
thens which fell upon the other classesthat they shared neither
the toil of the labourer, nor the perils of the soldier, nor the vicis
situdes of the merchant:—that they led a life of celibacy, to avoid
domestic inconveniences and cares: that under the garb of po
verty, they found the secret of becoming rich, and of procuring
every enjoyment: that under the name of mendicants, they coil
imposts more considerable than those paid to pri nces:
that under the appellation of gifts and offerings, they obtained
a certain revenue unaccompanied with trouble or expence: that
upon the pretext of seclusion and devotion, they lived in indolence,
and licentiousness:—that they had made alms a virtue, that they
might subsist in comfort upon the labour of other menthat they
had invented the ceremonies of worship to attract the reverence of
the people, calling themselves the mediators and interpreters of the
Gods, with the sole view of assuming all his power; and that for this
puipose, according to the knowledge or ignorance of those upon
whom they had to work, they made themselves, by turns, astroogeis, casters of planets, aug’urers, magicians necromancers,
,,
*
quacks, courtiers, confessors of princes, always aiming at in
fluence for their own exclusive advantages .-—that sometimes they
had exalted the prerogative of kings, and held their persons to be
sacred, to obtain their favour or participate in their power:—that
at others they had descried this doctrine and preached the mur
der of tyrants (reserving it to themselves to specify the tyranny),
in order to be revenged of the slights and disobedience they had
experienced from them:—that at all times they had called by the
name of impiety what proved injurious to their interest; had op
m other words, agents and instruments. It is thus we ought to judge of those mo
dern clubs, whicn under the name of Illuminatists, Martinists, Cagliostronists,
Freemasons, and Mesmerites, infest Europe. These societies ape the follies and de
ceptions of the ancient Cabalists, Magicians, Orphics, &c. who, says Plutarch, led
into errors of considerable magnitude not only individuals, but kings and nations.
What is a Magician, in the sense in which the people understand the word ? A
man who by words and gestures pretends to act on supernatural beings, and com
pels them to descend at his call and obey his orders. Such was the conduct of the
ancient priests, and such is still that of all priests, in idolatrous nations, for which
reason we have given them the denomination of Magicians.
And when a Christian priest pretends to make God descend from heaven, to fix
him to a morsel of leaven, and to render, by means of this talisman, souls pure and
in a state of graee, what is all this but a trick of magic? And where is the dif
ference between a Charnan of Tartary, who invokes the genii, or an Indian Bramin
who makes his Vichenou descend in a vessel of water to drive away evil spirits ?
.Yes, the identity of the spirit of priests in every age and country is fully establish!
ed. Every where it is the assumption of an exclusive privilege, the pretended facul
ty of moving at will the powers of nature; and this assumption is so direct a vio
lation of the right ot equality, that whenever the people shall regain their importance,
th'rj' will for ever abolish this sacrilegious kind of nobility, which has been the type
and parent stock of the other species of nobilty.
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
143
posed public instruction, that they might monopolize science;
and in short, had universally found the secret of living in tran
quillity amidst the anarchy they occasioned; secure, under the
despotism they sanctioned ; in indolence, amidst the industry
they recommended; and in abundance, in the very bosom of
scarcity; and all this, by carrying on the singular commerce of
selling words and gestures to the credulous, who paid for them
as for commodities of the greatest value
.
*
Then the people, seized with fury, were upon the point of tear
ing to pieces the men who had deceived them ; but the legislators
arresting this sally of violence, and addressing the chiefs and doc
tors, said ; “ And is it thus, O institutors of the people, that y cm
have misled and abused them
And the terrified priests replied: “ O legislators, we are men,
and the people are so superstitious ! their weakness excited us io
take advantage of itf.”
And the kings said: “ O legislators the people are so servile
and so ignorant! they have prostrated themselves before the yoke
which we scarcely had the boldness to show to themf.”
Then the legislators, turning towards the people, said to them:
« Remember what you have just heard ; it contains two important
truths. Yes, it is yourselves that cause the evils of which you
complain; it is you that encourage tyrants by a base flattery of
their power, by an absurd admiration of their pretended benefi
cence, by converting obedience into servility, and liberty into
licentiousness, and receiving every imposition with credulity. Caa
you think of punishing upon them the errors of your own igno
rance and selfishness ?”
And the people, smitten w ith confusion^ remained in a melan
choly silence.
'
* A curious work would be the comparative history of the Agnuses of the pope
and the pastils of the grand Lama. It would be worth while io extend this idea ta
ieiigious ceremonies in general, and to confront column by column, the analagous
or contrasting points of faith and superstious practices in all nations. There is one
more species of superstition which it would be equally salutary to-cure, blind vene
ration for the great; and for this purpose it would be alone sufficient to write a.
minute detail of the private life of kings and princes. No work /?ould be so philo
sophical as this : and accordingly we have seen what a general outcry was excited
anaoiig kings and the panders of King s, when the Anecdotes of the Court of Berlin firsi
appeared. What would be the alarm were the public put in possession of the sequel
of this work ’ Were the people fairly acquainted with allthe crimes and ali the
absurdities of this species of idol, they would no longer be exposed to covet their
specious pleasures, of which the plausible and hollow appearance disturbs their
peace, and hinders them from enjoying the much more solid happiness of. liteir vwa
condition.
. .
•
..........
f Consider in this view the Brabanters.
| The inhabitants of Vienna, for example, who harfiessed tlienfselvei like cattle
and drew the chariot of Leopold.- •
■ . •■
».A,.
�*
144
A SURVEY OF TUB *
c h a p.
*> ’■5. •/% ■ tj i
*
■ „
So l u t io n
i
•
■
of t he
; '
xxiv.
• ,• >
Pr o b l e m
■
*
.
■
of
■ . i■ ■
Co n t
■■. •
• t■„
r a r d w t Io n s ;
saidAev^ ’
wh ! th Ln ^ s«med ^eir address. « O nations!"
the discord that ,Vi' 1ieard ¿be discussion of your opinions; and
which we bel L idCS y°U haS su §’Sested to us various reflections,
X °Se * y°“ “ q“eS‘iOnS Whkh “ “
P
°
tnrxr Considering, in the first place the numerous and contradict y creeds you have adopted, we would ask on what motive vour
Kv"asi>",!safoun / ed I
il from
ch oicTS3^
‘
unJ e“liSted funder 1 th ® banners of one prophet rather than
V der those of another « Before you adopted this doctrine in
you first coraPare> did you maturely exasu t / S °zih rS kOt y°U1- behef been rather ihe cbance re‘ suit of birth, and of the empire of education and habit« Are
you not born Christians on the banks of the Tiber, Mahometans
on those of the Euphrates, Idolaters on the shores of India, in the
same manner as you are born fair in cold and temperate regions,
and of a sable complexion under the African sun ! And if your
opinions are the effect of your position on the globe, of parentage,
of imitation, are such fortuitous circumstances to be regarded as
grounds of conviction and arguments of truth.
the second place, when we reflect on the proscriptive spirit
and the arbitrary intolerance of your mutual claims, we are ter
rified at the consequences that flow from your principles. Nations»
wiio reciprocally doom each other to the thunderbolts of celestiai
wrath, suppose the universal being whom you revere, were at this
rnoment to descend from heaven among this crowd of people, and,
clothed in all his power, were to sit upon this throne to judge yousuppose him to say—“ Mortals! I consent to adopt your own princi
ples ofjustice into my administration. Of all the different religions
yn U^)r0 i S’ a S’n ^ e religion, shall now be preferred to the rest •
all the others, this vast multitude of standards, of nations, of pro
phets shall be condemned to everlasting destruction. Nor is this
enough : among the different sects of the chosen religion one
only shall experience my favour, and the rest be condemned. I
W ‘ii
* fher than this: of this single sect, of this one religion, I
ai
will reject all the individuals whose conduct has not corresponded
to their speculative precepts. O man ! few indeed will then be
the number of the elect you assign me! Penurious hereafter will
be the stream of beneficence which will succeed to my unbounded
mercy. Rare and solitary will be the ■catalogue of admirers that
you henceforth destine to my greatness and my glory.”
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
145
’ And the legislators arising said: “ It is enough ; you have pro^Qunced your will. Ye nations, behold the urn in which your
names shall be placed ; one single name shall be drawn from the
multitude; approach and conclude this terrible lottery.”—But
the people seized with terror cried: “No, no; we are brethren and
equals, we cannot consent to condemn each other.”—Then the
legislators having resumed their seats continued : “ O men ! who
dispute upon so many subjects, lend an attentive ear to a problem
we submit to you, and ¿ecide it in the exercise of your own
judgments.”—The people accordingly lent the strictest attention;
and the legislators lifting one hand towards heaven, and pointing
to the sun, said : “ O nations ! is the form of this sun, which en
lightens you, triangular or square?”—and they replied with one
voice, “ It is neither, it is round.”
Then taking the golden balance that was upon the altar, “ this
metal,” asked the legislators, “ which you handle every day, is a
mass of it heavier than any other mass of equal dimensions of
brass?”—“ Yes,” the people again unanimously replied ; “gold
is heavier than brass.”
The legislators then took the sword. “ Is this iron less hard
than lead ?”—“ No,” said the nations.
“ Is sugar sweet and gall bitter?”—“ Yes.”
“ Do you love pleasure, and hate pain ?”—“ Yes.”
“ Respecting these objects, and a multiplicity of others of a
similar nature, you have then but one opinion. Now tell us, is
there an abyss in the centre of the earth, and are there inhabitant»
in the moon?”
At this question a general noise was heard, and every nation
gave a different answer. Some replied in the affirmative, others
tn the negative ; some said it was probable, others that it was an
idle and ridiculous question, and others that it was a subject wor
thy of enquiry ; in short, there prevailed among them a total dis
agreement.
After a short interval, the legislators having restored silence;
“Nations,” said they, “ how is this to be accounted for? We
proposed to you certain questions, and you were all of one opi
nion without distinction of race or sect : fair or black, disciples
of Mahomet or of Moses, worshippers of Bedou or of Jesus, you
all gave the same answer. We now propose another question,
and you all differ ! whence this unanimity in one case, and this
discordance in the other?”
And the groupe of simple and untaught men replied : “The
reason is obvious. Respecting the first questions, we see and feel
the objects; We speak of them from sensation : respecting the se
cond, they are above the reach of our senses, and we have aoguid®
but conjecture.”
�A SURVEY OF THS
“You have solved the problem,” said the legislators; “ and
the following truth is thus by your own confession established *
whenever objects are present and can be judged of by your senses,
you invariably agree in opinion ; and you differ in sentiment only
when they are absent ana out of your reach.
“ From this truth flows another equally clear and deserving of
notice. Since you agree respecting what you with certainty know,
it follows, that when you disagree, it is because you do not know,
do not understand, are not sure of the object in question : or in
other words, that you dispute, quarrel and fight among yourselves
for what is uncertain, for that of which you doubt. But is this
wise; is this the part of rational and intelligent beings'?
« And is it not evident, that it is not truth for which you con
tend ; that it is not her cause you are jealous of maintaining, but
the cause of your own passions and prejudices; that it is not the
object as it really exists that you wish to verify, but the object as
it appears to you ; that it is not the evidence of the thing that you
are anxious should prevail, but your personal opinion, your mode
©f seeing and judging? There is a power that you want to exer
cise, an interest that you want to maintain, a prerogative that you
want to assume; in short, the whole is a struggle of vanity. And
as every individual, when he compares himself with every other,
finds himself to be his equal and fellow, he resists by a similar
feeling of right ; and from this right, which you all deny to each
other, and from the inherent consciousness of your equality,
spring you disputes, your combats, and your intolerance.
“ Now, the only way of restoring unanimity is by returning to
nature, and taking the order of things which she has established
for your director and guide: and this farther truth will then ap
pear from your uniformity of sentiment:
44 That real objects have in themselves an identical, constant, and
invariable mode of existence, and that in your organs exists a
similar mode of being affected and impressed by them.
" But at the same time, inasmuch as these organs are liable to
the direction of your will, you may receive different impressions,
and find yourselves under different relations towards the same
objects; so that you are with respect to them, as it were, a sort of
mirror, capable of reflecting them such as they are, and capable
of disfiguring and misrepresenting them.
i( As often as you perceive the objects such as they are, your
feelings are in accord with the objects, and you agree in opinion ;
and it is th is.accord that constitutes truth.
“ On the contrary, as often as you differ in opinion, your dissen
sions prove, that, you do not see the objects such as they are, but
vary them.
“Whence it appears, that the cause of your dissensions is not
�REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES.
14T
in the objects themselves, but in your minds, in the manner in
which you perceive and judge.
“ If therefore we would arrive at uniformity of opinion, we
must previously establish certainty, and verify the resemblance
which our ideas have to their models. Now this cannot be obtained»
except so far as the objects of our enquiry can be referred to the
testimony and subjected to the examination of our senses. What
ever cannot be brought to this trial is beyond the limits of our un
derstanding; and we have neither rule to try it by, nor measure
by which to institute a comparison, nor source of demonstration
and knowledge concerning it.
“ Whence it is obvious, that, in order to live in peace and har
mony, we must consent not to pronounce upon such objects, nor
annex to them importance; we must draw a line of demarcatioa
between such as can be verified and such as cannot, and separates
by an inviolable barrier, the world of fantastic beings from the
world of realities: that is to say, all civil effect must be taken
away from theological and religious opinions.
“ This, O nations! is the end that a great people, freed from'
their fetters and prejudices, have proposed to themselves; this is
the work in which, by their command, and under their immediate
auspices, we were engaged, when your kings and your priest
came to interrupt our labours. Kings and priests, you may yet
for a while suspend the solemn publication of the laws of nature;
but it is no longer in your power to annihilate or to subvert them?’
A lond cry was then heard from every quarter of the general
assembly of nations; and the whole of the people, unanimously
testifying their adherence to the sentiments of the legislators, en
couraged. them to resume their sacred and sublime undertaking,
“ Investigate,” said they, “ the laws which nature, for our direc
tion, has implanted in our breasts, and form from thence an au
thentic and immutable code. Nor let this code be calculated for'
one family, or for one nation only, but for the whole without ex
ception. Be the Legislators of the human race, as ye are the in
terpreters of their common nature. Shew us the line that separ
ates the world of chimeras from that of realities; and teach us,
after so many religions of error and delusion, the religion of evi
dence and truth.”
Upon this, the legislators resuming their enquiry into the phy
sical and constituent attributes of man, and the motives and af
fections which govern him in his individual and social capacity,
unfolded in the following terms the laws on which Nature herself
has founded his felicity.
�ATA
Page 110. For note to “ The adverse Genii became rebels and enemies
."
*
see
note * page 111.
,
Pa«: 111. For note to “ Called Typhon, that is to say, deluge see note f,
"
*
in (■same page.
Page 111. For note to “ In Persia, at a subsequent period-^," see note t, in
the same page.
’
+
Page 111. For note to “ Whence are derived all religious acts if a gay natureX," see note * page 112.
1
Page 112. “ Whence originated dll religious acts of a sombre kind
."
*
“ Sacri
fices of blood,” says Porphyry, “ were only offered to Demons and evil Genii, to
avert their wrath. Demons are fond of blood, humidity, stench.” A pud. Euseb.
Proep. Evan, page 173. <! The Egyptians,” says Plutarch, “ only offer bloody
victims to Typhon. They sacrifice to him a red ox, and the animal immolated«
«
*
held in execration, and loaded with all the sins of the people.” (The Goat of
Moses ) See Isis and Osiris.
Page 112. “ From the same souree flowed the divisions of terrestrial beings
Into pure and impure, sacred and abominable." Strabo says, speaking of Moses
and the Jews, “ Circumcision and the prohibition of certain kinds of meat, sprung
from superstition.”—And I observe, respecting the ceremony of circumcision, that
its object was to take from the symbol of Osiris, (Phallus,) the pretended obstacle
to fecundity; an obstacle which bore the seal of Typhon, “ whose nature,” says
Plutarch, “ is made up of all that hinders, opposes, causes obstruction."
�NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
THE
LIU OF NATURE;
OR,
¡PMFWmPILnBS ©W" MI©IB.£ULIIsirT
»EDUCED FROM THE
PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION
OF
MANKIND AND THE UNIVERSE.
©ranglatel) from
jFrmfc of
C. F. VOLNEY.
/
FOR MODES OF FAITH' LET GRACELESS ZEALOTS FIGHT;
HIS CAN’T BE WRONG WHOSE LIFE 18 IN THE RIGHT.”
*
Uo niton:
PRIMED AND PUBLISHED BY I. DAVISON,
Ao. 10, Duke Street, Heit Smithfield
*
*
,
• 1819.
��CONTENTS
*
<
CHAP. I.
Of the Law of Nature
.
,
.
.
.
.
. ' .
Pafft
3
.
.
...
6
CHAP. II,
Characters of the Law of Nature
.
CHAP. Ill,
The Principles of the Law of Nature, as they relate to Man
•
;
8
CHAP. IV.
Of the Basis of Morality—Of Good—Of Evil—Of Siu—Of Crimes
—Of Vice and Virtue....................................................................... 12
CHAP. V.
Of Individual Virtues—Of Knowledge
.....
13
.........
15
CHAP. VI. .
Of Temperance
CHAP. VIL
Of Continence
,
.
.
-
•
. 17
CHAP. VIII.
Of Courage and Activity
.
.
.
.
.
.
,
, 19
CHAP. IX.
Of Cleanliness
..........
21
CHAP. X.
Of Domestic Virtues
.........
22
CHAP. XI.
Of the Social Virtues, and of Justice
.
.
,
•
;
«
»>
«
25
CHAP. XII.
Developement of the Social Virtues
.
;
.27
�%
V
�TSt
CHAP. L
Ox
t he
La w o f Na t u r e .
Q. W h a t is the Law of Nature ?
A. It is the regular and constant order of events, according
to which God rules the universe; the order which his wisdom pre
sents to the senses and reason of mankind, to serve them as aa
equal and general rule of action, and to conduct them, without
distinction of country or sect, towards happiness and perfection.
Q. Give me a clear definition of the word Law.
A. The word laic, taken in its literal sense, signifies reading
*
because in early times, ordinances and regulations principally
composed the readings delivered to the people; which were made
in order that they might observe them, and not incur the penalties
attached to their infraction: whence it follows, that the original
usage explaining the true idea, a law may be defined to be, “ A
command or a prohibition of an action, with the expressed clause
of a penalty attached to the infraction, or a reward annexed to the
observation of the order.”
Q. Are there such orders in nature ?
A. Yes.
Q. What means the word nature ?
A. The word nature comprehends three different signification®»
' 1. It means the universe, or material world; we say, according
to this signification, the beauties of nature, the riches of nature
:
*
fhat is, of the objects in heaven and on earth presented to our
Contemplation.
2. It means the power which animates and moves the universe,
considering this power as a distinct being, such as the soul is sup
posed to be with respect to the body. In this second sense we sav,
the intentions of nature, the incomprehensible secrets of natuie.
�4
THE LAW OF NATURE,
3. It means the partial operation of this power, as exerted in
each individual being or in any class of beings; and we say,
,
*
in this third sense, the nature of man is an enigma ; every being
acts according to its nature.
Now, since the accounts of each individual, or of each cVss of
beings, are subjected to constant and general rules, which cr n mt
be departed from without changing and disturbing some general
or particular order of things, to these rules of action and motion
is given the name of natural laws, or laws of nature.
Q. Give me examples of these laics.
A. It is a law of nature that the sun enlightens in success:on
every part of the surface of the.terrestrial globe: that his pre
sence excites light and heat: that heat, acting on the waters,
produces vapours: that these vapours, raised in clouds into the
higher regions of the atmosphere, form themselves into rain or
snow, and supply, without ceasing, the water of springs and rivers.
It is a law of nature that water flows from an upper to a lower
situation; that it seeksit level: that it is heavier than air; that
all bodies tend towards the earth; that flame rises towards the
sky; that it destroys the organization of vegetables and animals;
that air is essential to the life of certain animals; that in certain
cases water suffocates and kills them: that certain juices of plants
and certain minerals attack their organs, and destroy their life;
and the same of a variety of facts.
Now, since these facts, and many similar ones, are constant,
regular, and immutable, they become so many real and positive
commands to which man is bound to conform, under the express
penalty of punishment attached to their infraction, or well-being
connected with their observance. So that, if a man were to pre
tend to see clearly in the dark, or is regardless of the progress of
the seasons, or the action of the elements; if he pretends to exist
under water without drowning; to handle fire without burning
himself; to deprive himself of air without suffocation ; or to drink
poison without destroying himself; he receives from each infrac
tion of the law of nature a corporal punishment proportioned to his
transgression. If, on the contrary, he observes these laws, and
founds his practice on the precise and regular relation which they
bear to him, he preserves his existence, and renders it as happy
as it is capable of being rendered ; and since all these laws, con
sidered in relation to the human species, have in. view only one
common end, that of' their preservation and their happiness;
whence it has been agreed to assemble together the different
ideas, and express them by a single word, and call them col
lectively by the name of the law of nature. -
�THE LAW OE NATURE.
CIIAP. IL
Ch a r a c t e r s o f t h e La w o f Na t u r e .
Q. W h a t are the characters of the taw of nature ?
A. We may reckon ten principal ones.
Q. What is the first ?
A. To be inherent in, and essential to, the existence of things ;
consequently to be primitive and anterior to every other law, so
that all those which m<-.a have adopted from time to time, are only
imitations of this ; the perfection of which laws is to be measured
by their resemblance with this primordial model.
Q. What is the setond?
A. It is to emanate immediately from God, and to be by hint
offered to the contemplation of every man, while others are pre
sented to us by men only, who may happen to be either deceivers
or deceived.
Q. W/zat is the third?
A. It is to be common to every time and country ; that is, to
be one and universal.
Q. Is there no other law which is universal ?
A. No ; for no other is suited and applicable to every people
upon earth ; all are local and accidental, sprung from the dif
fering circumstances of places and persons ; so that if a given
man, or a given event, had not existed, a given law would not
have taken place.
Q. W7zai is the fourth character ?
A. That of being uniform and invariable.
Q. Is there no other law which is uniform and invariable?
A. No; for that which according to one is good and virtuous,
is evil and vicious according to another ; and what is at one time
approved, is often condemned at another by the same law.
Q. What is the fifth character ?
A, To be evident and palpable, since it consists wholly of facts
ever present to our senses, and capable of demonstration.
Q. Are there not other laws evident ?
A. No ; for they are founded on past and doubtful facts; on
equivocal and suspicious testimony; and on proofs which can
not be presented to the senses.
Q. What is the sixth character ?
A. To be reasonable; because its precepts, and its whole doc
trine, are conformable to reason, and agreeable to the human
understanding.
Q. Is no other law reasonable ?
A. No ; for they all contradict the reason and understanding
�’$
HIE LAW OF NATURE.
of man, and impose upon him, tyrannically, a blind and impras*
ticable belief.
Q. What is the seventh character ?
A. To be just; because in this law the punishment is propor
tioned to the transgression.
Q, Are there no other lares just ?
.A. No; for they frequently attach to merit or to criminality,
.disproportionate punishment or reward; and impute merit and
criminality to actions which are null or indifferent.
0« W/zai is the eighth character ?
A. To be pacific and tolerant; because, according to the law
of nature, all men being brethren, and equal in rights, it advises
all to peace and toleration, even for their errors.
Q. Are not other lares pacific ?
A. No; for they all breathe dissension, discord, and war, and
divide men among each other by means of exclusive pretensions
to truth and power.
Q. What is the ninth character of this law ?
A. To be equally beneficent to all men, and to teach them all
the true method of being better and happier.
Q. Are not the rest likewise beneficent ?
A. No; for none teaches the true road to happiness; they all
really amount to nothing but pernicious or futile performances;
and this is proved by facts, since, after so many laws, religions,
legislators, and prophets, men remain still as unhappy and as ig
norant as they were five thousand years ago.
Q, What is the last character of the law of nature ?
A. It is its being of itself sufficient to render men happier and
better, because it includes whatever is good and useful in every
other law, civil or religious; that is, it is in its essence the moral
part of them all: so that, were they divested of it, they would be
reduced to the state of chimerical and imaginary opinions, and
'be of no practical utility.
Q. Recapitulate all these characters.
A. I have said that the Law of Nature is,
f J^rimitive;
.
Immediate, or of original emanation ;'
Universal;
c Invariable ;
. Evident;
Reasonable ;
Just ;
Pacific;
Beneficent:
And, of itself sufficient:
And it is because it unites in itself all these attributes of per
fection and of truth, that there has always existed in the human
�THE LAW OK NATURE.
'fa
1
lienrt an involuntary and secret inclination to regard it as, in a
peculiar sense, the true religion: the only one adapted to the
nature of man, and the only one worthy of God, from whom it
*
drictmittjs
Q. //; as you assert, it emanates immediately from God, does
it teach us his existence ?
•v t
A. Yes; very positively ; for every man who observes with at
tention the astonishing scene of the universe, the more he medi
tates on the properties and attributes of each existence, and on
the admirable order and harmony of their motions, the moie will
he be convinced that there is a supreme agent, a universal and
identical mover, designated by the name of-God: and it j s so
true, that the law of nature is sufficient to raise us to the know
ledge of God, that whatever men have pretended to know of
him5by any other means, has been constantly found to be ridicu
lous and absurd; and they have been obliged to return to the
unchangeable notions of natural reason.
Q. It is not true, then, that the followers of the law of nature
are atheists ?
A. No; it is not true. On the contrary they have stronger
and more noble ideas of the Divinity than the greater part of
mankind; for they do not defile it by the addition of the weak
nesses and passions of human nature.
Q. What is the worship which they render him ?
A. A worship which consists entirely in action; in the obser
vation and practice of alt the rules which the Supreme Wisdom
has imposed upon the motions of each being; eternal and unal
terable rules, which maintain the order and harmony of the
universe, and which, considered in relation to man, compose
the law of nature.
Q. Was the law of nature ever known before the present day ?
A. It has been spoken of in every age. The greater part of
lawgivers have pretended to make it the basis of their laws; but
they have brought forward only a few of its precepts, and have
had but vague ideas of it as a whole.
Q. Why has this happened?
A. Because, though it is simple in its basis, it forms, in its developement and its consequences, a complicated aggregate, which
requires the knowledge of a number of facts, and the whole sa
gacity of reason in order to be understood.
Q. Does not instinct alone instruct us in the law of nature?
A. No; for instinct signifies only that blind sentiment which
leads us, without discrimination, towards whatever pleases our
senses.
Q. Why, then, is it said that the law of nature is engraven
031 the hearts of alt men?
�•
t h e l a w o f n a t u r e.
A. It is said for two reasons: 1st, Because it has been re
**
marked that there are actions and sentiments common to all man
kind, arising from their similar organization, 2d, Because it was
an opinion of the ancient philosophers, that men were born into
the world with innate or ready-formed ideas; an opinion which
is now demonstrated to be an error.
Q. Do philosophers then deceive themselves ?
A. Yes; they do.
Q. How happens this ?
A. First, From their nature as men. Secondly, Because igno
rant persons call every man who reasons a philosopher, whether
he reason well or ill. Thirdly, Because those who reason on a
variety of subjects, and are the first to reason on them, are liable
to deceive themselves.
, Q. Since the law of nature is not written, may it not be con-
. sidered as arbitrary and ideal?
A. No; because it consists altogether in facts, whose demon
stration may be at any time recalled before the senses, and form
a science as precise and exact as those of geometry and mathe
matics : and this very circumstance, that the law of nature forms
an exact science, is the reason why men, who are born in igno
rance, and live in carelessness, have, till this day, know n it only
•uperficially.
CHAP. III.
Th e Pr in c ipl e s o f t h e La w o f Na t u r e a s t h e y r e l a t e
t o Ma n .
Q. Un f o l d the principles of the law of nature as they relate
to man.
A. They are simple and reducible to a single fundamental
principal precept.
Q. What is this precept ?
"
A.
Self-preservation.
Q? Is not happiness likewise a precept of the law of nature?
A. Yes; but as happiness is an accidental circumstance, which
takes place only in consequence of the unfolding of the faculties
of man, and the developement of the social system, it is not the
primary and direct end proposed by nature. It is an object of
luxury superadded to the necessary and fundamental object of
self-preservation.
Q. In what manner does nature command self-preservation ?
A. By two powerful and involuntary sensations which she has
attached as two guides or guardian genii to all our actions: one,
�THE LAW OF NATURE.
9
the sensation of pain, by which she informs us of, and turns us
from, whatever tends to our destruction.
.. , ,
,
j
The other, the sensation of pleasure, by which she attracts and
leads us towards every thing that tends to our preservation, and
the unfolding of our faculties.
.
.
,
Q. Pleasure then is not an evil or a sin, as the casuists have
A. No • it is of that class only when it tends to the destruction
of life and health, which, as the casuists themselves confess, are
derived to us from God.
Q. Is pleasure the principle object of our existence, as some
philosophers have asserted ?
A. No; no more than pain is: by pleasure, nature encourages
us to live; by pain, it makes us shrink from death.
Q. How do you prove this assertion ?
A. By two palpable facts; the one, that pleasure, carried too
far, conducts into destruction : for instance, a man who abuses
the pleasure of eating and drinking, attacks his health and injures
his existence. The other, that pain sometimes tends to our pre
servation : for instance, a man who orders his mortified limb to
be amputated, suffers pain, but it is in order that he may not pe
rish altogether.
Q. But does not this prove that our senses may deceive us
with respect to this end of self-preservation?
A. Yes ; they may for a time.
Q. How do our sensations deceive us ?
A. In two ways; through our ignorance and our passions.
Q. When do they deceive us through our ignorance ?
A. When we act without knowing the action and effect of ob
jects on our senses: for instance, when a man handles nettles
without knowing their quality of stinging; or, when he chews
opium in ignorance of its soporific properties.
Q. When do they deceive us through our passions ?
A. W hen, though we are acquainted with the hurtful action
of objects, we, notwithstanding, give way to the violence of our
desires anil our appetites: for instance, when a man, who knows
that wine inebriates, drinks, notwithstanding, to excess.
Q. What results from, these facts?
A. The result is, that the ignorance in which we enter the
world, and the inordinate appetites to which we give ourselves
up, are opposed to our self-preservation; that, in consequence,
the instruction of our minds, and the moderation of our passions,
are two obligations, or two laws, immediately derived from the
first law of preservation.
Q. But if we are born ignorant, is not ignorance a part of
the law ofnature ?
�re
t h e LAW o f NATURE^
state o^nTa^cy^far^rmiH^ b^ ’’ernani in the naked and feeble
an obstacle in the way of all herTaws Tt Fs
,§’noi?nce.is
Q. Whence then has It banned ti !
tue/rue original sm.
Kh°c™sidereditasav^
€XlSted
foundedt^e^^
»4
mXiTo^^rfacukres.1101
/
u^::
UnfoIdinS and propTemplly-
tJlen necess^Uy indispensable for man’s
. A:
SO ’^'spensable, that, without it, he must be everv in
stant struck and wounded by all the beings which surround him"
ofVatei he^T I”6
If, in the sX? It drowned; of op.um, he would be poisoned.
fide h“2e?f whhfoot '”‘1’ Pn“ 'f
arisln"
be
«
*
«arth, nor pro'"S
neeeJm, to
acT"re M
id"»
A S V’„„ ^T“"/ i mpldil>3 »J Id» .faculties ?
livin’
-’i \e- cannot d° 11 ^Ut by the assistance of his fellows
living with him m a state of society.
ieiious
’ A No- it kF
S°Ciety a State unn°Wral to man ?
k- u 1 • f ’
the contrary> a necessity, a law imposed unon
him by his very organization; for, 1st. Nature basso constituted
ex X 7 that hG d°eS 1Wt beh0id bis likeness of anoXr
sex, without expel iencing emotions, and an attraction inducing
2d Tn 1V%!1 ad°™esilc state, which is already a state of society
*
2d. In rendering him sensible, she has so organized him that
the sensations of others are reflected into himself, and excite in
him co-sentiments of pleasure or pain, which become the attrac
tive force and indissoluble bond of social life: 3d. In fine the
«ate of society, established on the wants of man, is nothin- more
lnd"tonsav ?h»f°
hraea?S/- fuIfilIhlg the laW0f Preservation:
and to saj, that such a state is unnatural, because it is more adihSer a0«? wiiF
* t0
which in the ™ods
is bittei and wild, is no longer a production of nature, after bavincuiXT
in the garden in which ifc has beeS
denmina* d
'
savage state
/
�THE LAW OF NATURE.
11
A. Because, as I bave before observed, the vulgar have often
given the appellation of philosophers, to capricious persons, who
'through moroseness, wounded vanity, or disgust with the vices
of social life, have formed a chimerical idea of the savage state,
contradictory to their own system of the perfectability of man,
Q. What is the true meaning of the word philosopher '?
A. Thé word philosopher signifies lover of wisdom : now, since
wisdom consists in the practice of the laws of nature, that man is
a true philosopher who understands these laws in their full extent,
and, with precision, renders his conduct conformable to them.
Q. What is man in a savage state?
A. A brute and ignorant animal ; a mischievous and ferocious
beast, like a bear or an our^ng-outang.
Q. Is he happy in such à slate ?.
A. No ; for he has but the sensations of the moment ; and these
sensations are habitually sentiments of violent and pressing
wants which he cannot gratify ; seeing that he is ignorant by
nature, and feeble by his state of insulation from society.
Q. Is hefree?
A. No; he is the most slavish of beings; his life depends on
all that surrounds him ; he has not the power to eat when he is huno-ry, to rest himself when he is weary, or to warm himself when
he is cold : he is in danger of perishing every instant. Nature,
it is true, has exhibited such beings only, as it were, by chance :
and, it is evident, that the efforts of the human race have, from
the beginning, been employed to extricate it from this state of
violence ; so strong is the desire of preservation.
Q. But does not this desire of self preservation produce in
individuals egoism, that is, the love of self; and is not egoism
abhorrent to the social state ?
A, No ; for, if by egoism is understood an inclination to injure
others, it is no longer the love of self, but the hatred of our
neighbour. The love of self, taken in its true sense, is not only
Consistent with a state of society, but is likewise its firmest support ;
since We are under a necessity of not doing injury to others, lest
they should, in return, do injury to ourselves.
Thus the preservation of man, and the unfolding of his facul
ties ‘which have in view Uie same end, are the true law which
nature has followed in the production of the human species : and
from this simple and fruitful principle, are derived, must be re
ferred, and ultimately measured, all our ideas of good and evil,
vice and virtue, justice and injustice, truth and error, of what is
permitted and what is forbidden ; the foundation of all moral
conduct, whether in the individual man, or the man of social
life.
�ip
THE LAW OF NATURE.
CHAP. IV.
Of t h e Ba 3,s o f Mo r a l ,t y _o p Go o d _o F Ev .l -o f Sir o f Cr im e s —o f Vic e a n d Vir t u e .
\v?Ar is ( ood> ^cording to the law of nature ?
J
preserve aud ameIlorate ““kind,
■ Q. JFa X" «"
human'ract™
W
iest ™ti™ “d deterioration of tie
b,J PHYS,CA1 S<>od and evil, a„d
mo r a l
„A; H y L A W0Id
is meant whatever acts immediately
X" Bv :<ly:,hKl"h “ a physical good; sickness is a ph ysS
eviJ. By morof is understood whatever is effected bv const
*
quences more or less remote: calumny is a moral evZ a fair
reputation is a moral good ; because both of them are !he occasion
of certain dispositions and habits in other men, wk respect to
ourselves which are useful or prejudicial to our well behm and
which attack or contribute to t'he ‘’ eans of existence.
m
8’ "d
JF’
Q. Every thing which tends to bring on death is of consequence
for ,‘his reason, some legislators have extended
the idea of evil and sm to the killing of any animals.
lawqf naZe1er "J “
“ 'rime aCC0rdi^ '» t!“
YeS;i and llle ?reatest ‘hat can be committed ; for all other
evils may be repaired, but murder can never be done away.
;■ ™
tSSln accordinff to the law of nature?
A. Whatever tends to disturb the order established by nature
* the preservation and perfectability of man and of society.
or
V. Cun intention he a merit or a crime ?
"
A. No; for it is only an idea without reality; but it is a begin
ning of sm and evil, by the inclination to act, of which it is the
cause»
Q. What is virtue according to the law of nature ?
A. The practice of actions which are useful to the individual
and to society.
Q. What signifies the word individual ?
ether
S' gmfieS a J erson considered as insulated from every
*
�THE LAW OF NATLRi:.
13
*
0 What is vice according to the law of nature?
A Ai It is the practice of actions prejudicial to the individual and
to society.
Q. Have not virtue and vice an object purely spiritual and ab
stractedfrom sense ?
A. No ; they are always ultimately referable to a physical end;
and this end is invariably the destruction or preservation of the
body.
Q. Have vice and virtue degrees of strength and intensity ?
A. Yes: according to the importance of the faculties which
they attack or favour ; and according to the number of indivi
duals in whom these faculties are thus assisted or injured.
Q. Give me an example ?
A. The action of saving a man ’s life is more virtuous than that
of saving his wealth : the act of saving the lives of ten men is
more so than that of saving the life of a single person : and an
action which is useful to the whole human race, is more virtuous
than an action useful only to a single nation.
*
Q. In what manner does the law of nature prescribe the prac
tice of good and virtue, and forbid that of evil and of vice ?
A. By the advantages resulting from the practice or good and
virtue in the preservation of our bodies, and the injuries which
our very existence receives from the practice of evil and vice.
Q. Its precepts, then are found in andfounded upon action ?
A. Yes; they are action itself, considered in its present effect
and its future consequences.
Q. What division do you make of the virtues ?
A. We divide them into three classes: 1st, Private virtues, or
those which refer to single and insulated persons: 2d. Domestic
virtues, or those which relate to families: 3d. Social virtues, or
those which respect society at large.
CHAP. V.
.■
Of In d iv id u a l o r Pr
iv a t e
Vir t u e s .—Of Kn o w l
ed g e.
Q. W h i c h are the private virtues ?
' A. There are five principal ones: namely, Knowledge; which
comprehends prudence and wisdom.
II. Temperance; which includes sobriety and chastity.
III. Courage; or strength of body and mind.
IV. Activity; that is, the love of labour, and a proper employ
ment of our time.
V. Lastly ; cleanliness, or purity of body, as well in o u f
clothing as in our dwellings.
2C
�14
THE LAW OF NATURE.
Q. How doe» the law of nature prescribe to us the possession
of knowledge?
A. In this way: The man who is acquainted with the causes
and effects of things, provides in a very extensive and certain
manner for his own preservation and the developement of his
faculties. Knowledge is for him, as it were, light acting upon
its appropriate organ, making him discern all the objects which
surround him, and in the midst of which he moves with precision
and clearness. And for this reason we used to say an enlightened
man, to designate a wise and well-informed man. By the help of
knowledge and information, we are never left without resources
and means of subsistence; and whence a philosopher, who had
suffered shipwreck, observed justly to his companions, who were
lamenting tne loss of their fortunes, “ As for me, I carry all my
fortune in myself.”
Q. What is the vice opposed to knowledge ?
A. Ignorance.
Q. How does the law of nature forbid ignorance ?
A. By the great injury which our existence sustains from it :
for the ignorant, who are unacquainted with either causes or
effects, commit every instant mistakes, the most pernicious to
themselves or others: like a blind man, who walks groping his
way, and who at every step stumbles against or is jostled by his
companions.
Q. What difference is there between an ignorant man and a
fool?
A. The same that there is between a blind man who ingeni
ously acknowledges his want of sight, and a blind man who pre
tends to see distinctly. Folly is ignorance, with a superadded
pretension to knowledge.
Q. Are ignorance andfolly common ?
A. Yes; very common: they are the habitual and general
diseases of mankind. Above three thousand years since, the
wisest of men observed, that the number of fools is infinite; and
the world has not changed.
Q, How happens this ?
A. Because to become informed is the work of much time and
labour; and because men, born ignorant, but fearful of trouble,
find it more convenient to remain blind, and pretend to see
clearly.
Q. What difference is there between the man of learning and
the man of ivisdom?
A. The man of learning possesses the theory, and the man of
wisdom the practice,
Q. What is prudence ?
' - A. An anticipated, view, a foresight of effects, and the eonee-
�THE LAW OF NATURE,
fluences of every event: a foresight by which a man avoids the
dangers which threaten him, and seizes and raises up opportu
nities which are favourable: whence it appears, that he provides,
on a large and sure scale, for his present and future conservation ;
while the imprudent man, who neither calculates his progress nor
his conduct —the efforts required, nor the resistances to overcome,
falls every moment into a thousand difficulties and dangers,
which, more or less, slowly destroy his faculties and his being.
Q. When the Gospel declares, « Happy are the poor in spirit,
does it mean the ignorant and imprudent?
t
A. No; for, at the same time that it advises the simplicity ot
doves, it connects with it the prudent cunning of the serpent.
By simpleness of spirit is meant rectitude; and the precept ot
the Gospel is no other than that of nature.
CHAP. VI,
Of Te m pe r a n c e .
Q. W h a t is temperance?
A. A well-regulated employment of our faculties; which pre
vents our ever exceeding in our sensible pleasures the end of
nature, self-conservation, It is the moderation of our passions.
Q. What is the vice opposed to temperance ?
A. The want of government over our passions ; an over great
eagerness to possess enjoyments: in a word, cupidity.
Q. What are the principal branches of temperance ?■
A. Sobriety, and continence or chastity,
Q. In what manner does the law of nature enjoin sobriety ?
A. By its powerful influence over our health. The man of so
briety digests his food with comfort; he is not oppressed by the
weight ot his aliment: his ideas are clear and easily impressed;
he performs every function well ; he attends with diligence to his
business ; he grows old, free from sickness; he does not throw
away his money in remedies for disorders ; he enjoys with gay
good humour the goods which fortune or prudence have pro
cured him. Thus does generous nature make a thousand rewards
flow from a single virtue.
Q, JBy what means does she prohibit gluttony ?
A. By the numerous evils attached to it. The glutton, op
pressed by his aliment, digests with pain and difficulty ; his
head, disturbed by the fumes arising during bad digestion, is
incapable of receiving neat and clear ideas; he gives himself up
with fury to the inordinate movements of luxury and anger,
which destroy his health ; his body becomes fat, heavy, and unfit
�t h e l a w o f n a t u r e,
for labour; he passes through painful and expensive fits of sicE
ness; he rarely lives to old age, and his latter part of life is marked
by infirmity and disgust.
Q. Ought we to look upon abstinence and fasting as virtuous
dCHOnS •
A. Yes; after we have eaten too much; for, in that case, absti
nence and fasting are efficacious and simple remedies; but when
the body has need of nourishment, to refuse it, and let it suffer
through thirst or hunger, is madness, and a real sin against the
law ot nature.
®
what light does this law consider drunkenness?
A. As the vilest and most pernicious of vices. The drunkard,
deprived of the sense and reason given us by God, profanes the
gifts of the Divinity; he lowers himself to the condition of the
brates: incapable of dircting his steps, he totters and falls as in
a fit of epilepsy; he wounds himself, and endangers his own life:
h:s weakness m this state renders him the play-thing and the
scorn of all around him: he contracts during his drunkenness,
ruinous engagements, and loses the management of his affairs:
he suffers violent and outrageous observations to escape him,
which raise him up enemies, and bring him to repentance: he
fids his house with trouble and chagrin; and he concludes by a
premature death, or an old age, comfortless and diseased.
Q. Does the law of nature absolutely forbid the use of wine?
A. No; it only forbids the abuses of it; but as the passage
from the proper to the improper use of it, is, for the vulgar, very
short and easy, perhaps those legislators, who have forbidden the
hse or wme, have, in so doing, rendered a service to mankind.
Q. Does the law of nature forbid the use °f certain meats and
vegetables, on certain days, or during certain seasons?
A. No; it forbids only what is absolutely prejudicial to health:
its precepts on this score vary as men do, and compose a very de
licate anff important science; for the quality, the quantity, and the
combination, of our aliments, have a very great influence, not only
on the momentary affections of the mind, but likewise on its habit«
and dispositions. A man fasting is not the same as after a repast
though of the most sober kind. A glass of wine, a dish of coffee,
*
produce various degrees of vivacity, activity, disposition to anger ’
sadness, or gaiety : one species of food, because it lies heavy on
the stomach, renders a person morose and peevish ; another,
which is easily digested, disposes to cheerfulness and love, and
produces in us an inclination to be obliging. The use of veo-etables, as they afford little nourishment, render the body weak
lndu(;e repose, inactivity, and mildness of character : ‘the use
of flesh meats, as they nourish much, and of spirituous liquors, as
pey. stimulate the nerves, induce liveliness, restlessness, audacity.
�t h e: l a w o f n a t u r e.
17
Now, from these habits of taking different kinds of food, result
constitutional habits, which form in the end various temperaments,
each distinguished by a peculiar character ; and hence it appears,
why in hot countries legislators have promulgated, as laws, rules
of diet. Long experience had taught the ancients, that the diet
etic science composed a considerable portion of that of morals;
among the Egyptians, among the ancient Persians, and even
among the Greeks, in their Areopagus, affairs of consequence
were never debated on, except' the members of the council were
fasting; and it has been remarked, that among every people who
deliberate during the warmth of a repast, or during the fumes of
digestion, the debates are invariably furious and turbulent, and
their results frequently unreasonable and destructive of the pub
lic peace.
CHAP. VII.
Of Co n t in e n c e .
Q. Do e s the law of nature prescribe continence ?
A. Yes; because moderation, in the enjoyment of the most
violent of our sensations, is not only serviceable, but indispensible for the maintenance of our strength and health ; and because
it may be demonstrated by a simple calculation, that, in return
for a few minutes of privation, we are repaid by long days of
vigour of mind and body.
Q. How does it forbid libertinism ?
A. By the innumerable evils which it entails upon our exist
ence, physical and moral. The man who abandons himself to it,
becomes enervated and languid ; he is no longer able to attend
to his studies or his business; he contracts idle and expensive
habits, which diminish his means of livelihood, his reputation
and his credit ; his intrigues occasion him embarrassments, cares,
quarrels, and law-suits, not to take into the account heavy and
grievous diseases; the decrease of his strength by an internal
and slow poison ; the stupefaction of his intellect by the exhaus
tion of the nervous influence; and, lastly, a premature and infirm
old age.
Q. Is that consummate chastity, which is so much inculcated
in monastic institutions, regarded as a virtue by the natural law!
A. No; for such chastity is neither of utility to the society at
large where it is prevalent, nor even to the individuals who are
rigorously observant of it ; hay, it is demonstrably prejudicial to
both. In the first place it is detrimental to society at large, be
cause it checks the progress of its population, which is one of its
great sources of wealth and power ; and because the persons who
�1#
THE LAW OF NATURE.
¿evote themselves to a life of celibacy, by confining their views
and affections within the narrow sphere of their own existence,
for the most part contract a selfish partiality for themselves»
which alienates their minds from the general interests of the
community.
In the second place it is injurious to individuals, because it ex
cludes them from a multiplicity of affections and relations, which
have a considerable share in the formation of the domestic and
social virtues. Again, it frequently happens, from the circum
stances of age, temperament and àiet, that absolute continence
impairs the health, and lays the foundation of serious diseases,
by counteracting those laws by which nature maintains and per
petuates the species. Not to mention, that those who are such
rigid and enthusiastic advocates for unlimited abstinence in this
respect, even w here their sincerity cannot be called in question,
totally militate against their own doctrine, which consecrates the
law of nature by the well known command, Be fruitful and
multiply.
Q. Why is chastity considered as a virtue of greater import
ance to women than to men ?
A. Because the breach of chastity in w omen is attended with
far more alarming- and injurious consequences to themselves and
to society ; for, exclusively of the afflictions and diseases of every
denomination to which they are liable in common with the other
sex, they incur all the various inconveniences that precede, ac
company, and follow a state of motherhood, of which they run
the hazard ; and, if this should chance out of the pale of the law,
they became exposed to the scorn and derision of the world,
which unavoidably embitters the remaining portion of their ex
istence. Again, they are surcharged with the expenses arising
from the maintenance and education of children that are unpro
tected and without relations ; by which means they become im
poverished and distressed both in mind and fortune. In this
state, deprived of that freshness and that health in w hich their ‘
charms chiefly consist, carrying about with them an unusual and
painful burden, they are less sought after by the men ; they find
no solid establishment, they fall into poverty, misery, abasement,
and drag on in wretchedness a life of abject unhappiness,
Q, Does the law of nature descend to scruple our desires or
thoughts ?
A. Yes ; because according to the physical Iaw rs of the human
body, thoughts and desires awaken the senses, and soon stimulate
to action. Moreover, by another law of nature, in the organiza
tion of our body, these actions become a species of mechanical
want, repeated according to the periods of days or w eeks ; so that
at any given epoch the want or desire to perform a given action,
�THE LA# OF NATURE.
W
or to produce
a given secretion, always arises: and if this action
or secretion are prejudicial to health, the habit becomes destruc
tive of life itself Thus desires and thoughts become of real im
portance in nature.
Q. Ought modesty to be considered as a virtue ?
A. Yes; because modesty, considered as a bashful timidity
with regard to certain actions, maintains the mind and body in all
the habits tending to the good order and self-preservation of the
individual. A modest woman is esteemed, sought after, esta
blished in all the advantages of fortune, which assure her exis
tence, and render it agreeable; while the immodest woman and
the prostitute are despised, rejected, and abandoned to misery
and disgrace.
CHAP. VIII.
Of Co u r
age and
Ac t iv it y .
Q. A r e courage, and strength of body and mind, virtues, as- '
cording to the law of nature ?
A. Yes; and very important virtues; for they are efficacious
and indispensible means of our effecting our preservation and
well being. The courageous and strong man repels oppression ;
defends his life his, liberty, his property; by his labour he pro
cures for himself subsistence in abundance, and enjoys it with
tranquility and peace of mind. If any misfortune happens t»
him from which his prudence could not guard him, he supports
it with firmness and resignation ; and, for this reason, the ancient
moralists accounted strength and courage among their four prin
*
cipal of virtues.
Q. Ought weakness and cowardice to be considered as vices ?
A. Yes; since it is true that they are connected with a thou
sand calamities. The weak and cowardly live in the midst uf
eare, and in perpetual agony; their health is undermined by the
terror they are under, often an ill-founded one, of danger and at
tack; and this terror, which is itself an evil; is not the remedy
of any other evil; on the contrary, it renders man a slave to w ho
ever is desirous of oppressing him ; and by the subjection and
abasement of all his faculties, degrades and corrupts his means
of existence, and makes his life depend, as it were, on the will
and caprice of other men.
Q. But, after what you have said of the influence of aliments,
are not eourage and strength, as well as many other virtues, m a
great measure the effect of our temperament, or physical consti> tution.
�&
THE LAW QF NATURE.
A. Yes; this is true, to such a degree, that these qualities ar®
transmitted to us in our birth, and by our blood, with the elements
on which they depend. Repeated and unvarying facts prove,
that, in every race of animals, certain physical and moral quali
ties, attached to the various individuals of each race, are aug
mented or diminished according to the combinations and admix
ture which take place between the several races.
Q. But if our wills and exertions are not sufficient to procure
us these qualities, is it a crime in us to be destitute of them?
A. No; it is not a crime, but a misfortune; it is what the
ancients call a melancholy fatality; but even in this case, it is
still in some measure in our power to acquire them ; for, from
the moment we have learnt on what physical elements depend®
such and such qualities, we are enabled to prepare for their pro
duction, and to excite them to unfold themselves by an able ma
nagement of the elements; and in this consists the science of
education, which, according as it is directed, perfects or ren
ders worse both individuals and entire races, so as to change
altogether their nature and inclinations; and this it is which
renders so important the knowledge of the laws of nature, by which
these operations and changes are- effected with certainty and of
necessity.
Q. Why do you say that activity is a virtue, according to the
law of nature?
A. Because the man who labours and employs his time use
fully, derives, from so doing, innumerable advantages with
respect to his existence. Is he poor ? his labour furnishes him
with subsistence: and if, in addition, he is sober, continent, and
prudent, he soon acquires many conveniences, and enjoys the
sweets of life: his very labour produces in him those virtues;
for as long as he continues to employ his mind and his body, he
is not affected by inordinate desires; he is free from dullness;
he contracts mild and pleasant habits; he augments his strength
and his health ; and arrives to an old age of felicity and peace.
Q. Are idleness and sloth, then, vices in the order of nature ?
A. Yes; and the most pernicious of all vices; for they lead to
every other. In idleness and sloth, man remains ignorant, and
even loses the knowledge which he had before acquired, falling
into all the evils which accompany ignorance and folly. In idle
ness and sloth, man, devoured by listless dullness, gives himself
up to all the lusts of sense, whose empire, as it encreases and ex
tends from day to day, renders him intemperate, gluttonous,
luxurious, enervate, cowardly, base, and despicable. The cer
tain effects of all which vices are, the ruin of his fortune, the
wasting of his health, and the termination of his life in the an
guish of disease and poverty.
�21
THE EAW OF NATURE,
~ Q. If I understand you, it vtould appear that poverty is a
A. No; it is not a vice, but still less is it a virtue : for it is
■much more frequently injurious than useful; it is even common,y
the result of vice, or its first occasion ; for every individual vice
conducts towards indigence, even to the privation of the neces
saries of life; and when a man is in want of the necessaries, lie is
on the point of endeavouring to procure them by vicious methods;
that is, methods hurtful to society. AH the private virtues, on
the contrary, tend to procure for man an abundance of suosistence ;•
and when be has more than he can consume, it becomes more easy
for him to give it to others, and to perform actions useful to society.
Q. Do you look upon riches as a virtue I
. A. No; but still less are they a vice. It is their employment
only which can be denominated virtuous or vicious, accoidmg as
it is useful or hurtful to man and to society. Wealth is an instru
ment, whose use and employment only determine its viciousness
or virtue.
•-
. CHAP. IX.
Of Cl e a n l in e s s .
•
z u:«
** >
Q. W h y do you rank cleanliness in the class of virtues ?
■ A. Because it is really one of the most important, as it has a
powerful influence on the health and preservation of the body.
Cleanliness, as well in our garments as nrour dwellings, proven s
the pernicious effects of dampness, of bad smells, and ot conta
gious vapours arising from substances abandoned to putrify:
cleanliness keeps up a free perspiration, renews ihe air, refreshes
the blood, and even animates and enlivens the mind. Whence
we see thatpersons, attentive to the cleanliness of their persons
and their habitations, are in general more healthy, and less ex
posed to diseases, than those who live in filth and nastiness;
and it may moreover be remarked, that cleanliness brings with
it, throughout every part of domestic discipline, habits of order
and arrangement, which are among the first and best methods
and elements of happiness.
Q. Is uncleanliness, then, or filthiness, a real vice ? .
A. Yes; as real as drunkenness or as sloth, from which, for
the most part, it derives its origin. Uncleanliuess is a secondary,
and often a first cause of a multitude of slight disorders, and
even of dangerous sicknesses. It is well known in medicine, that
it generates the itch, the scald-head, the leprosy, no less cer
tainly than the same disorders are produced by corrupted or acrid
elements: that it contributes to the contagious power of the
2 D
�t he
La w
o f n a t u r e.
plague and of malignant fevers ; that it even gives birth to them
in hospitals and prisons; that it occasions rheumatism, by in
trusting the skin with dirt, and checking perspiration; not to
mention the disgraceful inconvenience of being devoured by in
*
sects, the unclean appendage of abject misery.
J
For this cause, the greater part of the ancient legislators have
constituted cleanliness, under the title of purity, one of the es
*
sential dogmas of their several religions ; hence the reason of
their driving from society, and subjecting even to corporal pu
nishment, those who suffered themselves to be attacked by the
diseases which are engendered by uncleanliness ; why they in
stated and consecrated the ceremonies of ablution, bathing bap
tism, and of purification even by fire, and by the aromatic ef
fluvia of incenses, myrrhs, benzoin, &c. So that the whole sys
tem of impure taints, all those rites, referring to things clean
and unclean, which in after times degenerated into prejudices
and abuses, were, in their origin, derived from the judicious
observations, made by wise and well-informed men, on the great
influence which the cleanliness of the body, both with respect
to its clothing and its habitation, possesses over the health,
and, by an immediate consequence, over the mind and the moral
faculties.
Thus all the individual or private virtues have, for their more
or less direct and more or less proximate end, the preservation
of the man who practices them ; while by the preservation of each
individual, they tend to insure that of the family and of society at
large, which is nothing more than the united sum of those indivi
duals.
CHAP. X.
Of Do m e s t ic Vir t u e s .
Q. W h a t do you mean by domestic virtues ?
A . I mean the practice of those actions which ate useful to a
family, that is, to a number of persons living under one roof.
Q. What are those virtues?
A. Economy, parental affection, conjugal love, filial love, bro
therly love, and the fulfilment of the reciprocal duties of master and
servant.
Q. What is economy ?
A. Taken in its extensive signification, it is the proper admi
nistration of whatever concerns the existence of a family or
household; but, as subsistence holds the first rank among these
circumstances, the word economy has been restricted to the em
ployment of our money in procuring for us the primary grants
of life.
�THE LAW OF NATURE.
23
?• Ei' Zr iXinto no us.1«s,exwnce, always
A. t5ecaus^ i^ i
¿ance which constitutes real wealth, and
possesses a W e? un
k
*
’ “ f himself and his family all
LTTruIvllul a»r —St ; without taking into the
that is truly
account,
ensures to himself resources
bV *ndra^ r esee" "Zes: so that himself
‘s
and h>s family Hve in a tranquil and pleasant state of ease, which
A Yes- for They bring a man at last to the want of the ne
cessaries o’f life; ¿e falls into poverty, misery, and aoject dis«rrnrp. r o that even his acquaintance, fearful of being obliged
fo restore to him what he has squandered with them or upon
Ihem, Ay from him as a debtor from his creditors, and he is left
abandoned by all the world.
A. Th Ae“Lsiduou7careawZh OTa parent takes to bring up his
children in the habit of every action useful to themselves and to
80<Q.tyin what respect is parental tenderness a virtue, with respect
as much as the parents, who bring up their children in
good habits, lay up for the whole course of their lives those en
joyments and aids which are grateful to us at all times, and en
sure against old age those supports and consolations which are
required by the wants and calamities of that period of life.
Q. Is parental affection a common virtue?
, ,
•
A No • notwithstanding ail parents make a parade of it, it is
a rare virtue; they do not love their children ; they caress them,
and they spoil them: what they love in them is, the agency of
their wills, the instruments of their power, the trophies of their
vanity, the play-thing of their leisure hours. It is not so much
the o’ood of their children that they propose, as their submission
and obedience : and if amongst children we find so many examnles of filial ingratitude, it is because amongst parents there are
so many examples of ignorant and despotic kindness.
Q. Why do you say that conjugal love is a vntue.
A. Because the concord and union which are the consequences
of the affection subsisting between married persons, establish in
the bosom of their family a multitude of habits which contribute
to its prosperity and conservation : united by the bonds o, marriage,
thpy love their household and quit it rarely; they superintend
every part of its administration; they attend to the education of
their children; they keep up the respectfulness and fidelity of their
domestics; they prevent all disorder and dissipation ; and, by the
whole of their good conduct, live in ease and reputation ’ while
�24
THE LAV/ OF NATURE.
those married persons, who have no affection for each other fill
cff'dir 'T With ^ua,rrelSiand distress’ excite war a*<»ng their
n
coudien and among their domestics, and lead them both into
every kind of vicious habit; so that each wastes, pillages and
111 t1h?5r sJ7.ral WfyS : their revenues are absorbed without
oih^r ? ibiS f° T debiS; tbe (lisc°ntented parties fly each
other, and recur to law-suits; and the whole family falls into disn rri"y /d s»race’.and tilc want of the necessaries of life,
y. Js adultery a crime according to the law of nature?
A. Y es; for it is followed by a numerous train of habits hurtful
. to die married persons and totheir family. The wife or the hus• an ’.8!Ven ,UP to the love of strangers, neglect their own dwell
ing, uesert it, and divert as much as possible its revenues from
tneir right use, spending them on the object of their affectionsnence quarrels, scandal, law-suits, the contempt of children and
*
servants, the pillage and final ruin of the whole house: not to
mention that the adulterous woman commits the most heinous
of all robberies, giving heirs to her husband of foreign blood
who deprive of their lawful portion his true offspring/
’
Q. What is filial love 1
1»
A. It is on the part of children, the practice of such actions
as are useful to themselves and to their parents.
Q What motives does the law of nature ¿resent to enforce
filial love?
J
A. Three chief motives
1st, Sentiment; for from our earliest
infancy, the affectionate solicitudes of our parents produce in
us the mild habits of attachment.—2d, The sense of justicetor, children owe their parents a return, and, as it were, a repa
ration, for the troubles, and even for the expences, which thev
have occasioned them.—-3d, Personal Interest .♦ for if we act ill
towards our progenitors, we offer our own children examples of
rebellion and ingratitude, which authorise them to render us the
like at any future day.
Q. Ought we to understand by filial love, a passive and blind
submission ?
A. No; but a reasonable submission, founded on an acquaint
ance with the mutual rights and duties of parents and of children •
rights and duties, without whose observance, their conduct to
wards each other can amount to nothing better than disorder.
Q. Why is brotherly love a virtue ?
A. Because the concord and union which result from the mu
tual affection of brethren, establish the power, safety, and pre
servation, of families. Brethren in union mutually defend each
other from all oppression, assist each other in their mutual wants,
support each other under misfortune, and thus secure their com
mon existence; while brethren in a state @r disunion, each being
abandoned to his personal strength, fall into all the incon-ven
*
�U5
THE LAW OF NATURE-
races of insulation from society, and of i"'1''“'1“1 “cvS
Thi« truth was ingeniously expressed by that king ot ftcytnia,
lie on h s deatf-W, having called ¿is children round tarn,
ordered them to break a bundle of arrows ; when the young men
thouoh in full vigour, were notable to accomplish this, lie took
the ¿undle in his turn, and, having untied it, brokei eachsepa
rate arrow with his fingers. “Behold, said be,the effectot
union: united in a body you will be invincible; taken separately
you will be broken like reeds.
Q. What are the reciprocal duties of masters and servants. ■A. The practice of such actions as are respectively and equi
tably useful to each; and here begin the relations of society ; for
the rule and measure of these respective actlons
briam or equality between the service and the reward, between
what the one performs and the other gives, wmch is the funda
mental basis of all society.
.
Thus all the domestic and individual virtues reier more or less
immediately, but always without varying, to the physical object
Of the amelioration and conservation of man; and are, m this
view, precepts resulting from the fundamental law propose
y
nature in his formation.
CHAP. XL
Of
t he
So c ia l Vir t u e s ,
and of
Ju s t ic e .
is society ?
A. Every aggregate re-union of men living together under thé
regulations of a contract, tacit or expressed, for their common
preservation.
Q. Are the social virtues many in number ?
A. Yes; we may count as many as there are actions useful to
society; but they may be all reduced,to one principle.
Q. What is this fundamental principle ¿
A. Justice; which itself alone comprehends all the social
*
Q
Q. Why do you say that justice is the fundamental, and al“
most only virtue of social life ?
A. Because it alone embraces the practice of all those actions
which are useful to society; and that every virtue, under the
name of charity, humanity, probity, love of country, sincerity,
generosity, simplicity of manners, and modesty, are hut vaiied
forms, and diversified applications of this axiom, “ Do unto
another only that which thou would he snould do unto thee;
which is the definition of justice.
Q. How does the law of nature ordain just ice ?
�26
THE LAW OF NATURE.
A. By means of three physical attributes which are inherent
in the organization of man.
Q. What are these attributes?
A. Equality, liberty, property.
Q. In what sense is equality a physical attribute of man?
A. Because all men, having equally eyes, hands, a mouth,
ears, and being alike under the necessity of making use of them
tor their life s sake, are by this very fact equally entitled to life,
and to the use of the elements which contribute to its support.
They are all equal before God.
Q. Do you pretend that all men hear, see, and feel equally
W a ; ^iat ytey. iave e(lual wants, and equal and tike passions?
A. No; for it is a matter of certainty and daily experience
that one man is short and another long-sighted; that one eats
much and another little; that has one moderate and another
violent passions; in a word, that one grown person is weak both
in body and mind, while another is strong in both.
Q. They are in fact, then, really unequal?
A. Yes; in the unfolding of their faculties and powers, but
not in the nature and essence of these powers; it is a stuff of the
same kind, but whose dimensions are not equal, nor its weight
and value the same, with those of some other pieces: our language
has no word calculated to express at the same time, sameness of
nature and diversity of form and employment. It is a relative
equality, and for this reason I said, equal before God, and in
the order of nature.
Q. Why is liberty called a physical attribute cf man ?
A. Because all men possessing senses fitted and sufficient for
their preservation, no one having need of the eye of another man
in order to see, of his ear to hear, of his mouth to eat, or of his
foot to walk; they are all made by this means, naturally indepen
dent and free. Noone is of necessity subjected to another ’s rule,
nor has right of dominion over him.
Q. But if a man is born strong, has he not a natural right to
master and rule over him who is born weak ?
A. No ; for it is neither with respect to himself a matter of ne
cessity, nor a convention between the two ; and in this instance
we make improper use of the word right, which in its true sense
signifies nothing more than justice, or reciprocal faculties and
power.
Q. How is property a physical attribute of man ?
A. Since every man is formed equal and similar to his fellows,
and consequently free and independent, every one is the abso
lute master, the entire proprietor of his body, and the products
of his labour.
Q. How is justice derived from these three attributes ?
A. Fiom tbis circumstance; that men being equal, free, and
�THE LAW OF NATURE.
97
and derivatives.
CHAP. XII.
De v e l
o pe m e n t
of t he
So c ia l Vir t u e s
O Un f o l d to me how the social virtues are derived from
tU law of nature. How is charity, or the lore oj our neighbour,
a
of" ^ality “d «ciprocity ; for when
we do injury to another, we give him the right of doing us in
jury in his turn. Thus, by attacking the existence of another,
we'make an attack upon our own, in consequence of the law
of reciprocity. On the contrary, when we do good to our neigh
bour Je have ground and reason to expect an exchange of good,
nn eouivalent - and such is the character of all the social virtues,
to be^useful to the man who practices them, by the right of reci
procity which they communicate to him over those to whom his
good oiliceshave been of service.
.
. Q. Charity then is nothing more than justice
A Yes it is nothing more than justice, with this single differ
*
ence, that strict justice confines itself to the assertion, “Do not to
others the evil which thou wouldst not they should do unto thee.
and that charity, or the love of our neighbour, goes farthei, even
to say, “Do unto others the good which you wish to receive fiom
them.” Thus the Gospel, when it said that this precept contain
ed all the Law and the Prophets, did no more than announce a
precept of the law of nature.
. . . 9
Q. Doesit command us toforgive injuries'!
A. Yes; in as much as such forgiveness consists with the pre
servation of ourselves.
■
it
Q. Does it contain the precept of turning the one cheek after
beinq smitten on the other 1
. .
• . , -.k
A. No; for, in the first place, it is not consistent with the
«recent which orders us to love our neighbours as ourselves;
since, in that case, we should have more love for him who attacks
our well-being than for ourselves: 2d. Such a command taken
* Equitas, a^ualitas, equilibrium, are all of the same family.
\ »
�28
t h e i .a w o f n a t u r e .
Xv^if0“^6 aniJ rdera!i°-’
ESbut whi?h pmishJ
"XTS
“10 d°^d to
Such ^thefpoXr ‘ofathTXnthnent' rf ,?n
in gTatit “<Ie-
hearts of X, that they d“ not X usXedl'c
f
“!
kindness, if ac—i Jwith indXeti „
ha "bX™
measure—that of justice.
7
Out 0 e
Q. /s alms giving a virtuous action ?A. Yes; when conducted according io the same rule; otherwise
it degenerates into imprudence and vice, in as much asi en
courages indolence, which is hurtful both to the beXr and m
the society. No one has a right to enjoy the good or labour of
an O heDoL1U°7 renderin / an eqwyalent by hifown labour.
Q. Does the law of nature consider as virtues, hove and faith
which are usually conjoined with charity ?
P *
J
>
A. No; for they are ideas not founded'on realities • and if anv
good effects result from them, these are rather to’the profit of
ftose who have not tmbibed such ideas than to those who have ■
are the vi»± of "d perhapS,’ ai,!o"’ab!e to s^ ’
iiiai
■>»<! W e
and ciXs
PeS’
t0 the adrante8“ of
Q. Does the law of nature prescribe probity ?
A. Yes ; for probity is nothing more than a respect paid to our
own rights, through the medium of the rights of others a re
spect derived from a prudent and well made calculation of our
own niterests, compared with those of others
interests and lights of the social state, demand suchdiaht and
°J t,mSS’ - ‘°
4
a mfrkoJ
enlarged and correct mind?
A. Yes; for the man of probity almost always neglects sX
JhTltb
*
the S-ake °f °ne which is f“iure T while, on
for
¿a c G knaV7S Willin ^ t0 iose a
interest to come
for tbe sake of some trifling one which is present.
w /S
’
’ lS a
°ffalse ^dgement and narrow-
sp^uhtors "Aw a FT may b! leHned t0 be ^' norani or Polish
speculators, for they know not their own interests; and though
they affect wariness and cunning, their artifices seldom fail to ex
.
�THE LAW OF NATL RE.
29
pose them and make them known for what they are: to deprive
them of the confidence and esteem of others, and of all the ad
vantages which might thence result to their social and physical
existence. They neither live in peace with themselves nor with
others; and, incessantly alarmed by their conscience and their
enemies, they enjoy no other real happiness than that of escaping
from the executioner.
Q. Does the law of nature forbid theft f
A. Yes; for the man who steals from another, grants him the
liberty to steal in his turn ; hence no security in property, nor
even in the means of self-preservation. Thus, the man who does
injury to another, by a species of re-action is hurt himself.
Q. Does it forbid the inclination io theft.
A. Yes; for this inclination naturally leads to action: hence
the reason of considering- envy as a sin.
Q. How does it forbid murder ?
A. By the most powerful motives addressed to the desire of
self-preservation: for, 1st, The man who attacks another, exposes
himself to the risk of being killed, according to the law of selfdefence: 2d, If he kills his opponent, he gives an equal right,
founded on the same law, to the relations and friends of the de
ceased, and even to the whole community, of killing him, and
his life is no longer in security.
Q. How can a man, according to the law of nature, repair
Iany injury which he has committed ?
A. By conferring a proportionable benefit upon those whom he
has injured.
Q. Does this law allow him to repair it by prayers, vows,
pffevxnys to God, fastings, or mortifications ?
I
F
A, No! for none of these things have any relation to the action
which is meant to be atoned for: they neither restore to him who
baa been robbed what he has lost, whether it be property or re
putation ; nor life to him who has been deprived of it: consequently they fail with regard to justice; they constitute an ille
gitimate contract, by which one man sells to another a good of
which he himself is not possessed: they tend to a deprivation of
morals, as they embolden men to commit every species of cr me,
in the hope of expiationand they have been ’the real sources of
all those evils which have constantly tormented every nation,
whose institution permitted these expiatory practices.
’
Q. Is sincerity enjoined by the law of nature?
A. Yes; for lying-, perfidy, and perjury, excite amonogt men
distrust, dissention, hatred, revenge, and a multitude of evils
which tend to the destruction of society; whilst sincerity mid
good faith establish- confidence, concord, peace, and the other
fnfinrte advantages which are the necessary result
feUch <
happy state of things.
2 E
�THE 1AW OF NATURE.
&
Q, Does it prescribe mildness and modesty ?
..
A Yes: for an assuming and rude deportment, while it alien
ates’ from us the hearts of other men, infuses into them a dispo
sition to do us disservice: ostentation and vanity, by wounding
their self-love and exciting their jealousy, prevent us from at
taining the point of real utility.
-a
' '
Q. Does it prescribe humility as a virtue?
A? No; for there, is a natural propensity m the human heart to
fehl a secret contempt for every thing which conveys to it the
idea of weakness; and, by abasing ourselves,
encourage m
Others pride and oppression : we should hold the balance with an
CVQ1. h yo« have classed among the social virtues, simplicity of
manners’ what do you mean by that expression ?
A. I mean the confining our wants and desires to what is really
useful for the existence of the individual and his fannly: that is
to say, the man of simple manners has few wants, and is content
with little.
.
Q. How is this virtue recommended to us f
h
■ A. By the numerous advantages which i| bestows both upon
the individual and upon society at large; for the man ho has
few wants, liberates himself at once from n crowd of cares,
troubles, and toils ; avoids a number of d»put«
which arise from the eager desire of gam ; is free from .t.e cares
nf -nnhition the inquietudes of possession, and the fears of loss,
meedm»-every wherewith more than sufficient for his wants, he
rich man- always content with what he has, he is
han-v a a small expence; and the world at large, fearing no
*
rSXVp from bim.^ suffer him to enjoy tmnqu.hty, and are db-
““ simplicity were extended to a whole penv
f
pie, it secures abundance to them ; every thing w lcn t ey o
immediately consume becomes to them a source of trade ana com
Xe on very great extent; they labour, they manufacture and
«li their productions to greaterr advantage than others, and nttntn
the summit both of external and internal prospe. y. *
Q. ITW vice is the direct opposite of this virt .
:
Q-
*
i th individual and fx society at
large?
thnt ,t mav be said to include
A. Yes; ana J“ .s,uc7 a“ ,C' f ' (¿e raan wbo^niakes many things
in it the Beed®.oia' 1
‘
’¡^«^5 et the same time upon himself
“¡Tie care“ and submits to all the means of acquiring them, wbe.1
Cr- “ <>r un-usl. -Helms already one enjoyment, be
tXU
“
, in tbe midst-of su^rfluities, be V never
"S .«mmompus hnUtotipa will not satisfy him,-he »e¥ have
?
�TUB LAW OF MATURE.
81
superb hotel; he is
have rare and costly mea s; he ^t bave s
p horseg>
pensive apparel, a^. ftfe lo^fst Ube con&tant Jy at the g-aming table
carnages, and women . he mu
k i W to support these exOTatplaceSOf putae Xowy Requisite, and ¿very mode of
i=
A® ."i i= ai—si £ - i r
Jnmseif ruined.
.
of luxury upon a nation, it
Again, rt we consmer the effects olux y V conseqUeBce
produces the .same ravages upon a large, sc, ,
_
„
If its consuming within itself all its produc ions It . poorm the
midst of abundance ; it has n oth in gproduce at a dear
manufactures at a heavy expenc ,
which it imports:
rate, and becomes a tributary for every thing which it
it loses its respectability, its strength and its meansi
■
e
cxs^^~b::isd£Xd.
XsFor:ty:S
‘,,ju™s
or have the disposition to do so ; and hence' ar ‘se
and habits of usurpation, which compose wh
^ me
corruption, or intestine war between the memhe
*
s
society Luxury produces rapacity, rapacity the invasion of othe
by violence or by Lach of public faith: from luxury are derived
X corruption of the judge, the venality o the
tha “
honesty of the husband, the prostitution o, the w J P n? eita!fCth
’
elty, filial ingratitude, the avarice of the master, the theft °
servant, the robbery of public officers of got era
,
aJj f,j|
ice of the legislator, lying, perfidy, perjury, assassination, end a11
the disorders which destroy .society; so that the aiiv.qn
» .
had an accurate perception of truth, when they declared.Jiat
the social virtues were founded upon a aunplici y of ' a“n ' ‘ ’
a a
limitation of want«, and contentment with a little, and wo m y
take as a certain scale of the virtues or vices of a “a”>,heP™
portion which his expenses bear tohis revenue, and calcu ate from
his demands for money, the extent of his probity, his mugntym
fulfilling his engagements, his devotion to the public cause, a
the sincerity of his attachment to Lis country (patriej.
Q. What do you mean by the word country (patrie) .
A. I understand by that word a community oj citizens, who,
united by fraternal sentiments and reciprocal wants, unite their
individual forces for the purposes of general security, the re-ac
tion of which upon each of them assumes the beneficial and pro
tecting character of paternity (patermte). In society, the mem
bers of it form a bank of interest : m a cormti y (jpatrie,) iey
�32
THE LAW OF NATURE.
constitute a family of tender attachments; by means of which,
charity and the love of our neighbour are extended to a whole
nation. Now, as charity cannot be separated from justice, no
member of this family can pretend to the enjoyment of any ad
vantages, except in proportion to his exertions; if he consume
more than his proportion, he of course encroaches upon another:
and he can only attain the means of being generous or disinter
ested, in proportion as his expences are confined within the limits
of his acquisitions or possessions.
Q. What is your deduction from these principles?
A. I conclude, from these principles, that all the social virtues
consist in the performance of actions useful both to society and
to the individual:
That they may all be traced to the physical object of the pre
servation of man :
That nature, having implanted in our bosom the necessity of
this preservation, imposes all the consequences arising from it as
a law, and prohibits as a crime whatever counteracts the operation
of this principle:
That we have within us the germ of all virtue and of all perfec
tion : that we have only to attend to the means of exciting it into
action :
That we are happy in exact proportion to the obedience we yield
to those laws which nature has established with a view to our
preservation:
That all wisdom, all perfection, all law, all virtue, all philoso
phy, consist in the practice of the following axioms, which are
founded upon our natural organization :
Preserve thyself.
,
Instruct thyself.
Moderate thyself.
Live for thy fellow-creatures, is order that they may live for
thee.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The ruins: or a survey of the revolutions of empires. With notes historical, geographical, and explanatory. To which is annexed The Law of Nature
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de Volney, Constantin Francois
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Place of publication: London
Collation: viii, [4], 32 p. : ill. (astrological chart and map) ; 21 cm.
Notes: Originally published: London : Thomas Tegg, 1811 (from KVK (OCLC WorldCat). Marginal annotation in ink p. 77. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
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T. Davison
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1819
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G5772
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Ancient Philosophy
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Text
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English
History-Philosophy
NSS
Philosophy
Religions-Early works to 1800
Revolutions-Early works to 1800