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John J\frams
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BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.
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r " ^HISTORICAL VIEW ~ >. • .
*U tftt^ ^^"ioF THE
PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN MIND.
%
OUTLINES
OF AN
HISTORICAL VIEW
OF THE
PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN MIND :
BEING A POSTHUMOUS WORK OF THE LATE
M. DE CONDORCET.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.
E2Difc5D2D.«3 :
PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD.
*795-
*
ADA'. - 2-9&./S
CONTENTS.
Preface
PAGE
• 1
Introduction » i
FIRST epoch.
Men united into Hordes 21
SECOND EPOCH.
Pafioral State of Mankind. — T'ranjition
from that to the Agricultural State ••••«•• 29
THIRD EPOCH.
Progrefs of Mankind fr 0711 the Agricul-
tural State to the Invention of Alpha-
betical Writing- • 40.
FOURTH
I
CONTENTS.
PAGE
FOURTH EPOCH.
Progrefs of the Human Mind in Greece,
till the Divifon of the Sciences, about
the Age of Alexander • 69
FIFTH EPOCH.
Progrefs of the Sciences, from their Divi-
fon to their Decline 95
SIXTH EPOCH.
Decline of Learning, to its Rejloration
about the Period of the Crufades 137
SEVENTH EPOCH.
From the firjl Progrefs of the Sciences
about the Period of their Revival in
the V/eJl, to the Invention of the Art
of Printing 159
EIGHTH
CONTENTS.
PAGE
EIGHTH EPOCH.
•
From the Invention of Printings to the
Period when the Sciences and Philofo-
phy threw off the Yoke of Authority 178
NINTH EPOCH.
From the Time of Defcartes, to the Forma-
tion of the French Republic 224
TENTH EPOCH.
Future Progrefs of Mankind •*•.... 316
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
CoNDORCET, profcribed by ajangmnaix
faction, formed the idea of addreffing to his
fellow-citizens a fummary of his principles,
and of his conduct in public affairs. He
fet down a few lines in execution of this
project : but when he recollected, as he was
obliged to do, thirty years of labour directed
to the public fervice, and the multitude of
fugitive pieces in which, fmce the revolution,
he had uniformly attacked every inftitution
inimical to liberty, he rejected the idea of
a ufelefs juftification. Free as he was from
the dominion of the paflions, he could notJ'O^^
confent to ftain the purity of his mind byH^ cO*sf
recollecting his perfecutors ; perpetually and^^^/f^yJ
fublimely inattentive to himfelf, he determined t
to confecrate the fhort fpace that remained , ff^J^jJ^^
between him and death to a work of general
b and
XI PREFACE.
and permanent utility. That work is. the
performance now given to the world. It has
relation to a number of others, in which the
rights of men had previoufly been difcuffed
, , and eftabliihed ; in which fuperftition had
JfcL+r, v^r^ received its laft and fatal blow; in which the
;^»o
methods of the mathematical fciences, applied
to new objects, have opened new avenues to
the moral and political fciences ; in which
the genuine principles of focial happinefs have
received a developement, and kind of de-
monftration, unknown before ; laftly, in
which we every where perceive marks of
Jtrt /^.X^that profound morality, which banilhes even
r <^ the very frailties of felf-love — of thofepure and
incorruptible virtues within the influence of
which it is imp^'Tible to live without feeling
a religious veneration.
H~* frft-x** May this deplorable inftance of the moft
J c* — &y<* extraordinary talents loft to the country — to
v" the caufe of liberty- — to the progrefs of fci-
ence,. and its beneficial application to the wants
of
PREFACE. . Ill
of civilized man, excite a bitternefs of regret
that fhall prove advantageous to the public
welfare ! May this death, which will in no%^ *** "^ .
fmall degree contribute, in the pages of hif-^-**-^^^*
tory, to chara&erife the era in which it has , £#&_
taken place, infpire a firm and dauntlefs at- / /vr»~ &*
tachment to the rights of which it was a vio-**
lation ! Such is the only homage worthy^ **.*•> 7
' the fage who, the fatal fword fufpended over?* v^* \
his head, could meditate in peace the melio- , . / /
ration and happinefs of his fellow-creatures \ £+*+£*&£•■* ^
J I J //|m
fuch the only confblation thofe can experience ***? . «n
who have been the objefts of his afFe&ion, and^£ //^ lvJ*j[J
have known all the extent of his virtue, «-~x pr*t+l^ dt'A.
-.. .<**
-it, -•' ^
v*^ <^etrt u - «w jw ^ /**- outlines^ ^uyr z
*>+£i rSir « ^ f
#i VU A**- «™~ — - ' tS> j *
A %
•
OUTLINES
OF AN
HISTORICAL VIEW, &c
ss%
INTRODUCTION,
IVlAN is born with the faculty of receiving
fenfations. In thofe which he receives, he is
capable of perceiving and of diftinguifhing
the fimple fenfations of which they are com-
pofed. He can retain, recognife, combine
them. He can preferve or recal them to his
memory ; he can compare their different
combinations ; he can afcertain what they
poffefs in common, and what characterifes
each ; laftly, he can affix figns to all thefe
objects, the better to know them, and the
more eafily to form from them new combi-
nations.
This faculty is developed in him by the
action of external objects, that is, by the
B prefence
( 2 )
prefence of certain complex fenfationS, the
conftancy of which, whether in their identi-
cal whole, or in the laws of their change,
is independent of himfelf. It is alfo exer-
cifed by communication with other fimilarly
organifed individuals, and by all the artificial
means which, from the firft developement of
this* faculty, men have fucceeded in invent-
ing.
Senfations are accompanied with pleafure
or pain, and man has the further faculty of
converting thefe momentary impreflions into
durable fentiments of a correfponding na-
ture, and of experiencing thefe fentiments
either at the fight or recollection of the plea-
fure or pain of beings fenfitive like himfelf.
And from this faculty, united with that of
forming and combining ideas, arife, between
him and his fellow creatures, the ties of in-
tereft and duty, to which nature has affixed
the moft exquifite portion of our felicity,
and the moil: poignant of our fufferings.
Were we to confine our obfervations to an
enquiry into the general facts and unvarying
laws which the developement of thefe facul-
ties prefents to us, in what is common to the
different
( 3 )
different individuals of the human fpecies, out0
enquiry would bear the name of metaphy-jKi^^
fics.
But if we confider this developement in
its refults, relative to the mafs of individuals
co-exifting at the fame time on a given fpace,
and follow it from generation to generation,
it then exhibits a pidure of the progrefs of
human intellect. This progrefs is fubjed to
the fame general laws, obfervable in the in-
dividual developement of our faculties ; being
the refult of that very developement confi-
dered at once in a great number of indivi-
duals united in fociety. But the refult which
every inftant prefents, depends upon that of
the preceding inftants, and has an influence
on the inftants which follow.
This pidure, therefore, is hiftorical ; fince^Jkw^
fubjeded as it will be to perpetual variations,
it is formed by the fuccefTive obfervation of
human focieties at the different eras through
which they have paffed. It will accordingly
exhibit the order in which the changes have
taken place, explain the irfluence of every
paft period upon that which follows it, and
thus mow, by the modifications which the
B 2 human
m,
( 4 )
human fpecies has experienced, in its inc'ek
z/fant renovation through the immenfity of
''ages, the courfe which it has purfuecL and
\i ' «&J the fteps which it has advanced towards
£*, 4 J»p knowledge and happinefs. From thefe obfer-
^c?Livu^tjons on what man has heretofore been, and
r ^^'"what he is at prefent* we fhall be led to the
Jli«'vt>^ ^- means of fecuring and of accelerating the ftill
Jnrt4^T^n- further progrefs, of which, from his nature,
we may indulge the hope.
Such is the object of the work I have un-*
dertaken ; the refult of which will be to
ihow, from reafoning and from fa&s, that no
ff fyfnf/ndh bounds have been fixed to the improvement
,j of the human faculties ; that the perfedtibility
+*i/ /j^JJ^HLlSL^feib^ that the pro-
°- fi Sre^*s °^ this, perfectibility, henceforth above
/ the control of every power that would im-
<^:2£w/pede it, has no other limit than the duration
tut, ^^U^of the globe upon which nature has placed us.
The courfe of this progrefs may doubtlefs be
;#. . more or lefs rapid, but it can never be retro-
(U gradc ; at leaft while the earth retains its
tyrfiy+Ji fauatibn in the fyftem of the univerfe, and
the laws of this fyftem fhall neither effect
upon the globe a general overthrow, nor in-
troduce
( s )
troduce fuch changes as would no longer
permit the human race to preferve and exer-
cife therein the fame faculties, and find the
fame refources.
The firft ftate of civilization obfervable in
the human fpecies, is that of a fociety of
men, few in number, fubfifting by means of '1
hunting and fifhing, unacquainted with every yit^J*^^J
art but the imperfect one of fabricating in anX^^: ^
uncouth manner their arms and fome houfe-
liold utenfils, and cVf conftructing or digging
for themfelves an habitation ; yet already in
pofTeffion of a language for the communication
of their wants, and a fmall number of moral
ideas, from which are deduced their common
rules of conduct, living in families, conform-
ing themfelves to general cuftoms that ferve
inftead of laws, and having even a rude form #• b^Jt^r
of government, r^-rr y V1^* * *~£*S**rf*£r z**'
In this ltate it is apparent that the uncer-
tainty and difficulty of procuring fubfiftance,
and the unavoidable alternative of extreme
fatigue or an abiblute repofe, leave not to
man the leifirre in which, by refigning him-*
felf to meditation, he might enrich his mind
with new combinations. The means of fa*
B \ tisfying
( 6 )
fying his wants are even too dependent upon
chance and the feafons, - ufefully to excite
an induftry, the progreffive improvement of
which might he tranfmitted to his progeny ;
and accordingly the attention of each is con-
fined to the improvement of his individual
fkill and addrefs.
For this reafon, the progrefs of the human
fpecies muft in this ftage have been extremely
flow ; it could make no advance but at diflant
intervals, and when favoured by extraordi-
nary circumftances. Meanwhile, to the fub-
UuuiJjM finance derived from hunting and fifhing, or
^•3^' from the fruits which the earth fpontaneoufly
\ - £ offered, fucceeds the fuftenance afforded by
/ . , , the animals which man has tamed, and which
he knows how to preferve and multiply. To
thefe means is afterwards added an imperfect
agriculture ; he is no longer content with the
fruit or the plants which chance throws in his
way ; he learns to form a flock of them, to
col left them around him, to fow or to plant
«them, to favour their reproduction by the la-
bour of culture.
Property, which, in the firft ftate, was
confined to his houfehold utenfils, his arms,
Jus
(Ptqwtkf.
( 7 )
his nets, and the animals he killed, is now ex-
tended to his flock, and next to the land which^in^
he has cleared and cultivated. Upon the death
of its head, this property naturally devolves to
the family. Some individuals poffefs a fuper-
fluity capable of being preferved. If it be ab-
folute, it gives rife to new wants. If con-
fined to a fingle article, while the proprietor
feels the want of other articles, this want
fuggefts the idea of exchange. Hence moral
relations multiply, and become complicate.
A greater fecurity, a more certain and more
conftant leifure, afford time for meditation,
or at leaft for a continued feries of obferva-
ticns. The cuftom is introduced, as to fome
individuals, of giving a part of their fuper-
fiuity in exchange for labour, by which they
might be exempt from labour themfelves*
There accordingly exifts a clafs of men whofe
time is not engroffed by corporeal exertions,
and whofe defires extend beyond their fira- ^
pie wants. Induftry awakes ; the arts already -7*<*W>^
known, expand and improve ; the facts which*vr£*,
chance prefents to the obfervation of the moft fo^wAuJ?
attentive and beft cultivated minds, bring to
light new arts ; as the means of living be*
B 4 spms
( 8 ) •
come lefs dangerous and lefs precarious, po-
, ^pulation increafes ; agriculture, which can
provide for a greater number of individuals
upon the fame fpace of ground, fupplies the
place of the other fources of fubfiftance ; it
favours the multiplication of the fpecies, by*
which it is favoured in its turn ; in a fociety
become more fedentary, more connected, more
intimate, ideas that have been acquired com-
municate themfelves more quickly, and are.
perpetuated with more certainty. And now
f - „ the dawn of the fciences begins to appear ;
CW/lu^ man exhibits an appearance diftin£t from the
other claffes of animals, and is no longer like
them confined to an improvement purely in-
dividual.
The more extenfive, more numerous and
more complicated relations which men now
form with each other, caufe them to feel the
neceffity of having a mode of communicating
their ideas to the abfent, of preferring the
remembrance of a fa<3: with more precifion
#than by oral tradition, of fixing the conditions
of an agreement more fecurely than by the
memory of witnefTes, of dating, in a way
lefs liable; to change, thofe yefpedted cuftoms
to
(9)
to which the members of any fociety agree to
iubmit their conduct.
Accordingly the want of writing is felt, and Tirou/nq
the art invented. It appears at firft to have
been an abfolute painting, to which fucceeded
a conventional painting, preferving fuch traits
only as were characteriftic of the objects.
Afterwards, by a kind of metaphor analogous
to that which was already introduced mto^ifltfiaajpliLvk
their language, the image of a phyfical object
became expreffive of moral ideas. The origin
of thofe figns, like the origin of words, were
liable in time to be forgotten ; and writing
became the art of affixing figns of convention
to every idea, every word, and of confequence
to every combination of ideas and words.
There was now a language that was written,
and a language that was fpoken, which it was
neceffary equally to learn, between which
there mult be eftablifhed a reciprocal corre-
fpondence. t . .
Some men of genius, the eternal benefactors LJdrUM^ v>
of the human race, but whofe names and nffydd&iNJcL'
even country are for ever buried in oblivion, jJ^Mtilah
obferved that ail the words of a language were / ft^fb^
only the combinations of a very limited num- *t>^ ^^
( IO )
ber of primitive articulations ; but that this
M/jlAy<y\j number, fmall as it was, was fufficient to form
n> • /IP a quant^y almoft infinite of different com-
i/dnyi binations. Hence they conceived the idea of
Jfofw reprefenting by vifible figns, not the ideas
feud ck &&* or the words that anfwered to them, but thofe
^ limple elements of which the words are com-
pofed.
Alphabetical writing was then introduced.
A fmall number of figns ferved to exprefs
every thing in this mode, as a fmall number of
founds fufficed to exprefs every thing orally.
The language written and the language fpoken
were the fame ; all that was neceffary was to
be able to know, and to form, the few given
figns ; and this laft ftep fecured for ever the
progrefs of the human race.
It would perhaps be defirable at the prefent
day, to inftitute a written language, which,
llt/tllij^ devoted to the fole ufe of the fciences, ex-
slfl/txffU(L%i> preffing only fuch combinations of fimple
' ideas as are found to be exactly the fame in
every mind, employed only upon reafonings
of logical ftrictnefs, upon operations of the
mind precife and determinate, might be un-^
cierftood by men of every country, and be
tranflated
a
( ii )
tranflated into all their idioms^ without being,
like thofe idioms, liable to corruption, by
paffing into common ufe.
Then, fingular as it may appear, this kind
of writing, the prefervation of which would
only have ferved to prolong ignorance, would
become, in the hands of phiiofophy, an ufeful
inftrument for the fpeedy propagation of
knowledge, and advancement of the fciences.
It is between this degree of civilization and
that in which we flill find the favage tribes,
that we muft place every people whofe hiftory
has been handed down to us, and who, fome-
times making new advancements, fometimes
plunging themfelves again into ignorance,
fometimes floating between the two alter-
natives or flopping at a certain limit, fome-
times totally difappearing from the earth
under the fword of conquerors, mixing with
thofe conquerors, or living in flavery ; laftly,
fometimes receiving knowledge from a more
enlightened people, to tranfmit it to other
nations,— form an unbroken chain of con-
nection between the earlieft periods of hiftory
and the age in which we live, between the
firft
( 12 )
firft people known to us, and the prefent na^
tions of Europe.
In the picture then which I mean to
{ketch, three diftinft parts are perceptible.
In the firft, in which the relations of tra^
vellers exhibit to us the condition of man-
kind in the leaft civilized nations, we are
obliged to guefs by what fteps man in an
ifolated ftate, or rather confined to the fociety
necefiary for the propagation of the fpecies,
was able to acquire thofe firft degrees of im-
provement, the laft term of which is the ufe
of an articulate language : an acquifition that
prefents the moft ftriking feature, and indeed
the only one, a few more extenfive moral
ideas and a flight commencement of focial
order excepted, which diftinguifhes him from
animals living like himfelf in regular and per-
manent fociety. In this part of our picture,
then, we can have no other guide than an in-
veftigation of the devejopement of our fa-
culties.
To this firft guide, in order to follow man
to the point in which he exercifes arts, in
which the rays of fcience begin to enlighten*
him,
( 13 )
lum, in which nations are united by com-
mercial intercourfe ;- in which, in fine, alpha-
betical writing is invented, we may add the
hiftory of the feveral focieties that have been
obferved in almoft every intermediate ftate :
though we can follow no individual one
through all the fpace which feparates thefe
two grand epochs of the human race.
Here the pi&ure begins to take its colour-
ing in great meafure from the feries of facts
tranfmitted to us by hiftory : but it is ne-
ceffary to felect thefe facts from that of dif-
ferent nations, and at the fame time compare
and combine them, to form the fuppofed
hiftory of a fingle people, and delineate its
progrefs*
From the period that alphabetical writing
was known in Greece, hiftory is connected
by an uninterrupted feries of facts and ob-
servations, with the period in which we live,
with the prefent ftate of mankind in the moll
enlightened countries of Europe ; and the
picture of the progrefs and advancement of
the human mind becomes ftrictly hiftorical.
Philofophy has no longer any thing to guefs^
has no more fuppofitious combinations to form;
all
«
3
( H )
all it has to do is to colled: and arrange fa&s5
and exhibit the ufeful truths which arile from
them as a whole, and from the different
bearings of their feveral parts.
There remains only a third picture to
form, — that of our hopes, or the progrefs re-
ferved for future generations, which the con-
ftancy of the laws of nature feems to fecure
to mankind. And here it will be neceffary to
mew by what fteps this progrefs, which at
prefent may appear chimerical, is gradually to
be rendered poflible, and even eafy ; how
truth, in fpite of the tranfient fucqefs of pre-
judices, and the fupport they receive from the
corruption of governments or of the people,
muft in the end obtain a durable triumph ; by
what ties nature has indiffolubly united the
advancement of knowledge with the progrefs
of liberty, virtue, and refpect for the natural
rights of man ; how thefe bleffings, the only
real ones, though fo frequently feen apart as
to be thought incompatible, muft neceffarily
amalgamate and become infeparable, the mo-
ment knowledge fhall have arrived at a cer-
tain pitch in a great number of nations at
once, the moment it fhall have penetrated
the
( H )
the whole mafs of a great people, whofe lan-
guage mall have become univerfal, and whofe
commercial intercourie fhall embrace the
whole extent of the globe. This union having
once taken place in the whole enlightened
clafs of men, this clafs will be confidered as
the friends of human kind, exerting themfelves
in concert to advance the improvement and
happinefs of the fpecies*
We fliall expofe the origin and trace the
hiftory of general errors, which have more or
lefs contributed to retard or fufpend the ad-
vance of reafon, and fometimes even, as much
as political events, have been the caufe of
man's taking a retrograde courfe towards
ignorance.
Thofe operations of the mind that lead to
or retain us in error, from the fubtle" para-
logifm, by which the molt penetrating mind
may be deceived, to the mad reveries of en-
thufiafts, belong equally, with that jufl: mode
of reafoning that conducts us to truth, to the
theory of the developement of our individual
faculties ; and for the fame reafon, the man-
ner in which general errors are introduced
propagated, tranfmitted, and rendered per-
4
2 manent
( i6 )
ffianent among nations, forms a part of ihi
pi&ure of the progrefs of the human mind*
Like truths which improve and enlighten it9
they are the confequence of its activity, and
of the difproportion that always exifts be-
tween what it actually knows, what it has
the defire to know^ and what it conceives
there is a neceflity of acquiring.
It is even apparent, that, from the general
laws of the developement of our faculties,
certain prejudices muft neceflarily fpring up
in each ftage of our progrefs, and extend
their feduftive influence beyond that ftage ;
becaufe men retain the errors of their in-
fancy, their country, and the age in which
they live, long after the truths neceflary to
the removal of thofe errors are acknow-
ledged.
In fhort, there exift, at all times and in all
countries, different prejudices, according to
the degree of illumination of the different
clafles of men, and according to their pro-
feffions. If the prejudices of philofophers be
impediments to new acquifitions of truth,
thofe of the lefs enlightened clafles retard the
propagation of truths already known, and
thofe
r
«
.( >7 )
thofe of efteemed and powerful profeflions
oppofe like obftacles. Tliefe are the three
kinds of enemies which reafon is continually
obliged to encounter, and over which fhe fre-
quently does not triumph till after a long and
painful ftruggle. The hiftory of thefe con-
tefts, together with that of the rife, triumph,
and fall of prejudice, will occupy a confider-
able place in this work, and will by no means
form the lean: important or leaft ufeful part
of it.
If there be really fuch an art as that of
forefeeing the future improvement of the
human race, and of directing and haftening
that improvement, the hiftory of the progrefs
it has already made muft form the principal
bafis of this art. Philofophy, no doubt, ought
to profcribe the fuperftitious idea, which fup-
pofes no rules of conduct are to be found but
in the hiftory of paft ages, and no truths but
in the fludy of the opinions of antiquity.
But ought it not to include in the pro-
fcription, the prejudice that would proudly
reject the leffons of experience ? Certainly it
is meditation alone that can, by happy com-
binations, conduct us to the general prin-
C ciples
( 18 )
ciples of the fcience of man. But if the fludy
of individuals of the human fpecies be of
ufe to the metaphyfician and moralift, why
ihould that of focieties be lefs ufeful to them ?
And why not of ufe to the political philo-
fopher ? If it be advantageous to obferve the
focieties that exifl at one and the fame pe-
riod, and to trace their connection and re-
femblance, why not to obferve them in a fuc-
ceffion of periods ? Even fuppofmg that fuch
obfervation might be neglected in the investi-
gation of fpeculative truths, ought it to be
neglected when the queftion is to apply thofe
truths to practice, and to deduce from fcience
the art that ihould be the ufeful refult ? Do
not our prejudices, and the evils that are the
confequence of them, derive their fource from
the prejudices of our anceftors ? And will it
not be the fureft way of undeceiving us re-
fpecting the one, and of preventing the other,
to develope their origin and effects ?
Are we net arrived at the point when there
is no longer any thing to fear, either from
new errors, or the return of old ones ; when
no corrupt inftitution can be introduced by
hypocrify, and adopted by ignorance or en-
thufiafm ;
3
v ( 19 )
thufiafm ; when no vicious combination can
effect the infelicity of a great people ? Ac-
cordingly would it not be of advantage to
know how nations have been deceived, cor-
rupted, and plunged in miiery.
Every thing tells us that we are approach- %**"&*?
ing the era of one of the grand revolutions of -"•■*/
the human race. What can better enlighten * £c^^.
us as to what we may expect, what can be a w**-j< 7
furer guide to us, amidft its commotions, than
the picture of the revolutions that have pre-
ceded and prepared the way for it ? The pre-
fent ftatc of knowledge affures us that it will be
happy. But is it not upon condition that we
know how to affift it with all our ftrength ? .^t,^
And, that the happinefs it promifes may be
!efs dearly bought, that it may fpread with
more rapidity over a greater fpace, that it
may be more complete in its effects, is it not
requifite to ftudy, in the hiftory of the hu-
man mind, what obftacles remain to be feared,
and by what means thofe obftacles are to be «^«f* ^^
fur mounted?
I mall divide the fpace through which I
mean to run, into nine grand epochs ; and
{hall prefume, in a tenth, to advance fome
■ C 2 con-
( 20 )
conjectures upori the future deftiny of man-
kind.
I fhall confine myfelf to the principal fea-
tures that chara&erife each ; I fhall give them
in the group, without troubling myfelf with
exceptions or detail. I fhall indicate the ob-
jects, of the refults of which the work itfelf
will prefent the developements and the
proofs.
FIRST
( « )
FIRST EPOCH.
Men united into Hordes,
W E have no direct information by which
to afcertain what has preceded the ftate of
which we are now to fpeak ; and it is only
by examining the intellectual or moral fa-
culties, and the phyfical conftitution of man,
that we are enabled to conjecture by what
means he arrived at this firft degree of ci-
vilization.
Accordingly an inveftigation of thofe phy-
fical qualities favourable to the firft formation
of fociety, together with a fummary analyfis
of the developement of our intellectual or
moral faculties, muft ferye as an introduction
to this epoch.
A fociety confifting of a family appears
to be natural to .man. Formed at firft by the
want which children have of their parents^
and by the affection of the mother, as well as
that of the father, though lefs general and
}efs lively, time was allowed, by the long
C 3 con-i
( 22 )
continuance of this want, for the birth and
growth of a fentiment which muft have ex-
cited the defire of perpetuating the union.
Tlie continuance of the want was alfo fuffi-
cient for the advantages of the union to be
fek. A family placed upon a foil that afforded
an eafy fubfiftance, might afterwards have
multiplied and become a horde.
Hordes that may have owed their origin to
the union of feveral diftincl: families, muft
have been formed more fiowly and more
\jimjAl JoM^w^h r^e unipn depending on motives lefs
//^ urgent and the concurrence of a greater num-
ber of circumftances,
. • /. The art of fabricating arms, of preparing
f(/rn*' aliments, of procuring the utenfils requiiite
m ~£b K for this preparation, of preferving thefe ali-
ments as a provifion againft the feafons in
which it was impoffible to procure a freih
fupply of them — thefe arts, confined to the
molt fimple wants, were the iirft fruits of a
continued union, and the firft features that
diftinguiflied human fociety from the fociety
obfervable in many fpecies of beafts,
stf/Tyri fl/risi ^n ^ome °^ thefe hordes, the women culti-
vate round the huts plants which ferve for
food
( n )
food and fuperfede the necefTity of hunting
and fifhing. In others, formed in places
where the earth fpontaneoufly offers vegetable Jrulu/urt^
nutriment, a part of the time of the favages is rw^^fw^
occupied by the care of feeking and gathering
it. In hordes of the laft defcription, where
the advantage of remaining united is iefs felt,
civilization has been obferved very little to
exceed that of a fociety confiding of a fmgle
family. Meanwhile there has been found in
all the ufe of an articulate language.
More frequent and more durable con-
nections with the fame individuals, a fimi-
larity of interefts, the fuccour mutually given,
whether in their common hunting or againft
an enemy, muft have equally produced both
the fentiment of juftice and a reciprocal af-^^W oi.
fe&ion between the members of the fociety. $^fcu ^
In a fhort time this afFe&ion would transform *WL* r
itfelf into attachment to the fociety. u^^y^JU^ cuc^^h
The neceffary confequence was a violent 1' (jm/scK
enmity, and a defire of vengeance not to De A^fey fc
extinguished, againft the enemies of the £2^^^,
horde.
The want of a chief, in order to act in /f/^o^
fommon, and thereby defend themfelves the
C 4 better, j
( 24 )
better, and procure with greater eafe a more
certain and more abundant fubfiftance, intro-
& AL *k ^ucec^ tne ^r^ ^ea °f public authority into
thefe focieties. In circumftances in which the
whole horde was interefted, refpecling which
a common refolution muft be taken, all thofe
/fL^~bilA concerned in executing the refolution were
to be confulted. The weaknefs of the females,
which exempted them from the diftant chace
and from war, the ufual fubjects of debate,
excluded them alike from thefe confultations.
As the refolutions demanded experience, none
were admitted but fuch as were iuppofed to
poffefs it. The quarrels that arofe in a fociety
difturbed its harmonv, and were calculated to
deftroy it : it was natural to agree that the
decifion of them mould be referred to thofe
j j . whofe age and perfonal qualities infpired the
greateft confidence. Such was the origin of
the firft political inftitutions.
The formation of a language muft have
preceded thefe inftitutions. The idea of ex-
preffing objects by conventional figns appears
to be above the degree of intelligence attained
in this ftage of civilization ; and it is pro-
bable they were only brought into ufe by
2 length
( 25 )
length of time, by degrees, and in a manner
in ibme fort imoercentible.
The invention of the bow was the work TVu. (Jjcyo
of a fingle man of genius ; the formation of a
language that of the whole fociety. Thefe two o/c^yiacUL^t
kinds of progrefs belong equally to the human
fpecies. The one, more rapid, is the refult of
thofe new combinations which men favoured jh. y&cl/
by nature are capable of forming ; is the fruit &j^uM <tf*»d
of their meditations and the energies they
difplay : the other, more fiow, arifes from the
reflections and obfervations that offer them-
felves to all men, and from the habits con-
tracted in their common courfe of life.
Regular movements adj lifted to each other
in due proportion, are capable of being exe-
cuted with a lefs degree of fatigue ; and they
who fee, or hear them, perceive their order
and relation with greater facility. For both
thefe reafons, they form a fource of pleafure. , .
Thus the origin of the dance, of muiic and J^CWt&JbY*'.
of poetry, may be traced to the infant ftate v**h
of fociety. They were employed for the
amufement of youth and upon occafions of
public feftivals. There were at that period
love fongs and war fongs ; and even mufical J^^f^
inftru-.
( 26 )
X^Si*,**^ inftruments were invented. Neither was the
art of eloquence abfolutely unknown in thefe
l£4ty«*™*-. hoj-jes . at leaft they could affume in their fet
fpeeches a more grave and folemn tone, and
were not ftrangers to rhetorical exaggeration.
The errors that diftinguifh this epoch of
{hbO-vn-cfc * civilization are the converfion of vengeance
* ^^jfc ftffcju and cruelty towards an enemy into virtuet;
the prejudice that configns the female part of
Jtfu^J^ H" foc;ety to a fcrt of flavery ; the right of
commanding in war coniidered as the pre-
tfltyA&l rogative of an individual family ; together
with the firft dawn of various kinds of fuper-
Jt^wfti-i^H ft;tion# of thefe it will be neceffary to trace
• the origin and afcertain the motives. For
man never adopts without reafon any errors,
except what his early education have in a
manner rendered natural to him : if he em-
brace any new error, it is either becaufe it is
connected with thofe of his infancy, or be-
caufe his opinions, paffions, interefts, or other
circumftances, difpofe him to embrace it.
The only fciences known to favage hordes,
A<yrvn[tmM are a ^ ignt an<^ crude idea of aftronomy, and
j. " . the knowledge of certain medicinal plants
^ employed in the cure of wounds and difeafes ;
UK
n
i
( *7 )
and even thefe are already corrupted by aJ^w^l^t
mixture of iuperftition.
Meanwhile there is prefented to us in this
epoch one fact of importance in the hiftory of
the human mind. We can here perceive the Jthi&fatL
beginnings of an inftitution, that m its pro- t^J* Au<loU
grefs has been attended with oppofite effe&s, f1*u'i> 'H4*
accelerating the advancement of knowledge, "ww
at the fame time that it diffeminated error ;
enriching the fciences with new truths, but
precipitating the people into ignorance and
religious fervitude, and obliging them to pur-
chafe a few tranfient benefits at the price
of a long and fhameful tyranny.
I mean the formation of a clafs of men the #w -n+t M4.
depofitaries of the elements of the fciences or^^&t^M
procefTes of the arts, of the myfteries or cere- , * ,
monies of religion, of the practices of fuper- '
fdtion, and frequently even of the fecrets of^*y ^v
legiflation and polity. I mean that feparation ^ *"**!
of the human race into two portions ; the one ** "-**?*"* |
deftined to teach, the other to believe ; the^*^w^**^
one proudly concealing what it vainly boafts U+ M* £t/
of knowing, the other receiving with refpecl: ^ ^/^ij^
whatever its teachers mail condefcend to re- A 1
veal \ the one wifhing to raife itfelf above
reafonv
-\
( 28 )
reafon, the other humbly renouncing reafon,
and debafing itfelf below humanity, by ac-
knowledging in its fellow men prerogatives
fuperior to their common nature*
This diftin&ion, of which, at the clofe of
the eighteenth century, we flill fee the re-
- mains in our priefts, is obfervable in the
leafc civilized tribes of favages, who have
already their quacks and forcerers: It is too
general, and too conftantly meets the eye in
all the ftages of civilization, not to have a
foundation in nature itfelf: and we mail ac-
cordingly find in the flate of the human fa-
culties at this early period of fociety, the
caufe of the credulity of the firft dupes, and
^y y of the rude cunning of the firft impoftors,
v*w* n^y^ut 7-" — - ., / .
J
ti *****
++ j£*~—j
SECOND
( 29 )
SECOND EPOCH.
Pajioral State of Mankind. — Uranfition from
that to the Agricultural State.
X HE idea of preferring certain animals fitty+^J
taken in hunting, muft readily have oc-jl/fti/f^^
curred, when their docility rendered the pre-
fervation of them a talk of no difficulty, when
the foil round the habitations of the hunters
afforded thefe animals an ample fubfiftance,
when the family poffeffed a greater quantity
of them than it could for the prefent con-
fume, and at the fame time might have rea~
fon to apprehend the being expofed to want,
from the ill fuccefs of the next chace, or the
intemperature of the feafons.
From keeping thefe animals as a fimple Iptu^*
fupply againft a time of need, it was obferved
that they might be made to multiply, and
thus furnifh a more durable provifion. Their
milk afforded a farther refource ; and thofe
fruits of a flock, which, at firft, were regarded
only as a fupplement to the produce of the
chace,
.jui
( p. I
chace, became the moft certain, moft abund-
ant and leaft painful means of fubfiftance.
Accordingly the chace ceafed to be confidered
as the principal of thefe refources, and foon
as any refource at all ; it was purfued only
as a pleafure, or as a neceffary precaution for
keeping beafts of prey from the flocks, which,
become more numerous, could no longer find
round the habitations of their keepers a fuffi-
cient nourifhment.
ftjuL^cU ^ more fedentary and lefs fatiguing life
afforded leifure favourable to the develope-
ment of the mind. Secure of fubfiftance, no
longer anxious refpecting their fir ft and indif-
penfible wants, men fought, in the means of
providing for thofe wants, new fenfations.
The arts made fome progrefs : new light
was acquired refpecting that of maintaining
domeftic animals, of favouring their repro-
duction, and even of improving their breed.
Wt*^ Wool was ufed for apparel, and cloth fub-
ftituted in the place of fkins.
Family focieties became more urbane, with-
out being lefs intimate. As the flocks of each
could not multiply in the fame proportion,
Jl** clf4£<*»w a difference of wealth was eftablilhed. Then
JVt*
^* ^U*^
( 3* )
was fuggefted the idea of one man fharing the ^^^J*^
produce of his flocks with another who had
no flocks, and who was to devote his time
and ftrength to the care they required. Then
it was found that the labour of a young and
able individual was of more value than the
expence of his bare fubfiftance ; and the cuf-
tom was introduced of retaining prifoners oZ^n^/ryu***
war as flaves, inftead of putting them \.oMr*/iM*'-
death.
Hofpitality, which is practifed alfo among yW/^&^r
favages, aflumes in the paftoral ftate a morz wArtrt+swd-
decided and important character., even among^.^4 n*4~
thofe wandering hordes that dwell in their^^y (P^s^U
waggons or in tents. More frequent occa-^^ J-*^
fions occur for the reciprocal exercife of this^^^^ <Ut
act of humanity between man' and man, be- jJm/w^,
tween individual families, and between one
people and another. It becomes a focial duty,
and is fubjected to laws.
As fome families poiTefTed not only a fure
fubfiftance, but a conftant fuperfluity, while
others were deftitute of the neceflaries of life,
natural compaffion for the fufFerings of the
•latter gave birth to the fentiment and practice .
of beneficence. $>#&£<»"»
Manners
( 3* )
Manners muft of courfe have foftenecu
The flavery of women became lefs fevere, and
the wives of the rich were no longer con-
demned to fatiguing labours,
A greater variety of articles employed in
fatisfying the different wants, a greater num-
ber of inftruments to prepare thefe wants, and
a greater inequality in their diftribution, gave
■* A, energy to exchange, and converted it into
/fSartwYrfl71 a<^ua^ commerce: it was impoffible it mould
extend without the neceffity of a common
Jlbl^ jy^^rneafure and a fpecies of money being felt.
J^m^% Hordes became more numerous. At the
fame time, in order the more eafily to maintain
their flocks, they placed their habitations,
when fixed, more apart from each other ; or
changed them into moveable encampments,
as foon as they had dilcovered the ufe of
certain fpecies of animals they had tamed, in
drawing or carrying burthens.
Jitlitt^Cl^l Each nation had its chief for the conduct
of war ; but being divided into tribes, from
the neceffity of fecuring paturage, each tribe
fJu$£?**&A na(l a^° ^ts chief- This fuperiority was at-
tached almoft univerfally to certain families.
The heads however of families in poffeffion
of
( 33 )
bt numerous flocks, a multitude of (laves, and.y^*1^/.
who employed in their fervice a great num-
ber of poor, partook of the authority of the
chiefs of the tribe, as thefe alfo (hared in that
of the chiefs of the nation; at lead when,
from the refpect due to age, to experience,
and the exploits they had performed, they
were conceived to be worthy of it. And it
is at this epoch of fociety that we mud place
the origin of (lavery, and inequality of poli-
tical rights between men arrived at the age
of maturity.
The counfels of the chiefs of the family or
tribe decided, from ideas of natural juftice or
of eftabliflied ufage, the numerous and intri-
cate difputes that already prevailed. The
tradition of thefe decifions, by confirming and
perpetuating the ufage, foon formed a kind, s
of jurifprudence more regular and coherent yiVHAj*<ul+™+
than the progrefs of fociety had rendered
in other refpecls neceffary. The idea of pro-
perty and its rights had acquired greater ex-
tent and precifion. The divifion of inhe-^tvw^Wc^
ritances becoming more important, there was
a neceflity of fubjecting it to fixed regula-
laticms. The agreements that were entered
D into
( 34 }
Into being more frequent, were no longer con-
fined to fuch fimple objects ; they were to
be fubje&ed to forms ; and the manner of
verifying them, to fecure their execution, had
alfo its laws.
The utility of obferving the ftars, the occu-
H l~ pation which in long evenings they afforded to
J\lwmOnv\ {he mind, and the leifure enjoyed by the fhep-
herds, effe&ed a flight degree of improvement
in aftronomy.
rfl /- % But we obferve advancing at the fame
time the art of deceiving men in order to
Jrlz^ Ia ckj rok xhzvriy and of affuming over their opinions
■ ' *" A ^n autriority founded upon the hopes and
"^1 * v«& ^ears °f trie imagination. More regular forms
^V-*7^*** of worfhip begin to be eflablifhed, and fyf-
y+tt* ~J <*~i L*~ terns of faith lefs coarfely combined. The
fUtU S ideas entertained of fupernatural powers, ac-
T* >°fi "*% Squire a fort of refinement : and with this re-
ta^yi^r finement we fee fpring up in one place pon-
^ 4* /• • tiff princes, in another facerdotal families or
CTW# , \- ■ tribes, in a third colleges of priefts ; a clafs of
. jj individuals uniformly affecting infolent pre-
A ■ *#• sr\ rogatives, feparating; themfelves from the
Jj fc»-r0^<*> people, the better to enflave them, andfeuing
j^^ ,M<r+— exclufively upon medicine and aftronomy,
,^+jl //~v> Jl~'*~+*>1* y\f *&+(&+, ^rJ^Z* that
u~.+~ Jr~* **^~- - '*>2 k»-*kaj~
L^ i;~ t. m~a »*> — zf.^7
( 35 )
tnar they may poficfs every hold upon the
mind for fubjugating it, and leave no means
by which to unmafk their hypocrify, and
break in pieces their chains.
Languages were enriched without becoming <ol GMti**^
lefs figurative or lefs bold. The images em-
ployed were more varied and more pleafing.
They were acquired in paftoral life, as well as
in the favage life of the forefts, from the re-
gular phenomena of nature, as well as from
its wildnefs and eccentricities* Song^ poetry > row4?
and inftruments of mufic were improved JHuAiju
during a leifure that produced an audience
more peaceable, and at the fame time more
difficult to pleafe, and allowed the artift to
reflect on his own fentiments, examine
his firft ideas, and form a feleclion from
them.
It could not have efcaped obfervation that ffifvawf,
fome plants yielded the flocks a better and ■
more abundant fubfiftance than others. The
advantage was accordingly felt of favouring
the produclion of thefe, of feparating them
from plants lefs nutritive, unwholfome, and
even dangerous ; and the means of effecting
this were difcovered.
D % In
Jffn
(36)
In like manner, where plants, grain, tire
fpontaneous fruits of the earth, contributed ,
with the produce of the flocks,, to the fub-
fiftance of man, it muft equally have been
obferved how thofe vegetables multiplied ;
and the care muft have followed of collecting
them nearer to the habitations ; of feparating
them from ufedefs vegetables, that they might
occupy a foil to themfelves ; of fecuring them
from untamed beafts, from the flocks, and
even from the rapacity of other men.
Thefe ideas muft have equally occurred,
and even fooner, in more fertile countries,
where the fpontaneous productions of the
earth almoft fufEced of themfelves for the fup-
port of men ; who now began to devote
themfelves to agriculture.
' \jkj0f In fuch a country, and under a happy cli-
mate, the fame fpace of ground produces,
in corn, roots, and fruit, wherewith to main-
tain a greater number of men than if em-
# ployed as pafturage. Accordingly, when the
nature of the foil rendered not fuch cultiva-
tion too laborious, when the difcovery was
made of employing therein thofe fame ani-
mals ufed by paftoral tribes for the tranfport
from
<**wi
( 37 )
from place to place of themfelves and their
effects, agriculture became the moil plentiful
lburce of fubfiftance, the firft occupation of
men ; and the human race arrived at the third J tfivoA
epoch of its progrefs.
There are people who have remained, from /~^
time immemorial, in one of the two ftates we-/^7v^^
have defcribed. They have not only not^*^^-5.
rifen of themfelves to any higher degree of-^7*-^*-
improvement, but the connections and com-
mercial intercourfe they have had with nations
more civilized have failed to produce this
effect. Such connections and intercourfe have
communicated to them fome knowledge, fome
induftry, and a great many vices, but have
never been able to draw them from their ftate
of mental ftagnation.
The principal caufes of this phenomenon
are to be found in climate ; in habit ; in the
fweets annexed to this ftate of almoft com-
plete independence, an independence not to />Uc*** 7-
be equalled but in a fociety more perfect even ^ P
than our own ; in the natural attachment of
man to opinions received from his infancy,
and to the cuftoms of his country; in the
averfion that ignorance feels to every fort of
P 3 novelty j
t"+*j-
( 38 )
novelty ; in bodily and more efpecially men-
tal indolence, which fupprefs the feeble and
as yet fcarcely exifting fpark of curiofity ;
and iaftly, in the empire which fuperftition
already exercifes over thefe infant focieties.
To thefe caufes muft be added the avarice,
cruelty, corruption and prejudices of po-
lilhed nations, who appear to thefe people
more powerful, more rich, more informed,
more active, but at the fame time more vi-
cious, and particularly lefs happy than them-
felves. They muft frequently indeed have
been lefs ftruck with the fuperiority of fuch
nations, than terrified at the multiplicity and
extent of their wants, the torments of their
avarice, the never ceafmg agitations of their
ever active, ever infatiable paffions. This de-
fcription of people has by fome philofophers
been pitied, and by others admired and ap-
plauded: thefe have confidered as wifdom
and virtue, what the former have called by
the names of ftupidity and floth.
The queftion in debate between them will
be refolved in the courfe of this work. It
will there be feen why the progrefs of the
mind has not been at all times accompanied
with
2»
( 39 )
■
with an equal progrefs towards happinefs and
virtue ; and how the leaven of prejudices and
errors has polluted the good that mould flow
from knowledge, a good which depends
more upon the purity of that knowledge than
its extent. Then it will be found that the
ftormy and arduous tranfition of a rude fo-
ciety to the ftate of civilization of an en-
lightened and free people, implies no degene- rji^/iij^^
ration of the human fpecies, but is a neceflary a l^^f
crifis in its gradual advance towards abfohite
perfe&ion. Then it will be found that it is
not the increafe of knowledge, but its de-
cline, that has produced the vices of polifhed
nations, and that, inftead of corrupting, it has
in all cafes foftened, where it has been unable
10 correct or to change the manners of men.
D 4 THIRD
( 40 )
THIRD EPOCH.
Progrefs of Mankind from the Agricultural State
to the Invention of Alphabetical Writing.
JL HE uniformity of the picture we have
hitherto drawn will foon difappear ; and we
fhall no longer have to delineate thofe in-
diftin£t features, thofe flight fhades of differ-,
ence, that diftinguifh the manners, characters,
opinions and fuperftitions of men, rooted, as
it were, to their foil, and perpetuating almoft;
without mixture a fingle family.
^tfrtauuh Invafi°ns, conquefts, the rife and overthrow
of empires, will fhortly be feen mixing and
confounding nations, fometimes difperfing
them over a new territory, fometimes cover^
ing the fame fpot with different people.
Fortuitous events will continually interpofe,
and derange the flow but regular movement
of nature, often retarding, fometimes accele-*
rating it,
The appearances we obferve in a nation ia
any particular age, have frequently their caufe
in
^.
( 4i )
in a revolution happening ten ages before Jru^u^^u
it, and at a diftance of a thoufand leagues ^ Dift UuLm
and the night of time conceals a great portion
of thofe events, the influence of which we fee
operating upon the men who have pre-
ceded us, and fometimes extending to our-
felves.
But we have firft to confider the 'efFe&s of
the change of which we are fpeaking, in a
fingle people, and independently of the in-
fluence that conquefts and the intermixture of
nations may have exercifed.
Agriculture attaches man to the foil \v\\\ch.pu6ua^t0^
he cultivates. It is no longer his perfon, hhaJuU^ ***"-
family, his implements for hunting, that it f^/6* Jo^t
•would fuffice him to tranfport ; it is no longer
even his flocks which he might drive before
him. The ground not belonging in common
to all, he would find in his flight no fubfift-
ance, either for himfelf or the animals from
which he derives his fupport.
Each parcel of land has a matter, to whom
alone the fruits of it belong. The harveft
exceeding the maintenance of the animals
and men by whom it has been prepared, fur- r
rnfhes the proprietor with an annual wealth,*/ w/*bU *
that ^
( 4* ) .
that he has no neceflity of purchafing with
his perfonal labour.
In the two former dates of fociety, every
individual, or every family at leaft, praftifed
nearly all the neceffary arts.
ftftpyTfiA/lll ^ut wnen there were men, who, without
1/ fld* 'a^0U1% lived, upon the produce of their land*
7 ' and others who received wages ; when oc-»
t » . - dilations were multiplied, and the proceffes
OUMHrh fy 0jfr- th^L arts become more extenfive and com-
xA&ttrt. plicate, common intereft foon enforced a re-
paration of them. It was perceived, that the
induftry of an individual, when confined to
fewer objects, was more complete ; that the
hand executed with greater readinefs and pre-*
cifion a fmaller number of operations that
Jong habit had rendered more familiar ; that
a lefs degree of underftanding was required
to perform a work well, when that work hacj
. been more frequently repeated.
Accordingly, while one portion of men de-
voted themfelves to the labours of husbandry,
others prepared the neceffary inftruments.
The care of the flocks, domeftic economy,
and the making of different articles of ap-
parel, became in like manner diflincl; em->
ployments,
( 43 )
ployments. As, in families poflefling but
little property, one of thefe occupations was
infufficient of itfelf to engrofs the whole time
of an individual, feveral were performed by
the fame perfon, for which he received the
wages only of a fingle man. Soon the ma-
terials ufed in the arts increafmg, and their
nature demanding different modes of treat-
ment, fuch as were analogous in this refpect
became diftindt from the reft, and had a par-
ticular clafs of workmen. Commerce ex-
panded, embraced a greater number of ob-
jects, and derived them from a greater extent
of territory : and then was formed another
clafs of men, whofe fole occupation was the
purchafe of commodities for the purpofe of
preferving, tranfporting, or felling them again
with profit*
Thus to the three claffes of men before
diftinguifhable in paftoral life, that of pro^/tt^n^rr*
prietors, that of the domeftics of their family,^) o-r**4&A
and laftly, that of flaves, we muft now add, jl*J***
that of the different kinds of artifans, dLrx&jrrtyC****
that of merchants. p^rJi^Jr
Then it was, that, in a fociety more fixed,
more compact, and more intricate, the ne-
ceflity was felt of a more regular and more
ample
( 44 )
<Ctt/W$ ample code of legiflation ; of determining
/* h j /with greater precifion the punifhments for
crimes, and the forms to be obferved as to
feryUyx^ contra&s ; of fubje£ting to feverer rules the
J means of afcertainin£ and verifying; the fads
UntUnx*, to which the law was to be applied.
This progrefs was the flow and gradual
work of neceffity and concurring circum-
ftances : it is but a ftep or two farther in the
route we have already traced }n paftoral
nations.
t , J- - In the firft two epochs, education was
purely dofneftic. The children were inftrucled
by refiding with the father, in the common
labours .that were followed, or the few arts
that were known. From him they received
the fmall nuoiber of traditions that formed
the hiflory of the horde or of the family, the
fables that had been tranfmitted, the know^
ledge of the national cufloms, together with
the principles and prejudices that compofed
their petty code of morality. Singing, dancing
and military exercifes they acquired in the
fociety of their friends.
In the epoch at which we are arrived, the
children of the richer families received a fort
'*07ny*** °^ common education, either in towns, from
con*
( 45 )
converfation with the old and experienced, or
in the houfe of a chief, to whom they at-
tached themfelves. Here it was they were
inftructed in the laws, cuftoms and prejudices
of the country, and learned to chant poems
defcriptive of the events of its hiftory.
A more fedentary mode of life had intro-
duced a greater equality between the &xe&>
The wives were no longer confidered as fimple
objects of utility, as only the more familiar
flaves of their mafter. Man looked upon them
as companions, and faw how conducive
they might be made to his happinefs. Mean-
while, even in countries where C^ey were
treated with moft refpect, where polygamy tfpCuqtoyn+i
was profcribed, neither reafon nor juftice ex-
tended fo far as to an entire reciprocity as to
the right of divorce, and an equal infliction QuJffrdJ
of punifhment in cafes of infidelity.
The hiftory of this clafs of prejudices, and
of their influence on the lot of the human
fpecies, muft enter into the picture I have
propofed to draw ; and nothing can better
evince how clofely man's happinefs is con-
nected with the progrefs of reafon.
Some nations remained difperfed over the
country. Others united themfelves in towns,
which
( 46 )
which became the refidence of the common
chief, called by a name anfwering to the word.
kingy of the chiefs of tribes who partook his
power^ and of the elders of every great fa-
2jf mily. There the common affairs of the fo-
ciety were decided, as well as individual
difputes. There the rich brought together
the moft valuable part of his wealth, that it
/fl// might be fecure from robbers, who muft of
Courfe have multiplied with fedentary riches.
When nations remained difperfed over a terri-
tory, cuftom determined the time and place
where the chiefs were to meet for deliberation
upon thejgeneral interefts of the community9
and the adjudication of fuits.
Nations who acknowledged a common ori-
gin, who fpoke the fame language, without
abjuring war with each other, entered almoft
jt//* s univerfally into a confederacy more or lefs
clofe, and agreed to unite themfelves, either
againft foreign enemies, or mutually to avenge
their wrongs, or to difcharge in common fome
religious duty.
f Hofpitality and commerce produced even
k fome lafting ties between nations different in
Origin, cuftoms and language ; ties that by
robbery and war were often diffolved, but
which
( 47 >
which neceflity, ftronger than the love of
pillage or a thirft for vengeance, afterwards
renewed.
To murder the vanquished, or to ftrip au(l-/2u*/^^"
reduce them to flavery, was no longer the*^4**^ v
only acknowledged right between nations V'**-****^
inimical to each other. CeiTions of territory,.^**'-*-* *-*"**
ranfoms, tribute, in part fupplied the place of^M**/ «^*^ .
thefe barbarous outrages.
At this epoch every man that pofTefled -
arms was a foldier. He who had the beft?
and beft knew how to exercife them, wTho
could furnifh arms for others, upon condition
that they followed him to the wars, and from
the provifion he had amaffed was in a ca-
pacity to fupply their wants, neceflarily be-
came a chief. But this obedience, almoit vo- Q"JAT'
luntary, did not involve them in a fervile
dependence.
As there was feldom occafion for new laws ;
as there were no public expences to which
the citizens were obliged to contribute, and
fuch as it became neceffary to incur were de-
frayed out of the property of the chiefs, or
the lands that were preferved in common ; as
the idea of reftri&ing induftry and commerce
by
6ty
( 48 )
by regulations was unknown ; as ofFennVe
war was decided by general confent, or un-
dertaken by thofe only who were allured by
the love of glory or defire of pillage ; — man
believed himfelf free in thefe rude govern*
„ Jtj ments, notwithstanding the hereditary fuc-
y , ceffion, almoft univerfal, of their firft chiefs
or kings, and the prerogative, ufurped by
other fubordinate chiefs, of fharing alone the
political authority, and exercifing the func-
tions of government as well as of magiftracy.
07 ,^ ,j. But frequently a king furrendered himfelf
/>U^ to the impulfe of perfonal vengeance, to the
, commiffion of arbitrary ads of violence ; fre-
\Ll**+~ *y quently, in thefe privileged families, pride,
(qUc»P hereditary hatred, the fury of love and thirft
for gold, engendered and multiplied crimes,
while the chiefs afTembled in towns, the in-
ftruments of the paffions of kings, excited
^JieuUz^* therein factions and civil wars, oppreffed the
people by iniquitous judgments, and tor-
• mented them bv the enormities of their am-
bition and rapacity.
In many nations the exceffes of thefe fa-
milies exhaufted the patience of the people,
who accordingly extirpated, baniflied, or fub-
jefited:"
&c^>
( 49 )
je&ed them to the common law ; it was
rarely that their title, with a limited authority,
was preferred to them ; and we fee take place
what has fince been called by the name of, - g
republics. JUf+*M<*+»
In other plates, thefe kings, furrounded
with minions, becaufe they had arms and
treafures to beftow on them, exercifed an
abfolute , authority : and fuch was the origin jr /_•
of tyranny, r^y"
Elfe where, particularly in countries where
the fmall nations did not unite together in
towns, the firft forms of thofe crude infti-
tutions were preferred, till the period in
which thefe people, either fell under the yoke
of a conqueror, or, inftigated by the fpirit of
robbery, fpread themfelves over a foreign
territory.
This tyranny, comprefled within too narrow
a fpace, could have but a fhort duration. The
people foon threw off a yoke which force
alone impofed, and opinion had been unable
to maintain. The monfter was feen too
nearly not to excite more horror than dread ;
and force as well as opinion could forge no
durable chains, if tyrants did not extend their
E empire
Cffumiti
empire to a diftance fufficiently great to bs
able, by dividing the nation they opprefled,
to conceal from it the fecret of its own power
and of their weaknefs.
The hiftory of republics belongs to the next
epoch : but that which we are confidering
will prefently exhibit a new fpectacle.
An agricultural people, fubjected to a
0U foreign power, does not abandon its hearths :
neceflity obliges it to labour for its matters.
Sometimes the ruling nation contents itfelf
with leaving, upon the conquered territory,
chiefs to govern, foldiers to defend it, and
efpecially to keep in awe the inhabitants, and
with exacting from the fubmiflive and dis-
armed fubjefts a tribute in money or in pro-
vifion.
Sometimes it feizes upon the territory it-
felf, diftributing the property of it to the
officers and foldiers : in that cafe it annexes
f >j to each eftate the old occupiers that culti-
J \T . vated it, and fubje£ts them to this new kind
] Ul>d**A , G£ flaverV) which is regulated by laws more
or lefs rigorous. Military fervice, and a trU
bute from the individuals of the conquered
people, are the conditions upon which the
enjoy-
( 51 )
enjoyment of thefe lands is granted to
them.
Sometimes the ruling nation referves to it-
felf the property of the territory, and diftri-
butes only the ufufrucl: upon the fame con-
ditions as in the preceding inftance.
Commonly, however, all thefe modes of re-
compenfing the inftruments of conqueft, and
of robbing the vanquifhed, are adopted at the
fame time.
Hence we fee new clafles of men fpring
up ; the defcendants of the conquering na/-
tion and thofe of the oppreffed ; an hereditary1>^&/&
nobility, not however to be confounded with
the patrician dignity of republics ; a people W^^^
condemned to labour, to dependence, to 2lj} (Pu^j^
ftate of degradation, but not to flavery ; and
laftly, flaves attached to the glebe, a clafs di£>/2$t4fc4
fering from that of domeftic flaves, whofe
fervitude is lefs arbitrary, and who may ap-
peal againft the caprices of their mafters to
the law.
It is here alfo we may obferve the origin
of the feodal fyftem, a pefl that has not beenj^/*k4/y4
peculiar to our own climate, but has found a/*i*t
footing in ahnoft every part of the globe, at
E 2 the
the fame periods of civilization, and when-*
ever a country has been occupied by two
people between whom victory has eftablifhed
an hereditary inequality.
2f hdl/hri ^n ^ne> defpotifm was alfo the fruit of con-
' queft. By defpotifm I here mean, in order
to diftinguiih it from tyrannies of a tranfient
duration, the opprefhon of a people by a
{Ingle man, who governs it by opinion, by
habit, and above all, by a military force, over
the individuals of which he exercifes himfelf
an arbitrary authority, but at the fame time is
pbliged to refpect their prejudices, flatter their
caprices, and footh their avidity and pride.
Perfonally guarded by a numerous and
felefl: portion of this armed force, taken from
the conquering nation or confifting of fo-
reigners ; immediately furrounded by the mod
powerful military chiefs ; holding the pro-
vinces in awe by means of generals who have
the control of inferior detachments of this
^UCkrU^i &flw(ame armec^ body, the defpot reigns by terror:
nor is the poffibility conceived, either by the
deprefled people, or any of thofe difperfed
J f~ LLu, c^efs> rivals as they are to each other, of
• ' 5 /Lust kr*ng*ng againft this man a force, which the
f * armies
{ 53 ) .
armies he has at his command would not be
able to crufh at the inftant.
A mutiny of the guards, an infurrecYion m^nii^^i
the capital, may be fatal to the defpot, without,y£^£>>*
crufhing defpotifm. The general of an army,
by deftroying a family rendered facred by pre-
judice, may eftablifh a new dynafiy, but it isi^y^-y.
.only to exercife a fimilar tyranny.
In this third epoch, the people who haveVV^^V^e*
yet not experienced the misfortune, either of >o*j> £<^ *
conquering, or of being conquered, exhibit a</£o*£ * *^
pidure of thole fimple but ftrong virtues of^ /^r^y
agricultural nations, thofe manners of heroic^* &y //)
times, rendered fo interefting by a mixture of ^v *"
greatnefs and ferocity, of generofity and bar-^f ^ *^
barifm, that we are ftill fo far feduced as to.
admire and even regret them.
On the contrary, in empires founded byA**/t'^ty
conquerors, we are prefented with a pic^ureA1*** ^
containing all the gradations and fhades of^^*****"4
that abafement and corruption, to which def-
potifm and fuperftition can reduce the human
fpecies. There we fee fpring up taxes upon oJjC %««
induftry and commerce, exactions obliging a^ £•* ^
man to purchafe the right of employing as he ^^ ft****
pleafes his own faculties, laws reftri&ing him *n*r«l£^i
E 3 in £** /#*%**•
( 54 )
r
in the choice of his labour and ufe of his pro-
perty, other laws compelling the children to
follow the profeffion of their parents, confif-
cations, cruel and atrocious punifhments, in
fhort, all thofe ads of arbitrary powier, of le-
galized tyranny, of fuperftitious wickednefs,
that a contempt of human nature has bcQn
able to invent. cu*cL, fc+t^yftAd.-n^* ^* '*+-'***
'} t^^j^J>i r** Xn hordes that have not undergone any
confiderable revolution, we may obferve the
progrefs of civilization flopping at no very
elevated point. Meanwhile men already felt
, , the want of new ideas or fenfations ; a want
tf-' which is the firft moving power in the pro-
grefs of the human mind, equally awakening
a tafte for the fuperfluities of luxury, inciting
induftry and a fpirit of curiofity, and piercing
with an eager eye the veil with which na-
ture has concealed her fecrets. But it has
, happened, almoft univerfally, that, to efcape
this want, men have fought, and embraced
with a kind of phrenzy, phyfical means of
procuring fenfations that may be continually
renewed. Such is the practice of ufmg fer-«
Jifcw&^k"*tniented liquors, hot drinks, opium, tobacco,
ydtuto$jU&n& betel. There are few nations among
whom
( 55 )
whom one or other of thefe practices is not
obferved, from which is derived a pleafure
that occupies whole days, or is repeated at
every interval, that prevents the weight of
time from being felt, fatisfies the necefTity of
having the faculties roufed or employed, and
at laft blunting the edge of this neceflity, thus
prolongs the duration of the infancy and inac-
tivity of the human mind. Thefe practices,
which have proved an obftacle to the pro-y^^^K
greis of ignorant and enflaved nations, pro- ?*?uC</*7~4'
duce alfo their effe&s in wifer and more civi- s ^ . * ,
hzed countries, preventing truth from dif-y. jj
fufing through all clafTes of men a pure and>, 0*^+
equal light. * <rHiu>^
By expofing what was the ftate of the arts
in the firft two periods of fociety, it will be
feen how to thofe of working wood, ftone,
or the bones of animals, of preparing fkins,
and weaving cloths, thefe infant people were
able to add the more difficult ones of dyeing,
of making earthen ware, and even their firft
attempts upon metals.
In ifolated nations the progrefs of thefe
arts muft have been flow ; but the intercourfe,
flight as it was, which took place between j
E 4 them, I
( 5* )
them, ferved to haften it. A new method of
proceeding, a better contrivance, difcovered
by one people, became common to its neigh-
bours. Coneuieft, which has fo often de-
ftroyed the arts, began with extending, and
contributed to the improving of them, before
it flopped their progrefs, or was inftrumental,
to their fall.
We obferve many of thefe arts carried to
the higheft degree of perfection in countries,
where the long influence of fuperftition and
defpotifm has completed the degradation of
all the human faculties. But, if we fcrutinife
the wonderful productions of this fervile in-
duftry, we fhall find nothing in them which
j* / jj Am announces the infpiration of genius ; all the
cl~ /improvements appear to be the flow and,
' paintul work or reiterated practice ; every
where may be feen, amidft this labour which
aftonifhes us, marks of ignorance and ftupi^
dity that difclofe its origin.
AjtrtnfrH« *n fedentary and peaceable focieties, aftro-
uUJUu^c nomy, medicine, the moft fimple notions of
JbUtrr* anatomy, the knowledge of plants and mirie-
(hrb»*~\ rais> tne firft elements of the ftudy of the
UL~#rtJ++\ phenomena of nature, acquired fome im-
prove-
( 57 )
provement, or rather extended themfelves by
the mere influence of time, which, increafmg
the flock of obfervations, led, in a manner
flow, but fure, to the eafy and ajmoft inftant
perception of fome of the general confequences
to which thofe obfervations were calculated
to lead. .
Meanwhile this improvement was ex-
tremely flender ; and the fciences would have
remained for a longer period in a ftate of j^ *
earlieft infancy, if certain families, and efpe— "7. . - I
cially particular cafts, had not made them ih^C^T^ \ 1
firft foundation of their reputation and power.
Already the obfervation of man and of fo-
cieties had been connected with that of na-
ture. Already a fmall number of moral^^^/ a^t
maxims, of a practical, as well as a political hdittcddkt'
kind, had been tranfmitted from generation io^csJLdU
generation. Thefe were feized upon by thofe /^f J<cy^vjA%
cafts : religious ideas, prejudices, and different
fuperftitions contributed to a ft ill farther in-r
creafe of their power. They fucceeded the
fnft aflbciations, or firft families, of empirics
and forcerers ; but they practifed more art to
deceive and feduce the mind, which was now
lefs rude and ignorant, The knowledge they j
Equally
'( 5» )
actually pofTerTed, the apparent aufterity of
their lives, an affected contempt for what
was the object of the defires of vulgar men,
/ fe ffarf gave weight to their impoftures, while thefe
h^rrosl &&* impoftures at the fame time rendered facred,
y+u^udZ"* *n the eyes of the people, their flender ftock
J,u4*ful&*~\- of knowledge, and their hypocritical virtues.
// tfo. The members of thefe focieties purfued at
. . firfl, almoft with equal ardour, two very dif-
-iL, cuhsjL f€rent obje&s: one, that of acquiring for
/ faj^ 0JL themfelves new information ; the other, that
HL+ l*£l. of employing fuch as they had already ac7
jyrv>^4. squired in deceiving the people, and gaining
tflefJt *«*tk an afcendancy over their minds.
*y ^*** 1** 'Their fages devoted their attention particu-
larly to aflronomy : and, as far as we can
judge from the fcattered remains of the mo-
numents of their labours, they appear to have
carried it to the higheft poffible pitch to which,
without the aid of telefcopes, without the af-
fiftance of mathematical theories fuperior to
the firfl elements, it can be fuppofed to ar-
rive.
In reality, by means of a continued courfe,
of obfervations, an idea fufficiently accurate of
the motion of the ftars may be acquired, by
which
•
a*
( 59 )
which to calculate and predict the phenomena
of the heavens. Thole empirical laws, fa
much the eafier attained as the attention be-
comes extended through a greater fpace of
time, did not indeed lead thefe firft aftrono-*
mers to the difcovery of the general laws of
the fyftem of the univerfe ; but they fuffi-
ciently fupplied their place for every purpofe
that might intereft the wrants or curiofity of
man, and ferve to augment the credit of thefe
umrpers of the exclufive right of inftru£ling ^^H-» ****f
It mould feem that to them we are in-
debted for the ingenious idea of arithmetical
fcales, that happy mode of reprefenting all
poffible numbers by a fmall quantity of flgns,-^^' +xJ+x+'
and of executing, by technical operations oit/oc^^n^^
a very fimple nature, calculations which the ^/^/ /*
human intellect, left to itfelf, could not have Jlan,
reached. This is the firft example of thofe
contrivances that double the powders of the
mind, by means of which it can extend inde-
finitely its limits, without its being poffible to
fay to it, thus far fhalt thou go, and no far-
ther.
But they do not appear to have extended
the fcience of arithmetic beyond its firft opera^^^^^Xc
tions.
Their
( <*> )
&t***^£*~i Their geometry, including what was necef-
fary for furveying, as well as for the practice
of aftronomy, is bounded by that celebrated
problem which Pythagoras carried with him
into Greece, or difcovered anew. •
JtlcuIuvjA The conftructing of machines they refigned
to thofe by whom the machines were to be
ufed. Some recitals, however, in which there
is a mixture of fable, feem to indicate their
having cultivated themfelves this branch of
the fciences, and employed it as one of the
means of Jinking upon the mind by a fem-
blance of prodigy.
The laws of motion, the fcience of the me-
chanical powers, attracted not their notice.
If they ftudied medicine and furgery, that
part efpecially the object of which is the
treatment of wounds, anatomy was neglected
by them.
Their knowledge in bofcany, and in natu-
ral hiflory, was confined to the articles ufed
as .remedies, and to fome plants and minerals,
the fingular properties of which might aflift
their projects.
Their chymiflry, reduced to the moft fim^
pie procefTes, without theory, without me-
thod, without analyfis, confjfted in the making
certain.
( 6i )
certain preparations, in the knowledge of a
few fecrets relative to medicine or the arts, or
in the acquiiition of ibme noftrums calculated
to dazzle an ignorant multitude, fubjefted toA*^ ^h
chiefs notlefs lLrnoranuhajiitfelf' ^ZJU ~ Mf* ^
The proerefs of the fciences they confidered ^ <**^*
but as a iecondary object, as an initrument
of perpetuating or extending their power^w^ ^ $/,
They fought Truth only to diffufe .errors; and^^^2^
it is not to be wondered they fo feldom found ^^ <*4 10%^
her.
In the mean time, flow and feeble as was
this progrefs of every kind, it would not
have been attainable, if thefe men had not
known the art of writing, the only way by 9^W*W
which traditions can be rendered fecure and
permanent, and knowledge, in proportion as
it increafes, be communicated and tranfmitted
to pofterity.
Accordingly, hieroglyphic writing vrz&ntwojft/'""*,
either one of their firft inventions, or had
been difcovered prior to the formation of
cafts affuming to themfelves the prerogative/^^
of inftruction.
As the view of thefe cafts was not to en-8%^ &<**
lighten, but to govern the mind, they not*^ ™*i
only Vue^ <fl^
( 6i )
Only avoided communicating to the people the
whole of their knowledge, but adulterated
with errors fuch portions as they thought
proper to difclofe. They taught not what
they believed to be true, but what they
thought favourable to their own ends.
4 J aA U4*ts Every thing which the people received from
JfjJ, f0 them had in it aftrange mixture of fomething
// ' £lu* fuPernatura^ facred, celeftial, which led thefe
fcV ' tdL. men to De regarded as beings fuperior to
/ /-^ j[.!^manity, & inverted with a divine chara&er,
^ <rM*J&**, as deriving from heaven itfelf information
prohibited to the reft of mankind.
Thefe men had therefore two doctrines, one
for themfelves, the other for the people. Fre-
quently even, as they were divided into many
prders, each order referved to itfelf its own
A oi/j^ myfteries. All the inferior orders were at
C^JLk once both knaves and dupes ; and it was only
£^j by a few adepts that all the mazes of this hy-
%J$iUtf* fe pocritical fyftem were underftood and de-
<rrt>*~i> veloPed;
No circumftance proved more favourable to
iiHj&^tofcS*1^ eftabhfnment of this double doctrine, than
the changes which time, and the intercourfe
and mixture of nations, introduced into lan-
guage.
( H )
guage. The double-doctrine men, preferving^#/£ £&(
the old language, or that of another nation,
thereby fecured the advantage of having one
that was underftood only by themfelves.
The firft mode of writing, which repre-
sented things by a painting more or lefs
accurate, either of the thing itfelf or of an
analogous object, giving place to a more
iimple mode, in which the refemblance of
thefe objects was nearly effaced, in which
fcarcely any figns were employed, but fuch as
were in a manner purely conventional, the
fecret doctrine came to have a writing, as it
had before a language to itfelf
In the origin and upon the firft intro-
duction of language, almoft every word is a
metaphor, and every phrafe an allegory. The
mind catches at once both the figurative and
natural fenfe ; the word fuggefts at the fame
inftant with the idea, the analogous image by
which it has been expreffed. But from the habit
of employing a word in a figurative fenfe, the
mind alternately fixed upon that alone, heed-
lefs of the original meaning : and thus the
figurative fenfe of a word became gradually
its proper and ordinary fignificatioru
The
The priefts by whom the firft allegorical
language was preferved, employed it with the
people, who were no longer capable of dif-
covering its true meaning ; and who, ac-
cuftomed to take words in one acceptation
only, that generally received, pictured to
themfelves I know not what abfurd and ri-
diculous fables, in expreffions that conveyed
to the minds of the priefts but a plain and
fimple truth. The fame ufe was made by
the priefts of their facred writing. The
people faw men, animals^ monfters, where5
the priefts meant only to reprefent an aftro-
nomical phenomenon, an hiftorical occurrence
of the year.
Thus, for example, the priefts, in their con-
templations, invented, and introduced almoft
every where, the metaphyseal fyftem of a
j~ jj /jfij great, immenfe and eternal all, of which the
/v. z> whole of the beings that exifted were only
parts, of which the various changes obiervable
in the univerfe were but modifications. The
heavens ftruck them in no other light than as
groupes of ftars difperfed through the im-*
menfity of fpace, planets defcribing motions
more or lefs complicate, and phenomena
2 purely
( 65 )
purely phyfical refulting from their refpe&lve
pofitions. They affixed names to thefe con-
ftellations and planets, as well as to the fixed
or moveable circles, invented with a view to
reprefent their fituation and courfe, and ex-
plain their appearances.
But the language, the memorials, employed
in expreffing thefe metaphyfical opinions,
thefe natural truths, exhibited to the eyes of
the people the moft extravagant fyftem of
mythology, and became the foundation oJ
creeds the moft abfurd, modes of worihip the
moft fenfelefs, and practices the moft fhame-
ful and barbarous.
Such is the origin of almoft all the ?z~ Mc/lplm*
ligions that are known to us, and which the
hypocrify or the extravagance of their in-
ventors and their profelytes afterwards loaded
with new fables.
Thefe cafts feized upon education, that
they might fafhion man to a more patient en-
durance of chains, embodied as it were with
his exiftence, and extirpate the poffibility of
his ^efiring to break them. But, if we would
know to what point, even without the aid of
fuperftitious terrors, thefe inftitutions, fo de- >
F ftructive
i
%
( 66 )
ftru&ive to the human faculties, can extend
their baneful power, we muft look for a mo-
ment to China ; to that people who feem to
have preceded all others in the arts and
fciences, only to fee themfelves fucceffively
eclipfed by them all ; to that people whom
the knowledge of artillery has not prevented
from being conquered by barbarous nations ;
where the fciences, of which the numerous
fchools are open to every clafs of citizens,
alone lead to dignities, and at the fame time,
fettered by abfurd prejudices, are condemned
to an eternal mediocrity ; laftly, where even
the invention of printing has remained an in-
ftrument totally ufelefs in advancing the pro-
grefs of the human mind.
Men, whofe intereft it was to deceive, foon
felt a diflike to the purfuit of truth. Content
with the docility of the people, they con-
ceived there was no need of further means to
fecure its continuance. By degrees they for-
got a part of the truths concealed under their
allegories ; they preferved no more of their
ancient fcience than was ftridtly neceflary to
maintain the confidence of their difciples ; and
/ . at laft they became themfelves the dupes of
their own iables*
>&*c*c«^ &*~ **•£ v— ^V~~* /* *— « •
( 67 )
Then was all progrefs of the fciences at a 4^^ yr«*J~
ftand ; fome even of thofe which had been ^bv V"*^
enjoyed by preceding ages, were loft to the b&r*0*^^
generations that followed; and the human ^^*i ^i^w
mind, a prey to ignorance and prejudice, was"^^ ^ ,
condemned, in thofe vaft empires, to a ihame-^^ ^^ '
ful ftagnation, of which the uniform and un*^^^*
varied continuance has fo long been a dis-
honour to Afia.
The people who inhabit thefe countries are t"^**** *t^
the only inftance that is to be met with of ^ **"****"
fuch civilization and fuch decline. Thofe who *? "^
occupy the reft of the globe either have betn^^4** **
flopped in their career, and exhibit an ap- *
pearance that again brings to our memory the
infant days of the human race, or they have
been hurried by events through the periods
of which we have ftill to illuftrate the
hiftory.
At the epoch we are considering, thefe
very people of Afia had invented alphabetical/v^"*4^*^
writing, which they fubftitu'ced in the place Jy"***''
of hieroglyphics, probably after having em-
ployed that other mode, in which conventional
figns are affixed to every idea, which is the
only one that the Chinefe are at prefent ac-
quainted with.
F 2 Hiftory
( 68 )
Hiftory and reflection may throw fome
light upon the manner in which the gradual
tranfition from hieroglyphics to this inter-
mediary fort of art, muft have taken place ;
but nothing can inform us with precifion
either in what country, or at what time,
alphabetical writing was firft brought into
ufe.
The difcovery was in time introduced into
SwWJl Greece, among a people who have exercifed
/ fo powerful and happy an influence on the
, progrefs of the human fpecies, whofe genius
, h *, / ^as opened all the avenues to truth, whom
"^ / j i u . nature had prepared, whom fate had deftined
v)rU/^, to be the benefactor and guide of all nations
and all ages : an honour in which no other
&&* yvlsw people has hitherto fhared. One only nation
i*Jvra" ■ has fince dared to entertain the hope of pre-
fiMU // / flcung m a revolution new in the deftiny of
\s^tsJw&* mankind. And this glory both nature and
T^Zl fo%<^a concurrence °f events feem to agree in re-
J^Tf^r ferving for her. But let us not feek to pene-
ffji , ufctt* trate what an uncertain futurity as yet con-
t^J a iU^t ceals from us.
FOURTH
( 69 )
FOURTH EPOCH.
Progrefs of the Human Mind in Greece, till
the Divijion of the Sciences about the Age
of Alexander,
X HE Greeks, difgufted with thofe kings,
who, calling themfelves the children of the
Gods, difgraced humanity by their paffions
and crimes, became divided into republics, of
which Lacedemonia was the only one that*3^6^
acknowledged hereditary chiefs : but thefe
chiefs were kept in awe by other magifiracies,
were fubje&ed, like citizens, to the laws, and
were weakened by the divifion of royalty be-
tween the two branches of the family of the
Heraclides. ■
The inhabitants of Macedonia, of ThefTaly,
and of Epirus, allied to the Greeks by a
common origin and the ufe of a fimilar lan-
guage, and governed by princes weak, and
divided among themfelves, though unable to
opprefs Greece, were yet fufficient to pre-
ferve it at the north from the incurfions of
Scythian nations.
F 3 At
*^**-*>*
Ldu^th""*
( 7° )
At the weft, Italy, divided into fmall and
unconnected ftates, could occafion no appre-
henlions ; and already nearly the whole of
Sicily, and the mofi delightful parts of the
fouth of Italy, were occupied by Greek colo-
nies, forming independent republics, but pre-
ferring; at the fame time ties of filiation with
their mother countries. Other colonies were
eflablifhed in the illands of the iEgean fea,
and upon part of the coaf: s of Ana-Minor.
"Accordingly the union cf this part of the
Afiatic continent to the vaft empire of Cyrus,
was in the fequei the only real danger that
could threaten the independence of Greece,
and the freedom of its inhabitants.
Tyranny, though more durable in fome
colonies, and in thofe particularly the efta-
blifhment of which had preceded the extirpa-
tion of the royal families, could be confidered
only as a tranfient and partial evil, that in-
flicted mifery on the inhabitants of a few
towns, but without influencing the general
fpirit of the nation.
The Greeks had derived from the eaftern
nations their arts, a part of their information,
the ufe of alphabetical writing, and their fyf-.
tern
( 7i )
tern of religion : but it was in confequence of^^^^^^"
the intercourfe eftablifhed between herfelf and tt~-~ •* ^h
thefe nations by exiles, who fought an afy-/*~~~
lum in Greece, and by Greek travellers, who
brought back with them from the Eaft know-
ledge and errors.
The fciences, therefore, could not becomejw*?/*-^
in this country the occupation and patrimony U+*~Jr w*~ >
of an individual cart. The fundions of the^ ^~* - *~
priefts were confined to the worihip of the^
Gods. Genius might difplay all its energies,, Jf^/t^Q^^
without being fettered by the pedantic ob-^***^ t/h^y
fervances, the fyftematic hypocrify of a fa^^N^-^****!
cerdotal college. All men pofieffed an equal
right to the knowledge of truth. All might
engage in the purfuit of it, and communicate
it to all, not in fcraps and parcels, but in its
whole extent.
This fortunate circumftance, ftill more
than political freedom, wrought in the hu-
man mind, among the Greeks, an independ-
ance, the fureft pledge of the rapidity and
greatnefs of its future progrefs.
In the mean time their learned men, their „ |
fages, as they were called, but who foon d fl/Ct&u
took the more modeft appellation of philofo-* (ffrj^ph*
F 4 phers,
( 7* ) '
r5fU*l bU *~4 phers, or friends of fcience and wifdorn, wan*
tf± (pT^^+fc* dered in the immenfity of the too vaft and
2^u r<r>*£L*vt~ comprehenfive plan which they had embraced,
xsJLfo ^^AfcThey were defirous of penetrating both the na-
si jWh( yture of man, and that of the Gods ; the origin
^^^5 of the world, as well as of the human race,
They endeavoured to reduce all nature to one
principle only, and the phenomena of the
univerfe to one law. They attempted to in-
nfs i* /&-* ? elude, in a tingle rule of conduct, all the du-
Hm ct+&L^ *ies °f morality, and the fecret of true happi-*
r*M . nefs.
Thus, inftead of difcovering truths, they
forged fyftems ; they neglected the obferva-
tion of fads, to purfue the chimeras of their
imagination ; and being no longer able to
fupport their opinions with proofs, they
fought to defend them by fubtleties.
Geometry and aflronomy, however, were
cultivated with fuccefs by thefe men, Greece
owed to them the firft elements of thefe fci-
ences, and even fome new truths, or at leaft
... the knowledge of fuch as they had brought
with them from the Eaft, not as eftablifhed
creeds, but as theories, of which they under-
• ftood the principles and proofs.
We
( 73 )
We even perceive, in the ftiidft of the
-darknefs of thofe fyftcms, two happy ideas
beam forth, which will again make their ap-
pearance in more enlightened ages.
Democritus confidered all the nhenomena^/mtf^rrArt
of the univerfe as the refult of the combina-r
tions and motion of fimple bodies, of a fixed
and unalterable form, having received an ori-
ginal impulfe, and thence derived a quantity
of action that undergoes modifications in the
individual atoms, but that in the entire mafs
continues always the fame.
Pythagoras was of opinion that the urA-jy^f^-^
verfe was governed by a harmony, the prin-»
ciples of which were to be unfolded by the
properties of numbers ; that is, that the whole
phenomena of nature depended upon general
laws capable of being afcertained by calcula-
tion.
In thefe two doctrines we readily perceive .
the bold fyftems of Defeartes, and the philo-*^**-**™
fophy of Newton, jfe^oto^
Pythagoras either difcovered by his own fylhajdraA
meditation, or learned from the priefts of
Egypt or of Italy, the actual difpofition of
the heavenly bodies, and the true fyftem pf the
world,
( 74 )
world. This he communicated to the Greeks.
But the fyftem was too much at variance
with the teftimony of the fenfes, too oppofite
to the vulgar opinions, for the feeble proofs
by which it could then be fupported to gain
much hold upon the mind. Accordingly it
was confined to the Pythagorean fchool, and
afterwards forgotten with that fchool, again
to appear at the clofe of the fixteenth century >
ftrengthened with more certain proofs, by
which it now triumphed not only over the
repugnance of the fenfes, but over the pre-
judices of fuperftition, Hill more powerful
and dangerous.
The Pythagorean fchool was chiefly pre-
§rua va'ent in Upper Greece, where it formed
legiflators, and intrepid defenders of the rights,
of mankind. It fell under the power of the
/f ii a**/yrants> one c'^ wnom burnt the Pythago-
/ reans in their own fchool. This was fuffi-
cient, no doubt, to induce them not to abjure
philofophy, not to abandon the caufe of the
people, but to bear no longer a name become
fo dangerous, or obferve forms that would
ferve only to wake the lion rage of the ene^
mies of liberty and of reafon*
'A
Uft»fr
( 75 )
A grand bafis of every kind of found phU
lofophy is to form for each fcience a precife
and accurate language, every term of which /
mall reprefent an idea exactly determined and ^CtC/fkk
circumfcribed ; and to enable ourfelves to de-
termine and circumfcribe the ideas with which
the fcience may be converfant, by the mode of
a rigorous analyfis.
The Greeks on the contrary took advantage
of the corruptions of their common language
to play upon, the meaning of words, to em-
barrafs the mind by contemptible equivoques,
and lead it aftray by cxpreffing fucceffively
different ideas by the fame fign : a practice
which gave acutenefs to the mind, at the
fame time that it weakened its ftrength againft
chimerical difficulties. Thus this philofophy
of words, by filling up the fpaces where
human reafon feems to flop before fome ob^
ftacle above its ftrength, did not affift imme-r
diately its progrefs and advancement, but it
prepared the way for them ; as we fhall have
farther occafion to obferve.
The courfe of philofophy was flopped from
its firfh introduction by an error at that time
indeed excufable. This was the fixing the
attention
/
, ( 7<5 )
attention upon queflions incapable perhaps
for ever of being folved ;. fufTering the
mind to be led away by the importance or
fublimity of objects, without thinking whether
the means exifted of compaffing them ; wifh-
ing to eftablifh theories, before facts had been
collected, and to frame the univerfe, before
it was yet known how to furvey it. Ac^
cordingly we fee Socrates, while he combated
the fophifts and expofed their vain fubtleties
to ridicule, crying to the Greeks to recal to
the earth this philofophy which had loft it-
JfrvrJZt' felf in the clouds. Not that he ^defpifed
I ' P-Jl either aftronomy, or geometry, or the ob-
fervation of the phenomena of nature ; not
that he entertained the puerile and falfe idea
of reducing the human mind to the ftudy of
morality alone : on the contrary, it was to
his fchool and his difciples that the mathema-r
tical and phyfical fciences were indebted for
their progrefs ; in the ridicule attempted to
be thrown upon him in theatrical reprefen-
tations, the reproach which afforded moft
pleafantry was that of his cultivating geo-
metry, ftudying meteors, drawing geogra-
phical charts, and making experiments upon
burnings
( 77 )
burning-glafles, of which, it is pleafant too-^rtt^CiA^
remark, the earlieft mention that has been
tranfmitted to us, we owe to a buffoonery * .
of Ariftophanes. Jf»*To^.
Socrates merely wifhed by his advice to
induce' men to confine themfelves to objects
which nature ,has placed within their reach ;
to be fure of every ftep already taken before
they attempted any new one, and to ftudy the
fpace that furrounded them, before they pre- '
cipitated themfelves at random into an un-
known fpace.
The death of this man is an important ■^•^^ °j^
event in the hiftory of the human mind. It is^ aU*.
the firft crime that the war between philofo-^^* ^^
phy and fuperltition conceived and brought*^'^
forth. ^**^ (PfclrtoiJi^.
The burning of the Pythagorean fchool^y7-***'^ ^
had already fignalized the war, not lefs an-^^^4*
cient, not lefs eager, of the oppreffors of %/
mankind againft philofophy. The one and^*^
the other will continue to be waged as long*/^^r/6f*t
as there (hall exift priefcs or kings upon the /
earth ; and thefe wars will occupy a confpi- />yi^
cuous place in the picture that we have ftili ^^^JXj^
to deUneate- au. — — «*t^Lfe ^4
<5VU^ I
( 78 )
ff% xtf> Priefts faw with grief the appearance of
men, who, cultivating the powers of reafon,
afcending to firft principles, could not but
difcover all the abfurdity of their dogmas, all
the extravagance of their ceremonies, all the
delufion and fraud of their oracles and pro-
digies. This difcovery they were afraid thefe
philofophers would communicate to the difci-
ples that frequented their fchools ; from whom
it might pafs to all thole who, to obtain autho-
rity or credit, were obliged to pay attention
to the improvement of their minds ; and thus
the prieftly empire be reduced to the moft ig-
norant clafs of the people, which might at
laft be itfelf alfo undeceived.
ILhpifiii Hypocrify, alarmed and terrified, haftened
'to bring accufations, againft the philofophers,
of impiety to the Gods, that they might not
have time to teach the people that thofe Gods
were the work of their priefts. The philo-
fophers thought to efcape perfecution by:
adopting, in imitation of the priefts them-
A/^^ felves, the practice of a double doctrine, and
l^. they confided to fuch of their difciples only
whofe fidelity had been proved, doctrines' that
too openly offended vulgar prejudices.
But
' ' ( 79 )
But the priefts reprefented to the people
the moft fimple truths of natural philofophy ,
as blafphemies ; and Anaxagoras was profe-^f^f^^*^
cuted for having dared to aflert, that the fun
was larger than Peloponnefus. * ,
Socrates could not efcape their fury. There JOOTcU&D^
was in Athens no longer a Pericles to watch. (P^ri(/u> mJUlk
over the fafety of genius and of virtue. Be- ***& «- cf*+Js
fides, Socrates was ftill more culpable. His,^^ aJtrOv
enmity to the fophifts, and his zeal to brings**** U*> fri*u<&
back the attention of mifguided philofophy ^ ^<^~^-
to the moft ufeful objects, announced to the
priefts that truth alone was the end he had in jTUrn,
view ; that he did not wifh to enforce upon
men a new fyftem, and fubjecT; their imagi- '
nation to his ; but that he was defirous of *
teaching them to make ufe of their own rea- Jwyfn
fon : and of all* crimes this is what facerdo- \
tal pride knows leaft how to pardon.
It was at the very foot of the tomb of So-
crates that Plato dictated the leflbns which
he had received from his mafter.
His enchanting ftile, his brilliant imagina-
tion, the cheerful or dignified colouring, the
ingenious and happy traits, that, in his dia-
logues, difpel the drynefs of philofophical
difcuffion ;
( So )
difcuffion * the maxims of a mild and pure
morality which he knew how to infufe inta
them ; the art with which he brings his per-
fonages into action, and preferves to each his
diftind; character ; all thofe beauties, which
time and the revolutions of opinion have
Jbeen unable to tarnifh, muft doubtlefs have
obtained a favourable reception for the vifion-
ary ideas that too often form the bafis of his
works, and that abufe of words which his
mafter had fo much cenfured in the fophifts,
but from which he could not preferve the firft
of his difciples.
In reading thefe dialogues we are aftonifhed
at their being the production of a philofopher
who, by an infcription placed on the door of
his fchool, forbad the entrance of any one
Pj tJTfttffctf w^° ka^ not: ftudied geometry ; and that he,
f if who maintains with fuch confidence fyftems
xfo far fetched and fo frivolous, mould have
been the founder of a feci: by whom, for the
firft time, the foundations of the certainty of
human knowledge were fubjected to a fevere
examination, and even others made to trem-
ble that a more enlightened reafon might have
been induced to refped. ^
But
( p )
But the contradiction difappears when we
ronfider that in his dialogues Plato never fpeaks
in his own perfon ; that Socrates, his matter,
is made to exprefs himfelf with the modefty of
doubt ; that the fyftems are exhibited in the
names of thofe who were, or whom Plato
fuppofed to be, the authors of them ; that ,
hereby thefe dialogues are a fchool of pyrrho-^^/^^Tft
nifm, and that Plato has known how to dis-
play in them at once the adventurous imagi-
nation of a learned man, amufing himfelf
with combining and diflecting fplendid hypo-
thefes, and the referve of a philofopher, giving
fcope to his fancy, but without fuffering him-
felf to be hurried away by it ; becaufe his
reafon, armed with a falutafy doubt, had
wherewithal to defend itfelf againft illufions,
however feducing might be their charms. * r
The fchools, in which were perpetuated>y25^J$
the doctrine, and efpecially the principles and ,
forms of a firft inrtitutor, to which however
the refpecldve fucceffors by no means obferved
a fervile adherence, thefe fchools poflefled
the advantage of uniting together, by the
ties of a liberal fraternity, men intent upon
■
penetrating the fecrets of nature. If the opi-
G nion
( 82 )
nion of the matter had frequently an influence
in them that ought to belong only to the
province of reafon, and the progrefs of know-
ledge was thereby fufpended; yet did they
ftill more contribute to its fpeedy and exten-
five propagation, at a^ time when, printing
being unknown, and manufcripts exceedingly
rare, thefe inftitutions, the fame of which at-
tracted pupils from every part of Greece,
were the only powerful means of cheriihing
in that country a tafte for philofophy, and
of diffeminating new truths.
The rival fchools contended with a degree
of animofity that produced a fpirit of party
or feci: ; and not feldom was the intereft of
truth iacrifked to the fuccefs of fome tenet,
in which every member of the feci: confideretf
his pride in a manner as concerned. The per-
fonal paffion of making converts corrupted
the more generous one of enlightening man-
kind. But at the fame time, this rivalfhip
kept the mind in a ftate of activity that was
not without its ufe. The continual fight of
fuch difputes, the intereft that was taken in
thefe combats of opinion, awakened and at-
tached to the fiudy of philofophy a multitude
of
x h )
t>f men, whom the mere love of truth could
neither have allured from their bufinefs and
pleafure, nor even have roufed from their
indolence.
In fhort, as thefe fchools, thefe fe£ts, which
the Greeks had the wifdom never to intro-
0
duce into the public inftitutions, remained
perfectly free ; as every one had the power
of opening another fchool, or forming a new
feci:, at his pleafure, there was no caufe to
apprehend that abafement of reafon, which,
with the majority of other nations, was aa
infurmountable obftacle to the advancement
of the human mind.
Let us confider what was the influence of
the philofophers of Greece on the under-
Handing, manners, - laws and governments of
that country; an influence that muftbe afcribed
in great meafure to their not having, and
even not wifhing to have, a political exifi>!&y- ^ ^
ence ; to its being held as a rule of conduct Jr^ ^s-nM
common to almoft all their fedls, voluntarily (Pjti/rtff'jf'f
to keep aloof from public affairs ; and laftly,*^ ^^
to their affecting to diftinguifh themfelves^^' s jj
from other men by their lives, as well asv
their opinions,
G a In
' ( 84 )
I fn delineating thefe different feels, we fhali-
attend lefs to the fyftems, and more to the
principles of their philofophy ; we fhall not
attempt, as has frequently been done,, to ex-
hibit a precife view of the abfurd doftrines
which a language become almoft unintelli-
gible conceals from us ; but fhall endeavour
to fhew by what general errors they were fe-
duced into thofe deceitful paths, and to find
the origin of thefe in the natural courfe of
the human mind.
Above all things we fhall be careful to dis-
play the progrefs of thofe fciences that really
deferved the appellation, and the fucceffivc
improvements thatwere introduced into them.
At this epoch philofophy embraced them
all, medicine excepted, which was already
/^ W/epavated „*r *• The writings f Hippo;
// crates will fhew us what was at that period
the ftate of this fcience, as well as of thofe
naturally connected with it, but which had
yet no esiftence diftind from that connec-
tion.
The mathematical fciences had been culti-
vated with fuccefs in the fchools of Thales
and of Pythagoras* Meanwhile they rofe
them
Wjd/ti
■■( % )
there very little above the point at which they
had flopped in the facerdotal colleges of the
.caftern nations. But from the birth of Plato's
fchool they foared infinitely above that bar-,
rier^ which the idea of confining them to an
immediate utility and practice had ere&ed.
This philofopher was the firft who folved
the problem of the duplication of the cube, by
the hypothefis, indeed, of a continued mo-
tion ; but the procefs was ingenious, and
ftri&ly accurate His early difciples difco-
vered the conic fe&ions, and demonftrated^^y^^aS^.
their principal properties ; thereby opening
upon the human mind that vaft horifon of
•knowledge, where, as long as the world
ihall endure, it may exercife its powers with-
out ceafing, while at every ftep the horifoa
retires as the mind advances.
The fciences connected with politics did
-not derive from philofophy alone their pro-
grefs among the Greeks. In thefe fmall re-
publics, jealous of preferring both their in*-
?dependence and their liberty, the pra&ke was
almoft generally prevalent of confiding to one
man, not the power of making laws, but
:the fundi on of digefting and prefeuting them
C 3 to
( 86 )
to the people, by whom they were examined,
and from whom they received their direct
fan&ion.
Thus the people impofed a tafk on the
philofopher, whofe wifdom or whofe virtues
had recommended him to their confidence,,
but they conferred on him no authority;
they exercifed alone and of themfelves what
we have fince called by the name of legifla-
tive power. But the practice, fo fatal, of
calling fuperftition to the aid of political in-
ftitutions, has too often corrupted the exe-
^/^^Tcution of an idea fo admirably fitted to give
fo OUoi yJH). that fyftematic unity to the laws of a country
(Uou tfa *>«m which alone can render their operation fure
jt u U tdi and eafy, as w?ll as maintain the duration of
. rri^^ty- them. Nor had politics yet acquired prin-
~fjla* 4 %r™%v> ciples fufficiently invariable not to fear that
t^J, Jki*L+xm the legiflators might introduce into thefe in-*
ftitutions their prejudices and their paflions.
Their object could not he, as yet, to found
upon the bafis of reafon, upon the rights
which all men have equally received from
nature, upon the maxims of unjverfal juftice,
Af/ n s& ^e fuperftructure of a fociety of men equal
and free ; but merely to eftablifh laws by
m ^^ <£*w*r' &*<* *£*/ £^£^ which,
{ 87 )
which the hereditary members of a lociety,
already exifting, might preferve their liberty,
3ive fecure from injuftice, and, by exhibiting
an impofing appearance to their neighbours,
continue in the enjoyment of their independ-
ence.
As it was fuppofed that thefe laws, almoft
univerfally connected with religion, and con-
fecrated by oaths, were to endure for ever, 0&$J>
it was lefs an objeeT: of attention to fecure to
a people the means of effecting, in a peace-
able manner, their reform, than to guard from
-every poffible change fuch as were fundamen-
tal, and to take care that the reforms of de-
tail neither incroached upon the fyftem, nor
corrupted the fpirit of them. *
Such iniUtutions were fought for as were ffjCudfr
calculated to cherifh and give energy to the dji/fu4n£
love of country, in which was included a U* t& ?
love of its legislation and -even ufages ; fuch
an organization of powers, as would fecure
the execution of the laws againfl: the negli-
gence or corruption >of magiftrates, And the
•reftlefs difpofition of the multitude.
The rich, who alone were in a capacity Vo£ />i*0
$f acquiring knowledge, by feizing on the /im^rv^d^
G 4 rein* a£^j^y
•( 88 )
reins of authority might opprefs the poor,
and compel them to throw themfelves into
the arms of a tyrant. The ignorance and
yka u>/CU fickleneis of the people, and its jealoufy of
^^/W**^'^)Werfui citizens, might fuggeft to fuch citi-
zens both the defire and the means of efta-
4f A^u&ny5 hlifhing ariftocratic defpotifm, or of furren-
■ijfituy*, dering an enfeebled ftate to the ambition of its
ktU> rrtU^i- neighbours. Obliged to guard at once againft
**> i/f+zfeayboih thefe rocks, the Greek legiflators had
a+U (ft f^Uts recourfc to combinations more or lefs happy,
^£ 3 h*JL>, but always bearing the ftamp of this fagacity,
^ ^ti-uJ this artifice, which accordingly characlerifed
r^ t^"** the general fpirit of the nation.
^u "l*/** ^ wou^ be difficult to find in modern re-
uti**</*%*, publics, or even in the plans fketched by phi-
lofophers, a iingle inftitution of which the
%^w A> W ^reek republics did not fuggeft the outlines,
/^, or furnifh the example. For, in the Am-
jjl A Zvvt* phiclyonic league, as well as in that of the
*j ^Lt^HijfEtolians, Arcadians, Achseans, we have in-
L r^u,iulC ftances of federal conftitutions, of a union,
l jjj^. ^ more or lefs clofe ; and there were eftablifhed
^fU^ry* <-**» a le^s barbarous right of nations, and more
yru^tltt <M>l liberal rules of commerce between thefe dif-
fc'tvK ferent people, connected by a common ori-
3
( «9 1
<nn, by the life of the fame language, and by
a fimilarity of manners, opinions and religious
perfuafions.
The mutual relations of agriculture, in-
duftry and commerce, with the laws and con-
ftitution of a ftate, their influence upon its
profperity, power, freedom, could not have
efcaped the obfervation of a people ingenious
and active, and at the fame time watchful of
the public intereft : and accordingly among
them are perceived the firft traces of that
fcience, fo comprehenfive and ufeful, known
at prefent by the name of political economy. haiU^^ta^id
The obfervation alone of eftablifhed go-^^'
vernments was therefore fufficient fpeedily to
convert politics into an extenfive fcience.
Thus in the writings even of the philofo- y
phers, it is a fcience rather of fads, and, ifl*y, K^<*yj
may fo fpeak, empirical, than a true theory~^^ '
founded upon general principles, drawn from/ ' .
nature, and acknowledged by reafon. Such # ' . . ^
is the point of view in which we ought to ^^
regard the political ideas of Ariftotle andv>"«"^*
Plato, if we would difcover their meanine J***"' />PVH
and form of them a juft eftimate. £a*M'> Z" ^*^/h*
( 9° )
Almoft all the Greek inftitutions fuppofe
the exiftence of flavery, and the poffibility
of uniting together, in a public place, the
JjjhisrdJL whole community of citizens: two moil im-
' portant diftindtions, of which we ought never
to lqfe fight^ if we would judge rightly of the
0^. . //efFeft of thofe inftitutions, particularly on the
if r> / ^extenfive and populous nations of modern times.
^But upon the firft we cannot reflect without
^qpw' t^e painful idea, that at that period the mod
1 ** ** . perfedt forms of government had for objedT:
\ ~*the liberty or happinefs of at moll but half
qo o*7**. the human fpecies.
' , With the Greeks, education was an im^
lauuui^n p0rtant: part of polity. Men were formecj for
fill / / their country, much more than for them-
AL . felves^ or their family. This principle can
® only be emferaced by communities little po-
' ' pulous, in which it is more pardonable to fup-
pofe a national intereft, feparate from the
common intereft of humanity. It is pradti-
cable only in countries where the moft painful
labours of culture and of the arts are per-
formed by flaves. This branch of education
was reftricted almoft entirely to fuch bodily
exercifes, fuch manners and habits as were
calcu«
\
( 91 )
i
.
calculated to excite an exclufive patriotifm 1 vcc/u6uxj7<lz
the other branches were acquired, as a mat-^/^'/^
ter of free choice, in the fchools of the phi-
lofophers or rhetoricians, and the ihops of the
artifts 5 and this freedom was a farther caufe
of the fuperiority of the Greeks, .
In their polity, as in their philofophy, a *jCHS "&■'
general principle is obfervable, to which hif- f}u71^'wldl
tory fcarcely furniihes any exceptions : they / ,
aimed lefs in their laws at extirpating the a
caufes of an evil, than deftroying its effects,*^
by oppofing thefe caufes one to another ;
they wifhed rather to take advantage of pre-
judices and vices, than to difperfe or fupprefs
them ; they attended more frequently to the
means by which to deform and brutalize
man, to inflame, to miilead his fenfibility,
than to refine and purify the inclinations and
defires which are the neceffary refult of his
moral conftitution : errors occafioned by the
more general one of miftaking for the man of
nature, him who exhibited in his character
the actual ftate of civilization, that is to
fay, man corrupted by prejudices, by the in-
tereft of factitious palGons, and by fc rial ha~
bits.
This
t 92 )
mAnd atu-Asfl^1^ obfervation is of the more import
J/^. t 6+ anee, and it will be the more neceflary to
' -jj/ develope its origin, in order the better to de-
\f J /H ^iT0J **'i as ** ^as '3een ^anfmitted to our own
* \ J a age, and ftill too often corrupts both our mo-
Ujht^1 .rals and our politics.
q^j^/ l/ W we compare the legislation, and parti-
* 7 cularly the form and rules of judicature in
(jOwii+y . ^Q Greek, <or in the eaftern nations, we fhall
fr/ 1 ' t LJ*n<^ t^Lat' *n ^omQ> tne "aws are a y°ke t0
& oidJ^UL'Jtc which force has bowed the necks of flaves ;
J^. *H*f* in others, the conditions of a common com^
k***/ /I^lTS^ between *ke niembers of the fociety. In
a^buM lome the object of legal forms is, that the
will of the matter be executed ; in others that
the liberty of the citizens be not oppreffed. In
fome the law is made for the party that im-
pofes it ; in others for the party that is to
/ . fubmit to it. In fome th^ fear of the law i$
J enforced, in others the love of it inculcated.
Mi* k**^-*^And thefe diftin&ions we alfo find in modern
j*-**4"* nations, between the laws of a free people^
and thofe of a country of flaves. In Greece
we fhall find that man poflefled at leaft a
confeioufnefs o his rights, if he did not yet
know them, if he could not fathom the na-
ture,
( 93 >
fure, and embrace and circumfcribe the ex-
tent of them.
At this epoch, of the firft dawn of philo-
fophy and firft advance of the fciences among
the Greeks, the fine arts rofe to a degree of*A***^*
perfection known at that time to no other
people, and fcarcely equalled fince by almofi
any nation. Homer lived at the period of // fftttf
thofe difTentions which accompanied the fall
of the tyrants, and the formation of re-
publics. Sophocles, Euripides, Pindar, Thu-
cydides,r Demofthenes^ Phidias, Apelles, were
the contemporaries of Socrates or of Plato. J<w*&>.
We fhall give a delineation of the progrefe
of thofe arts ; we fhall enquire into its caufes ;
we fhall diftmguifh between what may be
eonfidered as a perfedKon of the art itfelf,
and what is to be afcribed only to the happy
genius of the artift : a diftin£tion calculated to
deflroy thofe narrow limits to which the im-
provement of the fine arts has been reftri&ed.
We fhall explain the influence that forms of
government, fyftems of legiflation, and the
fpirit of religious obfervances have exercifed
on their progrefs, and fhall examine what
they have derived from the advances of phi-
lofophy.
( 94 )
lofophy, and what philofophy itfelf has de*
rived from them.
4 u/ tfgfsfo, We *ha^ fhew that liberty, arts, know-
y d ledge, have contributed to the fuavity and
^Jj\ ' i melioration of manners ; that the vices of the
^, Greeks, fo often afcribed to their civilization,
**were thofe of ruder ages, and which the ac-
mMus ***** quirements we have mentioned have in all
tfhJusuL inftances qualified, when they have proved
unable to extirpate them. We fhall demon-
ftrate that the eloquent declamations which
have been made againft the arts and fciences,
are founded upon a miftaken application of
hiftory ; and that, on the contrary, the pro-'
JhuA la grefs of virtue has ever accompanied that of
caf>+fa knowledge, as the progrefs of corruption has
mvu£ tUd always followed or announced its decline.
FIFTH
9S )
FIFTH EPOCH.
Progrefs of the Sciences ', from their Divifion to
their Decline,
^^^^
JL LATO was flill living when Arifiotle, \mjiri5foilC
difciple, opened, in Athens itfelf, a fchool, the
rival of that of his mafter.
He not only embraced all the fciences, but
applied the method obferved in philofophy to
the arts of eloquence and poetry. He was
the firft whofe daring genius conceived the
propriety of extending this method to every
thing attainable by human intelligence ; fince,
as this intelligence exercifed in all cafes the
fame faculties, it ought invariably to be
governed by the fame laws.
The more comprehenfrve was the plan he
formed, the more he felt the neceffity of
feparating the different parts of it, and of
fixing with greater precifion the limits of
each. And from this epoch the majority
of philofopherSj and even whole ~ feels, are
( 96 )
feen confining their attention to fome only
of thofe parts.
/^^^^i/^The mathematical and phyfical fciences
'tfj^/jLi, formed of themfelves a grand divifion. As
* they were founded upon calculation and the
obfervance of the phenomena of nature, as
what they taught was independent of the
• * opinions which embroiled the fe£te, they fe-
/Df +a parated themfelves from philofophy, over
! -O/uUrSff/hV which thefe feds ftill reigned. They accord-
ingly became the ftudy of the learned, who
had the wifdom almoft univerfally to keep
aloof from the difputes of the fchools, which
were conduced in a manner calculated rather
to promote the tranfient fame of the pro-
feflbrs, than aid the progrefs of philofophy
itfelf. And foon this word ceafed to be em-
ployed, except for the purpofe of expreffing
JwbhymJfc* t^ie general principles of the fyftem of the
y^^jj world, metaphyfics, logic, and morals, of
which the fcience of politics formed a part.
Fortunately the era of this divifion pre-
ceded the period in which Greece, after long
ftruggles, was deftined to lofe her freedom.
The fciences found, in the capital of Egypt,
an afylum, which, by the defpots who go-
verned
( 97 J
verned it, would probably have been refufed
to philofophy. But as the princes derived no
inconliderable portion of their riches and
power from the united commerce of the Medi-
terranean and Afiatic feas, it was their intereft
to encourage fciences ufeful to navigation and
commerce.
Accordingly, they efcaped the fpeedy de-
cline that was foon experienced by philo-
fophy, the fplendour of which vanifhed with
the departure of liberty. The tyranny of the
Romans, fo regardlefs 6f the progrefs or
knowledge, did not extend to Egypt till a late . .
period, and when the town of Alexandria was^> * UZ&nantnu
become neceflary to the fubfiftance of Rome.
By its population, its wealth, the great influx
of ftrangers, the eftablifhments formed by the
Ptolemies, and which the conquerors did nokP/ff&frilCA
give themfelves the trouble to deftroy, this
town, the centre of commerce, and already
poffefling wherewith to be the metropolis of
the fciences, was iufficient of itfeff to the pre-
fervation of their facred flame.
The feci of Academics, in which, from iti
origin, the mathematics had been cultivated,
and which confined its philofophical inftruc-
H tion
( 98 )
I
tion almoft entirely to proving the utility of
* JjuJJ, doubt, and afcertaining the narrow limits of
j - f. certainty, muft of courfe have been a fe£t of
men of learning ; and as the do&rine had no-
thing in it calculated to give alarm to defpots,
it flourifhed in the fchool of Alexandria.
' ( tfjtHi ^e tne01T °^ conic fe&ions, with the
U method of employing it, whether for the
conftru&ing of geometrical loci, or for the
folution of problems, and the difcovery of
fome other curves, extended the limits, hi-
therto fo narrow, of the fcience of geometry.
^ttAl/7nM(lkS Archimedes difcovered the quadrature of
the parabola, and meafured the furface of the
fphere. Thefe were the firft advances in the~
theory of limits which determines the ulti-
mate value of a quantity, or, in other words,
the value to which the quantity in an infinite
progreffion inceffantly approaches, but never
attains ; that theory which teaches how to
determine the ratios of evanefcent quantities,
and by other procefles to deduce from thefe
Ratios the proportions of finite magnitudes ;
in a word, that very calculus which the
moderns, with more pride than jufiice, have
termed the calculus of infinities. It was Ar-
chimedes
( 99 ) '
rhimedes who firft determined the proportion
of the diameter of a circle to its circum*-
Ference in numbers nearly true ; who taught
us how to obtain values approaching nearer
and nearer to accuracy, and made known the
methods of approximation, that happy re-
medy for the defe&s of the known methods,
and frequently of the fcience itfelf.
He may, in fome refpect, be confidered as
the father of rational or theoretical mechanicSv/^^t^^
To him we are indebted for the theory of the
lever, as well as the difcovery of that principle
of hydroftatics, that a body immerfed in any
fluid, lofes a portion of its weight equal to the
mafs of fluid it has difplaced.
The fcrew that bears his name, his burning
glafies, the prodigies of the ilege of Syracufe,
atteft his fkill in the art of conftru cling me-
chanical inftruments, which the learned had
neglected, becaufe the principles of the theory
at that time known were inadequate to the
attainment. Thefe grand difcoveries, thefe
new fcienees, place Archimedes among thofe
happy geniufes whole life forms an epoch in
the hiftory of man, and whofe exiflence may
be confidered as one of the munificent gifts of 6*$" ff<"A/
nature. «**•%
H2 It
( I oof )
J\{Amja/YV0//J<A & *s *n tne fchool of Alexandria that we
A/ /t*a ^n^ ^e ^r^ traces °^ algeDra ; that is to fay,
* of the calculation of quantities confidered
fimply a$ fuch. The nature of the problems
y. / ' propofed and refolved in the work of Dio-
•^^r^^^phantus, made it neceffary that numbers
fhould be confidered as having a general value*
undetermined in their particular relations, and
fubjecT: only to certain conditions.
But this fcience had not then, as at prefent,
its appropriate figns, methods and technical
operations, The general value of quantities
was reprefented by words ; and it was only
by means of a feries of reafonings that the
folution of problems was difcovered and de-
veloped.
f LfJJj3mk The obfervations of the Chaldeans, trans-
mitted to Ariftotle by Alexander, accelerated
the progrefs of aftronomy. The moft bril-
liant portion of them was due to the genius
fthortcJut}*^ Hipparchus. And if, after him in aftro-
nomy, as after Archimedes in geometry and
mechanics, we no longer perceive thofe dis-
coveries and acquisitions which change, as it
were, the whole face of a fcience, they yet
for a long, time eontiaued to improve, ex-
pand^
( 101 )
pand, and enrich themfelves by the truths of
detail.
In his hiftory of animals, Ariftotle ha&<J/nimtuh
laid down the principles and furnifhed an
excellent model for obferving with accuracy,
and defcribing according to fyftem, the ob-
jects of nature, as well as for clafling thofe
obfervations, and catching with readinefs the
general refults which they exhibited. The
hiftory of plants and of minerals were treated
afterwards by others, but with inferior pre*
cifion, and with views lefs extenfive and lefs
philofophicaL
The progrefs of anatomy was very flow^ Jlnatpnuf
not only becaufe religious prejudices wouldrt£'$^ntA ^y*
not admit of the diffection of dead bodies/**
but from the vulgar opinion which regarded o^J^r ty*+*<*.
the touch of fuch bodies as a fort of moral
defilement
The medical fyftem of Hippocrates wasz^Awtf^
nothing more than a fcience of obfervation,
which as yet had led only to empirical me-
thods. The fpirit of feci:, and the love of hy-
pothetical pofitions foon infe&ed it. But if
the number of errors was greater than that of
nev* truths, if the prejudices or fyftems of the
H 3 prac-
( 102 )
practitioners did more harm than their oh-*
fervatlons were calculated to do good, yet it
cannot be denied that the fcience made,
during this epoch, a real, though very flight
progrefs.
Ariftotle introduced into natural philofophy
neither the accuracy nor the prudent referve
which characierife his hiftory of animals.
He paid tribute to the cuftoms of his age, to
iJLjhOTh*}**. the tafte of t;he fchools, by disfiguring it with
thofe hypothetical data, which, from their
vague nature, explain every thing with a fort
of readinefs, becaufe they are able to explain
nothing with precifion.
Befides, obfervation alone was not enough ;
fohwivywuh experiments were neceflary : thefe demanded
«/ * inftruments ; and it appears that at that time
men had not fufficiently collected facts, had
not examined them with the proper minute-
nefs, to feel the want, to conceive the idea
7 tvrYfi Jb***^ *^is mode of interrogating nature, and
t/j! -/obliging her to anfwer us.
At this epoch alfo, the hiftory of the pro-
grefs of natural philofophy is confined to a
fmall number of truths, acquired by chance,
and derived from obfervations furnifhed^ by
the
( I03 )
the practice of the arts, rather than from the
refearches of the Learned. Hydraulics, zn&fly^auc^
efpecially optics, prefent us with a harveft<^£^5
fomewhat lefs fterile ; but thefe alfo confift
rather of facts, which were remarked becaufe
they fell in the way and forced attention, than
of theories or phyfical laws difcovered by
experiments, or obtained by meditation and
ftudy.
Agriculture had hitherto been confined K&ctfajiadto*t
the fnnple routine and a few regulations, which
priefts, in tranfmitting them to the people,
had corrupted with their fuperftition. It be-
came with the Greeks, and ftill more with
the Romans, an important and refpected art ;
and men of greateft learning employed them-
felves in collecting its ufages and precepts.
Thefe collections of facts, precifely defcribed
and judicioufly arranged, were ufeful to en-
lighten the practical cultivator, and to extend
fuch methods as had proved valuable ; but
the age of experiment and regular deduction
ivas ftill very far off.
The mechanic arts began to connect them^y^y^^^-
felves with the fciences. Philofophers exa-
mined the labours, fought the origin, and
H 4 ftudiecL
( 104 )
ftudied the hiftory of thefe arts ; at the fame
time they defcribed the proceffes and fruits of
thofe which were cultivated in different coun-
tries and were induced to collect together
their obfervations, and tranfmit them to
potency.
//)/• Thus Pliny, in the comprehenfive plan of
J- his natural hiftory, includes man, nature and
the arts. This work is a valuable and com-
plete inventory of what at that time con-
llituted the true (lores of the human mind :
nor can his claims to our gratitude be fuper-
feded by the charge, however merited, of his
having colle&ed with too little difcrimination
and too much credulity, what the ignorance
or lying vanity of hiftorians prefented to his
avidity^ not to be fatiated, of knowing every
thing.
In the midft of the decline of Greece,
Athens, which, in the days of its power, had
'honoured philofophy and letters, owed to
them, in its turn, the preferving for a longer
period fome remains of its ancient fplendour.
In its tribune, indeed, the deftinies of Greece
and Afia were no longer decided ; it was,
however, in the fchoob of Athens that the
Romans
.JjjfuwU*
( io5 )
Romans acquired the fecrets of eloquence 5
and it was at the feet of Demofthenes' lamp
that the firft of their orators was formed.
The academy, the lyceum, the portico, the^7&&&#&
gardens of Epicurus, were the nurfery and^^***1-
principal fchool of the four fects that difputed ^CnTUcU
the empire of philofophy. ij^ru^fy^
It was taught in the academy, that every
thing is doubtful ; that man can attain, as to
any object, neither abfolute certainty nor a
true comprehenfion ; in fine, and it was
difficult to go farther, that he could not be
fure of this very impoffibility of knowing
any thing, and that it was proper to doubt
even of the neceffity of doubting.
The opinions of different philofophers were
explained, defended and oppofed in this
fchool, but merely as hypothefes calculated to
exercife the mind and illuftrate more fully,
by the uncertainty which accompanied thefe
difputes, the vanity of human knowledge Ta^*^r y tu^z
and abfurdity of the dogmatical confidence of*^*-- ~* >H
the other feds,
This doctrine, if it go no farther than to
difcountenance reafoning upon words to
which we can affix no clear and precife ideas;
than
( io6 )
I
than to proportion our belief in any pro-
portion to the degree of probability it bears ;
than to afcertain, as to every fpecies of know-
ledge, the bounds of certainty we are able to
acquire, — this fcepticifm is then rational ; but
when it extends to demonftrated truths ; when
it attacks the principles of morality, it be-
comes either weaknefs or infanity ; and fuch
is the extreme into which the fophifts have
fallen, who fucceeded in the academy the
firft difcipies of Plato,
• / We mall follow the fteps of thefe fceptlcs,
JClpUCw* and exhibit the caufe of their errors. We
ihall examine what, in the extravagance of
their doctrine, is to be afcribed to the paflion,
,fo prevalent, ofdiftinguifhing themfelves by
' , whimfical opinions ; and lhall fhew, that,
' \7.*" though fufficiently refuted by the inftindt of
v other men, by the inftindt which directed
thefe fophifts themfelves in the ordinary con-
-
duel: of life, they were neither properly re-*
futed, nor even underftood, by the philo-
fophers of the day.
Meanwhile this fceptical mania did not
poflefs the whole feci: of academics ; and the
h /J^ doctrine of an eternal idea, juft, comely,
honeft,
( ioy )
boneft, independent of the interefts and con-
ventions of men, and even of their exiftence,
an idea that, imprinted on the foul, becomes s
the principle of duty and the law of our<*^w wru^Ut
ftftions, this doftrine, derived from the Dia- «"°"£^A
logues of Plato, was ftill inculcated in his
fchool, and conftituted the bafis of moral in-
ftru&ion,
Ariftotle was no better {killed than \{\§iJjrUbU*
matter in the art of analyfing ideas ; that
is, of afcending ftep by ftep to the moft
iimple ideas that have entered into their com-
bination, of obferving the formation of thefe
fimple ideas themfelves, of following in thefe
operations the regular procedure of the mind,
and developement of its faculties.
His metaphyfics, like thofe of the other
philofophers, confifted of a vague doclrine,
founded fometimes upon an abufe of words,
and fometimes upon mere hypothefes.
To him, however, we owe that important
truth, that firft ftep in the fcience of the
human mind, that our ideas, even suchJ^tz^o^^/
AS ARE MOST ABSTRACT, MOST STRICTLY
INTELLECTUAL, fo tO fpeak, HAVE THEIR
QRIGIN IN OUR SENSATIONS. But this
truth
oumv
( 1 08 )
truth he failed to fupport by any demon-
stration. It was rather the intuitive percep-
tion of a man of genius, than the refult of a
feries of obfervations accurately analyfed,
and fyftematically combined, in order to de-
rive from them fome general truth. Ac-
cordingly, this germ, caft in an ungrateful
foil, produced no ufeful fruit till after a pe-
riod of more than twenty centuries.
Ariftotle, in his dialectics, having reduced
all demonftrations to a train of arguments
drawn up in a fyllogiftical form, and then
divided all imaginable propofitions under fou?
heads, teaches us to difcover, among the
poffible combinations of propofitions of thefe
four claries in collections of three and three,
thofe which anfwer to the nature of con-
clufive fyllogifms, and may be admitted with-*
out apprehenfion. In this way we may judge
of the cogency or weaknefs of an argument,
merely by knowing to what clafs it belongs ;
and thus the art of right reafoning is fub-^
jected in fome meafure to technical rules.
This ingenious idea has hitherto remained
ufelefs ; but perhaps it may one day become
the leading ftep towards a perfection which
tfcf
( *°9 )
the art of reafoning and difcuffion feems flill
to expert.
Every virtue, according td Ariftotle, \%fv>ytuLO*b.
placed between two vices, of which one is its i Yad>
defeft, and the other its excefs ; it is only, as
it were, one of thofe natural inclinations
which reafon equally forbids us too ftrongly
to refift, and too flavifhly to obey.
This general principle muft have been
fuggefted to him by one of thofe vague ideas
of order and conformity, fo common at that
time in philofophy ; but he proved its truth,
by applying it to the vocabulary of words
which, in the Greek language, expreffed what
were called the virtues.
About the fame period, two new fe£ts,
founding their fyftems of morality, at leafi: in
appearance, upon two contrary principles,
divided the general mind, extended their in-
fluence beyond the limits of their fchools,
and haftened the fall of Greek fuperftition ;
but, unhappily, a fuperftition more gloomy,
more dangerous, more inimical to knowledge,
was foon to fucceed it.
The ftoics made virtue and happinefs con-i/COt-Cb I
lift in the pofieffion of a foul alike infenfible
to
J,
( IIO )
to pleafure and to pain, free from all the
paffions, fuperior to every fear, every weak-
nefs, knowing no abfolute good but virtue, no
real evil but remorfe. They believed that
man was capable of raifmg himfelf to this
elevation, if he poffefTed a ftrong and conftant
defire of doing fo ; and that then, independent
of fortune, always matter of himfelf, he was
equally inaccemble to vice and calamity.
/t y An individual mind animates the world : it
is prefent in every thing, it it be not every
thing, if there exift any other thing than
itfelf. The fouls of human beings are emana-
tions of it. That of the fage, who has not
defiled the purity of his origin, is re-united,
at the inftant of death, to this univerfal fpirit.
Accordingly, to the fage, death would be a
blefling, if, fubmiffive to nature, hardened
againft what vulgar men call evils, it was not
more glorious in him to regard it with in-
difference.
ffiururtlA ^ Epicurus, happinefs is placed in the
7 enjoyment of pleafure, and in freedom from
pain. Virtue, according to him, confifts in
following the natural inclinations of the heart,
at the fame time taking care to purify and
direct
( III )
direct them. The practice of temperance,
which prevents pain, and, by preferving our
faculties in their full force, fecures all the en-
joyments that nature has provided for us ;
the care to guard ourfelves againft hateful
and violent paffions that torment and rend
the foul delivered up to their bitternefs and
fury ; the farther care to cultivate, on the
contrary, the mild and tender affections; to
be frugal of pleafures that flow from benevo-
lence ; to preferve the foul in purity, that we
may avoid the flume and remorfe which
punifli vice, and enjoy the delicious fenti-
ment that is the reward of laudable actions :
fuch is the road that conduits at once both to
happinefs and virtue.
Epicurus regarded the univerfe only as
a collection of atoms, the different combina-^735^
tions of which were fubjected to neceflaiy^^^^j
laws. The human foul was itfelf one of thole
combinations. The atoms which compofed if,
united when the body began to live, were
difperfed at the moment of death, to unite
themfelves again to the common mafs, and
enter into new combinations.
Unwilling too violently to fhock popular
prejudices, he admitted of Gods; but, in-
different
( Hi )
different to the aftions of men, ftratigers to
the orde£ of the univerfe, and governed, like!
other beings, by the general laws of its me-
chanifm, they were a fort of excrefcence of
the fyftem.
Men of morofe, proud, and unjufl cha-
racters, fcreened themfelves under the mafk
of ftoicifm, while voluptuous and corrupt
men frequently ftole into the gardens of Epi-
curus. Some calumniated the principles of
the Epicureans, who were accufed of placing
the fovereign good in the gratification of
fenfual appetites. Others turned into ridicule
^ /* the pretenfions of the fage Zeno, who, whether
a flave at the mill, or tormented with the gout,
Was equally happy, free, and independent.
The philofophy that pretended to foar
above nature, and that which wifhed only to
obey nature ; the morality which acknow-
ledged no other good than virtue, and that
which placed happinefs in the indulgence of
the natural inclinations, led to the fame prac-
tical confequences, though departing from
fuch oppofite principles, and holding fo con-
trary a language. This refemblance between
MW(UmA<\ the moral precepts of all fyftems of religion,
fall JLUA CttoiC Jtf>k<y*A^ file Jo^l^^
( "3 )
and all fe£ls of philofophy, would be fufflcicnt
to prove that they have a foundation inde-
pendent of the dogmas of thofe religions, or
the principles of thofe fecT:s ; that it is in the
moral constitution of man we muft feek xhzJlfrttljd
bafis of his duties, the origin of his ideas of
juftice and virtue : a truth which the feci: of
Epicureans approached more nearly than any
other ; and no circumftance perhaps fo much
contributed to draw upon it the enmity of all
clafTes of hypocrites, with whom morality was
fto commercial object of which they ambi-
tioufly contended for the monopoly.
The fall of the Greek republics involved j$U \UC kSTltt
that of the political fciences. After Flato, ^/yA/faApC
Ariftotle, and Xenophon, they almoft ceafed
to be included in the fyftem of philofophy.
But it is time to fpeak of an event that
changed the lot of a confiderable part of the
world, and exercifed on the progrefs of the
mind an influence that has reached even to
ourfelves.
If we except India and China, the city of s ^
Rome had extended its empire over every* # u u/rvy^
nation in which human intelligence had rifen hrcUji To i>C
above the weaknefs of its earlieft infancy. cvn#44w &*»*,
I It hqK
( IH )
It gave laws to all the countries into which
the Greeks had introduced their language,
their fciences, and their philofophy ; and thefe
nations, held hy a chain which victory had
fattened to the foot of the capitol, no longer
exitted but by the will of Rome, and for the
paffions of its chiefs.
A true picture of the conftitution of this
fovereign city will not be foreign to the object:
( L (kb*b °^ tn^s work» We fhall there fee the origin of
)tikU ' uh<u4 i?ereditary patrician rank, and the artful means
jCoJuM. „tuL</£Jh2Lt were adopted to give it greater (lability
Jl„t,<y»*Mlt and force, by rendering it lefs odious; we
M f*~*+t'/» fhall there fee a people inured to arms, but
Piuma- dht~J never employing them in domeftic diifentions ;
U *L tM ^Uniting real power to legal authority, yet
ILl trtctcJu fcarcely defending themfelves againft a haughty
fenate, that, while it rivetted the chains of fu-
perftition, dazzled them at the fame time with.
the fplendor of their victories ; a great nation,
the fport in turn both of its tyrants and its de-
. / fenders, and the patient dupe, for four centu-
tiJ ltd* r*es> °f a m°de °f taking votes, abfurd but
confecrated.
We fhall fee this conftitution, made for a
fingle city, change its nature without changing
its
( "5 )
its form, when it was necefiary to extend it to
a great empire, unable to maintain itfelf but
by continual wars, and prefently deftroyed by
its own armies ; and laftly, the people, the
fovereign people, debafed by the habit pf
being maintained at the expence of the public
treafury, and corrupted by the bounty of the
fenators, felling to an individual the imaginary
remains of their ufelefs freedom.
The ambition of the Romans led them to
fearch in Greece for mafters in the art of elc- iZe cyux*~~*~
quence, which in Rome was one of the roads
to fortune. That tafte for exclufive and re-
fined enjoyments, that want of new plea-
fures, which fprings from wealth and idlenefs,
made them court other arts of the Greeks,
and even the converfation of their philofo-
phers. But the fciences, philofophy, and thcJtu^fu^
arts connected with painting, were plants fo- u a-^^^y
reign to the foil of Rome. The avarice of the
conquerors covered Italy with the maller-^^^
pieces of Greece, taken by violence from the/^-u- ^s
temples, from cities of which thev conftituted*^'*^ ***-*
the ornament, and where they ferved as a^~ **t\ *^7
confolation under flavery. But the produc- ^"^ \ *
tio ns of no Roman dared mix with them, '
I 2 Cicero
Q
( 116 )
fujtf6 Cicero, Lucretius and Seneca wrote eloquently
f orU^ *m t^ie^r language upon philofophy, but it was
f upon Grecian philofophy ; and to reform the
barbarous calendar of Numa,Csefar was obliged
&£<&< t0 employ a mathematician from Alexandria.
Rome, long torn by the factions of ambi-
tious generals, bufied in new conquefts, or
agitated by civil difcords, fell at laft from its
tuLtMdih**^^ liberty into a military defpotifm ftill
ty, more reftlefs. And where, among_the chiefs
that afpired to tyranny, and foon after under
the defpots who feared truth, and equally
„ hated both talents and virtue, were the-
tranquil meditations of philofophy and the
fciences to find a place ? Befides, the fciences
and philofophy are neceflarily negle&ed as
barren and unprofitable in every country
where fome honourable career, leading to
wealth and dignities, is open to all whom their
natural inclination may difpofe to ftudy : and
JosJa UyutL^S^^ at R°me was tnat °f jurifprudence.
When laws, as in the eaft, are allied to re-
ligion, the right of interpreting them becomes
one of the ftrongeft fupports of facerdotal ty-
ranny. In Greece they had conftituted a part
of the code given to each city by its refpe&ive
legifla-
»
( "7 )
legiflator, who had affimilated them to the
fpirit of the conftitution and government
which he eftablilhed. They experienced but
few alterations. The magiftrates frequently
abufed them, and individual inftances of in-
juftice were not lefs frequent ; but the vices of
the laws never extended in Greece to a regu-
lar fyftem of robbery, reduced to the cold
forms of calculation. In Rome, where for a
long time no other authority was known but
the tradition of cuftoms, where the judges de-
clared every year by what principles difputes
would be decided during the continuance of
their magiftracy, where the firft written laws
were a compilation from the Greek laws,
drawn up by the decemvirs, more anxious
to preferve their power than to honour it
by prefenting a found code of legiflation :
in Rome, wThere, after that period, laws,
dictated at one time by the party of the
fenate, and at another by the party of the
people, fucceeded each other with rapidity,
and were inceffantly either deftroyed or con-
firmed, meliorated or aggravated by new de-
clarations, the multiplicity, the complication
and the obfcurity of the laws, an inevitable \
I 3 con-
i
v ( »8 )
confequence of the fluctuation of the language,
foon made of this ftudy a fcience apart. The
fenate, taking advantage of the refpedt of the
people for the ancient inftitutions, foon felt
that the privilege of interpreting laws was
nearly equivalent to that of making new ones ;
and accordingly this body abounded with
lawyers. Their power furvived that of the
fenate itfelf : it increafed under the emperors,
becaufe it is neceflarily greater as the code of
legislation becomes more anomalous and un-
certain.
new fcience
the Romans.
We fhall trace its hiftory, fince it is connected
with the progrefs which the fcience of legifla*.
tion has made among the moderns, and parti-
cularly with the obftacies which that legifla-
tion has had to encounter.
We (hall mow, that refpecT: for the pofitive
law of the Romans has contributed to preferve
fome ideas of the natural law of men, in or-
der afterwards to prevent thefe ideas from in-
creaiing and extending themfelves ; and that
while we are indebted to their code for a
fmall quantity of truths, it has furnifhed us
with
(vvnsfrrudm Jurifpnidence then is the only
' for which we are indebted to t
( ii9 )
with a far greater portion of tyrannical pre-
judices.
The mildnefs of the penal laws, under the (Pffll&u/fl/flfi
republic, is worthy our notice. They in a.
manner rendered facred the blood of a Roman
citizen. The penalty of death could not be
inflicted, without calling forth that extraordi-
nary power which announced public calami-
ties and danger to the country. The whole
body of the people might be claimed as
judge between a fmgle individual and the re-
public. It was found that, with a free people,
this mildnefs was the only way to prevent JlliMl/u/p
political diffentions from degenerating into
cruel maffacres ; the object was to correct, by
the humanity of the laws, the ferocious manners
of a people that, even in its fports, fquandered
profufely the blood of its Haves. Accordingly,
flopping at the times of the Gracchi, in no
country have ftorms fo numerous and violent
been attended with fo few crimes, or coft fo
little blood.
No work of the Romans upon the fubjecl: of
politics has defcended to us. That of Cicero (jiLlfTO
upon laws was probably but an embellifhed
extract: from the books of the Greeks. It
I 4 was
Q&btifri
( 120 )
was not amidft the convulfions of expiring
liberty, that moral fcience could refine and
perfect itfelf. Under the defpotifm of the
Csefars, ftudy would have experienced no
other conftru&ion than a confpiracy againft
their power. In fhort, nothing more clearly
proves how much the Romans were ignorant
of this fcience, than the example they furnifh
us, not to be equalled in the annals of hiftory,
/# of an uninterrupted fuccefii'on, from Nerva to
Marc Antony, of five emperors, poffefTing at
mw^once virt;ue5 talents, knowledge, a love of
J fn^i glory, and zeal for the public welfare, with-
0 out a fingle inflitution originating from them
that has marked the defire of fixing bounds to
defpotifm, of preventing revolutions, and of
cementing by new ties the parts of that huge
mafs, of which every thing predicted the ap-,
proaching difTolution.
The union of fo many nations under one
fovereignty, the fpread of two languages
which divided the empire, and which were
alike familiar to almoft every well-informed
mind, thefe caufes, a&ing in concert, muft
have contributed, no doubt, to the more equal
diffufion of knowledge over a greater fpace.
Another
( 12! )
Another natural effecl mud have been to
weaken by degrees the differences which fe-
parated the philofophical feels, and to unite
them into one, that mould contain fuch opi-
nions of each as were moft conformable to
reafon, and which a fober inveftigation had
tended to confirm. This was the point to
which reafon could not fail to bring philofo-
phers, when, from the effect of time on the
enthufiafm of fectaries, her voice alone was
fuffered to be heard. Accordingly, we find
already, in Seneca, marks of this philofophy :^%^#>
indeed it was never entirely diftincl from the
feci: of the academics^ which at length ap-
peared to become entirely the fame with it ;
and the moft modern of the difciples of Plato
were the founders of the feci: of eclectics.
Almoft every religion of the empire had (^{itlcu^n
been national ; but they all poffeiTed ftrong
lines of refemblance, and in a manner a fa-
mily likenefs. No metaphyseal doctrines ;
many ftrange ceremonies, of the meaning of
which the people, and frequently the priefts,
were ignorant ; an abfurd mythology, mjf^j^^1] .
which the multitude read the marvellous hif-
tory of its Gods only, but which men better
enlightened
orac/ti
( 122
/f//fCWV en%Qtened fufpe'Qed to be an allegory of
• ' •$ t doctrines more fublime ; bloody Facrifices ;
Jjjf idols reprefenting Gods, and of which fome
/7 /-// P°fi'e^e^ a celeftial virtue ; pontiffs devoted to
# the worfhip of each divinity, but without
forming a political corps, and even without
being united in a religious communion ; ora-
cular powers attached to certain temples, re-
°1lwf>fe fiding in certain ftatues ; and laftly, myfte-
jf&liuA ries, which their hierophants never revealed
jLdtvu* without impofing an inviolable law of fe-
crefy. Thefe were the features of refem-
blance.
Let us add, that the priefts, arbiters of the
religious confcience, had prefumed to affert
no claim upon the moral confcience ; that
they directed the practice of worihip, but
not the actions of private life. They fold
oracles and auguries to political powers ; they
could precipitate nations into war ; they could
dictate to them crimes ; but they exercifed
no influence either over the government or
the laws.
When the different nations, {ubjects now
of the fame empire, enjoyed an habitual ins?
fcercourfe, and knowledge had every where
(fwjti
2 made
( I23 )
made nearly an equal progrefs, it was foon
difcovered, by well-informed minds, that all
this multifarious worfhip was that of one only
God, of whom the numerous divinities, the (jTliM^^L
immediate objects of popular adoration, wereC5^ flJyYtort
but the modifications or the mimiiers. ^T^ J
Meanwhile, among the Gauls, and in fome ujbutS
cantons of the eaft, the Romans had found Zdht
religions Gf another kind. There the priefts
were the arbiters of morality ; and virtue
confided in obedience to a God, of whom
they called themfelves the fole interpreters,
Their power extended over the whole man ;
the temple and the country were confounded :
without being previcufiy an adorer of Jehova,
or OEfus, it was impcffible to be a citizen oxQ
fubjecl of the empire ; and the priefts deter-
mined to what human laws their God exacted
obedience.
Thefe religions were calculated to wound
the pride of the mafters of the world. That
of the Gauls was too powerful for them not
to feek immediately its deftruction. The
Jewifh nation was even difperied. But the
vigilance of government either difdained, or
elfe was unable to reach, the obfcure feels that
fecretly
( »4 )
fecretly formed tHemfelves out of the wreck of
the old fyftems of worfhip.
One of the benefits refulting from the
propagation of the Greek philofophy, had
been to put an end to a belief in the popular
divinities in all clafies of men who had re-
ceived any tolerable education. A vague kind
i^OiquiOivmo? deifm, or the pure mechanifm of Epicu-
rus, was, even at the time of Cicero, the
common doctrine of every enlightened mind,
and of all thofe who had the direction of pub-
lic affairs. This clafs of men was neceffarily
attached to the old religion, which however
it fought to purify from its drofs ; for the mul-
tiplicity of Gods of every country had tired
frakditu out even tne credulity of the people. Then
ftAauShd were ^een philofophers forming fyftems upon
the idea of interpofing genii, and fubmitting
to preparatory obfervances, rites, and a reli-
gious difcipline, to render themfelves more
worthy of approaching thefe fuperior effences ;
/pp l and it was in the dialogues of Plato they fought;
the principles of this doctrine.
The inhabitants of conquered nations, the
children of misfortune, men of a weak but
% fanguine imagination, would from preference
attach
( i25 )
attach themfelves to the facerdotal religions \)fit
becaufe the intereft of the ruline priefts tias-dtulta tftU
tated to them' that very doctrine of equality
in ilavery, of the renunciation of temporal
enjoyments, of rewards in heaven referved for
blind fubmilTion, for fufferings, for mortifica-
tions inflicted voluntarily, or endured without
repining ; that doctrine fo attractive, (o con- ^wArn j
iblatory to oppreiTed humanity ! But they
felt the neceffity of relieving, by metaphyficaL^A/
fubtleties, their grofs mythology : and here
again they had recourfe to Plato. His dia- SPuub
logues were the arfenal to which two oppofite
parties reforted to forge their theological arms.
In the fequel we mail fee Ariftotle obtaining ii^JhtiJdUM
fimilar honour, and becoming at once the
mailer of the theologians, and chief of the
atheifts.
Twenty Egyptian and Jewifh fects, uniting loupM*"1 *
their forces againft the religion of the empire, StwakJutt
but contending againft each other with equal
fury, were loft at length in the religion of y ,
Jefus. From their wreck were compofed 2^-cX4^
hiftory, a creed, a ritual, and a fyftem of mo-
rality, to wmich by degrees the mafs of thefe
fanatics attached themfelves.
They
( 126 )
f / ' ,J- They ail believed in a Chrift, a Meffiah
V ' fent from God to reftore the human race.
This was the fundamental doctrine of every
feci: that attempted to raife itfelf upon the
ruins of the ancient fects. They difputed
refpecting the time and place of his appear*
" ance, and his mortal name : but a prophet,
rfftftdbk °f feid to have ftarted up in Paleftine, in the
(ft /• reign of Tiberius, eclipfed all the other ex-
pected prophets, and the new fanatics rallied
under the ftandard of the fon of Mary.
In proportion as the empire weakened, the
progrefs of this religion of Chrift became
more rapid. The degraded ftate of the ancient
. conquerors of the world extended to their
Gods, who, after prefiding in their victories,
were no longer regarded than as the impotent
*f /- L- witnefTes of their defeat. The fpirit of the
h . ± new feet was better fuited to periods of de-
M'A/rvt***, chne and misfortune. Its chiets, m ipite or
their impoftures and their vices, were enthu-
>/^, 4/2u/fiaft.s ready to fuffer death for their doctrine.
\ , The religious zeal of the philofophers and of
the great, was only a political devotion : and
every religion which men permit themfelves
to defend as a creed ufeful to be left to the
people*
^V'
( I27 )
people, can expect no other fate than a diffo-
lution more or lefs diftant. Chriftianity ibon
became a powerful party ; it mixed in the
quarrels of the Casfars : it placed Conftantine^^^^f
on the throne ; where it afterwards feated it-
felf, by the fide of his weak fucqeflbrs.
In vain did one of thofe extraordinary men
whom chance fometimes exalts to fovereign y .
power, Julian, wifh to free the empire froiru/6^/2%/
this plague which was calculated to haften its
fall. His virtues, his indulgent humanity,
the fimplicity of his manners, the dignity of
his foul and his character, his talents, his
courage, his military genius, the fplendor of
his victories, every thing feemed to promife
him fuccefs. No other reproach could be
cafl: upon him than that of mowing for a reli-
gion, become ridiculous, an attachment un-
worthy of him if fincere, indifcreet from its
extravagance if political : but he died in the
midft of his glory, after a reign of two years.
The Coloffus of .the Roman empire found its
arms no longer fufficiently ftrong to fupport
the weight of it ; and the death of Julian broke
down the only mound that might yet have
oppofed itfelf againft the torrent of new fu«
perditions,
( 128 )
perftitions, and the inundations of barba-
rians.
Contempt for human fciences was one of the
firft features of Chriftianity. It had to avenge
itfelf of the outrages of philofophy ; it feared
that fpirit of inveftigation and doulpt, that
confidence of man in his own reafon, the peft
alike of all religious creeds. The light of the
natural fciences was even odious to it, and
was regarded with a fufpicious eye, as being
a dangerous enemy to the fuccefs of mi*
racles : and there is no religion that does not
oblige its fedxaries to fwallow fome phyfical
abfurdities. The triumph of Chriftianity was
thus the fignal of the entire decline both of
the fciences and of philofophy.
Had the art of printing been known, the
fciences would have been able to preferve
their ground ; but the exifting manufcripts
of any particular book were few in number ;
and to procure works that might form the en-
tire body of a fcience, required cares, and often
journies and an expence to which the rich only
were competent. It was eafy for the ruling
party to fupprefs the appearance of books
which fhocked its prejudices, or unmafked its
impoftures.
( «9 )
iriipoflures. An incurfion of barbarians might,
in one day, deprive for ever a whole country of
the means of knowledge. The deftruction of
a fingle manufcript was often an irreparable
and univerfal lofs. Befides, no works were
copied but fuch as were recommended by the
names of the authors. All thofe inveftiga^
tions which can acquire importance only from
their afTemblage, thofe detached obfervations,
thofe improvements of detail, that ferve to
keep the fciences flowing in a level channel,
and that prepare their future progrefs ; all
thofe materials which time amaffes, and
which await the birth of genius, were con-
demned to an eternal obfcurity. That con-
cert of learned men, that combination of all
their forces, fo advantageous, fo indifpenfible
at certain periods, had no exiftence. It was
neceflary for the fame individual to begin and
complete a difcovery ; and he was obliged
to combat with his fingle ftrength all the ob-
ftacles which nature oppofes to our efforts*
The works which facilitate the ftudy of the
fciences, which throw light upon difficulties,
which exhibit truths under more commodious
and more fimple forms, thofe details of obfer-
K vation.
( *3° )
»
vation, thofe developements which ferve to
detect erroneous inferences, and in which the
reader frequently catches what the author
himfelf has not perceived ; fuch works would
find neither copyifts nor readers.
It was then impoffible that the fciences, ar-
rived at a point in which the progrefs, and
even the ftudv of them were ilill difficult,
fhould be able to fupport themfelves, and re-
fift the current that bore them rapidly towards
their decline. Accordingly it ought not to
aftonifh us that Chriftianity, though unable
in the fequel to prevent their re-appearance in
fplendor, after the invention of printing, was
at this period fufficiently powerful to accom-
plish their ruin.
If we except the dramatic art, which flou-
riihed only in Athens, and muft have been
involved in her fall, and eloquence, which
cannot breathe but in a free air, the language
and literature of the Greeks preferved for a
cCotuayn *ong time their luftre. Lucian and Plutarch
OLota^U would not difparage the age of Alexander*
Rome, it is true, rofe to a level with Greece
in poetry, eloquence, hiftory, and the art of
treating with dignity, elegance and fafcina-
tion.
( i3i )
tion, the dry fubjecT:s of philofophy and the
fciences. Greece indeed had no poet, that
evinced fo fully as Virgil, the idea of perfec- Y^f^
tion, and no hiftorian to be compared with
Tacitus. But this inftant of fplendor was-^'"*^
followed by a fpeedy decline. From the time
of Lucian, Rome had fcarcely any writers
above barbarifm. Chryfiftom ftill fpeaks fazyirtffakm
language of Demofthenes. We recognife no
longer that of Cicero or of Livy, either in ,
Auftin, or even in Jerome, who has not toJruMn Jcrrvinv
plead in his excufe the influence of African
barbarity. %
The caufe is, that at Rome the ftudy of
letters and love of the arts were never the real
tafte of the people ; that the tranfient per-
fection of its language was the work, not of
the national genius, but of a few individuals
whom Greece had been the inftrument of
forming. The caufe is, that the Roman ter-
ritory was always, as to letters3 a foreign •
foil, to which an affiduous culture had been
able to naturalife them, but where they muft
neceflarily degenerate the moment they were
abandoned to themfefves.
K 2 The
(MjitencUmi
( 132 5
The importance fo long affixed, in Greece '
and in Rome, to the tribune and the bar, in-
created in thofe countries the clafs of rheto-
ricians. Their labours have contributed to
the progrefs of the art, of which they have
developed the principles and fubtleties. But
they taught another art too much neglecled by
the moderns, and which at prefent it has been
thought proper to transfer from fpeeches for
the tribune, to compofitions for the prefs : I
mean that of preparing with facility, and in a
fhort fpace of time, difcourfes, which, from
the arrangement of their parts, from the me-
thod confpicuous in them, from the graces
with which they may be embellifhed, fhall at
leaft become fupportable : I mean the art of
being able to fpeak almoft inftantaneoufly,
without fatiguing the auditors with a medley
of ideas, or a diffufe ftyle ; without difgufting
them with idle declamation, quaint conceits,
nonfenfe and fopperies. How ufeful would
be this art in every country where the func-
tions of office, public duty, or private intereft
may oblige men to fpeak and write* without
feaving time to ftudy their fpeeches or their
compofitions ? its hiftory is the more deferr-
ing
( l33 )
ing our attention, as the moderns, to whom
in the mean time it mull often be neceflary,
appear only to have known it on the fide of
abfurdity. .
From the commencement of the epoch of
which I fhall here terminate the delineation,
manufcripts were tolerably numerous ; but
time had fpread over the performances of the
firft Greek writers a fufficient number of ob-
fcurities, for the ftudy of books and opinions,
known by the name of erudition, to form an^W^^*5
important portion of the occupations of the
mind ; and the Alexandrian library was
crowded with grammarians and critics.
In what has been tranfmitted to us of their
productions, we perceive a propenfity in thefe
critics to proportion their degree of confidence
and admiration of any book to its antiquity,
and the difficulty of understanding and pro-
curing it ; a difpofition to judge opinions not
by themfelves, not according to their merits,
but from the names of their authors ; to found
their belief upon authority, rather than upon
reafon ; in fhort, that falfe and definitive
idea of the deterioration of the human race, and
fuperiority of ancient periods. The folution
K 3 and ,
ivL
{ *34 )
and excufe of this error, an error in which
the antiquarians of every country have had a
greater or lefs fhare, are to be found in the
importance which men affix to what has been
the object of their attention, and called forth
the energies of their mind.
J.**** The Greek and Roman antiquarians, and
even their literati and philofophers, are charge-*
able with a total neglect of that fpirit of doubt
which fubjecT:s to a rigorous inveftigation both
fa&s, and the proofs that eftabiifh them. In
reading their accounts of the hiftory of events
or of manners, of the productions and pheno-
, mena of nature, or of the works and pro-
ceffes of the arts, we are aftonifhed at the
compofure with which they relate the moft
palpable abfurdities, and the moft fulfome
and difgufting prodigies. A hearfay or ru-
mour which they found tacked to any event,
was fuffvcient, they conceived, to fcreen them
from the cenfure of childifh credulity. This
indifference, Which fpoiled their ftudy of hif-
tory, and was an obftrucliion to their advance-
ment in the knowledge of nature, is to be
afcribed to the misfortune of the art of print-
ing not being known, The certainty of our
having
( i35 )
»
having collected, reflecting any fact, all the
authorities for and againft it, a facility in
comparing the different teftimonies, the op-
portunity of throwing light upon the fubject
by the difcuflions to which that difference
may give rife, are means of afcertaining truth
which can only exift when it is poffible to
procure a great number of books, when co-
pies of them may be indefinitely multiplied,
and when no fear is entertained of giving them
too extenfive a circulation.
How were the relations and defcriptions
of travellers, of which there frequently exifled
but a fmgle copy, defcriptions that were not
fubjected to public judgment, to acquire that
ftamp of authority, founded upon the circum-
ftance of fuch judgment not having, and not
being able, to contradict them ? Accordingly,
every thing was recorded alike, becaufe it was
impoffible to afcertain with any certainty what
was deferving of record. But we can have
no right to aftonifhment at this practice of
reprefenting with equal confidence, and as
founded upon equal authorities, facts the
mod natural, and miracles the moft fcupend-
qus ; the fame error is ftill inculcated in our
K 4 ' fchool*
( 136 )
fchools as a principle of philofophy, while, in
another fenfe, an overweening incredulity-
leads us to reject without examination what-
ever appears to us to be out of nature ; nor
has the fcience in our days begun to exift, that
can alone teach us to find, between thefe two
extremes, the point at which reafon dire$s u§
to flop,
SIXTH
( J37 )
SIXTH EPOCH.
Decline of Learning, to its "Rejlcration about
the Period of the Crufadcs.
AN the difaftrous epoch at which we are
now arrived, we fhall fee the human mind
rapidly defcending from the height to which
it had raifed itfelf, while Ignorance marches
In triumph, carrying with her, in one place,
barbarian ferocity ; in another, a more refined
and accomplifhed cruelty ; every where, cor-
ruption and perfidy. A glimmering of talents,
fome faint fparks of greatnefs or benevolence
of foul, will, with difficulty, be difcerned
amidft the univerfal darknefs. Theological
reveries, fuperftitious delufions, are become
the fole genius of man, religious intolerance
his only morality ; and Europe, crufhed be-
tween facerdotal tyranny and military &z&mu/vM<*£
potifm, awaits, in blood and in tears, the mo- ^^TTV
ment when the revival of light fhall reftore it ^/^1
to liberty, to humanity, and to virtue,
% We
( 138 )
We fhall divide the pi&ure into two diftincT;
parts. The firft will embrace the Weft, where
the decline was more rapid and more ab-
solute, but where the light of reafon is
again to make its appearance, never more to
be extinguifhed. The fecond will be con-
fined to the Eaft, where the decline was more
flow, and, for a long time, lefs univerfal, but
where the day of reafon has not yet dawned,
that mail enlighten it, and enable it to break
in pieces its chains.
Chriftian piety had fearcely overthrown the
altars of vidory, when the Weft became the
prey of barbarians. They embraced the new
religion, without adopting the language of the
vanquifhed. This the priefts alone preferred ;
but, from their ignorance and contempt for
human learning, they exhibited none pf thofe
appearances which might have been expected
from a perufal of the Latin books, particularly
when they only w£re capable of reading
them.
The illiterate character, and rude manners
of the conquerors, are fufficiently known s
meanwhile, it was in the midft of this fero-
cious ftupidity that the deftruftion pf do-,
meftic
( »39 )
mcftic flavery took place ; a flavery that had^^5
diferaced the bcft days of Greece, when a
country diftinguifhed for learning and li-
berty.
The rural flaves, ferfs of the glebe, culti-
vated the lands of the conquerors. By this
opprefTed clafs of men, their houfes were fup-
plied with domeftics, whofe dependent fitua-
tion anfwered all the purpofes of their pride
or their caprice. Accordingly, the object of
their wars was not Haves, but lands and
colonies.
Befide,the domeftic flaves which they found
in the countries they invaded, were in a great
meafure either prifoners taken from fome
tribe of the victorious nation, or the children
of thofe prifoners. Many, at the moment of
conqueft, had fled, or elfe joined themfelvefr
to the army of the conquerors.
The principles of general fraternity, whic
conftituted a part of the Chriftian morals, alfo
condemned flavery ; and, as the priefls faw no
political reafon for contradicting, in this par-
ticular, maxims that did honour to their caufe,
they contributed, by their difcourfes, to a
downfall which otherwife events and man-
ners would necefiarily have accomplished.
% This
( H° )
This change has proved the generative
principle of a revolution in the deftinies of
mankind. To this men are indebted for the
knowledge of true liberty. But its influence
on the lot of individuals was at firft almoft
infenfible. We fhould form a very falfe idea of
domeftic flavery as it exifted at this period and
among the ancients, if we compared it to that
of our negroes. The Spartans, the grandees of
Rome, and the fatraps of the Eaft, were, no
jdoubt, barbarous maflers. Avarice difplayed
all its brutality in the labours of the mines :
but, on the other hand, intereft had almoft
every where foftened the ftate of flavery in
private families. The impunity granted for
violences committed againft the rural Have,
was carried to a high pitch, fmce the law had
exactly fixed its price. His dependence was
as great as that of the domeftic, without being
compenfated by the fame attentions. He was
lefs perpetually under the eye of his mafter ;
but he was treated with a more lordly arro^
gance. The domeftic was a flave whom for-
tune had reduced to a condition to which
a fimilar fortune might one day reduce his
mafter. The rural flave? on the contrary, was
con^
( Hi )
confidered as of a lower clafs, and in a ftate
of degradation.
It is principally, then, in its remote confe-
quences that we muft confider this annihila-
tion of domeftic flavery.
Thefe barbarian nations had all nearly the
fame form of government, confifting of a
common chief, called iihg9 who, with a coun- fit* a
cil, pronounced judgments, and gave decifions,
that it would have been dangerous to delay ;
of an affembly of private chiefs, confulted upon (n^f>
all refolutions of a certain importance ; and,
laftly, of an affembly of the people, in which (AjfS/
meafures interefting to the general community
were deliberated. The principal difference
was the greater or lefs degree of authority
affixed to thefe three powers, which were not
diftinguifhed by the nature of their functions,
but by the rank of affairs confided to them ;
and, above all, by the value of that rank in
the minds of the majority of the citizens.
Among the agricultural tribes of thefe bar-
barians, and particularly thofe who had al-
ready formed an eftabliihment on a foreign
territory, thefe conftitutions had affumed a
more regular and more folid form, than ■
among
loULun
{ m )
among paftoral tribes. The individuals of
fuch tribes alfo were difperfed over the foil,
and did not live, like the others, in encamp-
ments more or lefs numerous. The kine
therefore had not always an army alTembled
about his perfon ; and defpotifm could not fo
immediately follow upon conqueft, as in the
revolutions of Afia.
The viBorious nation was thus not enflaved.
At the fame time, thefe conquerors kept the
towns, but without inhabiting them. As they
were not held in awe by an armed force, no
permanent force of that kind exifting, they
acquired a fort of _power ; and this power
was a point of fupport for the liberty of the
conquered nation.
It^ly was often invaded by the barbarians 4,
but they were able to form there no durable
eftablifhments, from its wealth continually
exciting the avarice of new conquerors, and
becaufe the Greeks entertained the hope, for a
confiderable period, of uniting it to the em-
pire. It was never, by any people, entirely or
permanently fubdued. The Latin language,
which was there the only language of the
people, degenerated more flowly j and igno-
rance
( H3 )
ranee alfo was lefs complete, fuperftition lefs
fenfelefs, than in the other parts of the
Weft.
Rome, which acknowledged matters only ^[{jyyyi/
to change them, maintained a fort of in-
dependence. This city was the refidence of /T>(yf)Cj
the chief of the religion. Accordingly, while
in the Eaft, fubjected to a fingle prince, the
clergy, fometimes governing, and fome times
confpiring againft the emperors, fupported
defpotifm, though refilling the defpot, and pre-
ferred availing themfelves of the whole power
of an abfolute mafter, to difputing a part of it;
we fee them, on the contrary, in the Weft,
united under a common head, erecting a
power, the rival of that of kings, and forming
in thefe divided ftates a fort of diftincl: and
independent monarchy.
We fhall exhibit this ruling city trying the
experiment upon the univerfe of a new fpe-
cies of chains; its pontiffs fubjugating igno- uorul-M
rant credulity by acts grofsly forged ; mixing If
religion with all the tranfactions of civil life,
to render them more fubfervient to their
avarice or their pride ; puniihing by anathe-
mas, from which the people fhrunk with
horror,
( 144 )
horror, the lead oppofition to their laws, the
fmalleft refinance of their abfurd pretenfions ;
fa / having an army of monks in every ftate,
ready, by their impoftures, to enhance the
terrors of fuperfrition, thereby to feed the
flame of fanati.cifm ; depriving nations of their
worfhip and ceremonies, upon which de-
pended their religious hopes, to kindle civil
j/iLt> rfuuurt war . difturbing all, to govern all ; com-
liOiA^j {ji^-. manding, *m the name of God, treafon and
perfidy, affaffination and parricide ; makirg
kings and warriors now the inftruments, and
now the victims, of their revenge ; difpofmg
of force, but never poffeffing it ; terrible to
their enemies, but trembling before their own
defenders ; omnipotent to the very extremi-
ties of Europe, yet infulted with impunity
at the foot even of their altars ; finding in
heaven the point upon which to fix the lever
for moving the world, but without difcovering'
on earth the regulator that is to direct and
continue its motion at their will ; in fhort,
erecting a ColofTus, but with legs of clay,
that, after firft oppreffing Europe, is after-
wards to weary it, for a long period, with
the weight of its ruins and fcattered frag-
ments.
|! Conqueft
( HS )
Conqueft had introduced into the Weft
a tumultuous anarchy, in which the people
groaned under the triple tyranny of kings,
leaders of armies, and priefts ; but this anarchy
carried in its womb the feed of liberty. In
this portion of Europe muft be comprehended
the countries into which the Romans had not
penetrated. Partaking of the general com-
motion, conquering and conquered in turn,
having the fame origin, the fame manners as
the conquerors of the empire, thefe people
were confounded with them in the common
mafs* Their political ftate muft have ex-
perienced the fame alterations, and followed
a fimilar route.
We fhall give a fketch of the revolutions^
of this feodal anarchy : a name that may J^cLCjfttafzAtf^
furnifh an idea of its character.
Their legiflation was incoherent and bar-
barous. If we find in its records many laws
apparently mild, this mildnefs was nothing
elfe than an unjuft and privileged impunity.
Meanwhile we trace among them fome in-
ftitutions of a true temper, which, though as
being intended to confecrate the rights of
the oppreffor, were an additional outrage to
L the
( H6 }
the rights of men, yet tended to preferve
fome feeble idea of thefe laft, and were
deftined one day to ferve as an index to their
recognition and reftoration.
In this legiflation two fingular cuftoms are
obfervable, charadteriftic at once both of the
infancy of nations, and the ignorance of the
rude ages. A criminal might purchafe exemp-
tion from punifhment by means of a fum of
[Jl/TllS money fixed by law, which eftimated the
lives of men according to their dignity or
their birth. Crimes were not confidered as a
violation of the fecurity and rights of citizens,,
which the dread of punifhment was to pre-
vent, but as an outrage committed on an in-
dividual, which himfelf or his family might
avenge, if they pleated, but of which the law
offered a more advantageous reparation. Men
had fo little notion of afcertaining the proofs
by which a fad: might be fubftantiated, that
it was thought a more fimple mode of pro-
ceeding to requeft of Heaven a miracle, when-
ever the queftion was to difcriminate between
guilt and innocence; and the fuccefs of a
fuperftitious experiment, or the chance event
of a combat, were regarded as the fureft
means
2
(jOftd>cU/
( *47 )
means of detecting falfhood and arriving at
the truth.
With men who made no diftinction be-
tween independence and liberty, the quarrels
arifing among thofe who ruled over a portion,
however fmall,of the territory, muft degenerate
into private wars ; and thefe wars extending
from canton to canton, from village to village,
habitually delivered up the whole furface of
each country to all thofe horrors1 which, even
in great invafions, are but tranfient, and in
general wars defolate only the frontiers.
Whenever tyranny aims at reducing the -^ *"* T*7.
mats or a people to the will of one or its" 4y .
portions, the prejudices and ignorance 01 the ' *-¥■-
victims are counted among; trie means ot , „ „ /
effecting it : it endeavours to compenfate, by* ** etjjui
the compreflion and activity of a fmaller ^ ^^ <rf iA
force, for the fuperiority of real force, which,</vw&^ •
one might fuppofe, cannot fail to belong, at
all times, to the majority of numbers. But the
principal foundation of its hope, which how-
ever it can feldom attain, is that cf ertablifh-
ing between the mailers and fiaves a real dif-
ference, which mail in a manner render na^
ture herfelf an accomplice in the guilt of
political inequality,
L 2 Such
hifam \fimdh
( 148 }
Such was, in remote periods, the art of the
Eaftern priefts, who were at once, kings,
pontiffs, judges, aftronomers, furveyors, artifts
and phyficians. But what they owed to the
exclufive poffeffion of intellectual powers, the
groffer tyrants of our weak progenitors ob-
tained by their inflitutions and their warlike
habits. Clothed with an impenetrable ar-
mour, righting only upon horfes as invul-
nerable as themfelves, acquiring, by dint of a
long and painful difcipline, the neceflary
ftrength and addrefs for guiding and govern-
ing them, they might opprefs with impunity,
and murder without rifk, an individual of the
commonalty, too poor to purchafe thefe ex-
penfive accoutrements, and whofe youth, ne-
ceffarily occupied by ufeful labours, could
not have been devoted to military exer-
cifes. •
Thus the tyranny of the few acquired, by
the practice of this mode of fighting, a real
fuperiority of force, which mu ft have excluded
all idea of refiflance, and which rendered for a
long time fruitlefc even the efforts of defpair.
Thus the equality of nature difappeared be-
fore this fa&itious inequality of ftrength-
The
( 149 )
The morality of this period, which it vt2&McfTa£uZ
the province of the priefts alone to inculcate,
comprehended thofe univerfal principles which
no feci: has overlooked ; but it gave birth to a
multitude of duties purely religious, and of^Wk^
imaginary fins. Thefe duties were more }v*A
ftrongly enforced than thofe of nature ; and
actions indifferent, lawful, and even virtuous,
were cenfured and punifhed with greater fe-
verity than actual crimes. Meanwhile a mo-
mentary repentance, confecrated by the abfo-
lution of a prieft, opened the gates of heaven
to the wicked ; and donations to the church,
with the obfervance of certain practices flat-
tering to its pride, fufficed to atone for a life
crowded with iniquity. Nor was this all :
abfolutions were formed into a regular tariff, c
Care was taken to include in the catalogue of inolt^l
fins, all the degrees of human infirmity, from
fimple defires, from the moit innocent in-
dulgences of love, to the refinements and
exceffes of the molt intemperate debauchery.
This was a frailty from which, it was well
known, few were able to efcape \ and it was
accordingly one of the molt productive
branches of the facerdotal commerce. There
L 3 was
( *5° )
was even a hell of a limited duration in«
vented, which priefts had the power of abridg-
ing, and from which they could grant dif-
penfations ; a favour which they firft obliged
the living to purchafe, and afterwards the
relations or friends of the deceafed. They
fold fo much land in heaven for an equal
quantity of land upon earth ; and they had
the extreme modefty not to afk any thing to
boot.
fiffffuft Ufffti The manners of this epoch were unfor-
tunately worthy of a fyftem fo pregnant with
corruption, fo rootedly depraved. Their na-
ture may be learned from the progrefs of this
very fyftem itfelf ; from the monks, fome-
times inventing old miracles, fometimes fabri-
cating new ones, and nouriming with pro^
digies and fables the ftupid ignorance of the
people, whom they deceived in order to rob
them ; from the doctors of the church, em-*
ploying the little imagination they pofTefTed
in enriching- their creed with farther abfurdi-
ties, and exceeding, if poffible, thofe which
had been tranfmitted to them ; from the
priefts, obliging princes to confign to the
flames, not only the men who prefumed either
to
( *s* )
to doubt any of their dogmas, or inveftigate
their impoftures, or blufh for their crimes,
but thofe who mould depart for an in-
ftant from their blind obedience ; and even
iheologifts themfelves, when they indulged in
dreams different from thofe of the umpires of
the church, enjoying moft influence and con-
trol. Such, at this period, are the only traits
which the manners of the Weft of Europe
can furnifh. to the picture of the human
fpecies.
In the Eaft, united under a fingle defpot, f^b
we mail obferve a flower decline accompany-
ing the gradual debility of the empire ; the
ignorance and depravity of every age ad-
vancing a few degrees above the ignorance
and depravity of the preceding one ; while
riches diminifh, the frontiers ally themfelves
more clofely to the capital, revolutions be-
come more frequent, and tyranny grows more
daftardly and more cruel.
In following the hiftory of this empire, in
reading the books that each age has pro-
duced, the moft fuperficial and leaft attentive
obferver cannot avoid being ftruck with the
refemblance we have mentioned,
L4 The
( »** )
The people there indulged themfelves more
frequently in theological difputes. Thefe ac-
cordingly occupy a more confiderable portion
of its hiftory, have a greater influence upon
political events, and the dreams of priefts
acquire a fubtlety which the jealoufy of the
/ Weft could as yet not attain. Religious in-
IrX&iMff^M/ tolerance was equally oppreffive in both
quarters of Europe ; but, in the country we
are considering, its afpect was lefs ferocious.
fP^L* i Meanwhile the works of Photius evince
that a tafte for rational ftudy was not extinct.
A few emperors, princes, and even fome fe-
male fovereigns, are found feeking laurels out
of the boundaries of theological controverfy,
and deigning to cultivate human learning.
The Roman legiflation was but flowly cor-
rupted by that mixture of bad laws which
avarice and tyranny dictated to the em-
perors, or which fuperftition extorted from
their weaknefs. The Greek language loft its
purity and character; but it preferved its
richnefs, its forms and its grammar ; and the
inhabitants of Conftantinople could ftill read
Homer and Sophocles, Thucydides and Plato.
/ jl - * Anthemius explained the conftru&ion of the
burning
( *S3 )
burning glaffes of Archimedes, which Proclua
employed with fuccefs in the defence of the
capital. Upon the fall of the empire, this city-
contained fome literary characters, who took
refuge in Italy, and whofe learning was ufeful
to the progrefs of knowledge. Thus, even at
this period, the Eaft had not arrived at the
Iaft ftage of ignorance ; but at the fame time
it furnifhed no hope of a revival of letters. It
became the prey of barbarians ; the feeble re-
mains of intellectual cultivation diippeared ;
and the genius of Greece Hill waits the hand
of a deliverer.
At the extremities of Afia, and upon the
confines of Africa, there exifted a people, who,
from its local fituation and its courage, efcaped
the con quells of ihe Perfians, of Alexander,
and of the Romans. Of its numerous tribes,
fome derived their fubfiftance from agricul-
ture, while others obferved a paftoral life ;
all purfued commerce, and fome addicted
themfelves to robbery. Having a fimilarity
of origin, of language and of religious habits,
they formed a great nation, the different parts
of which, however, were held together by no
political tie. Suddenly there ftarted up among
them
iJmit
( 154 )
them a man of an ardent enthufiafm and moft
profound policy, born with the talents of a
poet, as well as thofe of a warrior. This man
conceived the bold project of uniting the
Arabian tribes into one body, and he had the
courage to execute it. To fucceed in im-
pofmg a chief upon a nation hitherto in-
vincible, he began with erecting upon the
ruins of the ancient worihip a religion more
refined. At once legiflator, prophet, prielt,
judge, and general of the army, he was in
poffeffion of all the means of fubjugating the
mind ; and he knew how to employ them
with addrefs, but at the fame time with com-
prehenfion and dignity.
He promulgated a mafs of fables, which he
pretended to have received from heaven ; but
he alfo gained battles. Devotion and the
pleafures of love divided his leifure. After en-
joying for twenty years a power without
bounds, and of which there exifts no other
example, he announced publicly, that, if he
had committed any aft of injuftice, he was
ready to make reparation. All were filent :
one woman only had the boldnefs to claim a
fmall fum of money. He died 3 and the
enthi^
( 155 )
enthufiafm which he communicated to his
people will be feen to change the face of three
quarters of the globe.
The manners of the Arabians were mild
and dignified ; they admired and cultivated
poetry : and when they reigned over the fineft
countries of Alia, and time had cooled the
fever of fanaticifm, a tafte for literature and
the fciences mixed with their zeal for the
propagation of religion, and abated their
ardour for conquefts.
They ftudied Ariftotle, whofe works thtj^fnmMS
tranflated. They cultivated aflronomy, optics,
all the branches of medicine, and enriched the
fciences with fome new truths. To them we
owe the general application of algebra, which^n^^7
was confined among the Greeks to a fmgle
clafs of queftions. If the chimerical purfuit
of a fecret for the tranfmutation of metals,^^1*^
and a draught for the perpetuating of life de-
graded their chymical refearches, they were tfrtncuA*^
the reftorers, or more properly fpeaking the 0 **•
inventors, of this fcience, which had hitherto ^nu^fy
been confounded with medicine and the ftudy
of the proceffes of the arts. Among them it
appeared for the firft time in its fimple form,
a ftri£t
( *st )
a ftyd analyfis of bodies for the purpofe of
afcertaining their elements, a theory of the
combinations of matter and the laws to which
thole combinations are fubjedted.
The fciences were free, and to that freedom
they owed their being able to revive fome
fparks of the Grecian genius ; but the people
were fubjefted to the unmitigated defpotifm
of religion. Accordingly this light fhone for
a few moments only to give place to a thicker
darknels ; and thefe labours of the Arabs
would have been loft to the human race, if
they had not ferved to prepare that more
durable reftoration, of which the Weft will
prefently exhibit to us the picture.
ha. ff&l&tf^ft thus ^ee> f°r tne fecond time, genius
&* M*~ rj abandoning nations whom it had enlightened;
p+J+.&ttf^but it was in this, -as in the preceding in-
^ />Uvj <*~U fiance, from before tyranny and fuperftition
pyy**- h* that it was obliged to difappear. Born in
j "X)reece, by the fide of liberty, it was neither
' t . able to arreft the fall of that country, nor de-
f fend reafon againft the prejudices of the
UtfU 1* * people already degraded by flavery. Born
k<*Lux Jyffhx among the Arabs, in the midft of defpotifm,
^■^jini as it were, in the cradle of a fanatical-
( *S7 )
religion, it has only, like the generous and
brilliant character of that people, furnifhed a
traniient exception to the general laws of na-
ture, that condemn to brutality and ignorance
enflaved and fuperftitious nations.
But this fecond example ought not to
terrify us refpecting the future : it ihould
operate only as a warning upon our contem-
poraries not to neglect any means of pre- Tiyvlcr
ferving and augmenting knowledge, if they^^ v *«* ^r
wifli either to become of to remain free ; and*-7^^7*^
to maintain their freedom, if they would not &fo~riz
lofe the advantages which knowledge has pro-
cured them.
To the account of the labours of the Arabs,
I ihall fuggeft the outlines of the fudden rife
and precipitate fall of that nation, which, after
reigning from the borders of the Atlantic
ocean to the banks of the Indus, driven by the
barbarians from the greater part of its con-
quefts, retaining the reft only to exhibit
therein the mocking fpectacle of a people de-
generated to the lowed ftate of fervitude, cor-
ruption and wretchednefs, ftill occupies its
ancient country, where it has preferved its
manners, its fpirit and its character, and
learned
learned to regain and defend its former ieH
dependence.
jff f i I mall add that the religion of Mahomet,
the moil iimple in its dogmas, the leaft abfurd
in its practices, above all others tolerant
in its principles, feems to have condemned to
an eternal flavery, to an incurable ftupidity,
all that vaft portion of the earth in which it
Pjfi/niid ot^^12^ extended its empire ; while we are about
/ Jt^htruM**-0 fee the genius of fcience and of liberty
^/u/W*^1*, blaze forth anew under fuperftitions more
abfurd, and in the midft of the moft bar-
barous intolerance. China exhibits a fimilar
phenomenon, though the effects of this ftupe-
fying poifon have there been lefs fatal.
fawna.
SEVENTH
( 159 )
SEVENTH EPOCH.
From the fir jl Progrefs of the Sciences about the
Period of their Revival in the IVefil, to the
Invention of the Art of Printing.
XjL Variety of circumftances have concurred
to reftore by degrees that energy to the
human mind, which, from chains fo degrading
and fo heavy, one might have fuppofed was
crufhed for ever.
The intolerance of priefts, their eagernefsbfe^^^^
to grafp at political power, their abominable
avarice, their diflblute manners, rendered more
difgufting by their hypccrify, excited againft
them every honeft heart, every unbiaffed un-ZUc^fau^n
derftanding, and every courageous chara&er.^%^*^£?$/
It was impoffible not to be ftruck with the Ml $&"*£.
contradiction between their dogmas, maxims
and conduct, and thofe of the evangelifts, from
which their faith and fyftem of morals had
originated, and which they had been unable
totally to conceal from the knowledge of the
people.
Accord-
( i6o )
/jywry!(lfoft Accorc3;nS!7^ powerful outcries were raifed
againft them. In the centre of France whole
provinces united for the adoption of a more
fimple doctrine, a purer fyftem of Chriftianity,
in which, fubjected only to the worfhip of a
fingle Divinity, man was permitted to judge,
from his own rcafon, of what that Divinity
had condefcended to reveal in the books faid
to have emanated from him.
Fanatic armies, conducted by ambitious
chiefs, laid wafte the provinces. Executioners,
under the guidance of legates and priefts, put
to death thofe whom the foldiers had fpared.
A tribunal of monks was eftablifhed, with
powers of condemning to the ftake whoever
fhould be fufpedted of making ufe of his
reafon.
Meanwhile they could not prevent a fpirit
of freedom and enquiry from making a filent
and furtive progrefs. Crufhed in one country,
in which it had the temerity to fhew itfelf,
in which, more than once, intolerant hypo-
crify kindled the mofl fanguinary wars, it
flatted up, or fpread fecretly in another. It is
feen at every interval, till the period, when,
aided by the invention of the prefs, it gained
fufficient
( 161 )
fufficient power to refcue a portion of Europe
from the yoke of the court of Rome.
Even already there exifted a clafs of men,
who, freed from the inglorious bondage of
fuperftition, contented themfelves with fe-
cretly indulging their contempt, or who at
moil went no farther than to call upon it, for-
tuitoufly as it were, fome traits of a ridicule,
which was by fo much the more ftriking on
account of the uniform refpect with wrhich
they took care to clothe it. The pleafantry of
the writer obtained favour for the boldneffes
of his pen. They were fcattered with mo-
deration through works deftined for the
amufement of men of rank or of letters, and
which never reached the mafs of the people ;
for which reafon they did not excite the re-
fentment of the bigot. ,
Of / '
Frederic the fecond was fufpefted of being J*^^^c *
what our priefts of the eighteenth century have
fince denominated a pbilofopher. He was ac-
cufed by the Pope, before all the nations of
Europe, of having treated the religions of
IVlofes, Jefus, and Mahomet, as political fa-
bles. To his chancellor, Pierre des Vignes,<7^#^
was attributed the imaginary book of the
M Thre-e
( iGz )
r^j# Three Impoftors, which never had any exlfl-
ence but in the calumnies of fome, or the in-
genious fportivenefs of others, but of which
the very title announced the exiftence of an
opinion, the natural refult of an examination
of thefe three creeds, which, derived from the
fame fource, were only a corruption of a lefs
impure worlhip rendered by the mod remote
nations of antiquity to the univerfal foul of
the world.
Our collections of traditional tales, and the
Q(jf//]/ft>fl/f$Ti Decameron of Bocace, are full of traits cha-
crf ra<3:eriftic of this freedom of thought, this
(Jd$tCU& contempt of prejudices, this inclination to
make them the fubjecl: of fecret and acrimo-
nious derifion.
• Thus we are furnifhed in this epoch, at one
and the fame period, with tranquil fatirifts of
all degrees of fuperftition, and enthufiaftical
reformers of its grolTeft abufes ; and the hiilory
of thefe oblcure inveftives, thefe protefts in
favour of the rights of reafon, may be almoft
connected with that of the moft modern dif-
ciples of the .fchool of Alexandria.
We fhall enquire if, when philosophical
profelytifm was attended with fuch peril, fe-
cret
( i63 )
cret foeieties were not formed, whofe object
was to perpetuate, to Spread filently and with-
out rifle, among fome difciples and adepts,
a few Simple truths which might operate as a
preservative againft prevailing prejudices.
We fhall examine whether we ought not
to rank in the number of fuch foeieties that .
celebrated order, which popes and kings con-/^^*
fpired againft with fuch meannefs, and de-
stroyed with fo much barbarity.
Priefts, either for felf-defence, or to invent <^U«U^
pretexts by which to cover their ufurpations
over the fecular power, and to improve thern-
felves in the art of forging paffages of fcrip-
ture, were under the neceihty of applying
themfelves to ftudy. Kings, on the other j
hand, to conduct with lefs difadvantage this
war, in which the claims were made to reft
upon authority and precedent, patronifed
fchools, that might furnifh civilians, of whom £vt*u<*"*
they flood in need to be on an equality with
the enemy.
In theie difputes between the clergy and the
governments, between the clergy of each
country and the Supreme head of the church,
thole of more honeft minds, and of a more
M 2 frank
( 1 64 )
frank and liberal character, vindicated the
caufe of men againft that of priefts, the caufe
of the national clergy againft the defpotifm of
the foreign chief. They attacked abufes and
usurpations, of which they attempted to un-
veil the origin. To us this boldnefs fcarcely
appears at prefent fuperior to fervile timidity ;
we fmile at feeing fuch a profufion of labour
employed to prove what good fenfe alone was
competent to have taught ; but the truths to
which I refer, at that time new, frequently
decided the fate of a people : thefe men fought
them with an independent mind ; they de-
fended them with firmnefe ; and to their in-
fluence is it to be afcribed that human reafon
began to recover the recollection of its rights
and its liberty.
// ' rtJf&iit* ^n *^e quarrels tnat t0°k P^ce between the
kings and the nobles, the kings fecured the
fupport of the principal towns, either by
granting privileges, or by reftoring fome of
the natural rights of man : they endeavoured,
by means of emancipations, to increafe the
number of thofe who enjoyed the common
right of citizens. And thefe men, re-born
as it were to liberty, felt how much it be-
hoved
f 165 )
hoved them, by the ftudyof law and of luftory,
to acquire a fund of information, an authoritv
of opinion, that might ferve to counterbalance
the military power of the feodal tyran-ny.
The rivalihip that exifted between the^>^ (xt
emperors and the popes prevented Italy from^y;M^7^y
uniting under a fingle mafter, and preferved
there a great number of independent focieties.
In thefe petty ftates, it was neceffary to add
the power of perfuafion to that of force, and
to employ negociation as often as arms : and
as this political war was founded, in reality, in
a war of opinion, and as Italy had never ab-
folutely loft its tafie for ftudy, this countiy
may be confidered, refpecting Europe, as a
feedplot of knowledge, inconfiderable indeed
as yet, but which promifed a fpeedy and vi-
gorous increafe.
In fine, hurried on by religious enthu-/W^^^^.
fiafm, the weftern nations engaged in the con-
queft of places rendered holy, as it was faid,
by the miracles and death of Chrift : and this
zeal, at: the fame time that it was favourable
to liberty, by weakening and impoverifhing
the nobles, extended the connection of the
people of Europe with the Arabians, a con-
M 3 nection
( i66 )
ne&ion which their mixture with Spain had
before formed, and their commerce with Pifa,
Geno<u and Venice cemented. Their Ian-
guage was ftudied, their books were read,
part of their difcoveries was acquired ; and if
the Europeans did not foar above the point in
which the fciences had been left by the Ara-
AtdSifMh k* ans> tney at leaft felt the ambition of rival-
ing them.
Thefe wars, undertaken with fuperftitious
views, ferved to deftroy fuperftition. The
fpectacle of fuch a multitude of religions ex-
cited at length in men of fenfe a total indiffer-*
/? Y0gJt ence for creeds, alike impotent in refining the
<-J paflions, and curing the vices of mankind ; a
Uniform contempt for that attachment, equally
fincere, equally obftinate, of fectaries, to opi^
nions contradictory to each other,
/fi ^ Jstiii Republics were formed in Italy, of which
' l^ fome were imitations of the Greek republics,
jf£iti*f while others attempted to reconcile the fervU
tude of a fubjecT: people with the liberty and
democratic equality of a fovereign one. In
Germany, in the north, fome towns, obtain-
HflnAJCrrtynb 'inS almoft entire independence, were governed
by their own laws. In certain parts of Switzer-
land,
( i67 )
land, the people threw off the chains both ofJtOtCU*'wn<t
feodal and of royal power. In almoft all
the great ftates imperfect conftitutions fprung
up, in which the authority of raifing fubfi-
dies, and of making new laws, was divided
fometimes. between the king, the nobles, the n Ji&wA
clergy and the people, and fometimes between Cbreft Ottih
the king, the barons and the commons; in
which the people, though not yet exempt
from a ftate of humiliation, weie at leaf! fe-
cure from opprcffion ; in which all that truly
compofed a nation were admitted to the right
of defending its interefts, and of being heard
bythofe who had the regulation of its deftiny.
In England a celebrated acT:, folemnly fwonvi^4$^
by the king, and great men of the realm, fe-
cured the lights of the barons, and fome of
the rights of men.
Other nations, provinces, and even cities,
obtained alfo charters of a fimilar nature, but
lefs celebrated, and not fo ftrenuoufly defended.
They are the origin of thofe declarations QfJ>€>t***tdMM*
rights, regarded at prefent by every enlightened ^ . fjr
mind as the bafis of liberty, and of which the *
ancients neither had nor could have an idea,
becaufe their inftitutions were fullied by do-
M 4 meftic
faf&.
( «6S )
WuWtttik meftic Aavery, becaufe with them the right of
euu Mw citizenfhip was hereditary, or conferred by
tuth+to &Wft voluntary adoption, and becaufe they never
f^ JyJ&tuk arrived at the knowledge of rights which are
j/Jgjt!**** inherent injhe fpecies, and belong with a
tit ct/yk Uriel: equality to all mankind.
i/^i40 <**t y<l In France, England, and other great na-
oAid '**/' tions, the people appeared defirous of re-
fuming their true rights ; but blinded by the
fenfe of oppreffion, rather than enlightened
by reafon, the only fruit of its efforts were
outrages, that were foon expiated by acts of
vengeance more barbarous, and particularly
more unjuft, and pillages accompanied with
greater mifery than either.
^uJiliM*' *n England tne principles of Wickliffe, the
M reformer, had given rife to one of thefe com-
motions, carried on under the direction of
fome of his difciples, and which afforded a
prefage of attempts, more fyftematic and bet-
ter combined, that would be made by the
people under other reformers, and in a more
enlightened age.
The difcovery of a manufcript of the Jufti-
nian code produced the revival of the ftudy
of jurifprudence, as well as of legiflation, and
ferved
( i69 )
ferved to render thefe lefs barbarous even
among the people who knew how to derive
profit from the difcovery, without treating the
code as of facred obligation.
The commerce of Pifa, Genoa, Florence, /V^****/-^
Venice, fome cities of Belgia, and free towns
of Germany, embraced the Mediterranean,
the Baltic, and the coafts of the European
ocean. The precious commodities of the Le-
vant were fought by the merchants of thofe
places in the ports of Egypt, and at the extre-
mities of the Black Sea.
Polity, legiflation, national economy, werej%#!iy #^
not yet converted into lciences ; the principles u+Jhr) frt&
of them were neither enquired after, invefti-# >v^r
gated, nor developed ; but as the mind be-^/ /74 V
gan to be enlightened by experience, obferva-
tions were colle&ed tending to lead thereto,
and men became verfed in the interefts that
jnuft caufe the want of them to be felt.
Ariftotle was only known at firft by a tran-^T^^H
{Tation of his works made from the Arabic.
His philofophy, perfecuted at the beginning,
foon "gained footing in all the fchools. I in-
troduced there no new light, but it gave more
regularity, more method to that art of rea-
-• foning
( 1 7o )
foning which theological difputes had called
into exiftence. This fcholaftic difcipline did
not lead to the difcovery of truth ; it did not
even ferve for the difcuflion and accurate va-
luation of its proofs, but it whetted the minds
of men ; and the tafte for fubtle diftindtions,
the neceffity of continually dividing and fub-
dividing ideas, of feizing their niceft fhades,
and expreffing them in new words, the appa-
ratus which was in the firft inftance employed
to embarrafs one's enemy in a difpute, or to
efcape from his toils, was the original fource
, of that philofophical analyfis to which we
Jjtitt LudiA have fince been fo highly indebted for our
intellectual progrefs.
To theft difciplinarians we are indebted for
the greater accuracy that may have been ob-
l/yVxJi/ tained refpedting the Supreme Being and his at-
/ht^riot tributes ; refpecting the diftindtion between the
v firft caufe, and the univerfe which it is fuppofed
to govern ; refpecting the farther diftinction
between mind and matter ; refpecting the dif-
ferent fenfes that may be affixed to the word
liberty ; refpecling the meaning of the word
creation ; refpecling the manner of diftinguifh-
ing from each other the different operations
of
Jufrn
( *7f ' )
of the human mind, and of clafling the ideas
it forms of obje&s and their properties.
But this method could not fail to retard in
the fchools the advancement of the natural/fa^*/«^/
Iciences. Accordingly the whole picture oi^u^.
thefe fciences at this period will be found
merely to comprehend a few anatomical x^-^ncJo^
fearches ; fome obfcure productions of chy- f^Lt^^ti^
miftry, employed in the difcovery of the
grand fecret alone ; a flight application to
geometry and algebra, that fell ihort of the 4^#w<£|
difcoveries of the Arabians, and did not even" **
extend to a complete underftanding of the
work" of the ancients ; and laftly, fome aftro-
nomical ftudies and calculations, confined to
the formation and improvement of tables, and Ja$Lb
depraved by an abfurd mixture of aftrology.t M~*lr*lf<fo
Meanwhile the mechanical arts began to ap-^g^/^^
proach the degree of perfection which they
had preferred in Afia. In the fouthern coun-
tries of Europe the culture of filk was intro-v/l^&f
duced ; windmills as well as paper-mills were^^^0^
eltablifhed ; and the art of meafuring time^*^>^*^
furpaifed the bounds which it had acquiredfiC^^^^
either among the Ancients or the Arabians, ff»*p£*
In fhort, two important dif jveries cha-
fa&erife this epoch. The property polfefled
by
( *72 )
Jlnqnd
Qnnptjt
&qn&t ky the loadftone, of pointing always to the
J fame quarter of the heavens, a property known
to the Chinefe, and employed by them in
fleering their veffels, was alfo obferved in
Europe. The compafs came into ufe, an in-
strument which gave activity to commerce,
improved the art of navigation, fuggefted the
idea of voyages to which we have fmce owed
the knowledge of a new world, and enabled
man to take a furvey of the whole extent of
the globe on which he is placed. A chymift,
by mixing an inflammable matter with falt-
/fnwdl/T Petre> difcovered the fecret of that powder
which has produced fo unexpected a revolu-
tion in the art of war. Notwithftanding the
terrible effecl: of fire-arms, in difperfing an
army, they have rendered war lefs murder-
ous, and its combatants lefs brutal. Military
expeditions ate more expenfive ; wealth can
balance force ; even the moft warlike peopl e
feel the neceffity of providing and fecuring
the means of combating, by the acquifition of
the riches of commerce and the arts. Poliihed
nations have no longer any thing to appre-
hend from the blind courage of barbarian
tribes. Great conquefts, and the revolutions
which follow, are become almoft impoflible.
3 That
( l7$ )
That fuperiority which an armour of itov^/^n^u^
which the art of conducting a horfe almoii
invulnerable from his accoutrements, of ma-
naging the lance, the club, or the fword, gave
the nobility over the people, is completely
done away ; and the removal of this impedi-
ment to the liberty and real equality of man-
kind, is the refult of an invention, that, at the
firfl glance, feemed to threaten the total extir- '
pation of the human race,
In Italy, the language arrived almoft at ^JCClMf
perfection about the fourteenth century. The , f
ftyie of Dante is often grand, precife, ener- ^^^zuJ/
getic. Boccace is graceful, fimple, and t\t- (tytfc&icc
gant. The ingenious and tender Petrarch has CPefaarc/
not yet becoflfc obfolete. In this country,
whofe hapjr^jpimate nearly refembles that of
Greece, the models of antiquity were ftudied ;
attempts were made to transfufe into the new
k/.Qu£.:e fome of their beauties, and to pro-
beauties of a fimilar ftamp. AI-
> tc- uv jne productions gave reafon to hope
.;" that, rdufed by the view of ancient monu-
ments, inlpired by thofe mute but eloquent
leffons, genius was about, for the fecond time, £fe/*Uu*
to embeliiih the exL1en.ce of man, and provide*$C£2#/
( 174 )
for him thofe pure pleafures, the enjoyment of
which is free to all, and becomes greater in
proportion as it is participated.
The reft of Europe followed at an humble
diftance ; but a tafte for letters and poetry
/ began at leaft to give a polifh to languages
r ^Z^rwit were ftill in a ftate almoft of barbarity.
p™*"*^ The fame motives which had roufed the
minds of men from their long lethargy, muft
alfo have directed their exertions. Reafon
could not be appealed to for the decifion of
queftions, of which oppofite interefts had
L* A. ' compelled the difcurTion. Religion, far from
acknowledging its power, boafted of having
fubjeded and humbled it. Politics confidered
6 as juft what had been confecrated by compact,
by conftant practice, and ancient cuftoms.
JuAju^ttrt N° doubt was entertained that the rights of
ft jLw^nian were written in the book of nature, and
that to confult any other would be to depart
from and to violate them. Meanwhile it was
only in the facred books, in refpe&ed authors,
in the bulls of popes, in the refcripts of kings,
in regifters of old ufages, and in the annals of
the church, that maxims or examples were
fought from which to infer thofe rights. The
bufmefs was never to examine the intrinfic
merits
ffdtiM
( m )
merits of a principle, but to interpret, to ap-
preciate, to fupport or to annul by other texts
thole upon which it might be founded. A
proportion was not adopted becaufe it was
true, but becaufe it was written in this or that
book, and had been embraced in fuch a coun-
try and fuch an age.
Thus the authority of men was every where*. fu<M<rrvuj
fubftituted for that of reafon : books were (f^a^t
much more ftudied than nature, and the opi-
nions of antiquity obtained! the preference
over the phenomena of the univerfe. This
bondage of the mind, in which men had not
then the advantage of enlightened criticifm,
was ftill more detrimental to the progrefs of
the human fpecies, by corrupting the method
of ftudy, tlran by its immediate effects. And
the ancients were yet too far from being
equalled, to think of correcting or furpaffing
them.
Manners preferved, during this epoch, their
corruption and ferocity ; religious intolerance 7**£*&r'
was even more active ; and civil difcords, and^Z^^7^
the inceffant wars of a crowd of petty fove-*#*4f^*"*
reigns, fucceeded the invafions of the barba-
rians, and the peft, ftill more fatal, of fangui-
nary
'0*aC
( 176 )
dudffiwd* nar7 feuds. The gallantry indeed of the min-
* y/^^A ftrels and the troubadours, the inftitution of
y / -^^ orders of chivalry, profeffing generofity and
franknefs, devoting ihemfelves to the main-
tenance of religion, the relief of the op-
preffed, and the fervice of the fair, were cal-
culated to infufe into manners more mildnefs,
decorum, and dignity. But the change, con-
fined to courts and caftles, reached not to the
bulk of the people. There refulted from it a
little more equality among the nobles, lefs
perfidy and cruelty in their relations with
each other ; but their contempt for the peo-
ple, the infolence of their tyranny, their au-
^ //^^dacious robberies, continued the fame; and
nations, oppreffed as before, were as before
ignorant, barbarous and corrupt.
This poetical and military gallantry, this
^kM)i#><i chivalry, derived in great meafure from the
AfaAtfrnA Arabians, whofe natural generofity long re-
/ . fifted in Spain fuperftition and defpotifm, had
doubtlefs their ufe : they diffufed the feeds
of humanity, which were deftined in happier
periods to exhibit their fruit ; and it was the
general character of this epoch, that it dif-
I pofed the human mind for the revolution
which
( *77 )
which the difcovery of printing could not nrtri(^^f
but introduce, and prepared the foil which
the following ages were to cover with fo rich
and fo abundant an harveft.
\
N EIGHTH
( «7* )
i EIGHTH EPOCH.
i
From the Invention of Printing, to the Period
when the Sciences and Philofophy threw off
the Yoke of Authority.
X HOSE wlio have f efle&ed but fuperficially
Upon the march of the human mind in the
difcovery^ whether of the truths of fcience*
or of the proceffes of the arts, muft be afto-
nifhed that fo long a period fhould elapfe be-
tween the knowledge of the art of taking im-
OirlUnyvfvq preffions of drawings, and the difcovery of
* that of printing characters.
f an mo Some engravers of plates had doubtlefs con-
y / ceived this idea of the application of their art ;
i but they were more ftruck with the difficulty
of executing it, than with the advantages of
fuccefs i and it is fortunate that they did not
* ^ comprehend it in all its extent ; fince priefts
/^ y^*^ and kings would infallibly have united to
tadst**** ftiflej from its birth, the enemy that was to
fkrAtA *>f, , unmafk their hypocrify, and hurl them from
A^^*^' their thrones.
j J^ ~> j*^^^ / The
on
, { l79 )
The prefs multiplies indefinitely, and at &J/UL/Jvvp'
final 1 expence, copies of any work. Thofe
who can read are hence enabled to furnifh
therhfelves with books fuitable to their tafte
and their wants ; and this facility of exercifmg
the talent df reading, has increafed and pro-
pagated the defire of learning its
Thefe multiplied copies, fpreading them-
felves with greater rapidity, facts and difco-
veries not only acquire a more extenfive pub-
licity, but acquire it alfo in a fhorter fpace of
time. Knowledge has become the objecl: of
an active and univerfal commerce.
Printers were obliged to feek manufcripts*
as we feek at prefent works of extraordinary
genius. What was read before by a few in-
dividuals only, might now be perufed by a
whole people* and Strike almoft at the fame
inftant every man that understood the fame
language.
The means are acquired of addf effing re^
mote and difperfed nations. A new fpecies of
tribune is eftablifhed, from which are com-
municated impreffioris lefs lively, but at tha
fame time more folid and profound \ from
which is exercifed over the paffions an empire Jht ufi+fi***
csi flu <?rtfc, *+** &> ' tij****, ^ ^ A*Xb ^ i£**+t
( i8o )
kfs tyrannical, but over reafon a power more
certain and durable ; where all the advantage
is on the fide of truth, fince what the art may
lofe in point of fedudtion, is more than coun-
terbalanced by the illumination it conveys. A
tyJuA fu*/i public opinion is formed, powerful by the
P' &s+»*<* number of thofewho fhare in it, energetic, be-
- /A- . caufe the motives that determine it acl; upon
z all minds at once, though at confiderable dif-
l\ tances from each other. A tribunal is erected
*7/ t in favour of reafon arid iuftice, independent
^^^ of all human power, from the penetration of
. ^Zti^ which it is difficult to conceal any thing, from
' X*iAt^«^" wn°fe verdict there is no efcape.
' j for^Y- New inventions, the hiftory of the firftfteps
l*^/.( in the road to a difcovery, the labours that
1 'ftAjL PrePare the way for it, the views that fuggeft
jdLurfLi the idea or give rife merely to the wifh of pur-
^^ JL4&0L, fuing it, thefe, communicating themfelves with
celerity, furnifh every individual with the
united means which the efforts of all have
been able to create, and genius appears to
1 have more than doubled its powers.
s^J/U/rc ix+j* Every jiew error is refilled from its birth :
dt*+% +****. frequently attacked before it has dirTeminated
y»*j tww it-te^) *t has not time to take root in the mind.
^^^u^JU 4 ^ ^V~ M* /Lt 7^ ^^ Thofc
( i8i )
Thofe which, imbibed from infancy, are iden-
tified in a manner with the reafon of every in-
dividual, and by the influence of hope or of
terror endeared to the exiftence of weak un-
derftan dings, have been fhaken, from this cir-
cumftance alone, that it is now impoflible to
prevent their difcuffion, impoffible to conceal
that they are capable of being examined and
rejected, impoffible they mould withftand the ^
progrefs of truths which, daily acquiring new
light, muft. conclude at laft with difplaying all
the abfurdity of fuch errors.
It is to the prefs we owe the poffibility o£jhiKhlou\
fpreading thofe publications which the emer-
gency of the moment, or the tranfient fluctu-
ations of opinion, may require, and of in^
terefting thereby in any queftion, treated in a
fingle point of view, whole communities of
men reading and underftanding the fame lan-
guage.
All thofe means -which render the progrefs
of the human mind more eafy, more rapid,
more certain, are alfo the benefits of the prefs.
Without the inftrumentality of this art, fuch
books could not have been multiplied as are
adapted to every clafs of readers, and every de-<
N 3 gree
( i8a )
gree of inftru&ion. To the prefs we owe thofc
continued difcuffions which alone can en-
lighten doubtful queftions, and fix upon an
immoveable fcafis, truths too abftracl;, too fub-
tile, too remote from the prejudices of the
people, or the common opinion of the learned,
not to be foon forgotten and loft. To the prefs
f/^yrv^i we owe thofe books purely elementary, die-
f\ cEtnCvrui ^^onanes) works in which are collected, with
// 'J / *^ tne*r details, a multitude of facts, obferva-
^ V tions? and experiments, in which all their
proofs are developed, all their difficulties in-
veftigated. To the prefs we owe thofe valu-
f crrnfideJ"** #ble compilations, containing fometimes all
that has been difcovered, written, thought,
upon a particular branch of fcience, and fome-
illcy* In** times the refult of the annual labours of all the
literati of a country. To the prefs we owe
thofe tables, thofe catalogues, thofe pictures
of every kind, of which fome exhibit a view
of inductions which the mind could only have
acquired by the moft tedious operations ;
others prefent at will the fact, the difcovery,
the number, the method, the object which we
are del irous of afcertaining ; while others again
fi]rni£h, in a more commodious form, and a
a more
$W&
( »83 )
more arranged order, the materials from which
genius may fafhion and derive new truths.
To thefe benefits we fhall have oecafion to
add others, when we proceed to analyfe the
effects that have arifen from the fubftitution
of the vernacular tongue of each country, in
the room qf the almoft exclufive application,
which had preceded, fo far as relates to the
fciences, of one language, the common me-
dium of communication between the learned
pf all nations, -
In fhort, is it not the prefs that has freed On. /Kai U
.the inftruftion of the people from every poli-/,a^
tical and religious chain ? In vain might either
defpotifm invade our fchools ; in vain might
it attempt, by rigid inftitutions, invariably to
fix what truths fhall be preferved in them,
what errors inculcated on the mind ; in vain
might chairs, confecrated to the moral in-
struction of the people, and the tuition of
youth in philofophy and the fciences, be
obliged to deliver no doctrines but fuch as are
favourable to this double tyranny ; the prefs
can diffufe at the fame time a pure and inde-
pendent light, That inftru&ion which is to
te acquired from books in filence and folitude,
N 4 caa
( 1 84 )
can never be univerfally corrupted : a fmgJq
corner of the earth free to commit their leaves
to the prefs, would be a fufficient fecurity.
How amidft that variety of productions,
amidft that multitude of exifting copies of the
fame book, amidft impreffions continually
iA Jlayfflb renewed, wilMt be poflible to fhut fo clofely
j /, iv^all the doors of truth, as to leave no opening,
' jp _ no crack or crevice by which it may enter ?
s * * .«,. If it was difficult even when the bufinefs was
" to deftroy a few copies only of a manufeript,
to prevent for ever its revival, when it was
fufficient to profcribe a truth, or opinion, for
a certain number of years to devote it to eter-
nal oblivion, is not this difficulty now ren-
dered impcflible, when it would require a
vigilance inceflantly occupied, and an activity
that mould never flumber ? And even fhoulc}
fuccefs attend the fuppreffion of thofe top
palpable truths, that wound directly the in-
terefts of inquifitors, how are others to be pre-
vented from penetrating and fpreading, which
include thofe profcribed truths without fuller-
ing them to be perceived, which prepare the
way, and muft one day infallibly lead to
them ? Could it be done without obliging the
per*.
( i85 )
perfonages inqueftion to throw off that mafic ^£^*A/A
of hypocrifv, the fall of which would prove no t&* &• '^^yx
lefs fatal than truth itfelf to the reign of error ?^V^Vr*HW
We fhall accordingly fee reafon triumphing^ ***^ +**j
over thefe vain efforts : we fhall fee her ^l^rfU4*jfps
this war, a war continually reviving, and fre- ^ /ff»j*A*t
quently cruel, fuccefsful alike againit violence
and fir at age m ; braving the Games, and refill-
ing feduction ; cruming in turn, under its
mighty hand, both the fanatical hypocrify
which requires for its dogmas a fmcere adora-
tion, and the political hypocrify imploring on
its knees that it may be allowed to enjoy in
peace the profit of errors, in which, if you
will take its word, it is no lefs advantageous
to the people than to itfelf, that they mould
for ever be plunged.
The invention of the art of printing nearly
coincides with two other events, of which one
has exercifed an immediate influence on the
progrefs of knowledge, while the influence of
the other on the deftiny of the whole human
fpecies can never ceafe but with the fpecies
itfelf.
I refer to the taking of Conftantinople byfr'+fit***""*
the Turks, and the difcovery both of the new/^,
world,
( 186 )
Jlfatn^Uti. world, and of the route which has opened
to Europe a direct communication with the
eaftern parts of Africa and Afia.
The Greek literati, flying from the fo-
vereignty of the Tartars, fought an afylum in
Italy. They acquired the ability of reading,
in their original language, the poets, orators,
hiftorians, philofophers, and antiquarians of
Greece. They firftN furniihed manufcripts,
and foon after editions of the works of thofe
authors. The veneration of the ftudious was
no longer confined to what they agreed in
ijfiAJtfd calling the do&rine of Ariftotle. They ftudied
this doctrine in his own writings. They ven-
tured to inveftigate and oppofe it. They
contrafted him with Plato : and it was ad-
vancing a ftep towards throwing off the yoke,
to acknowledge in themfelves, the right of
choofmg a mafter.
The perufal of Euclid, Archimedes, Dio-
phantus, and Ariftotle's philofophical book
upon animals, rekindled the genius of natu-
ral philofophy and of geometry ; while the an-*
tichriftian opinions of philofophers awakened
ideas that were almoft extinct of the ancient;
prerogatives of human reafon.
(ffato
fvuiMst
.' ( *87 )
Intrepid individuals, inftigated by the love /tl'[rujn'
of glory and a paffion for difcoveries, had
extended for Europe the bounds of the uni-
verfe, had exhibited a new heaven, and
opened to its view an unknown earth. Gama (jrfMZ
had penetrated into India, after having pur-
fued with indefatigable patience the immenfe
extent of the African coafts ; while Columbus, ftfutrnwA
consigning him to the waves of the Atlantic
ocean, had reached that country, hitherto un-
known, extending from the weft of Europe
to the eaft of Afia,
If this paffion, whofe reftlefs activity, em-
bracing at that period every object, gave pro-
mife of advantages highly important to the
progrefs pf the human fpecies, if a noble cu-
riofity had animated the heroes of navigation,
a mean and cruel avarice, a ftupid and brutal
fanaticifm governed the kings and robbers who
were to reap the profits of their labour. The
unfortunate beings who inhabited thefe new
countries were not treated as men, becaufe
they were not chriftians. This prejudice,
more degrading to the tyrants than the vic-
tims, ftifled all fenfe of remorfe, and aban-
doned, without controulj to their inextinguifh-
able
I ( iSS )
able thirft for gold and for blood, tliofe greedy
and unfeeling men that Europe difgorged from
"V » JlJli^tfazx bofom. The bones of five millions of
i /r" i human beings have covered the wretched
/ countries to which the Spaniards and Portu-
gueze tranfported their avarice, their fuper-
^ ftition, and their fury. Thefe bones will
* °i, ' vv4^P'ea(^ t0 everlaftmg ages againft the doctrine
UtjU dujdCJ*^ of the political utility of religions, which is
Wu$* ^JWtfftill able to find its apoldgifts in the world.
It is in this epoch only of the progrefs of
the human mind, that man has arrived at the
knowledge of the globe which he inhabits ;
that he has been able to ftudy, in all its coun-
tries, the fpecies to which he belongs, modi-
fied by the continued influence of natural
caufes, or of focial inftitutions ; that he has
had an opportunity of obferving the produc-
tions of the earth, or of the fea, in all tempera-
» fures and climates. And accordingly, among
the happy confequences of the difcoveries in
queftion, may be included the refources of
every kind which thofe productions afford to
mankind, and which, fo far from being ex-
haufled, men have yet no idea of their ex-
tent 5 the truths which the knowledge of
thoft
( »89 )
thofe objects may have added to the fciences,
or the long received errors that may thereby
have been deftroyed ; the commercial activity
that has given new life to induftry and navi-
gation, and, by a neceflary chain of connec-
tion, to all the arts and all the fciences: and
laftly, the force that free nations have acquired
from this activity by which to refit ft tyrants,
and fubjected nations to break their chains,
and free themfelves at Icaft from feodal defpo-
tifm. But thefe advantages will never ex-
piate what the difcoveries have coft to fuffer-
ing humanity, till the moment when Europe,
abjuring the fordid and oppreffive fyftem of
commercial monopoly, fliall acknowledge \hdXjf/0T?flfl&'1
men of other climates, equals and brothers
by the will of nature, have never been formed
to nourifh the pride and avarice of a few pri-
vileged nations ; till, better informed reflect-
ing its true interefis, it (hall invite all the peo-
ple of the earth to participate in its independ-
ence, its liberty, and its illumination. Un-
fortunately, we have yet to learn whether
this revolution will be the honourable fruit
of the advancement of philofophy, or only,
as we have hitherio feen, the fhameful con-
fequence
yfi
{ t&> )
fequence of national jealoufy, aild the enof'-s
mous exceffes of tyranny.
, *fiim -Till the pfefent epoch the crimes of the
» ' priefthood had efcaped with impunity. The
jj $/ /y cries of opprdiTed humanity, of violated reafon^
Y / f/1 had been ftifled in flames and in blood. The
1 j)qtf fpirit which dictated thole cries was not ex«
tinfl: i but the filence occafioned by the opera-
tion of terror emboldened the priefthood to
farther outrages. At laft, the' fcandal of farm-
ing to the monks the privilege of felling in
taverns and public places the expiation of fins*
occafioned a new explofion. Luther, holding
in one hand the facred books, expofed with
the other the right which the Pope had arro-
gated to himfelf of abfblving crimes and felling
pardons ; the infolent defpotifm which he
exercifed over the bifhops, for a long time
his equals ; the fraternal fupper of the primi-
tive chriftians, converted, under the name of
rnafs^ into a fpecies of magical incantation and
an object: of commerce ; priefts condemned
••/ to the crime of irrevocable celibacy ; the fame
k cruel and fcandalous law extended to the
*. r monks and nuns with w* ich pontifical am-
bition had inundated and polluted the church ;
all
Ji*A
t W )
all the fecrets of the laity configned, by means
of confeffion, to the intrigues and the paffions (f*HU <h*i
of priefts ; God himfelf, in ftiort, fcarcely
retaining a feeble ihare in the adorations be-
ftowed in profufion upon bread, men, bones
and ftatues*
Luther announced to the aftonifhed mul-
titude^ that thefe difgufting inftitutions formed
no part of ehriftianity, but on the contrary
were its corruption and fhame ; and that, to
be faithful to the religion of Jefus, it was
firft of all neceffary to abjure that of his priefts*
He employed equally the arms of logic and
erudition, and the no lefs powerful weapon of
ridicule. He wrote at once in German and
in Latin. It was no longer as in the days of
the Abigenfes, or of John Hufs, whofe doc-,
trine, unknown beyond the walls of their
churches, was fo eafily calumniated. The
German books of the new apoftles penetrated
at the fame time into every village of the em-
pire, while their Latin productions roufed all
Europe from the fhameful fleep into which
fuperftition had plunged it. Thofe whofe
reafon had outftr-nped the reformers, but
whom fear had retained in filence ; thofe who
were
( ' i£>2 )
Were tormented with fecret doubts, but wliicH
they trembled to avow even to their coil-
fciences ; thofe who, more fimple, were un-
acquainted with all the extent of theological
absurdities ; who, having never reflected upon
queftions of controverfy, were aftonifhed to
leartl that they had the power of chufing be-
tween different opinions ; entered eagerly into
thefe difcuffions, upon which they conceived
depended at once their temporal interefts and
their eternal felicity.
All the chriftian part of Europe, from Swe-
den to Italy, and from Hungary to Spain, was
in an inftant covered with the partifans of the
v . , new doctrines ; and the reformation would
••.,s v have delivered from the^oke of Rome all the
. : •*• *- nations that inhabited it, if the miftaken policy
^ . of certain princes had not relieved that very
vbtiJ. /k&cerdotal fceptre which had fo frequently
(J\J^-r~'k*~t2&vsi upon the heads of kings.
This policy, which their fucceflbrs unhappily
have yet not abjured, was to ruin their ftates
by feeking to add to them, and to meafure
i their power by the extent of their territory,
rather than by the number of their fubje&s.
1 ' Thus,
{ J93 )
Thus, Charles the fifth and Francis the firtk> fi /z MU&
while contending for Italy, facrificed to thetyyawtfA .
intereft of keeping well with the Pope, that
fuperior intereft of profiting by the advan-
tages offered by the reformatio^ to every
country that mould have the wifdom to
adopt it.
Perceiving that the princes of the empire
were favourable to opinions calculated to aug-
ment their power and their wealth, the empe- &~ />*-»" r<
ror became the partifan and fupporter of the
old abufes, actuated by the hope that a reli-
gious war would furnifh an opportunity of
invading their ftates, and deftroying their in-
dependence : while Francis imagined that, by^ri*,'*t>*
burning the proteftants, and protecting at the i.^t^C-
fame time their leaders in Germany, he m°uld ^p^ ^£^-£;
preferve the friendship of the Pope, without
Iofing his valuable allies.
But this was not their only motive. Dety^fc^/^-
potifm has alfo its inftincl: ; and that inftincT:^^y&^,
fuggefted to thefe kings, that men, after Sub-
jecting religious prejudices to the examination
of reafon, would foon extend their enquiries
to prejudices of another fort ; that, enlightened
upon the ufurpations of popes, they might
O* wifh
( ^94 )
wifli at lait to be equally enlightened upon
thofe of princes ; and that the reform of eccle-
fiaftical abufes, beneficial as it was to royal
power, might involve the reform of abufes,
ftill more oppreflive, upon which that power
was founded. Accordingly, no king of any
confiderable nation favoured voluntarily the
Ll ^ Party °f t^ie reformers. Henry the eighth,
terrified at the pontifical anathema, joined in
the perfecution againft them. Edward and
?* * a. Elizabeth, unable to embrace popery without
pronouncing themfelves ufurpers, eftablifhed
in England the faith and worfhip that ap-
proached neareft to it. The proteftant mo-
narchs of Great Britain have indeed uniformly
favoured the catholic religion, whenever it
has ceafed to threaten them with a pretender
to the crown.
In Sweden and Denmark, the eftablifhment
of the religion of Luther was confidered by
their kings only as a neceflary precaution to
fecure the expuifion of the catholic tyrant, to
whofe defpotifm they fucceeded ; and in the
§YxJltiGL Prufiian monarchy, founded by a philosophi-
cal prince, we already perceive his fucceffor
unable to difguife his fecret attachment to this
religion, fo dear to the hearts of fovereigns.
Reli-
JVJ t tLv-v\
( *9$ )
Religious intolerance was common to every Jn£#ilf)'(MV-L
feci:, and communicated itfelf to all the go-
vernments. The papifts perfecuted the re-
formed communions ; while thefe,pronouncing
anathemas againft each other, joined at the
fame time againft the anti-trinitarians, who,
more confiftent in their conduct, had tried
every doctrine, if not by the touchftone of
reafon, at leaft by that of an enlightened cri-
ticifm, and who did not fee the neceffity of
freeing themfelves from one fpecies of abfur-
dity, to fall into others equally difgufting.
This intolerance ferved the caufe of popery,
For a long time there had exifted in Europe*
and efpecially in Italy, a clafs of men who, re-. nfijuA** *%-
jecling every kind of fuperftition, indifferent //*£
alike to all modes of worihip, governed only
by reafon, regarded religion as of human in-
vention, at which one might laugh in fecret,
but towards which prudence and policy dic-
tated an Outward refpe£t. .
This free-thinking affumed afterwards fu-
perior courage ; and, while in the fchools the
philofophy of Ariftotle, imperfectly under-
flood, had been employed to improve the fub-
tleties of theology, and render ingenious what
O % would
( tg6 )
would fiaturally have borne the features of
abfurdity, fome men of learning eftablifhed
upon his true do&rine a fyftem deftrudtive of
every religious idea, in which the human
foul was confidered only as a faculty that
vanifhed with life, and in which no other
providence, no other ruler of the world was
admitted than the neceffary laws of nature.
/jp I • L This fyftem was combated by the Platonifts,
whofe fentiments, refembling what has fince
, been called by the name of deifm, were more
kUjmU>, - terrifying ftill to facerdotal orthodoxy.
But the operation of punifhment foon put:
a flop to this impolitic boldnefs. Italy and
France were polluted with the blood of thofc
martyrs to the freedom of thought. All fects,
all governments, every fpecies of authority,
inimical as they were to each other in every
point elfe, feemed to be of accord in granting
no quarter to the exercife of reafon. It was
neceffary to cover it with a veil, which,
hiding it from the obfervation of tyrants,
might ftill permit it to be'feen by the eye of
philofophy.
Accordingly the moft timid caution was
obferved refpeding this fecret dodtrine, which
5 . bad
( 197 )
had never failed of numerous adherents. It -
had particularly been propagated among the
heads of governments, as well as among thofe
of the church ; and, about the period of the
reformation, the principles of religious NlarJ/la£rU'CU/u>
chiavelifm became the only creed of princes, ibrn,
of minifters, and of pontiffs. Thefe opinions
had even corrupted philofophy. What code
■of morals indeed was to be expe&ed from a
fyftem, of which one of the principles is, that
it is neceffary to fupport the morality of the
people by falfe pretences; that men of en- Yvlrdcctfii*
lightened minds have a right to deceive them, "^
provided they impofe only ufeful truths, and*
to retain them in chains from which they have
themfelves contrived to efcape ? ^ s
If the natural equality of mankind, the J'u/r*
principal bafis of its rights, be the foundation fvC ^u^i
of all genuine morality, what could it hope ^Umy^^
from a philofophy, of which an open con-***^ <*- 3*0*
tempt of this equality and thefe rights is a^*^1 f*r**
diftinguifhing feature ? This fame philofophy ^k*** **
has contributed no doubt to the advancement @?*J"-*''*
of reafon, whofe reign it filently prepared j***7"*^
but fo long as it was the only philofophy, its ^-I/L
fole effect was to fubftitute hypocrify in **. ^
>+4
Of
flfafi.
( 193 )
the place of fanaticifrn, and to corrupt, at the
fame time that it raifed above prejudices, thofe
who preiided in the deftiny of ftates.
/ jfnrfjrfitt Philofophers truly enlightened, jtrangers
y/ // / * to ambition, who contented themfelves with
0w4>W/»*~ — - — T-r— , „ , , ,
„ ' y undeceiving men gradually and with cau-
JJJ #>a /d- & . .
\f * ^ />y tion, but without fuffering themfelves at the
^7 fame time to confirm them in their errors,
thefe philofophers would naturally have
been inclined to embrace the reformation :
but, deterred by the intolerance that every
where difplayed itfelf, the majority were of
opinion that they ought not to expofe them-
felves to the inconveniences of a change,
when, by fo doing, they would ftill be fub-
je£ted to fimilar reftraint. As they muft have
continued to fhew a refpeft for abfurdities
which they had already rejected, they faw
no mighty advantage in having the num-
ber fomewhat diminifhed ; they were fear-
ful alfo of expoiing themfelves, by their
abjuration, to the appearance of a volun-
tary hypocrify : and thus, by perfevering
in their attachment to the old religion, they
ftrengthened it with the authority of their
reputation.
The
( *99 )
The {pint which animated the reformers
did not introduce a real freedom of fenti-
ment. Each religion, in the country in which
it prevailed, had no indulgence but for cer-
tain opinions. Meanwhile, as the different
creeds were oppofed to each other, few opi-
nions exifted that had not been attacked or
fupported in fome part of Europe. The new
communions had befide been obliged to relax
a little from their dogmatical rigour. They
could not, without the grofleft contradiction,
#
confine the right of examination within the
pale of their own church, fince upon this right
was founded the legitimacy of their fepara-
tion. If they refufed to rePcore to reafon its
full liberty, they at leaft confented that its pri-
fon mould be lefs confined : the chains were
not broken, but they were rendered lefs bur-
thenfome and more permanent. In fhort, in
ihofe countries where a fingle religion had
found it impracticable to opprefs all the
others, there was eftablifhed what the info-
lence of the ruling feci: called by the name of
toleration, that is, a permiffion, granted \>yJoh/fa*MM
fome men to other men, to believe what their
reafon adopts, to do what their confcience
O 4 dictates
( 200 )
dictates to them, to pay to their common God
the homage they may think beft calculated to
pleafe him : and in thefe countries the tole-
rated doctrines might then be vindicated with
more or lefs freedom.
We thus fee making its appearance in
Europe a fort of freedom of thought, not for
men, but for chriftians : and, if we except
^yt^Tcumv France, for chriftians only does it any where
It e^^Wexift t0 tms day-
fLrfj/t+iAb*** But this intolerance obliged human reafon
<>££' to feek the recovery of rights too long for-
/ 4+mtf gotten, or which rather had never been pror
perly known and underftood.
Afhamed at feeing the people oppreffed, in
the very fanctuary of their confcience, by
kings, the fuperftitious or political flaves of
the priefthood, fome generous individuals
dared at length to inveftigate the foundations
of their power ; and they revealed this grand
J'L^L u~trut"k to t'ie wor^ : tnat liberty is a bleffing
^t~*.LL.. which cannot be alienated; that no title, no
convention in favour of tyranny, can bind a
nation to a particular family ; that magiftrates,
whatever may be their appellation, their func-r
tions, or their power, are the agents, not the
tjrpr9* ' mates,
N
( aoi )
matters, of the people ; that the people have
the right of withdrawing an authority origi-
nating in themfelves alone, whenever that
authority fhall be abufed, or fhall ceafe to be
thought ufeful to the interefts of the commu-
nity : and laftly, that they have the right to-*.^M*^
punifh, as well as to cafhier their fervants. ' >
Such are the opinions which Althuiius andjiu^u^U^i
Languet, and afterwards Needham and Har-0"^^"-^-
rington, boldly profefied, and inveftigated tho-7/yi Mclkasyvx
roughly. ffai&ym^
From deference to the age in which they V<^*Jffl^
lived, they too often build upon texts, autho- ■>
rities, and examples ; and their opinions ap-
pear to have been the refult of the ftrength
of their minds, and dignity of their characters,
rather than of an accurate analyfis of the true
principles of focial order.
Meanwhile other philofophers, more timid,
contented themfelves with eftablifhing, be-
tween the people and kings, an exa£t reci-
procity of duties and rights, and a mutual
obligation to preferve inviolate fettled conven-
tions. An hereditary magiftrate might in-
deed be depofed or punifhed, but it was
only upon his having infringed this facred Q(rnOrcuv \
contracl,
( 202 )
I j. l^^ contract, wkich was not the lefs binding on
k **jt l*+* his family. This doctrine, which facrificed
i r ^tv^Z/' natura^ rignt? Dy bringing every thing under
Utuot * A->#pofitive inftitution, was fupported both by
ft r&m~y ^civilians and divines. It was favourable to
^*^ t* jl '^"powerful men, and to the projects of the am-
Z7~- A*»*< bitious, as it ftruck rather at the individual
fa X t^J4*** who might be invefted with fovereignty, than
M*~~ '"Tat^fovereienty itfelf. For this reafon it was
K A ^almoil generally embraced by reformifts, and
y,< .^ M adopted as a principle in political diflfentions
jf0&*~, ***^ and revolutions.
***) 1**£+**i Hiftory exhibits few fteps of actual pro-
** *l!~ grefs towards liberty during this epoch ; but
& K • we fee more order and efficacy in s:overn-
Q-ftxj ****** J &
^ ^A *^ ments, and in nations a ftronger and particu-
m *♦* &<**►%♦ larly a more juft fenfe of their rights. Laws
^k^~ **-* are better combined ; they appear lefs fre-
*yk**+ Jf*G ^quently to be the immature and fhapelefs pro-
^^^^ * o duction of circumftances and caprice ; they
/ are the offspring of men of learning, if they
cannot be faid as yet to be the children of
philofophy.
The popular commotions and revolutions
'which agitated England, France, and the re-
publics of Italy, attracted the notice of phi-
ofophers
( 2°3 )
lofophers to that branch of politics which con-
fifts in obferving and predicting the effects
that the conftitution, laws and eftablifhments
of a country are likely to produce upon the
liberty of the people, and the profperity,
ftrength, independence, and form of govern-
ment of the ftate. Some, in imitation of
Plato, as- More, for inftance, and Yiohhzs^JJOOTCWL
deduced from general pofitions the plan of an
entire fyflem of focial order, and exhibited
the model towards which it was neceffary in
practice continually to approach. Others,
like Machiavel, fought, in a profound mveM^JiwilCLlkl.
gation of hiftorical facts, the rules by which
were to be obtained the future maftery of
nations.
The fcience of political economy did not^fyiiULasC
in this epoch, exift. Princes eftimated not xhzlumfrrt^.
number of men, but of ibldiers, in the ftate ;
finance was the mere art of plundering the
people, without driving them to the defpera-
tion that mould end in revolt ; and govern-
ments paid no other attention to commerce
but that of loading it with taxes, of re-
ftricting it by privileges, or of difputing fol-
ks monopoly,
The
"( 304 J
The nations of Europe, occupied by the
common interefts that mould unite, or the
oppofite ones that they conceived ought to di-
vide them, felt the neceffity of obferving cer-
tain rules of conduct which, independently of
treaties, were to operate in their pacific in-
tercourfe ; while other rules, refpeded even
in the midft of war, were calculated to foften
its ferocity, to diminifh its ravages, and to
prevent at lead unproductive and unneceflary
J jjf/i calamities. I refer to the fcience of the law
. i of nations : but thefe laws unfortunately were
wlV>- fought, not in reafon and nature, the only
authorities that independent nations may ao
knowledge,, but in eftablifhed ufages and the
. -^^ opinions of antiquity. The rights of huma-
nity, juftice towards individuals, were lefs
confulted, in this bufinefs, than the ambition,
the pride, and the avarice of governments.
In this epoch we do not obferve moralifts
interrogating the heart of man, analyfing his
faculties and his feelings, thereby to difcover
his nature, and the origin, law and fandion
of his duties. On the contrary, we fee them
employing all the fubtlety of the fchools to
difcover, refpeding adions the lawfulnefs of
which
which is uncertain, the precife limit where
innocence ends, and fin is to begin ; to afcer-
tain what authority has the proper degree of
weight to juftify the practice of any of thefe
dubious fort of a&ions ; to affift them in
claffing fins methodically, fometimes into
genus and fpecies, and fometimes according to
the refpe&ive heinoufnefs of their nature ; and
laftly, to mark thofe in particular of which
the commiflion of one only is fufficient to
merit eternal damnation.
The fcience of morals, it is apparent, could_^%7#2#^ ,
not at that time have being, fince priefts alone
enjoyed the privilege of being its interpreters
and judges. Meanwhile, as a fkilful mecha-
nic, by ftudying an uncouth machine, fre-
quently derives from it the idea of a new one,
lefs imperfect and truly ufeful ; fo did thefe
very fubtleties lead to the difcovery, or afTift
in afcertaining the degree of moral turpitude
of actions or their motives, the order and
limits of our duties, as well as the principles
that mould determine our choice whenever
thefe duties (hall appear to cla(h.
The reformation, by deftroying, in the
countries in which it was embraced, <:on-
feffion,
verz
( 206 )
feflion, indulgences, and monks, refined the
principles of morality, and rendered even man-
ners lefs corrupt. It freed them from facer-
dotal expiations, that dangerous encourage-
ment to vice, and from religious celibacy, the
*7 bane of every virtue, becaufe the enemy of the
domeflic virtues.
This epoch, more than all the reft, was blotted
and disfigured with a£ts of atrocious cruelty.
It was the epoch of religious mafTacres, holy
wars, and the depopulation of the new world.
There we fee eftablifhed the flavery of an-
cient periods, but a flavery more barbarous,
more productive of crimes againft nature ; and
that mercantile avidity, trafficking with the
blood of men, felling them like other commo-
l dities, having firft purchafed them by trea-
fon, robbery, or murder, and dragging them
from one hemifphere to be devoted in ano-
ther, amidft humiliation and outrages, to the
tedious punifhment of a lingering, a cruel, but
infallible deftruclion.
At the fame time hypocrify covers Europe
with executions at the flake, and aflaffinations.
The monfter, fanaticifm, maddened by the
4 wounds
(207)
wounds it has received, appears to redouble
its fury, and haftens to burn its vi&ims in
heaps, fearful that reafon might be approach-
ing to deliver them from its hands.
Meanwhile we may obferve fome of thofe
mild but intrepid virtues making their appear-
ance which are the honour and confolation of
humanity. Hiitory furnifhes names which
may be pronounced without a blufh. A few?/>G cw&
unfullied and mighty minds, uniting fuperior fkJUs^
talents to the dignity of their characters, re-
lieve, here and there, thefe fcenes of perfidy,
of corruption, and of carnage. The picture
of the human race is ftill too dreary for the
philofopher to contemplate it without ex-
treme mortification ; but he no longer de-
fpairs, fmce the dawn of brighter hopes is ex-
hibited to his view.
The march of the fciences is rapid an<
brilliant. The Algebraic language becomes
generalized, fimplified and perfected, or rather
it is now only that it was truly formed. The
firft foundations of the general theory of equa-
tions are laid, the nature of the folutions
which they give is afcertained, and thofe of
the third and fourth degree are refclved.
The
( 20S )
The ingenious invention of logarithms, as
abridging the operations of arithmetic, faci«*
litates the application of calculation to the va-*
rious objects of nature and art, and thus ex-»
tends the fphere of all thofe fciences in which
a numerical procefs is one of the means of
comparing the refults of an hypothefis or
theory with the a&ual phenomena, and thus
arriving at a diftinct knowledge of the laws
of nature. In mathematics, in particular, the
mere length and complication of the numeri-
cal procefs practically confidered, bring us,
upon certain occafions, to a term beyond
which neither time, opportunity, nor even
the ftretch of our faculties, can carry us ; this
term, had it not been for the happy interven-
tion of logarithms, would have alfo been the
term beyond which fcience could never pafs,
or the efforts of the proudeft genius proceed.
The law of the defcent of bodies was difco-
vered by Galileo, from which he had the in-
genuity to deduce the theory of motion uni-
formly accelerated, and to calculate the curve
defcribed by a body impelled into the air
with a given velocity, and animated by a
force conftantly acting upon it in parallel
directions.
Coper-
( 209 )
Copernicus revived the true fyftem of the/^^^^
world, fo long burled in oblivion, deftroyed*
by the theory of apparent motions, what the
ienfes had found fo much difficulty in record
ciling, and oppofed the extreme fimplicity of
the real motions refulting from this fyftem^
to the complication, bordering upon abfur-
dity, of the Ptolemean hypothefis. The mo-
tions of the planets were better underftood ;
and by the genius of Kepler were difcovered
the forms of their orbits, and the eternal laws
by which thofe orbits perform their evolu-
tion?*
Galileo, applying to aftronomy the recent
difcovery of telefcopes, which he carried to JdibCrf/^
greater perfection, opened to the view of man-*
kind a new firmament* The fpdts which he
obferved on the difk of the fun led him to
the knowledge of its rotation, of which he
afcertained the precife period, and the laws by
which it was performed. He demonflrated
the phafes of Venus,, and difcovered the fbur
fatellites that furround and accompany Jupiter
in his immenfe orbit*
He alfo furnifhed an accurate mode of mea-
suring time, by the vibrations of a pendu-J^nc^^^
him*
P Thus
( 210 )
fijJjU&O Thus man owes to Galileo the firft mathe-
J matical theory of a motion that is not at once
uniform and rectilinear, as well as one of the
mechanical laws of nature ; while to Kepler
he is indebted for the acquifition of one of
thofe empirical laws, the difcovery of which
has the double advantage of leading to the
knowledge of the mechanical law of which
they exprefs the refult, and of fupplying fuch
degrees of this knowledge as man finds him-
felf yet incapable of attaining.
The difcovery of the weight of the air, and
f uiculoit^ °f t^ie circulation of the blood, diftinguifh the
J /IS l&bcL- Progrefs °f experimental philofophy, born in
/ the fchool of Galileo, and of anatomy, already
too far advanced not to form a fcience diftinct
from that of medicine.
Jfciw)%d/^^ Natural hiftory, and chymiftry, in fpite of
-^/^ its chimerical hopes and its enigmatical lan-
, » guage, as well as medicine and furgery, afto-
JlilcUC. xiifh us by the rapidity of their progrefs,
jUAMwi though we are frequently mortified at the fight
of the monftrous prejudices which thefe
fciences Jtill retain.
P/jj^jt/f Without mentioning the works of Gefner
Vj * a and Agricola, containing fuch'a fund of real
™v * information, with fo flight a mixture of
fcientific
( 211 )
fcientific or popular errors, we obferve 'Rtr-dbc/tncrtd cU-
nard de Palifli ibmetimes difplaying to us the
quarries from which we derive the materials
of our edifices ; fometimes mafles of ftone
that compofe our mountains, formed from the
fkeletons of fea animals, and authentic monu-
ments of the ancient revolutions of the globe ;
and fometimes explaining how the waters,
raifed from the fea by evaporation, reftored
to the earth by rain, flopped by beds of clay,
affembled in fnow upon the hills, fupply
the eternal ftreams of rivers, brooks, and
fountains : while John Rei difcovered thofe
combinations of air with metallic fubftances,
which gave birth to the brilliant theories by
which, within a few years, the bounds of chy-
miftry have been fo much extended.
In Italy the arts of epic poetry, painting UC
and fculpture, arrived at a perfection unknown v®
to the ancients. In France, Corneille evinced*^^
that the dramatic art was about to acquire ^Jj(T7ytjMl^
ftill nobler elevation ; for whatever fuperiority
the enthufiaflical admirers of antiquity may
fuppofe, perhaps with juftice, the chefs-
d'ceuvresof its firft geniufes to poffefs, it is by
P 2 ^ no
( 212 )
no means difficult, by comparing their worlc9
with the productions of France and of Italy,
for a rational enquirer to perceive the real
progrefs which the art itfelf has attained in
the hands of the moderns.
jflfltA ^e ^ta^an language was completely formed,
0 and in thofe of other nations we fee the marks
of their ancient barbarifm continually difap-
pearing.
1LC& Men began to feel the utility of metaphy-
fics and grammar, and of acquiring the art
MiCrr 0f analyling and explaining philofophically
both the rules and the proceffes eftabllfhed
by cuftom in the compofition of words and
phrafes.
We every where perceive, during this
epoch, reafon and authority ftriving for the
fyjJw aw- maftery, a conteft that prepared and gave
At/Jh*7* iy . promife of the triumph of the former.
This alfo was the period aufpicious to the
/ /luy/yn ^rth °f ^iat spirit of criticifm which alone
& * can render erudition truly produ&iye. It
was ftill neceffary to examine what had beeu
done by the ancients ; but men were aware
that, however they might admire, they were
entitled to judge them. Reafon, which fome-r
2 times
( 2I3 )
times fupported itfelf upon authority, and
againft which authority had been fo frequently
employed, was defirous of appreciating the va-
lue of the afTiftance fhe might derive therefrom,
as well as the motive of the facrifice that
was demanded of her. Thofe who aflfumed
authority for the bafis of their opinions, and
the guide of their conduct, felt how important
it was that they fhould be fure of the ftrength
of their arms, and not expofe themfelves to
the danger of having them broken to pieces
upon the firft attack of reafon. j , %
The habit of writing only in Latin upon olQM^1
the fciences, philofophy, jurifprudence, and
even hiftory, with a few exceptions, gra-
dually yielded to the practice of employing
the common language of the refpedtive coun-
try. And here we may examine what influ-
ence upon the progrefs of the human mind
was produced by this change, which ren-
dered the fciences more popular, but dimi-
nifhed the facility with which the learned
were able to follow them in their route ;
which caufed a book to be read by more in-
dividuals of inferior information in a particular
country, but by fewer enlightened minds
P 3 through.
( 2'4 )
ft
through Europe in general ; which fuper-
feded the neceffity of learning Latin in a great
number of men defirous of inftrucliion, without
having the leifure or the means of founding
the depths of erudition, but at the fame time
obliged the philofopher to confume more time
in acquiring- a knowledge of different lan-
guages.
We may fhow that, as it was impoflible to
make the Latin a vulgar tongue common to.
all Europe, the continuance of the cufto.m of
writing in it upon the fciences would have
been attended with a tranfient advantage only
to thofe who ftudied them ; that the exiftence
of a fort of fcientific language among the
learned of all nations, while the people of
each individual nation fpoke a different one,
would have divided men into two claffes,
would have perpetuated in the people preju-
dices and errors, would have placed an infur-
mountable impediment to true equality, to
an equal ufe of the fame reafon, to an equal
knowledge of neceffary truths ; and thus by
flopping the progrefs of the mafs of man-
kind, would have ended at laft, as in the Eaft*
by putting a period to the advancement of the
fciences themfelves.
For
( *H )
For a long time there had been no inftruc-
tion but in churches and cloifters.
The univerfities were itill under the domi-
nation of the prieftsf Compelled to refign to
the civil authority a part of their influence,
they retained it without the fmalleft defalca-
tion, fo far as related to the early inftruction
of youth, that inftru&ion which is equally
fought in all profeffions, and among all clafles
of mankind. Thus they poflefled themfelves
of the foft and flexible mind of the child, of
the boy, and directed at their pleafure the firft
unfinifhed thoughts of man. To the fecular
power they left the fuperintendence of thofe
ftudies which had for their object jurifpru^
Felice, medicine, fcientifical analyfis, litera-
ture and the humanities, the fchools of which
were lefs numerous, and received no pupils
who were not already broken to the facerdo^
tal yoke.
In reformed countries the clergy loft this
influence. The common inftruction, however,
though dependent on the government, did not
ceafe to be directed by a theological fpirit ;
JDUt it was no longer confined to members of
the priefthqod, It ftill corrupted the minds
P4 Pf
*
( si6 }
of men by religious prejudices, but it did not
bend them to the yoke of facerdotal authority ;
it ftill made fanatics, yifionaries, fophifts, but
it no longer formed flaves for fuperftition.
Meanwhile education, being every where
fubjugated, had corrupted every where the
general underftanding, by clogging the reafon
of children with the weight of the religious
prejudices of their country, and by ftifling in
youth, deftined to a fuperior courfe of inftruc-
tion, the fpirit of liberty by means of poll-*
tical prejudices.
Left to himfelf, every man not only found
between him and truth a clofe and terrible
phalanx pf the errors of his country ai>d age,
but the moll dangerous of thofe errors were
in a manner already rendered perfonal to him.
Before he could diffipate the errors of another,
«$£ was necefTary he fhould begin with afcerT
taining his own ; before he combated the
difficulties oppofed by nature to the difcovery
i pf truth, his underftanding, fo to fpeak, was
obliged to undergo a thorough repair. In-?
ftru&ion at this period conveyed fome know-
ledge ; but to render it ufeful, the operation
of refining mufl take place, to feparate it from
the
( 217 )
the drofs in which fuperftition and tyranny
together had contrived to bury it.
We may fhow what obftacles, more or lefs
powerful, thefe vices of education, thofe re-
ligious and contradictory creeds, that influ-
ence of the different forms of government,
oppofed to the progrefs of the human mindf
It will be feen that this progrefs was by fo
much the flower and unequal, in proportion
as the objects of fpeculative enquiry inti-
mately affected the ftate of politics and reli-
gion; that philofophy, in its mod general
fenfe, as well as metaphyfics, the truths of
which were in direct hoftility to every kind
of fuperftition, were more obftinately retarded
than political enquiry itfelf, the improvement .
of which was only dangerous to the authority t**« <*****
of kings and ariftocratic affemblies : and that' *"?**' *
the fame obfervation will equally apply to they.^^Wy*
Science of material nature. ^J^T^Jr^ic
We may farther develope the other fources t^v+rx. U*
of this inequality, as they may be traced in*>^** *
the objects of which each fcience treats, and
the methods to which it has recourfe.
In the fame manner the fources of inequa-
lity and counteraction, which operate refpect-
ing
' ( 218 )
ing the very fame fcience in different coun-
tries, are alio the joint effect of political and
natural caufes. We may enquire, in this
inequality, what it is that is to be afcribed to
the different modes of religion, to the form of
government, to the wealth of any nation, to
Its political importance, to its perfonal cha-
racter, to its geographical fituation, to the
events and viciffitudes it has experienced, in
fine, to the accident which has produced in
the midft of it any of thofe extraordinary men,
whofe influence, while it extends over the
whole human race, exercifes itfelf with a dou-
ble energy in a more reftrained fphere.
We may diftinguifh the progrefs of each
fcience as it is in itfelf, which has no other
limit than the number of truths it includes
within its fphere, and the progrefs of a na-
tion in each fcience, a progrefs which is re-
gulated firft by the number of men who are
acquainted with its leading and moft import-
ant truths, and next by the number and na-
ture of the truths fo known.
In fine, we are now come to that point of
civilization, at which the people derive a profit
from intellectual knowledge, not only by the
fervices
( «'9 )
fervices it reaps from men uncommonly in-
ftru&ed, but by means of having made of intel-
lectual knowledge a fort of patrimony, and
employing it dire&ly and in its proper
form to refill error, to anticipate or fupply
their wants, to relieve themfelves from the
ills of life, or to take off the poignancy of thefe
ills by the intervention of additional pleafure.
The hiftory of the perfecutions to which
the champions of liberty were expofed, during
this epoch, ought not to be forgotten. Thefe
perfecutions will be found to extend from the
truths of philofophy and politics to thofe of
medicine, natural hiftory and aftronomy. In
the eighth century an ignorant pope had per-
fecuted a deacon for contending that the earth
was round, in oppofition to the opinion of the
rhetorical Saint Auftin. In the feventeenth,
the ignorance of another pope, much more
inexcufeable, delivered Galileo into the hands
of the inquifition, accufed of having proved
the diurnal and annual motion of the earth.
The greateft genius that modern Italy has
given to the fciences, overwhelmed with age
and infirmities, was obliged to purchafe his
Jeafe from punifliment and from prifon, by
aiking
( 220 )
afking pardon of God for having taught men
better to underftand his worlds, and to ad-
mire him in the fimplicity of the eternal laws
by which he governs the univerfe.
Meanwhile, ib great was the abfurdlty of
the theologians, that, in condefcenfion to hu-
man underftanding, they granted a permiffion
to maintain the motion of the earth, at the
fame time that they infilled that it fhould be
only in the way of an hypothefts, and that
the faith fhould receive no injury. The
aftronomers, on the other hand, did the
exa& oppoiite of this ; they treated the mo-
tion of the earth as a reality, and {poke of its
immoveablenefs with a deference only hypo-
thetical.
The transition from the epoch we have
been confidering to that which follows, has
been diftinguifhed by three extraordinary per-
a fonages, Bacon, Galileo, and Defcartes. Ba-*
con has revealed the true method of ftudying;
nature, by employing the three inftruments
with which fhe has fbrnifhed i$s for the dif*
covery of her fecrets, obfervation, experts
ment and calculation. He was defirons that
the philofopher, placed in the, midft of the imi*
( m )
verfe, fhould, as a firft and neceffary ftep in his
career, renounce every creed he had received,
and even every notion he had formed, in or-
der to create, as it were, for himfelf, a new un-
derftanding, in which no idea fhould be ad-
mitted but what was precife, no opinion but
%vhat was juft, no truth of which the degree of
certainty or probability had not been fcrupu-
loufly weighed. But Bacon, though poflfefs-
ing in a moft eminent degree the genius of
phiiofophy, added not thereto the genius of
the fciences ; and thefe methods for the dif-
covery of truth, of which he furnifhed no
example, wrere admired by the learned, but
produced no change in the march of the
fciences.
Galileo had enriched them with the moft tfjMbc,
ufeful and brilliant difcoveries ; he had taught
by his own example the means of arriving
at the knowledge of the laws of nature in a
way fure and productive, in which men were
not obliged to facrifice the hope of fuccefs to
the fear of being milled. He founded the
firft fchool in which the fciences have been
taught without a mixture of fuperftition, pre-
judice, or authority ; in which every other
means
( 222 )
means than experiment and calculation have
been rigoroufly profcribed : but confining him-
felf exclufively to the mathematical and phyfi-
cal fciences, he was unable to communicate to
the general mind that impulfion which it
feemed to want.
This honour was referved for the daring
~L . z^and ingenious Defcartes. Endowed with a
mafter genius for the fciences, he joined
example to precept, in exhibiting the method
of finding and afcertaining truth. This me-
thod he applied to the difcovery of the laws
of dioptrics, of the collifion of bodies, and
finally of a new branch of mathematical fci-
ence, calculated to extend and enlarge the
bounds of all the other branches.
He wifhed to extend his method to every
t * A Jf+fc*>S^}Q& °f human intelligence; God, man, the
filtl^ univerfe, were in turn the fubject of his me-
ditations. If, in the phyfical fciences, his
march be lefs fure than that of Galileo, if his
philofophy be lefs wary than that of Bacon,
if he may be accufed of not having fufficiently
availed himfelf of the leflbns of the one, and
the example of the other, to diftruft his ima-
gination, to interrogate nature by experi-
ment
( "3 )
ment alone, to have no faith but in calcula-
tion, to obferve the univerfe, inftead of con-
ftructing it, to ftudy man, inftead of trufting
to vague conjectures for a knowledge of his
nature ; yet the very boldnefs of his errors
was inftrumental to the progrefs of the hu-
man fpecies. He gave activity to minds
which the circumfpe&ion of his rivals could
not awake from their lethargy. He called
upon men to throw off the yoke of authority,
to acknowledge no influence but what reafon
mould avow : and he was obeyed, becaufe
he fubje&ed by his daring, and fafcinated by
his enthufiafm.
The human mind was not yet free, but it
knew that it was formed to be free. Thofe
who perfifted in the deiire of retaining it in
its fetters, or who attempted to forge new
ones, were under the neceffity of proving that
they ought to be impofed or retained, and it
requires little penetration to forefee that from
that period they would foon be broken in
pieces.
NINTH
( "4 )
NINTH EPOCfi,
From the Time of Defcartes^ to the Formation
of the French Republic*
WE have feen human reafon forming
itfelf flowly by the natural progrefs of civili-
zation \ fuperftition ufurping dominion Over
it, thereby to corrupt it, and defpotifm de*
grading and fttipifying the mental faculties
by the operation of fear, and actual infliction
«
of calamity.
\sJYukr*\ One nation only efcaped for a while this
£<*,- lcy^*L 1- double influence. In that happy land, where
liberty had kindled the torch of genius, the
human mind, freed from the trammels of in-
fancy, advanced towards truth with a firm
and undaunted ftep. But conqueft foon in-
troduced tyranny, fure to be followed by fu-«
perflation, its infeparable companion, and the
whole race of man was re-phmged into dark-
nefs, deftined, from appearance, to be eter-
nal* The dawn, however, at length was ob-
ferved
( "5 )
fervecl (o peep ; the eyes, long condemned to
bbfcurlty, opened and fhut their lids, inuring
themfelves gradually till they could gaze at
the light, and genius dared once again to fhine
forth upon the globe, from which, by fana-
ticifm arid barbarity, it fo long had been ba-
riifhed.
■
We have feen reafon revolting at, and
making off part of its chains, and by the con-
tinual acquifition of new ftrength preparing
and haftening the epoch of its liberty.
We have now to run through the period in
which it coinpleated its emancipation ; in lo^P^"^*
which, fubjedted frill to a degree of bondage, f* ■
it throws orT, one by one, the remainder of its ,
fetters-; in which, free at length to purfue its
courfe, it can no longer be flopped but by
thofe obftacles the occurrence of which is ine-
vitable upon every new progrefs, as being
the refult of the conformation of the mind
itfelf, or of the connection which nature has
eftablifhed between our means of difcovering
truth, and the obftacles fhe oppofes to our
e fforts.
Religious intolerance had obliged feven
of the Belgic provinces to throw off the yoke
Ct of
( 226 )
of Spain, and to form themfelves into a fede-
ral republic. The fame caufe had revived in
England a fpirit of liberty, which, tired of long
and fanguinary commotions, fat down at laft
contented with a conftitution, admired for a
while by philofophers, but having at prefent
Jtoi it****** no other fupport than national fuperftition and
political hypocrify.
To facerdotal perfecutioii is it likewife to
be afcribed that the Swedes had the fortitude
to regain a portion of their rights.
Meanwhile, amidft the commotions occa-
fioned by theological conteftsr France, Spain,
Hungary and Bohemia faw the feeble remains
of their liberty, or of what, at leaft, bore the
femblance of liberty, totally vanifh from their
fight.
Even in countries faid to be free, it is in vain
to look for that freedom which violates none
of the natural rights of man, and which fe-
cures their indefeafible poffeffion and uncon-
trouled exercife* On the contrary, the liberty
exifting there, founded upon a pofitive right
unequally fhared, ^onfers upon an . indivi-
dual prerogatives greater or lefs according to
the town which he inhabits, the clafs in which
( 227 )
he is born, the fortune he pofTefies, or the
trade he may exercife ; and a concife picture
of thefe fantaftical diftinctions in different na-
tions, will furnifh the beft anfwer to thofe
men who are ftill difpofed to vindicate the ad-
vantage and neceflity of them.
In thefe countries, however, civil and per-*
fonal liberty are guarantied by the laws. If
man be not all that he ought to be, ftill the
dignity of his nature is not totally degraded ;
fome of his rights are at leaft acknowledged ;
it can no longer be faid of him that he is a
flave, but only that he does not yet know
how to become truly free.
In nations among whom, during the fame
period, liberty may have incurred lofles more
or lefs real, fo reftri&ed were the political
rights enjoyed by the generality of the peo-
ple, that the annihilation of the ariftoeracy,
almoft defpotic, under which they had groaned*
feems to have been more than a compenfa-
tion. They have loft the title of citizen*
which inequality had nearly rendered illufory ;
but the quality of man has been more re-
fpecled, and royal defpotifm has faved them r"^'
from a ftate of feodal oppreflion, an oppref-
Q^2 fion
( 228 )
fion fo much the more painful and humi-
liating, as the number and prefence of the ty-
pants are continually reviving the fentiment
of it.
In nations partially free the laws muft ne-
ceffarily have improved, becaufe the inter efts
of thofe who hold therein the reins of power,
are not in all cafes at variance with the gene-
ral interefts of the people ; and they muft
<-*r/«, fr^alfo have improved in defpotic ftates, either
becaufe the intereft of the public profperity is
fometimes confounded with that of the def-
pot, or becaufe, feeking to deftroy the re-
mains of authority in the nobles or the clergy,
the defpot himfelf thereby communicates to
the laws a fpirit of equality, of which the mo-
tive indeed was the eftablifhment of an equa-
lity of flavery, but which has often been at*
tended with falutary confequences.
We may here minutely explain the caufes
which have produced in Europe that fpecies of
defpotifm, of which neither the ages that pre-
ceded, nor the other quarters of the world,
have funiifhed an example ; a defpotifm al-
moft abfolute, but which, reftrained by opi-
nion, influenced by the ftate of knowledge,
and
( 229 )
and tempered in a manner by its own intereft,
has frequently contributed to the progrefs of
wealth, induftry, inftruction, and fometimes
even to that of civil liberty.
The manners of men were meliorated by
the mere decay of thofe prejudices w7hich had
kept alive their ferocity, by the influence
of commerce and induftry, the natural ene-
mies of diforder and violence, from wrhich
wealth takes its flight, by the fear and terror
occafioned by the recollection, ftill recent, of
the barbarities of the preceding period, by a
more general diffufion of the philofophical
ideas of juftice and equality, and laftly, by
the flow but fure effect of the progrefs of
mental illumination.
Religious intolerance ftill furvived ; but it
was merely in the way of precaution, as a
homage to the prejudices of the people, or as
a fafeguard againft their inconftancy. It had
loft its fierceft features. Executions at the
ftake, feldom reforted to, were replaced by
other modes of directing religious opinions^
which, if they frequently proved more arbi-
trary, were however lefs barbarous, till at
length perfecution appeared only at inter-
Q^3 vdh
( 230 )
vals, and refulted chiefly from the inveteracy*
of former habit, or from temporary weaknefs
and complaifance.
In every nation, and upon every fubjecl,
the policy of government followed the fteps
not only of opinion, but even of philofophy ;
it was however flowly, and with a fort of
reluctance : and we fhall always find that, in,
proportion as there exifts a confiderable dis-
tance between the point at which men of
profound meditation arrive in the fcience of
politics and morals, and that attained by the
generality of thinking men, whofe fentiments*
when imbibed by the multitude, form what
is called the public opinion, fo thofe who
direct the affairs of a nation, whatever may
be its form of government, are uniformly
feen below the level of this opinion ; they
walk in its path, they purfue its courfe ; but
it is with fo fluggifh a pace, that, fo far from
outftripping, they never come up with it,
.and are always behind by a confiderable num-
ber of years, and by a portion, no lefs confi-
derable, of truths.
And now we arrive at the period when
philofophy, the moll general and obvious
effefta
( 231 )
effects of which we have before remarked,
obtained an influence on the thinking clafs of
men, and thefe on the people and their go-
vernments, that, ceafmg any longer to be gra-
dual, produced a revolution in the entire mafs
of certain nations, and gave thereby a fecure
pledge of the general revolution one day to
follow that fhall embrace • the whole human'
fpecies.
After ages of error, after wandering in all
the mazes of vague and defective theories,
writers upon politics and the law of nations
at length arrived at the knowledge of the
true rights of man, which they deduced from
this fimple principle : that he is a being endowed
with fenfation^ capable of reafoning upon and
under/landing his infere/h, and of acquiring
moral ideas.
They faw that the maintenance of his rights
was the only object of political union, and
that the perfection of the focial art confifted
in preferring them with the moft entire
equality, and in their fulleft extent. They
perceived that the means of fecuring the
rights of the individual, confifting of generaj
rules to be laid down in every community,
0^4 th*
( 232 )
the power of choofing thefe means, and de«
termining thefe rules, could veft only in the
majority of the community ; and that for this
reafon, as it is impoffible for any individual
in this choice to follow the dictates of his
own underftanding, without fubjecting that
t1 . .. of others, the will of the majority is the
HtHJW*^* . . . — —^ — — *■
^c6 only principle which can* be followed by all,
/cv M*1*'*^ without infringing upon the common equa-
ritj ^ ^/ — ^ Each individual may enter into a previous
i^ -^^ "engagement to comply with the will of the
/^^~"^m majority, which by this engagement becomes
unanimity ; he can however bind uobody
but himfelf, nor can he bind himfelf except
fo far as the majority fhall not violate his in-
dividual rights, after having recognifed them.
Such are at once the rights of the majority
ever individuals, and the limits of thefe rights ;
fuch is the origin of that unanimity, which
renders the engagement of the majority bind-
ing upon all ; a bond that ceafes to operate
when, by the change of individuals, this fpe-
cies of unanimity ceafes to exile. There are
objects, no doubt, upon which the majority
would pronounce perhaps oftener in favour
of
( 233 )
of error and mifchief, than in favour of truth
and happinefs ; ftill the majority, and the
majority only, can decide what are the ob-
jects which cannot properly be referred to its
own decifion ; it can alone determine as to
the individuals whofe judgement it refolves
to prefer to its own, and the method which
theft individuals are to purfue in the exercife
of their judgement ; in fine, it has alfo an in-
difpenfible authority of pronouncing whether
the decifions of its officers have or have not
wounded the rights of all,
From thefe fimpie principles men difco-
vered the folly of former notions refpecting
the validity of contracts between a people and£'s~-'/,A^~
its magistrates, which it was fuppofed could -7?t^'r'n/' ■
only be annulled by mutual confent, or by a
violation of the conditions by one of the par-
ties ; as well as of another opinion, lefs fer-
vile, but equally abfurd, that would chain
a people for ever to the provifions of a con- /#*>«^*^
ftitution when once eftablifhed, as if the rieht^"
of changing it were not the fecurity of every
other right, as if human inftitutions, necef-
farily defective, and capable of improvement
as we become enlightened, were to be con-*
demned
!(*♦'
( 234 )
demned to ar* eternal monotony. Accordingly
the governors of nations fawthemfelves obliged
fa renounce that falfe and fubtle policy, which,
forgetting that all men derive from nature an
equality of rights, would fometimes meafure
the extent of thofe which it might think pro-
per to grant by the fize of territory, the
temperature of the climate, the national* cha-
racter, the wealth of the people, the ftate of
commerce and induflry ; and fometirnes csde
them in unequal portions among the different
elafles of fociety, according to their birth, their
fortune^ or their profeffion, thereby cheating
contrary intereils and jarring powers, in or-
der afterwards to apply correctives, which,
but for thefe inftitutions, would not be wanted,
and which, after all, are inadequate to the
end,
£] , It was now no longer practicable to divide
^-r,^^t^mar^md into two fpeetes, one deitined to go-
j£#5£, *■* ^Xyvern, the other to obey, one to deceive, the
** f ^™ x**4 other to be dupes : the doctrine was obliged
*T/^ "~ univerfally to be acknowledged, that all have
^ J~ /Jy &n equal right f> be enlightened relpedting
£ **Tl~* their interefts, to mare in the acqtiifitlon of
hi* *+**£ truths and that no political authorities ap-
mJ2u ri £*:&/&£ ®>*6~7 6**4^ /^v^^ pointed
?/u.w^oJnted by the people for the benefit of the
people, can be entitled to retain them in ig-
norance and darknefs.
Thefe principles, which were vindicated J 4? ^^
by the generous Sydney, at the expence ofj^ *<^-™*)
his blood, and to which Locke gave the au-^.v^^ ^
thority of his name, were afterwards deve-^ / '
loped with greater force, precifion, and ex- L^a^jAj^.
tent by Rouffeau, whofe glory it is to havo^ TifcJi^
placed them among thofe truths henceforth ^t-A^c^^Jl
, impoffible to be forgotten or difputed.^^^^3^- *~U
t' Man is lubject to wants, and he has lacul-^^^ fcSZc
ties to provide for them ; and from the ap-22 "p
plication of thefe faculties, differently modi-
fied and diftributed, a mafs of wealth is de-
rived, deftined to fupply the wants of the N
community. But what are the principles by
which the formation or allotment, the pre-
fervation or confumption, the increafe or di-*
minution of this wealth is governed ? What
are the laws of that equilibrium between the A
wants and refources of men which is conti-
nually tending to eftablifh itfelf ; and from
which refults, on the one hand, a greater faci-
lity of providing for thofe wants, and of con-
fequence, an adequate portion of general feli-
city,
( 236 }
city, when wealth increafes, till it has reached
itshigheft degree of advancement ; and on the
other, as wealth diminiflies, greater difficul-
ties, and of confequence proportionate mi-
fery and wretchednefs, till abftinence or de-
population fhall have again reftored the ba-
knee ? How, in this aftonifhing multiplicity
of labours and their produce, of wants and
refources ; in this alarming, this terrible com-
plication of interefts, which connects the fub-
Jiftence and well-being of an oWcure indivi-
dual with the -general fyftem of focia! exift-
ence, which renders him dependent on all
the accidents of nature and every political
event, and extends in a manner to the whole
globe his faculty of experiencing privations
or enjoyments ; how is it that, in this feem-
ing" chaos, we ft.il! perceive, by a general law
of the moral world, the efforts of each indi-^
victual for himfeif conducing to the good of
the whole, and, notwkhftanding the open
conflict of inimical interefts, the public wek
fare requiring that each mould underftand
his own intereft, and he able to purfue it
freely and uncontrolled ?
Hence it appears to be one of the rights of
■»H
( *37 )
man that he fhould employ his facilities, dil-
pofe of his wealth, and provide for his wants
f Ao * f£
in whatever manner lie (hall think belt. The^T^t vj
general intereft of the fociety, fo far from c^rfC-^*
reftraining him in this refpect, forbids, on the
contrary, every fuch attempt ; and in this de-
partment of public adminiftration, the care
of fecuring to eveiy man the rights which he
derives from nature, is the only found po-
licy, the only controul which the general
will can exerciie over the individuals of the
community.
• But this principle acknowledged, there arc
ftill duties incumbent upon the administra-
tors of the general will, the fovereigii autho-
rity. It is for this authority to eftabhiV/ *^^£
the regulations which are deftmed to afcer-/^*—*4^yC.
tain, in exchanges of every kind, the weight, ^/a^^
the bulk, the length, and quantity of things <^,^/^
to be exchanged. ^X~? t >*-* ^ ff/V'4 Wiyirffdjj
*S*y It is for this authority to ordain a common r (nmQj
ftandard of valuation, that may apply to all
commodities and facilitate the calculation of
their valuations and companion, and which,
hearing itfelf an intrinfic value, maybe em-
ployed in all cafes as the medium of exchange;
a regu-
( 238 ) ,
a regulation without which commerce, re-
ftrained to the mere operations of barter, can^
not acquire the neceffary activity.
The growth of every year prefents us with
a fupererogatory value, which is deftined nei-
ther to remunerate the labour of which this
growth is the fruit, nor to fupply the flock
which is to fecure an equal and more abund-
ant growth in time to come. The pofTeflbr
of this fupererogatory value does not owe it
immediately to his labour, and poflefles it in-
dependently of the daily and indifpenfible ufe
of his faculties for the fupply of his wants*
This fupererogatory growth is therefore the
flock to which the fovereign authority may
have recourfe, without injuring the rights of
any, to fupply the expences which are requi-
site for the fecurity of the ftate, its intrinfic
tranquillity, the prefervation of the rights of
all, the exercife of the authorities inftituted
for the eftablifhment or adminiftration of law,
in fine, of the maintenance through all its
branches of the public profperity.
There are certain operations, eftablifh-
ments, and inftitutions, beneficial to the com-
munity at large, which it is the office of the
commu*
( 239 )
community to introduce, direct, and fuper*
Intend, and which are calculated to iiipply
the defects of perfonal inclination, and to
parry the itruggle of oppoiite interells, whether
for the improvement of agriculture, induftry,
and commerce, or to prevent or diminifh the
■evils entailed on our nature, or thofe which
accident is continually accumulating upon us.
Till the commencement of the epoch we
are now conildering, and even for feme time
after, thefe objects had been abandoned to
chance, to the rapacity of governments, to
the artifices of pretenders, or to the preju-
dices and partial interefts of the powerful. ■
clanes of fociety ; but a difciple of Defcartes,
the Uluftrions and unfortunate John de Witt^Oc n^^
perceived how neceilary it was that political
economy, like every other fcience, mould be
governed by the principles of philofophys
and fubjecled to the rules of a rigid calculation.
It made however little progrefs, till the peace
of Utrecht promifed to Europe a durable
tranquillity- From this period, neglected as
it had hitherto been, it became a fubject of
almoft general attention ; and by Stuart, Smidi,^^^- j
and particularly by the French economics, ^^^
rf
^Jffi^t t^ i* friaT***^'
It
( 240 )
it was fudderily elevated, at leaft as to precifiori
and purity of principles, to a degree of per-
fection, not to have been expected after the
long and total indifference which had prevailed
upon the fubjecT:.
a. . . The caufe however of fo unparalleled a
j twpiuy pj.(5grefs 'ls chiefly to be found in the ad*
vancement of that branch of philofophy com-
prehended in the term metaphyfics, taking^the
word in its moft extenfive fignification.
Defcartes had reftored this branch of phy*
lofophy to the dominion of reafon* He per*
ceived the propriety of deducing it from thofe
fimple and evident truths which are revealed
to us by an inveftigation of the operations of
the mind* But fcarcely had he difcovered
this principle than his eager imagination led
him to depart from it, and philofophy ap-
peared for a time to have refumed its in*
dependence only to become the prey of new
errors.
J L At length Locke made himfelf mafter of
the proper clew. He fhewed that a precife
and accurate analyfis of ideas, reducing them
to ideas earlier in their origin or more fimple
. irv their ftru&ure, was the only means to avoid
the
,( 241 )
the being loft in a chaos of notions incom-
plete, incoherent, and undetermined, difor-
derly becaufe fuggefted by accident, and after-
wards entertained without reflecting on their
nature.
He proved by this analyfis, that the whole
circle of our ideas refults merely from the
operations of our intellect upon the fenfations
we have received, or more accurately fpeak-
ing, are compounded of fenfations offering
themfelves fimultaneoufly to the memory, and
after fuch a manner, that the attention is
fixed and the perception bounded to a par-
ticular branch or view of the fenfations them-
felves.
He fhewed that by taking one fingle word
to reprefent one fingle idea, properly analifed
and defined, we are enabled to recal conftantly
the fame idea, that is, the fame fimultaneous
refult of certain fimple ideas, and of confe-
quence can introduce this idea into a train of
reafoning without rifk of mifleading ourfelves.
On the contrary, if our words do not re-
prefent fixed and definite ideas, they will at
different times fuggeft different ideas to the
mind and become the moil fruitful fource of
error.
R la
( 242 )
In fine, Locke was the firft who ventured
t6 prefcribe the limits of the human under-
ftanding, or rather to determine the nature of
the truths it can afcertain and the objects it
can embrace.
It was not long before this method was
adopted by philofophers in general, in treating
of morals and politics, by which a degree of
certainty was given to thofe fciences little in-
ferior to that which obtained in the natural
fciences, admitting only of fuch conclufions
as could be proved, feparating thefe from
doubtful notions, and content to remain igno-
rant of whatever is out of the reach of human
comprehenfion.
In the fame manner, by analifmg the
I faculty of experiencing pain and pleafure,
Ju^Uvx^ , men arrjvecj at tne origin of their notions of
>/ a /***-*^*Tiiorality, and the foundation of thofe gene-
w * J "111 rijJ /4 I
. ±. ifr*d principles which form the necefTary and
J "immutable laws of juflice ; and confequently
difcovered the proper motives of conferming
their conduct to thofe laws, which, being de-
duced from the nature of our feeling, may not
improperly be called our moral conflitution.
The fame fyftem became, in a manner, a
general inftrument of acquiring knowledge.
It
( Hi )
It was employed to afcertain the truths of na-
tural philofophy, to try the fads of hiftory,
and to give laws to tafte. In a word, the
procefs of the human mind in every fpecies of
enquiry was regulated by this principle ; and
it is this lateft effort of fcience which has
placed an everlafting barrier between the hu-
man race' and the old miftakes of its infancy,
that will for ever preferve us from a relapfe
into former ignorance, fmce it has prepared
the means of undermining not only our pre-
fent errors, but all thofe by which they may
be replaced, and which will fucceed each other
only to poflefs a feeble and temporary influ-
ence' Ju "<h
In Germany, however, a man of a vaft and
profound genius laid the foundations of a new
theory. His bold and ardent mind difdained
to reft on the fuppofitions of a modeft phifo-
phy, wrhich left in doubt thofe great quef- . .
tions of fpiritual exiftence, the immortality of
the foul, the free wall of man and of God,
and the exiftence of vice and mifery in a
world framed by a being whofe infinite wif-
dom and goodnefs might be fuppofed to ba-
nifh them from his creation. Leibnitz cut
R 2 the
( *44 )
the knot which a timid fyftem had in vain
attempted to unloofe. He fuppofed the uni-
A f , verfe to be compofed of atoms, which were
fimple, eternal, and equal in their nature.
He contended that the relative fituation of
each of thefe atoms, with refpect to every
other, occafioned the qualities diftinguifhing
it from all others ; the human foul, and the
minutefl particle of a mafs of ft one, being
each of them equally one of thefe atoms,
differing only in confequence of the refpe&ive
places they occupy in the order of the uni-
verfe.
He maintained that, of all the pofTible com-
binations which could be formed of thefe
atoms, an infinitely wTife being had preferred,
and could not but prefer, the moft perfect ;
and that if, ia that which exifts, we are af-
flicted with the prefence of vice and mifery,
ftill there is no other poffible combination that
would not be productive of greater evils.
Such was the nature of this theory, which,
iupported by the countrymen of Leibnitz, re-
tarded in that part of the world the progrefs
of philofophy. Meanwhile there ftarted up
in England an entire fe£t, who embraced with
zeal,
<-£v»^
( 245 )
zeal, and defended with eloquence, the fcheme
of optimifm : but, lefs acute and profound Oft"-'
than Leibnitz, who founded his fyftem upon
the fuppofition of its being impoffible, from
his very nature, that an all-wife being mould
plan any other univerfe than that which was
beil, they endeavoured to difcover in the
terraqueous part of the world the proofs of
this perfection, and lofing thereby the advan-
tages which attach to this fyftem, confidered
generally and in the abftradt, they frequently
fell into abfurd and ridiculous reafonings.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, other philofo- HodJi^^
phers, not perceiving that the analyfis of the
developement of our actual faculties led to a
principle which gave to the morality of our
adtions a bafis fufficiently iblid and pure, at-
tributed to the human foul a new faculty, C^n-SUc^v^
diftindt from thofe of fenfation and reafon,
though at the fame time combining itlelf
with them ; of the exiftence of which they
could advance no other proof, than that it
was impoffible to form a confiftent theory
without it. In the hiftory of thefe opinions
it will be feen, that, while they have proved
injurious to the progrefs of philofophy itfelf,
R 3 they
( W* )
they have tended to give a more rapid and
extenfive fpread to ideas truly fcientific, con-
nected with philofophy.
Hitherto we have exhibited the ft ate of
philofophy only among men by whom it
has in a manner been ftudied, inveftigated,
and perfected. It remains to mark its. influ-
ence on the general opinion, and to fhow,
that, while it arrived at the certain and infal-
lible means of difcovering and recognifmg
truth, reafon at the fame time detected the
delufions into which it had fo often been led
by a xefpecl: for authority or a mifguided ima-
gination, and undermined thofe prejudices in
the mafs of individuals which had fo long
been the fcourge, at once corrupting and inr
Aiding calamity upon -the human fpecies.
The period at length arrived when men
n ' / % n0 l°nSer feared openly to avow the right, fo
^3 ' "*long withheld, and even unknown, of fub-
je£ting every opinion to the teft of reafon,
or, in other words, of employing, in their
fearch after truth, the only means they pof-
fefs for its difcovery. Every man learned,
with a degree of pride and exultation, that
nature had not condemned him to fee with
the
^
«v
( 247 )
the eyes and to conform his judgement to
the caprice of another. The fuperftitions of -
antiquity accordingly difappeared ; and the
debafement of reafon to the fhrine of fuper-
natural faith, was as rarely to be found in
jociety as in the circles of metaphyiics and
philofophy.
| A clafs of men fpeedily made their appear-^f^"^
ance in Europe, whofe object was lefs to di£^t^_ cU****
cover and inveftigate truth, than to deffemwo?^^ ^ -***-
nateit; who, purfuing prejudice through all £l'%r*'0' '
the haunts and afylums in which the clergy,
the fchools, governments, and privileged cor-
porations had placed and protected it, made
it their glory rather to eradicate popular er-
rors, than add to the ftores of human know-
ledge ; thus aiding indirectly the progrefs of
mankind, but in a way neither lefs arduous,
nor lefs beneficial,
. ' In England, Collins and Bolihgbroke, and 53^^^
in France, Bayle, Fontenelle, Montefquieu,^^^^
and the refpective difciples of thefe celebrated
men, combated on the fide of truth with all
the weapons that learning, wit and genius
were able to furnifh ; affuming every fhape,
employing every tone, from the fublime and
R 4 pathetic
pathetic to pleafantry and fatire, from the moft
7Xt> *»«* laboured invefligation to an interefting ro-
fini**§p>1>\ mance or a fugitive effay : accommodating
»>»», h ^s truth to thofe eyes that were too weak to bear
ipv* atcauJ jts effulgence; artfully carefling prejudice, the ,
^^ji^)mcre eafily to ftrangle it \ never^ aiming a
L***.*^ direct blow at errors, never attacking more
^4 i*<+*4 than one at a tjme^ nor even that one in all
feffi / r-jrits fortreffes ; fometimes foothing the enemies
V j j* ^^ of reafon, by pretending to require in religion
,-. * . but a partial toleration^ in politics but a li-
mited freedom ; fiding with defpotifm, when
their hoftilities were directed againft the
/7CCi$uS priefthood, and with priefts, when their ob-
tt+ffji'snil jedJ was to unmafk the defpot ; fapping the
principle of both thefe pefts of human hap-
pinefs, ftriking at the root of both thefe bane-
ful trees, while apparently wifhing for the
reform only of glaring abufes and feemingly
confining themfelves to lopping off the exu-
berant branches ; fometimes reprefenting to
the partifans of liberty, that fuperftition, which
covers defpotifm as with a coat of mail, is the
firft victim which ought to be facrificed, the
firft chain that ought to be broken ; and fome-
times denouncing it to tyrants a$ the true
enemy
4
( 249 )
enemy of their power, and alarming them with
recitals of its hypocritical confpiracies and its
fanguinary vengeance. Thefe writers, mean- Horo clttl
while, were uniform in their vindication of free-//, ^ hL/roJtL
dom of thinking and freedom of writing, as pri-* //^ Jred^
vileges upon which depended the fakation of>v/iv* /A^
mankind. They declaimed, without cefTa- pcrjujud k^
tion or wearinefs, againft the crimes both of ** 1
fanatics and tyrants, expofing every feature of
feverity, of cruelty, of oppreffion, whether in
religion, in adminifhation, in manners, or in
laws ; commanding kings, foldiers, magis-
trates and prielis, in the name of truth and of
nature, to refpedt the blood of mankind ; call- Ha™ ^^
ing upon them, with energy, to anfwer for the '*4*c ri J
lives ftill profuiely facrificed in the field of bat- *?*,? , ,
tie or by the infli&ion of punifhments, orelfej • j'^U**
to correfl: this inhuman policy, this murderous #,*•, vital**.
infenfibility ; and laftly, in every place, and &*-"* ~
upon every occafion, rallying the friends of '^^-^
mankind with the cry of reafon, toleration, "
and humanity ! f
Such was this new philofophy. Accordingly
to thofe numerous claries that exift by preju-
dice, that live upon error, and that, but for
the credulity of the people, would be power-
lefs
( *5° )
*<• ' f~ lefs and extinct, it became a common object
of deteftation. It was every where received,
and every where perfecuted, having kings,
priefts, nobles and magiftrates among the
number of its friends as well as of its ene-
mies. Its leaders, however, had almoft al-
ways the art to elude the purfuits of ven-
geance, while they expofed themfelves to
hatred ; and to fcreen themfelves from perfe-
ction, while at the fame time they fufficiently
difcovered themfelves not to lofe the laurels
of their glory.
jui^l***^ It frequently happened that a government
fc>**. rewarded them with one hand, and with the
other paid their enemies for calumniating
them ; profcribed them, yet was proud that
fortune had honoured its dominions with
their birth ; punifhed their opinions, and at
the fame time would have been afhamed not
to be fuppofed a convert thereto.
Thefe Opinions were fhortly embraced by
every enlightened mind. By fome they were
openly avowed, by others concealed under
an hypocrify more or lefs apparent, according
to the timidity or firmnefs of their charac-
ters, and accordingly as they were influenced
by
( \m:, )
by the contending interefts of their profeffion *
or their vanity. At length the pride of
ranging on the fide of erudition became pre-
dominant, and fentiments were profefled
with the flighteft caution, which, in the ages
that preceded, had been concealed by the
moil profound diffimulation.
Look to the different countries of Europe -
into which, from the prevalence of the French
language, become aimoft univerfal, it was im-
poffibie for the inquifitorial fpirit of govern-
ments and priefts to prevent this philofophy
from penetrating, and we fhall fee how rapid
was its progrefs. Meanwhile we cannot over-
look how artfully tyranny and fuperftition
employed againft it all the arguments in-
vented to prove the weaknefs and fallibility
of human judgement, all the motives which
the knowledge of man had been able to fug-
ged for miftrufting his fenfes, for doubting
and fcrutinizing his reafon ; thus converting
fcepticifm itfelf into an inftrument by which
to aid the caufe of credulity.
This admirable fyftem, fo fimple in its
principles, which confiders an unreftri&ed
freedom as the fareft encouragement to com-
merce
( 252 )
merce and induftry, which would free the
U*"-***'J people from the deftru&ive peftilence, the
humiliating yoke of thofe taxes apportioned
with fo great inequality, levied with fo im-
provident an expence, and often attended with
circumftances of fuch atrocious barbarity, by
fubftituting in their room a mode of contri-
bution at once equal and juft, and of which
the burthen would fcarcely be felt ; this
theory, which connects the power and wealth
of a ftate with the happinefs of individuals,
and a refpecl: for their rights, which unites by
the bond of a^ common felicity the different
claffes into which focieties naturally divide
themfelves ; this benevolent idea of a frater-
nity of the whole human race, of which no
national intereft fhall ever more intervene to
difturb the harmony ; thefe principles, fo at-
ra&ive from the generous fpirit that pervades
them, as well as from their fimplicity and
comprehenfion, were propagated with enthu-
fiafm by the French economifts.
The fuccefs of thefe writers was lefs rapid
and lefs general than that of the philofo-
phers ; they had to combat prejudices more
refined, errors more fubtle. Frequently they
were
( *S3 )
were obliged to enlighten before they could
undeceive, and to inftrucT: good fenfe before
they could venture to appeal to it as their
judge.
If, however, to the whole of their doctrine
they gained but a fmall number of converts ;
if the general nature and inflexibility of their
principles were difcouraging to the minds of
many ; if they injured their caufe by affecting
an obfcure and dogmatical ftyle, by too much
poftponing the interefts of political freedom
to the freedom of commerce, and by infifting
too magifterially upon certain branches of their
fyftem, which they had not fufficiently inves-
tigated ; they neverthelefs fucceeded in ren-
dering odious and contemptible that daftardly,
that bafe and corrupt policy, which places
the profperity of a nation in the fubjection
and impoverifhment of its neighbours, in the
narrow views of a code of prohibitions, and
in the petty calculations of a tyrannical re-
venue.
But the new truths with which genius
had enriched philofophy and the fcience of
political economy, adopted in a greater or lefs
degree by men of enlightened understandings,
extended dill farther their falutary influence.
The
( 254 )
The art of printing had been applied to fo
many fiibje&s, books had fo rapidly increafed,
they were fo admirably adapted to every tafte,
every degree of information, and every fitua-
tion of life, they afforded fo eafy and fre-
quently fo delightful an inftruclion, they had
opened fo many doors to truth, which it was
impoflible ever to clofe again, that there was
no longer a clafs or profeffion of mankind
from whom the light of knowledge could ab-
folutely be excluded. Accordingly, though
there flill remained a multitude of individuals
condemned to a forced or voluntary ignorance,
yet was the barrier between the enlightened
and unenlightened portion of mankind nearly
effaced, and an infenfible gradation occupie.d
the fpace which feparates the two extremes of
genius and ftupidity.
Thus there prevailed a general knowledge
of the natural rights of man ; the opinion even
that thefe rights are inalienable and impre-
fcriptible ; a decided partiality for freedom of
thinking and writing ; for the enfranchifc-
ment of induftry and commerce ; for the me-
lioration of the condition of the people ; for
the repeal of penal ftatutes againft religious
nonconforming ; for the abolition of torture
and
( *ss )
and barbarous punifhments ; the defire of a
milder fyftem of criminal legiflation ; of a
jurifprudence that mould give to innocence a
complete fecurity ; of a civil code more fim-
ple, as well as more conformable to reafon and
juftice ; indifference as to fyftems of religion,
confidered at length as the offspring of fuper-
ftition, or ranked in the number of political
inventions ; hatred of hypocrify and fanati-
cifm ; contempt for prejudices ; and laftly, a
zeal for the propagation of truth. Thefe
principles, pafling by degrees from the writings
of philofophers into every clafs of fociety whofe
inftruction was not confined to the catechifm
and the fcriptures, became the common creed,
the fymbol and type of all men who were not
idiots on the one hand, or, on the other, af-
fertors of the policy of Machiavelifm. In
fome countries thefe fentiments formed fo
nearly the general opinion, that the mafs even
of the people feemed ready to obey their dic-
tates and act from their impuife.
The love of mankind, that is to fay, that
active compaffion which interefts itfelf in all
jthe afflictions of the human race, and regards
with horror whatever, in public inftitutions,
in
( 256 )
in the adls of government, or the purfuits of
individuals, adds to the inevitable misfor-
tunes of nature, was the necefTary refult of thefe
principles. It breathed in every work, it
prevailed in every converfation, and its be-
nign effects were already vifible even in the
laws and adminiftration of countries fubjed:
to defpotifm.
The philofophers of different nations em-
bracing, in their meditations, the entire inte-
refts of man, without diftinclion of country,
of colour, or of feci:, formed, notwithftand-
ing the difference of their fpeculative opi-
nions, a firm and united phalanx againft every
defcription of error, every fpecies of tyranny.
Animated by the fentiment of univerfal phi-
lanthropy, they declaimed equally againft in-
juftice, whether exifting in a foreign country,
or exercifed by their own country againft a
foreign nation. They impeached in Europe
the avidity which ftained the fhores of Ame-
rica, Africa, and Afia with cruelty and crimes.
The philofophers of France and England glo-
ried in affuming the appellation, and fulfilling
the duties, of friends to thofe very negroes
whom their ignorant oppreffors difdained to
rank
( 257 )
rank in the clafs of men. The French writers . qj j •
beftowed the tribute of their praife on the tole-^^^^&f,^,
ration granted in Ruffia and Sweden, while r
Beccaria refuted in Italy the barbarous maxims Jo £CC&yi4j
of Gallic jurifprudence. The French alfo ^Jt
endeavoured to open the eyes of England re-
fpecting her commercial prejudices, and her v£A
fuperftitious reverence for the errors of her
conftitution ; while the virtuous Howard re-j7W#r^
monftrated at the fame time with the French
upon the cool barbarity which facrificed fo
many human victims in their prifons and
hofpitals.
Neither the violence nor the corrupt arts Cbt^tjUOL^
of government, neither the intolerance of/V*^^-^* <**
priefts, nor even the prejudices of the people^^^/^^y-
themfelves, pofTefTed any longer the fatar y *" ' , **
power of fuppreffing the voice of truth ; and.^*" ^'
nothing remained to fcreen the enemies of
reafon, or the opprefTors of liberty, from the^u<y - i
fentence which was about to be pronounced ^i^x*, **""*
upon them by the unanimous fuffrage of Eu-£^J*££. fi,^,
rope» y£* '*■*>*,#*++ j>+£t' *•*+ '"*' y^ (J>ic<d\
While the fabric of prejudice was thus tot-
tering to its foundations, a fatal blow was
given to it by a doctrine, of which Turgot, "^ *< ^
S Price, j7V<c*.*£)
( 2SS ) \
Price, and Prieftley were the firft and moft
illuftrious advocates : it was the doctrine of
£/*\^fc the infinite perfectibility of the human mind.
(P^/juMkk-j, The confideration of this opinion will fall
under the tenth divifion of our work, where
it will be developed with fufficient minute-
nefs. But we fhall embrace this opportunity
of expofing the origin and progrefs of a falfe
fyftem of philofophy, to the overthrow of
which the doctrine of the perfectibility of man
is become fo neceffary.
The fophiftical doctrine to which I allude,
derived its origin from the pride of fome
men, and the felfifhnefs of others. Its real,
though concealed object, was to give dura-
tion to ignorance, and to prolong the reign
of prejudice. The adherents of this doctrine,
who have been numerous, fometimes at-
tempted to delude the reafon by brilliant pa-
radoxes, or to feduce it by the fpecious
charms of an univerfal pyrrhonifm. Some-
times they affumed the boldnefs peremptorily
to declare, that the advancement of know-
ledge threatened the moft fatal confequences
to human happinefs and liberty ; at other
times they declaimed, with pompous enthu-
fiafm
( *59 )
fiafm, 111 favour of an imaginary wifdom and
fublimity, that difdained the cold progrefs of
analyfis, and the tardy mechanical path of
experience. Upon one occafion, they were
accuftomed to fpeak of philofophy and the
abftrufe fciences as theories too fubtle for the
inveftigation of the human underftanding,
urged as we are by daily wants, and fub-
je&ed to the moft fudden viciffitudes ; at ano-
ther, they treated them as a mafs of blind and
idle conjectures, the falfe eflimation of which
was fure to difappear from the mind of a man
habituated to life and experience. Inceffantly
did they lament the decay and decrepitude of
knowledge, in the midft of its moil brilliant
progrefs ; the rapid degradation .of the human
fpecies, at the moment that men were ready
to affert their rights and truft to their own
understandings ; an approaching sera of bar-
barifm, darknefs and flavery, when evidence
was fo perpetually accumulating, that the re-
vival of fuch an sera was no longer to be
feared. They feemed humbled by the ad-
vances of their fpecies, either becaufe they
could not boaft of having contributed to them,
©r becaufe they faw themfelves menaced with
S 2 a fpeedy
( 26o )
a fpeedy termination of their influence or im-
portance. In the meanwhile, a certain num-
ber of intellectual mountebanks, more fkilful
than thofe who defperately endeavoured to
prop the edifice of declining fuperftition, at-
tempted, out of the wreck of fuperftition, to
eredt a new religious creed which mould no
longer demand of our reafon any more than
a fort of formal fubmiffion, and which in-
dulged us with a perfect liberty of confcience,
provided we would admit fome flight frag-
ment of incomprehenfibility into our fyftem.
A fecond clafs of thefe mountebanks aflayed
to revive, by means of fecret aflbciations, the
forgotten myfteries of a fort of oriental theurgy.
The errors of the people they left undifturbed :
upon their own difciples they entailed new
dogmas and new terrors, and ventured to
hope, by a procefs of cunning, to reftore the
ancient tyranny of the facerdotal princes of
India and Egypt. In the mean time, philo-
fophy, leaning upon the pillar which fcience
had prepared, fmiled at their efforts, and faw
one attempt vanifh after another, as the waves
retire from the foot of an immoveable rock.
By comparing the difpofition of the public
mind,
( •«« )
mind, which I have already fketched, with
the prevailing fyftems of government, we
fhall perceive, without difficulty, that an im-
portant revolution was inevitable, and that
there were two ways only in which it could
take place : either the people themfelves would
eftablifh a fyftem of policy upon thofe princi-
ples of nature and reafon, which philofophy
had rendered fo dear to their hearts ; or go-
vernment might haften to fuperfede this event,
by reforming its vices, and governing its con-
duel: by the public opinion. One of thefe re-
volutions would be more fpeedy, more radi-
cal, but alfo more tempeftuous ; the other
lefs rapid, lefs complete, but more tranquil :
in the one, liberty and happinefs would be
purchafed at the expence of tranfient evils ;
in the other, thefe evils would be avoided ;
but a part of the enjoyments neceffary to a
ftate of perfect freedom, would be retarded in
its progrefs, perhaps, for a confiderable pe-
riod, though it would be impoffible in the end
that it mould not arrive.
The corruption and ignorance of the
rulers of nations have preferred, it feems,
the former of thefe modes ; and the fudden
S 3 triumph
( 262 )
/ f triumph of reafon and liberty has avenged
•> the human race.
A (sfica/ ^e ^imP^e didates of good fenfe had
taught the inhabitants of the Britifh colo-
nies, that men born on the American fide of
the Atlantic ocean had received from nature
the fame rights as others born under the me-
ridian of Greenwich, and that a difference of
fixty-fix degrees of longitude could have no
power of changing them. They underftood,
more perfectly perhaps than Europeans, what
were the rights common to all the individuals
of the human race ; and among thefe they
included the right of not paying any tax to
which they had not confented. But the Bri-
Jet fcu^ , ti(h Government, pretending to believe that
God had created America, as well as Afia,
for the gratification and good pleafure of the
inhabitants of London, refolved to hold in
bondage a fubject nation, fituated acrofs the
feas at the diftance of three thoufand miles,
intending to make her the inftrument in due
time of enilaving the mother country itfelf.
Accordingly, it commanded the fervile repre-
fentatives of the people of England to violate
the rights of America, by fubje£ting her to a
com-
( 263 J
compulfory taxation. This injuftice, me con-
ceived, authorifed her to diflblve every tie of
connection, and fhe declared her independ-
ence.
Then wasobferved, for the firft time, theS&v*6 ^Vfc**
example of a great people throwing off at once&<*~~ */*^* £
every fpecies of chains, and peaceably framing/-^ 'T'^ V M
for itfelf the form of government and the laws e '
which it judged would be moft conducive to^/W^'-**, ^j
its happinefs ; and as, from its geographical -^ Q Y^*r^
pofition, and its former political ftate, it was^* dt^s
obliged to become a federal nation, thirteen
republican conftitutions were feen to grow up
in its bofom, having for their bafis a folemn
recognition of the natural rights of man, and
for their firft object: the prefervation of thofe
rights through every department of the union. r
If we examine the nature of thefe conftitu- jk (j&l A
tions, we fhall difcover in what refpe£t they ^
were indebted to the progrefs of the political
fciences, and what was the portion of error,
refulting from the prejudices of education,
which formed its way into them : why, for
inftance, the fimplicity of thefe conftitutions
is disfigured by the fyftem of ji__balance_of jS 'tt^oj^^
powers ; and why an identity of interefts^f^; ^^ j
S 4 rather^i^Z-wX
>oq( l
• ( 264 )
rather than an equality of rights, is adopted as
their principle. It is manifeft that this prin-
ciple of identity of interefts, when made the
rule of political rights, is not only a violation
of fuch rights, with refpecl: to thofe who are
denied an equal mare in the exercife of them,
but that it ceafes to exift the very inftant it
becomes an actual inequality. We infift the
rather upon this, as it is the only dangerous
error remaining, the only error refpe&ing
which men of enlightened minds want ftill to
be undeceived. At the fame time, however,
we fee realized in thefe republics an idea, at
that time almoft new even in theory ; I mean
J]fv<vj w<L<A t^c neceflity of eftablifhing by law a regular
^>^y'f^/"and peaceable mode of reforming the confti--
^ ""^ "tutions themfelves, and of placing this bufi-
L JJli '*$ ^ ne^s *n ot^er nands than thofe entrufted with
t^r^ ft** t^e legiflative power.
Meanwhile, in confequence of America
declaring herfelf independent of the Britifh
governmemt, a war enfued between the two
enlightened nations, in which one contended
for the natural rights of mankind, the other
for that impious doctrine which fubje<fts thefe
rights to prefcription, to political interefts,
and
( *% )
and written conventions. The great caufe at
iffue was tried, during this war, in the tribu-
nal of opinion, and, as it were, before the
affembled nations of mankind. The rights
of men were freely inveftigated, and fire-
nuoufly fupported, in writings which circu-
lated from the banks of the Neva to thofe of
the Guadalquivir. Thefe difcuffions pene-
trated into the moft enflaved countries, into
the moft diftant and retired hamlets. The
fimple inhabitants were aftonifhed to hear of
rights belonging to them : they enquired into
the nature and importance of thofe rights ;
they found that other men were in arms, to
re-conquer or to defend them.
■ In this ftate of things it could not be long
before the tranfatlantic revolution muft find
its imitators in the European quarter of the
wrorld. And if there exifted a country in
which, from attachment to their caufe, the
writings and principles of the Americans
were more widely diffeminated than in any
other part of Europe ; a country at once the
moft enlightened, and the leaft free ; in which
philofophers had foared to the fublimeft pitch Jk^i>* ^V'
of intellectual attainment, and the government ^//^/
was
( 266 )
was funk in the deepeft and moft intolerable
ignorance ; where the fpirit of the laws was
fo far below the general fpirit and illumina-
tion, that national pride and inveterate preju-
dice were alike afhamed of vindicating the old
inftitutions : if, I fay, there exifted fuch a
country, were not the people of that country
deftined, by the very nature of things, to
give the firft impulfe to this revolution, ex-
pected by the friends of humanity with fuch
Wow hwc eager impatience, fuch ardent hope? Accord-
ftu* i3*+Z~J* ingly it was to commence with France.
I cu. **> *j* The impolicy and unfkiifulnefs of the French
/*^ ' government haftened the event. It was guided
fan* £"/*fby tne nand of philofophy, and the popular
U-^ d** force deftroyed the obftacles that otherwife
br+%- i^t^fc'^night have arretted its progrefs.
^-v^ A.i-~ jt was more complete, more entire than
,. //<^ $at °f America, and of confequence was at-
'' tencled with greater convulfions in the inte-
rior of the nation, becaufe the Americans, fa-
tisfied with the code of civil and criminal le-
giflation which they had derived from Eng-
land, having no corrupt fyftem of finance to
reform, no feodal tyrannies, no hereditary
diftin£tions, no privileges of rich and power-
ful
( 267 )
ful corporations, no fyftem of religious into-
lerance to deftroy, had only to direct their
attention to the eftablifhment of new powers
to be fubftituted in the place of thofe hitherto
exercifed over them by the Britifh govern-
ment. In thefe innovations there was no-
thing *:hat extended to the mafs of the people,
nothing that altered the fubfifting relations
formed between individuals : whereas the
French revolution, for reafons exactly the re-
verfe, had to embrace the whole economy of
fociety, to change every focial relation, to
penetrate to the fmalleft link of the political
chain, even to thofe individuals, who, living
in peace upon their property, or by their in-
duftry, were equally unconnected with public
commotions, whether by their opinions and
their occupations, or by the interefts of for-
tune, of ambition, or of glory.
The Americans, as they appeared only to
combat againft the tyrannical prejudices of the
mother country, had for allies the rival powers
of England ; while other nations," jealous of
the wealth, and difgufted at the pride of that
country, aided, fey their fecret afpirations, the
triumph cf juftice : thus all Europe leagued,
as
filth 4 *~ *'k»t*. a/j~*4; ~~6~ \
^* * as it were, againft the oppreflbr. The French,
J&f*LuM**Kton the contrary, attacked at once the defpo-
Arf4r»>* ^1 t^m °f kings, the political inequality of confti-
foxS <fc~/ tutions partially free, the pride and preroga-
fifti'm <*** lives of nobility, the domination, intolerance,
gurfV, and rapacity of priefts, and the enormity of
feodal claims, ftill refpected in almoft every
nation in Europe ; and accordingly the powers
we have mentioned, united in favour of ty-
ranny ; and there appeared on the fide of
the Gallic revolution the voice only of fome
enlightened fages, and the timid wifhes of
certain oppreffed nations : fuccours, mean-
while, of which all the artifices of calumny
have been employed to deprive it.
ivur< \ fr wou'd be eafy to fhow how much more
dtturrJtJ.V^t'i accurate, and profound, are the prin-
k>**/>uw//ciples upon which the conftitution and laws
^ kjSi of France have been formed, than thofe which
, directed the Americans, and how much more
completely the authors have withdrawn them-
lelves from the influence of a variety of pre-
judices; that the great bafis of policy,- the
j. equality of rights, has never been fuperfeded
jj* £ by that fictitious identity of interefts, which
^ «*^ *~ has fo often been made its feeble and hypocri-
$JL^X% j <X>jt& *~+ «~ l^uAk, *f j„fcrc*&?, t;caj
i/*
( 269 )
tical fubftitute ; that the limits prefcribed to
political power have been put in the place of
that fpecious balance which has fo long been yr^^<
admired ; that we were the firft to dare, in a, , ^ 1
fraM *-~^*+ r\evv .
great nation neceffarily difperfed, and which^, jbtt'
cannot perfonally be affembled but in broken f^^^tl
and numerous parcels, to maintain in the^A*^ w*f^
people their rights of fovereignty, the right^* j^ 4^^
of obeying no laws but thofe which, though J^fc^di 'w
originating in a reprefentative authority, fhall^ t^—^*^ .
have received their laft fandtion from the na-
tion itfelf, laws which, if they be found in-
jurious to its rights or inter efts, the nation is
always organized to reform by a regular ad: of
its fovereign will.
From the time when the genius of De-^^^y^
fcartes impreffed on the minds of men
that general impulfe, which is the firft prin-
ciple of a revolution in the deftiny of the
human fpecies, to the happy period of entire
focial liberty, in wrhich man has not been
able to regain his natural independence till
after having palTed through a long feries of
ages of misfortune and flavery, the view of
the progrefs of mathematical and phyfical
fcience prefents to us an immenfe horizon, of
which
( *7° )
which it is necefiary to diftribute and aflbrt
the feveral parts, whether we may be defirous
of fully comprehending the whole, or of ob-
ferving their mutual relations.
j The application of algebra to geometry not
only became the fruitful fource of difco-
veries in both fciences, but they prove, from
this linking example, how much the method
of computation of magnitudes in general may
be extended to all queftions, the object of
which confifts in meafure and extenfion. Def-
cartes firft announced the truth, that they
would be employed with equal fuccefs here-
after upon all objects fufceptible of precife va-
luation ; and this great difcovery, by fhewing
for the firft time the ultimate purpofe of thefe
fciences, that is to fay, the ftricT: calculation of
every fpecies of truth, afforded the hope of
attaining this point, at the fame time that it
exhibited the means.
This difcovery was foon fucceeded by that
of a new method of computing, which teaches
us to find the ratios of the fucceflive incre-
ments or decrements of a variable quantity,
or to deduce the quantity itfelf when this ra-
tio is given ; whether the increments be fup-
pofed
( 271 )
pofed of finite magnitude, or their ratio be
fought for the inftant only of their vanifh-
ment ; a method which, being extended to
all the combinations of variable magnitudes,
and to all the hypothefes of their variations,
leads to a determination, with regard to all
things precifely menfurable, of the ratios of
their elements, or of the things themfelves,
from the knowledge of thofe proportions
which they mutually have, provided the ra-
tios of their elements only be given.
We are indebted to Newton and Leibnitz^^^fo-w tu
for the invention of thefe methods; but the^"^ *•
labours of the geometers of the preceding age
prepared the way for this difcovery. The
progrefs of thefe fciences, which has been un-
interrupted for more than a century, is the
work, and eftablifhes the reputation, of a num-
ber of men of genius. They prefent to the
eyes "of the philofopher, who is able to ob-
ferve them, even though he may not follow
their fteps, a ftriking monument of the force
of the human mind.
When we explain the formation and prin-
ciples of algebraic language, which alone is
accurate and truly analytic ; the nature of the
technical
3
( 272 )
technical proceffes of this fcience ; and the
comparifon of thefe proceffes with the natural
operations of the human mind, we may
prove that, if this method be not itfelf a pe-
culiar inftrument in the fcience of quantity,
it certainly includes the principles of an uni-
verfal inftrument applicable to all poffible
combinations of ideas.
Rational mechanics foon became a vaft and
profound fcience. The true laws of the col-
lifion of bodies, refpedting which Defcarte*
was deceived, were at length known.
(Jj ] u^aht^ Huyghens difcovered the laws of circular
* motions ; and at the fame time he gives a
method of determining the radius of curva-
ture for every point of a given curve. By
uniting both theories, Newton invented the
theory of curve-lined motions, and applied it
Ik a* h* to tnofe laws according to which Kepler had
difcovered that the planets defcribe their ellip-
tical orbits.
A planet, fuppofed to be projected into
{pace at a given inftant, with a given velocity
and direction, will defcribe round the fun an
ellipfis, by virtue of a force directed to that
ftar, and proportional to the inverfe ratio of
I the
t
( 273 )
the fquares of the diftances. The fame force
retains the fatellites in their orbits round the
primary planets : it pervades the whole fyf-
tem of heavenly bodies, and acts reciprocally
between all their component parts.
The regularity of the planetary ellipfes is
difturbed, and the calculation precifely ex-
plains the very flighteft degrees of thefe per-
turbations. It is equally applicable to the
comets, and determines their orbits with fuch
precision, as to foretel their return. The pe-
culiar motion obferved in the axes of rota-
tion of the earth and the moon, affords addi-
tional proof of the exiftence of this univerfal
force. Laftly, it is the caufe of the weight of
terreftrial bodies, hi which effect, it appears to
be invariable, becaufe we have no means of
obferving its action at diftances from the cen-
tre, which are fufficiently remote from each
other.
Thus we fee man has at laft become ac-
quainted, for the firft time, with one of the
phyfical laws of the univerfe. Hitherto it<**^^
ftands unparalleled, as does the glory of him
who difcovered it.
An hundred years of labour and inveftiga-
T tion
( 274 )
tion have confirmed this law, to which all
the celeftial phenomena are fubje&ed, with
an accuracy which may be faid to be miracu-
lous. Every time in which an apparent de-
viation has prefented itfelf, the tranfient un-
certainty has foon become a fubject of new
triumph to the fcience.
The philofopher is, in almoft every inftance,
compelled to have recourfe to the works of a
man of genius for the fecret clue which led
him to difcovery ; but here intereft, infpired
by admiration, has difcovered and preferved
anecdotes of the greateft value, fince they per-
mit us to follow Newton ftep by ftep. They
ferve to fhew how much the happy combina-
tions of external events, or chance, unite with
the efforts of genius in producing a great diC
covery, and how eafily combinations of a lefs
favourable nature might have retarded them,
or referved them for other hands.
But Newton did more, perhaps, in favour
of the progrefs of the human mind, than
merely difcovering this general law of nature ;
he taught men to admit in natural philo-
fophy no other theories but fuch as are pre-
dfe, and fufceptible of calculation \ which give
an
( 275* )
ah account not only of the exiftencc of a
phenomenon, but its quantity and extent.
Neverthelefs he was accufed of reviving the
occult qualities of the ancients, becaufe he
had confined himfelf to refer the general caufe
of celeftial appearances to a fimple facl:, of
which obfervation proved the inconteftable
reality ; and this accufation is itfelf a proof
how much the methods of the fciences ftill
require to be enlightened by philofophy.
A great number of problems in ftatics and J t* fez .
dynamics had been fucceflively propofed andQ^~** tcS
refolved, when Alembert difcovered a general^ u^^i<^,
principle adequate to the determination of the
motions of any number of points acted on by
any forces, and connected by conditions. He
foon extended the fame principle to finite bo-
dies of a determinate figure ; to tho£e which,
from elafticity or flexibility, are capable of
changing their figure, but according to cer-
tain laws and preferring certain relations be-
tween their parts ; and laftly to fluids them-
felves, whether they prelerve the fame den-
fity, or exift in a ftate of expanfibility. A
new calculation was neceffary to refolve thefe
laft queftions ; the means did not efcape him,
T 2 and
. ( 276 )
and mechanics at prefent form a fcience of
pure calculation.
Thefe difcoveries belong to the mathema-
tical fciences ; but the nature of the law of
univerfal gravitation, or of thefe principles
of mechanics, and the confequences which
may thence be drawn and applied to the
eternal order of the univerfe, belong to phi-
lofophy. We learn that all bodies are fubjedl
to neceffary laws, which tend of themfelves
to produce or maintain an equilibrium, which
caufes or preferves the regularity of their
« ■/•/.''■ motions.
(PUi&.<sfu>. The knowledge of thofe laws which go-
vern the celeftial phenomena, the difcoveries
of that mathematical analyfis which leads to
the moft precife methods of calculating the
appearances, the very unexpected degree of
perfection to which optical and goniometrical
inftruments have been brought, the precifion
of machines for meafuring time, the more
general tafte for the fciences, which unites
itfelf with the intereft of governments, to
multiply the number of aftronomers and ob-
• fervations ; all thefe caufes unite to fecure the
progrefs of aftronomy*
The
u*-<
( 277 )
The heavens are enriched for the man of -^w****«j.
fcience with new ftars, and he applies his
knowledge to determine and foretel with ac-
curacy their pofition and movements. Na-
tural philofophy, gradually delivered from the
vague explanations of Defcartes, in the fame
manner as it before was difembarrcffed from
the abfurdities of the fchools, is now nothing
more than the art of interrogating nature by
experiment, for the purpofe of afterwards
deducing more general facts by computation.
The weight of the air is known and mea-
fured : it is known that the tranfmiffion of
light is not inftantaneous ; its velocity is deter-
mined, with the effects which muft refult from
that velocity, as to the apparent pofition of
the celeftial bodies ; and the decompofition of
the folar rays into others of different refrangi-
bility and colour. The rainbow is explained,
and the methods of caufmg its colours to be
produced or to difappear are fubjected to cal-
culation. Electricity, formerly confidered as
the property of certain fubflances only, is
now known to be one of the moft general N
phenomena in the univerfe. The caufe of
thunder is no longer a fecret \ Franklin has sr^ku-*
T 3 taught
( *78')
taught the artift to change its courfe, and di-
rect it at pleafure. New inftruments are em-
ployed to meafure the variations of weight
and humidity in the atmofphere, and the tem-
perature of all bodies. A new fcience, under
the name of meteorology, teaches us to know,
and fometimes to foretel, the atmofpheric ap-
pearances of which it will hereafter difclofe to
us the unknown laws.
While we prefent a fketch of thefe difcor
veries, we may remark how much the me-
thods which have directed philofophers in
their refearches are Amplified and brought to
perfection ; how greatly the art of making
experiments, and of conftructing inftruments,
has fucceflively become more accurate ; fo
that philofophy is not only enriched every
day with new truths, but the truths already
known have been more exactly afcertained ;
fo that not only an immenfe mafs of new
facts have been obferved and analyfed, but the
whole has been fubmitted in detail to methods
of greater ftrictnefs.
AT a- ffPtufo ^atural philofophy has been obliged to
. j combat with the prejudices of the fchools, and
the attraction of general hypothefes, fo fe-
ducing
( 279 )
ducing to indolence. Other obftacles re-
tarded the progrefs of chemiftry. It was £hc^~*fci
imagined that this fcience ought to afford the
fecret of making gold, and that of rendering
man immortal.
The effecT: of great interefts, is to render
man fuperftitious. It was not fuppofed that
fuch promifes, which flatter the two ftrongeft
paflions of vulgar minds, and befides roufe
that of acquiring glory, could be accomplifhed
by ordinary means ; and every thing which
credulity or folly could ever invent of extra-
vagance, feemed to unite in the minds of che-
mifts.
But thefe chimeras gradually gave place to
the mechanical philofophy of Defcartes, which
in its turn gave place to a chemiftry truly ex-
perimental. The obfervation of thofe facts
which accompany the mutual compofition and
decompofition of bodies, the refearch into the
laws of thefe operations, with the analyfis of
fubftances into elements of greater fimplicity,
acquire a degree of precifion and ftrictnefs
ever increafing.
But to thefe advances of chemiftry we mull
add others, which embrace the whole fyftem
T4 of
( 28o )
of the fcience, and rather by extending the
methods than immediately increafing the mafs
of truths, foretel and prepare a revolution of
the happieft kind. Such has been the difco-
very of new means of confining and examining
thofe elaftic fluids, which formerly were fut
fered to efcape ; a difcovery which, by per-
mitting us to operate upon an entire clafs
of new principles, and upon thofe already
known, reduced to a ftate which efcaped our
refearches, and by adding an element the
more to almofl every combination, has
changed, as it were, the whole fyftem of
chemiftry. Such has been the formation of
a language, in which the names denoting
fubftances fometimes exprefs the refemblance
or differences of thofe which have a common
element, and fometimes the clafs to which
they belong. To thefe advantages we may
add the ufe of a fcientific method, wherein
thefe fubftances are reprefented by characters
analytically combined, and moreover capable
of expreffing the moft common operations and
the general laws of affinity. And, again,
fhis fcience is enriched by the ufe of all the
mpms and all the inftruments which philofo-
( 28i )
phers have applied to compute with the ut-
moft rigor the refults of experiment ; and
laftly, by the application of the mathematics to
the phenomena of chry realization, and to the
laws according to which the elements of cer-
tain bodies effect in their combination regular
and conftant forms.
Men who long had poflefled no other
knowledge than that of explaining by fuper-
ftitious or philofophical reveries the forma-
tion of the earth, before thev endeavoured to
become acquainted with its parts, have at laft
perceived the neceffity of ftudying with the
moft fcrupulous attention the fufface of
the ground, the internal parts of the earth
into which neceffity has urged men to pene-
trate, the fabftanccs there found, their for-
tuitous or regular diftribution, and the difpofi-
tion of the maffes they have formed by their
union. They have learned to afcertain the
effe&s of the flow and long-continued action of
the waters of the fea, of rivers, and the effect of
volcanic fires ; to diftinguifh thole parts of the
furface and exterior cm ft of the globe, of
which the inequalities, difpofition, and fre-
quently the materials themfelves, are the work
of
( 282 )
of thefe agents ; from the other portion of the
furface, formed for the moft part of heteroge-
neous fubftances, bearing the marks of more
ancient revolutions by agents with which we
are yet unacquainted.
Minerals, vegetables, and animals are di-
vided into various fpecies, of which the indi-
viduals differ by infenfible variations fcarcely
conftant, or produced by caufes purely local.
Many of thefe fpecies refemble each other
by a greater or lefs number of common qua-
lities, which ferve to eftablifh fucceffive divi-
iions regularly more and more extended. Na-
turalifts have invented methods of clafling the
objefts of fcience from determinate characters
eafily afcertained, the only means of avoiding
confufion in the midft of this numberlefs
multitude of individuals. Thefe methods are,
indeed, a real language, wherein each objecT:
Is denoted by fome of its moft conftant qua-
lities, which, when known, are applicable to
the difcovery of the name which the article
may bear in common language, Thefe gene-
ral languages, when well compofed, likewife
indicate, in each clafs of natural objects, the
truly effential qualities which by their union
caufe
( *s3 )
eaufe a more or Iefs perfect refemblance in the
reft of their properties.
We have formerly feen the effects of that
pride which magnifies in the eyes of men the
^objects of an exclufive ftudy, and knowledge
painfully acquired, which attaches to thefe
methods an exaggerated degree of importance,
and miftakes for fcience itfelf that which is
nothing more than the dictionary and gram-
mar of its real language. And fo likewife,
by a contrary excefs, we have feen philofo-
phers falfely degrade thefe fame methods, and
confound them with arbitrary nomenclatures,
as futile and laborious compilations.
The chemical anaiyfis of the fubftances in
the three great kingdoms of nature ; the de-^
fcription of their external form ; the expofi-
tion of their phyfical qualities and ufual pro-
perties ; the hiftory of the developement of
organized bodies, animals, or plants ; their nu-
trition and reproduction ; the details of their
organization ; the anatomy of their various
parts ; the functions of each ; the hiftory of
the manners of animals, and their induftry to
procure food, defence, and habitation, or to
feize their prey, or efcape from their enemies ;
the
(284)
the focieties of family or fpecies which are
formed amongft them ; that great mafs of
truth to which we are led by meditating on
the immenfe chain of organifed beings ; the
relation which fucceffive years produce from
brute matter at the moll feeble degree of orga-
nization, from organifed matter to that which
affords the firft indications of fenfibility and
fpontaneous motion ; and from this ftation to
that of man himfelf ; the relation of all thefe
beings with him, whether relative to his wants,
the analogies which bring him nearer to them,
or the differences by which he is feparated :
fuch is the fketch prefented to the mind by
Kafr~r*l modern natural hiftory.
\-tlAfffr**. The phyilcal man is himfelf the object of a
m *, feparate fcience, anatomy, which, in its ge-
' neral acceptation, includes phyfiology. This
fcience, which a fuperftitious refpedt for the
dead had retarded, has taken advantage of the
general difappearance of prejudice, and has
happily oppofed the intereft of the preferva-
tion of man, which has fecured it the patro-
nage of men of eminence. Its progrefs has
been fuch, that it feems in fome fort to be at
a Hand, in the expectation of more perfedi
inftru-
( 28.5 )
inftruments and new methods. It Is nearly
reduced to feek, in the comparative anatomy
of the parts of animals and man, in the organs
common to the different fpecies, and the man-
ner in which they exercife fimilar functions
thofe truths which the direct: obfervation of
the human frame appears to refufe. Almoft
, every thing which the eye of the obferver,
afiifted by the microfcope, has been able to dis-
cover, is already afcertained. Anatomy ap-
pears to ftand in need of experiments, fo ufe-
ful to the progrefs of other fciences ; but the
nature of its object deprives it of this means,
fo evidently neceffary to its perfection.
The circulation of the blood was long fi nee £t^«^&v^
known ; but the difpofition of the veffels^
which conveyed the chyle to mix with it,
and repair its loffes ; the exiftence of a gaftric^5^*^
fluid which difpofes the elements to the de-
compofition neceffary to feparate from orga-
nifed matter, that portion which is proper to
become aflimilated with the living fluids; the
changes undergone by the various parts and
organs in the interval between conception and
birth, and afterwards during the different
ages of life \ the diftinCtion between the parts
pofleffmg
( 286 )
poffeffing fenfibility and thofe in which irri-
tability only refides, a property difcovered by
if 1^^ Haller, and common to almoft every organic
fubftance : thefe fads are the whole of what
phyfiology has been enabled to difcover, by
indubitable obfervations, during this brilliant
epoch ; and thefe important truths may ferve
as an apology for the numerous explanations,
mechanical, chemical, and organical, which
have fucceeded each other, and loaded this
fcience with hypothefes deftructive to its pro-
grefs, and dangerous when ufed as the ground
of medical practice.
To the outline of the fciences we may add
that of the arts, which, being founded upon
them, have advanced with greater certainty,
and broken the ihackles of cuftom and com-
mon practice, which heretofore impeded their
progrefs.
We may fhew the influence which the pro-
grefs of mechanics, of aftronomy, of optics,
and of the art of meafuring time, has exer-
cifed on the art of conftructing, moving, and
directing veflels at fea. We may fhew how
greatly an increafe of the number of obfervers,
and a greater degree of accuracy in the aftro-
nomical
( *s7 )
nomical determinations of pofitions, and iu
topographical methods, have at laft produced
an acquaintance with the furface of the globe,
of which fo little was known at the end of
the laft century.
How greatly the mechanic arts, properly
fo called, have given perfection to the pro-
cefles of art in conftructing inftruments and
machines in the nractice of trade, and thefe
laft have no leis added force to rational me-
chanifm and philofophy. Thefe arts are alio
greatly indebted to the employment of firft
movers already known, with lefs of expence
and lofs, as well as to the invention of new
principles of motion.
We have beheld architecture extend \\sArd" tu *
refearches into the fcience of equilibriums and
the theory of fluids, for the means of giving
the moil commodious and leaft expenfive form
to arches, without fear of altering their foli-
% dity; and to oppofe againft the effort of water
a refiftance computed with greater certainty ;
to direct the courfe of that fluid, and to em-
ploy it in canals with greater {kill and fuc-
cefs.
We have beheld the arts dependent on
chemiflry
Jtvfj
V ( 283 )
chemiftry enriched with newprocefles; the an-*
cient methods have been fimplified, and cleared
from ufelefs or noxious fubftances, and from
abfurd or imperfect practices introduced from
former rude trials ; means have been invented
to avert thofe frequently terrible dangers to
which workmen were expofed. Thus it is
that the application of fcience has fecured to
us more of riches and enjoyment, with much
lefs of painful facrilice or of regret.
In the mean time, chemiftry, botany, and
natural hiftory, have very much enlightened
the economical arts, and the culture of vege-
tables deftined to fupply our wants ; fuch as the
art of fupporting, multiplying, and preferring
domeftic animals ; the bringing their races to
perfection, and meliorating their products ;
the art of preparing and preferving the pro-
ductions of the earth, or thofe articles which
are of animal product,
e/vuj Surgery and pharmacy have become almoft
new arts, from the period when anatomy and
chemiftry have offered them more enlightened
and more certain direction.
The art of medicine, for in its practice it
mult be confidered as an art, is by this means
deln
( *89 I
delivered at leaft of its falfe theories, its pedan-
tic jargon, its deftructive courfe of practice,
and the fervile fubmiffion to the anthority of
men, or the doctrine of colleges ; it is taught
to depend only on experience. The means
of this art have become multiplied, and their
combination and application better known ;
and though it may be admitted that in fome
parts its progrefs is merely of a negative kind,,
that is to fay, in the deftruction of dangerous
practices and hurtful prejudices, yet the new
methods of ftudying chemical medicine, and
of combining obfervations, give us reafon to
expect more real and certain advances.
We may endeavour more efpecially to trace
that practice of genius in the fciences which
at one time defcends from an abitract and pro-
found theory to learned and delicate applica-
tions ; at another, Amplifying its means, and
proportioning them to its wants, concludes by
fpreading its advantages through the moft or-
dinary practices ; and at others again being
rouzed by the wants of this fame courfe of
art, it plunges into the moft remote fpecula-
tions, in fearch of refources which the ordi-
nary Hate of our knowledge muft have refufed.
U We
( 290 )
We may remark that thofe declamations
which are made againft the utility of theo-
ries, even in the moft fimple arts, have never
fhewn any thing but the ignorance of the
declairners. We may prove that it is not to
the profundity of thefe theories, but, on the
contrary, to their imperfection, that we
ought to attribute the inutility or unhappy
effects of fo many ufelefs applications.
Thefe obfervations will lead us to one ge-
neral truth, that in all the arts the refults of
theory are neceflarily modified in practice ;
that certain fources of inaccuracy exift, which
are really inevitable, of which our aim fhould
be to render the effect; infenfible, without in-
dulging the chimerical hope of removing them;
that a great number of data relative to our
wants, , our means, our time, and our ex-
pences, which are neceflarily overlooked in
the theory, mull enter into the relative prob-
lem of immediate and real practice ; and that,
laftly, by introducing thefe requiiites. with
that {kill which truly conftitutes the genius
of the practical man, we may at the fame
lime go beyond the narrow limits wherein
prejudice againft theory threatens to detain
the
( 29i }
ine arts, and prevent thofe errors into which
an improper ufe of theory might lead us.
Thofe fciences which are remote from each
other, cannot be extended without bringing
them nearer, and forming points of contact
between them;
Ah expofition of the progrefs of each fci-
ence is fufficient to fhew, that in feveral the
intermediate application of numbers has been
ufeful, as, in almoft all, it has been employed
to give a greater degree of precifion to expe-
riments and obfervations ; and that the fcien-
ces are indebted to mechanics, which has
fupplied them with more perfect and more
accurate inftruments. How much have the
difcovery of micrbfcopes, and of meteorolo-
gical inftruments, contributed to the perfec-
tion of natural hiftory. How greatly is this
fcienee indebted to chemiftry, which, alone,
has been fufficient to lead to a more profound
knowledge of the objects it confiders* by
difplaying their moft intimate nature, and
moft effential properties— -by {hewing their
compofition and elements ; while natural his-^
tory offers to chemiftry fo many operations
to execute, fuch a numerous fet of combina-
U 2 tions
x ( 292 )
tiofts formed by nature, the true elements of
which require to be feparated, and fometimes
difcovered, by an imitation of the natural
proceffes : and, tartly, how great is the mu-
tual affiftance afforded to each other by che-
miftry and natural philofophy; and how
greatly have anatomy and natural hiftory
been already benefited by thefe fciences.
But we have yet expoied no more than a
fmall portion of the advantages which have
been received, or may be expectedj from
thefe applications.
Many geometers have given us general
methods of deducing, from obfervations of
the empiric laws of phenomena, methods
which extend to all the fciences ; becaufe
they are in all cafes capable of affording us
the knowledge of the law of the fucceffive
values of the fame quantity, for a feries of
inftants or pofitions ; or that law according
to which they are diliributed, or which is
followed by the various properties and values
of a fimilar quality among a given number;
of objects.
Applications have already proved, that
the fcierice of combination may be fuccefs-
fully
( 293 )
fully employed to dlfpofe obfervations, in
fuch a manner, that their relations, refults,
and fum may with more facility be feen.
The ufes of the calculation of probabilities
foretel how much they may be applied to
advance the progrefs of other fciences ; in
one cafe, to determine the probability of ex-
traordinary fads, and to fhew whether they
ought to be rejected, or whether, on the
contrary, they ought to be verified ; or in
calculating the probability of the return of
thofe fads which often prefent themfelves in
the practice of the arts, and are not con-
neded together in an order, yet conndered
as a general law. Such, for example, in
medicine, is the falutary effect of certain re-
medies, and the fuccefs of certain preferva-
tives. Thefe applications likewife fhew us
how great is the probability that a feries of
phenomena fhould refult from the intention
of a thinking being ; whether this being
depends on other co-exiftent, or antecedent
phenomena ; and how much ought to be
attributed to the neceffary and unknown
caufe denominated chance, a word the fenfe ^Aa^u/(
of which can only be known with precifion
by ftudying this method of computing.
U 3 The
( 294 )
The fciences have likewife taught us to
afcertain the feveral degrees of certainty to
which we may hope to attain ; the probabU
lity according to which we can adopt an
opinion, and make it the bafis of our reafon?
ings, without injuring the rights of found
argument, and the rules of our conduct-—
without deficiency in prudence, or offence to
juftice. They fhew what are the advantages
or difadvantages of various forms of election,
and modes of decifion dependant on the
plurality of voices ; the different degrees of
probability which may refult from fuch pro-
ceedings ; the method which public intereft
requires to be followed, according to the na-
ture of each queftion ; the means of obtain-
ing it nearly with certainty, when the deci-*
fion is not abfolutely necefTary, or when the
inconveniences of two conclufions being un«*
equal, neither of them can become legitimate
until beneath this probability ; or the affur-
ance beforehand of moft frequently obtaining
this fame probability, when, on the contrary,
a decifion is necefTary to be made, and the
moft feeble preponderance of probability i$
Sufficient to produce a rule of practice.
( 295 )
Among the number of thefe applications
we may likewife ftate, an examination of the
probability of facls for the life of fuch as
have not the power, or means, to fupport
their conclufions upon their own obfervations;
a probability which refults either from the
authority of witneffes, or the connection of
thofe facets with others immediately obferved.
How greatly have inquiries into the dura-
tion of human life, and the influence in this
refpecl: of fex, temperature, climate, profef-
iion, government, and habitudes of life ; on
the mortality which refults from different di-
feafes ; the changes which population expe->
riences ; the extent of the action of different
caufes which produce thefe changes ; the
manner of its diftribution in each country,
according to the age, fex, and occupation ;*—
how greatly ufeful have thefe refearches been
to the phyfical knowledge of man, to medi-
cine, and to public economy.
How extenfively have computations of
this nature been applied for the eftablifhment
of annuities, tontines, accumulating funds",
benefit focieties, and chambers of affurance
of every kind, »
U4 la
( 296 ).
Is not the application of numbers alfo ne-
ceflary to that part of the public economy
which includes the theory of public meafures,
of coin, of banks and financial operations,
and lafily, that of taxation, as eftablifhed by
law, and its real diftribution, which fo fre-
quently differs, in its effe&s on all the parts
of the focial fyftem.
What a number of important queftions in
this fame fcience are there, which could not
have been properly refolved without the
knowledge acquired in natural hiftory, agri-
culture, and the philofophy of vegetables,
which influence the mechanical or chemical
arts.
In a word, fuch has been the general pro-
grefs of the fciences, that it may be faid
there is not one which can be confidered as
to the whole extent of its principles and de-
tail, without our being obliged to borrow the
affiftance of all the others.
In prefenting this fketch both of the new
fa£ts which have enriched the fciences res-
pectively, and the advantages derived in each
from the application of theories, or methods,
which feem to belong more particularly to
another
( *97 )
another department of knowledge, we may
endeavour to afcertain what is the nature and
the limits of thofe truths to which obferva-
tion, experience, or meditation, may lead us
in each fcience ; we may likewife inveftigate
what it is precifely that conftitutes that talent
of invention which is the firft faculty of thtfriverM*™
human mind, and is known by the name
of genius ; by what operations the under- y ^^ ***<
{landing may attain the difcoveries.it purfues,
or fometimes be led to others not fought, or
even poffible to have been foretold ; we may
fhew how far the methods which lead to
difcovery may be exhaufted, fo that fcience
may, in a certain refpecl:, be at a ftand, till
new methods are invented to afford an addi-
tional inftrument to genius, or to facilitate
the ufe of thofe which cannot be employed
without too great a confumption of time and
fatigue.
If we confine ourfelves to exhibit the ad-
vantages deduced from the fciences in their im-
mediate ufe or application to the arts, whether
for the welfare of individuals or the profperity
of nations, we fhall have fhewn only a fmall
part of the benefits they afford. The moft
important
4
( 298 ) '
important perhaps Is, that prejudice has beer*
deftroyed, and the human underftanding in
fome fort rectified ; after having been forced
into a wrong direction by abfurd objects of
belief, tranfmitted from generation to gene-
ration, taught at the misjudging period of
infancy, and enforced with the terrors of fu-
perftkion arid the dread of tyranny.
All the errors in politics and iri morals are
founded upon philofophical miftakes, which,
themfelves, are connected with phyfical er-
rors. There does not exifl any religious
fyftem, or fupernatural extravagance, which is
not founded on an ignorance of the laws of
nature. The inventors and defenders of theie
abfurdities could not forefee the fucceffive
progrefs of the human mind. Being per-
fuaded that the men of their time knew every
thing, they would ever know, and would al-
ways believe that in which they then had fixed
their- faith ; they confidently built their re-
veries upon the general opinions of their own
country and their own age.
The progrefs of natural knowledge is yet
more deftructive of thefe errors, becaufe it
frequently deftroys them without feeming to
5 attack
( ^99 )
a
ttack them, by attaching to thofe who obftl^
nately defend them the degrading ridicule of
ignorance.
At the fame time, the juft habit of reafon-
ing on the object of thefe fciences, the pre-
cife ideas which their methods afford, and
the means of afcertaining or proving the
truth, muft naturally lead us to compare the
fentiment which forces us to adhere to opi-
nions founded on thefe real motives of credi-
bility, and that which attaches us to our ha-
bitual prejudices, or forces us to yield to au-
thority. This comparifon is fufficient to
teach us to miftruft thefe laft opinions, to
fhew that they were not really believed, even
when that belief was the mod earneftly and
the moft fmcerely profeffed. When this
difcovery is once made, their deftruction be-
comes much more fpeedy and certain.
Laftly, this progrefs of the phyfical fciences,
which the pafhons and intereft do not inter-
fere to difturb $ wherein it is not thought
that birth, profeffion, or appointment have
given a right to judge what the individual is
not in a fituation to underftand ; this more
certain progrefs cannot be obferved, unlefs
enlightened
\.
( 3°° )
enlightened men fhall fearch in the other
fciences to bring them continually together.
This progrefs at every ftep exhibits the model
they ought to follow ; according to which
they may form a judgment of their own ef-
forts, afcertain the falfe fteps they may have
taken, preferve themfelves from pyrrhonifrrt
as well as credulity, and from a blind miftruft
or too extenfive fubmiffion to the authorities
even of men of reputation and knowledge.
The metaphylical analyfis would, no doubt,
lead to the fame refults, but it would have
afforded only abftracl: principles. In this
method, the fame abftracl: principles being
put into action, are enlightened by example
and fortified by fuccefs.
Until the prefent epoch, the fciences have
been the patrimony only of a few ; but they
are already become common, and the mo-
ment approaches in which their elements,
their principles, and their mod iimple prac-
tice, will become really popular. Then it
will be feen how truly univerfal their utility
will be in their application to the arts, and
their influence on the general rectitude of
the mind.
We
( 3" )
tf-vi
We may trace the progrefs of European fo^^bt
nations in the inftrudtion of children, or of
men ; a progrefs hitherto feeble, if we attend
merely to the philofophical fyftem of this
inftru&ion, which, in mofl parts, is ftill con-
fined, to the prejudices of the fchools ; but
very rapid if we confider the extent and na-
ture of the obje&s taught, which no longer
comprehending any points of knowledge but
fuch as are real, includes the elements of
aim oft all the fciences ; while men of all
defcriptions find in dictionaries, abridgments,
and journals the information they require,
though not always of the pureft kind. We
may examine the degree of utility refulting
from oral inftru&ion in the fciences, added
to that which is immediately received by
books and ftudy ; whether any advantage has
refulted from the labour of compilation hav-
ing become a real trade, a means of fubfift-
ence, which has multiplied the number of
inferior works, but has likewife multiplied
the means of acquiring common knowledge
to men of fmall information. We may mark
the influence which learned focieties have Jtcudt-mi*
exercifed on the progrefs of the human
mind,
( 3^2 )
mind, a barrier which will long be ufeful id
oppofe againft ignorant pretenders and falfe
knowledge : and laftly, we may exhibit the
hiftory of the encouragements given by go-*
vernments to that progrefs, and the obstacles
which have often been oppofed to it in the
fame country and at the fame period. We
may mew what prejudices or principles of
Machiavelifm have directed them in this op-
pofition to the advances of man towards
truth ; what views of interefted policy, or
even public good, have dire&ed them when
they have appeared, on the contrary, to be
defirous of accelerating and protecting them.
°Jiir^ J\yh> The picture of the fine arts offers to our
view refults of no lefs brilliancy* Mulic is
become, in a certain relpect$ a new art;
while the fcience of combination, and the ap-
plication of numbers to the vibrations of fo-
norous bodies, and the ofcillations of the air,
have enlightened its theory. The arts of
(V^- v del ign, which formerly paifed from Italy to
Flanders, Spain, and France, elevated them-
felves in this laft country to the fame degree
that Italy carried them in the preceding
epocha ; where they have been fupported
with
( 3°3 )
With more reputation than in Italy ltfeif.
The art of our painters is that of Raphael (J^cu^h^L
and Carrachi. All the means of the art be-
ing preserved in the fchools, are fo far from
being loft, that they have become more ex-
tended. Neverthelefs, it muft be admitted, it u /
that too long a time* has elapfed without-^ ^T1 °,
producing a genius which may be compared^7 #** j
to them, to admit of this long fterility being'***'' y* ,
attributed to chance. It is not becaufe the^ ** / *
means of art are exhaufted that great fuccefs is > j^ q<r<J?
really become difficulty it is not that nature* <+*+*>* 4^6
has refufed us organs equally perfect with^/ **») **JL~*
thofe of the Italians of the fixth age; it hJ/?*^*^ ^
merely to the changes of politics and man-J^4^^
ners that we ought to attribute, not the de-^"^ •
cay of the art, but the mediocrity of its pro-
ductions.
Literary productions cultivated in Italy, ^^ <^<d
with lefs of fuccefs, but without having de-0^??1**/*-
generated, have made fuch progrefs in the
French language, as has acquired it the ho-
nour of becoming, in fome fort, the univer-
fal language of Europe.
The tragic art, in the hands of Corneiile,^^*^ .
Racine, and Voltaire, has been raifed, by
fucceffive
^^yvat^
C^vt
( 3°4 )
fucceffive progrefs, to a perfection before uri«
known. The comic art is indebted to Mo-
liere for having fpeedily arrived to an eleva-
tion not yet attained by any other people.
In England, from the commencement of the
fame epoch, and in a ftill later time in Ger-
^°r" ^ many, language has been rendered more per-
fect. The art of poetry, as well as that of
profe writing, have been fubjected, though
with lefs docility than in France, to the uni-
verfal rules of reafon and nature, which
ought to direct them. Thefe rules are equally
true for all languages and all people, though
the number of men has hitherto been few
who have fucceeded in arriving at the know-
ledge of them, and rifing to the juft and
pure tafte which refults from that knowledge.
Thefe rules prefided over the compofitions of
Sophocles and Virgil, as well as thofe of Pope
and Voltaire ; they taught the Greeks and
Romans, as well as the French, to be ftruck
with the fame beauties, and mocked at the
fame faults. We may alfo inveftigate what
it is in each nation that has favoured or re^
tarded the progrefs of thefe 'arts; by what
caufes the different kinds of poetry, or works
in
(305)
in profe, have attained in the different coun-
tries a degree of perfection fo unequal ; and
how far thefe univerfal rules may, without
offending their own fundamental principles,
be modified by the manners and opinions of ^
the people who are to poffefs their produc-
tions, and even by the nature of the ufes to
which their different fpecies are defigned.
Thus, for example, a tragedy daily recited
before a fmall number of fpectators, in a
theatre of confined extent, cannot follow the
fame practical rules as a tragedy exhibited on
an immenfe theatre, in the folemn feftivals
to which a whole people was invited. We
may attempt to fhew, that the rules of tafte
poffefs the fame generality and the fame con-
ftancy, though they are fufceptible of the
fame modifications as the other laws of the
moral and phyfical univerfe, when it is ne-
ceffary to apply them to the immediate prac-
tice of a common art.
We may fhew how far the art of print- (Py'^^J
*m& by multiplying and diffeminating even
thofe works which are defigned to be pub-
licly read or recited, tranfmit them to a
number of readers incomparably greater than
X that
\
( 306 )
that of tlie auditors. We may fhew how
mod of the important decifions by numerous
affemblies, having been determined from the
previous inftrudtion their members had re-
ceived by writing, there muft have refulted
in the art of perfuafion among the ancients
and among the moderns, differences in the
rules, analogous to the effecT: intended to be
produced and the means employed ; and how,
laftly, in the different fpecies of knowledge,
even with the ancients, certain works were
for perufal only — fuch as thofe of hiftory or
philofophy. The facility which the inven-
tion of printing affords, to enter into a more
entenfive detail and more accurate develope-
ment, muft have likewife influenced the
fame rules.
The progrefs of philofophy and the fci-
ences have extended and favoured thofe of
letters, and thefe in their turn have ferved
to render the ftudy of the fciences more eafy,
and philofophy itfelf more popular. They
have lent mutual affiftance to each other, in
fpite of the efforts of ignorance and folly to
difunite and render them inimical. Erudi-
tion, which a refpecl: for human authority
and
2
( 3°7 )
and ancient things feemed to have deftinect
to fupport the caufe of hurtful prejudices ;
this erudition has, neverthelefs, affiited in
deftroying them, hecaufe the fciences and
philofophy have enlightened it with a more
legitimate criticifm. It already knew the
method of weighing authorities, and com-
paring them with each other, but it has at
length fubmitted them to the tribunal of rea- ,
fon ; it had rejected the prooigies, abfurd .Myrafr-^
tales, and facts contrary to probability ; but, lu, *** <~<***y
by attacking the teftimony upon which they "J ^l+*~<>t.
were fupported, men have learned fo reject y tf *^<r~?
them, in ipite ot tne force or theie witneiies, L ' 4 / 1
that they might give way to that evidence a? 1 ,
which the phyfical or moral improbability of fUJl^
extraordinary facts might carry with them. T ^^U^^JL
Hence it is feen that all the intellectual^^ f^> i^U^J
occupations of men, however differing iaJ**«
the'" object, their method, or the qualities
of mind which they require, have concui :ed
in the progrefs of human reafon. It is the
fame with the entire fyftem of the labours
of men as with a weli-compoied work ; of
which the parts, though methodically diitinct,
muft, neverthelefs, be clofely connected to
X 2 form
(308)
form one fingle whole, and tend to one fingle
object.
While we thus take a general view of the
human fpecies, we may prove that the dif-
covery of true methods in all the fciences ;
the extent of the theories they include ; their
application to all the objects of nature, and
all the wants of man ; the lines of commu-
nication eftabliihed between them ; the great
number of thofe who cultivate them ; and,
laftly, the multiplication of printing prefles,
are fufficient to affure us, that none of them
will hereafter defcend below the point to
which it has been carried. We may fhew
that the principles of philofophy, the maxims
of liberty, the knowledge of the true rights
of man, and his real intereft, are fpread over
too many nations, and in each of thofe na-
tions direcl: the opinions of too great a num-
a . ' ber of enlightened men, for them ever to fall
tsJLv- again into oblivion.
What fear can be entertained when we
find that the two languages the moft univer-
fally extended, are, likewife, the languages
of two people who poffefs the moft extend-
ed liberty ; wTho have beft known its prin-
ciples. So that no confederacy of tyrants,
nor
( 3*9 )
nor any poflible combination of policy, can rV ^
prevent the rights of reafon, as well as thofe
of liberty, from being openly defended in
both languages.
But if it be true, as every profpecl: affures
us, that the human race mail not again re-
lapfe into its ancient barbarity ; if every
thing ought to aflure us againft that pufil-
lanimous and corrupt fyftem which condemns
man to eternal ofcillations between truth and
falfhood, liberty and fervitude, we muft, at
the fame time, perceive that the light of
information is fpread over a fmall part only
of our globe ; and the number of thofe who
poffefs real inftrudion, feems to vanifh in
the comparifon with the mafs of men con-
figned over to ignorance and prejudice. We
behold vaft countries groaning under flavery,
and prefenting nations, in one place, de-
graded by the vices of civilization, fo corrupt
as to impede the progrefs of man ; and in
others, Hill vegetating in the infancy of its
early age, We perceive that the exertions
of thefe laft ages have done much for the
progrefs of the human mind, but little for
the perfection of the human fpecies ; much
X 3 for
ri
UtVs
( 31© )
for the glory of man, fomewhat for his li-
berty, but fcarcely any thing yet for his hap-
pinefs. In a few directions, our eyes are
ftruck with a dazzling light ; but thick dark-
nefs ftill covers an immenfe horizon. The
mind of the philofopher repofes writh fatis-
faftion upon a fmall number of objects, but
the fpeclacle of the ftupidity, the flavery,
the extravagance, and the barbarity of man,
afflicts him ftill more ftrongly. The friend
of humanity cannot receive unmixed pleafure
but by abandoning himfelf to the endearing
hope of the future.
Such are the objedts which ought to enter
into an hiftorical {ketch of the progrefs of
the human mind. We may endeavour, while
'we hold them forward, to fhew more efpe-
cially the influence of this progrefs upon the
opinions and the welfare of the general mafs
of different nations, at the different epochas
of their political exiftence ; to fhew what
truths they have known, what errors have
been deftroyed, what virtuous habits con-
tracted, what new developement of their fa-
culties has eftabliflied a happier proportion
{between their powers and their wants : And,
yndi
( 3" )
under an oppofite point of view, what may
be the prejudices to which they have been
enflaved ; what religious or political mperfti-
tions have been introduced ; by what vices,
of ignorance or defpotifm, they have been
corrupted ; and to what miferies, violence or
their own degradation have fubjected them.
Hitherto, political hiftory, as well as that.'? o&ticUH^~-
of philofophy and the fciences, has been^j.
» merely the hiftory of a few men. That
which forms in truth the human fpecies, the Hi*'"**) <^r^
mafs of families, which fubfift almoft en- for "* <^v> J7t*
tirely upon their labour, has been forgotten ;.*"*.?
and even among that clafs of men who, de-»' ^'f'^^t
voted to public profeffions, acl; not for them-^ ^^^ 1t^
felves but for fociety ; whofe occupation it iscH^/«^'^i*
to inftrucT:, to govern, to defend, and to
comfort other men, the chiefs only have fixed
the attention of hiftorians,
It is enough for the hiftory of individuals
that facts be collected, but the hiftory of a
mafs of men can be founded only on obfer-
vations ; and, in order to felecT: them, and to
feize the eflential traits, it is requifite the
Jiiftorian mould poffefs confiderable informa-
tion, and no lefs of philofophy, to make a
proper ufe of them.
X 4 Again, !
/
( 3" )
Again, thefe obfervations relate to common
things, which ftrike the eyes of all, and
which every one is capable himfelf of know-
ing when he thinks proper to attend to them.
Hence the greater part have been collected
by travellers and foreigners, becaufe things
very trivial in the place where they exifl, have
become an object of curiofity to ftrangers.
Now it unfortunately happens, that thefe
travellers are almoft always inaccurate ob-
fervers; they fee objects with too much
rapidity, through the medium of the preju-
dices of their own country, and not unfre-
quently by the eyes of the men of the coun-
try they run through : their conferences are
held with fuch men as accident has connected
them with ; and the anfwer is, in almoft
* every cafe, dictated by intereft, party fpirit,
national pride, or ill-humour.
It is not alone, therefore, to the bafenefs
of hiftorians, as has been juftly urged againft
thofe of monarchies, that we are to attribute
the want of monuments from which we
may trace this moft important part of the
hiftory of men.
The defect cannot be fupplied but very
imperfectly by a knowledge of the laws, the
i practical
( 3^3 )
practical principles of government and public
economy, or by that of religion and general
prejudices.
In fact, the law as written, and the law
as executed ; the principles of thofe who go-
vern, and the manner in which their action
is modified by the genius of thofe who are
governed ; the inftitution fuch as it has flow-
ed from the men who formed it, and fuch as
it becomes when realized by practice ; the
religion of books, and that of the people ;
the apparent univerfality of prejudice, and
the real reception which it obtains, may differ
to fuch a degree, that the effects fhall abfo-
lutely ceafe to correfpond to thefe public and
known caufes.
To this part of the hiftory of the human
fpecies, which is the moft obfcure, the moft
neglected, and for which facts offer us fo
few materials, it is that we fhould more par-
ticularly attend in this outline ; and whether
an account be rendered of a new difcovery,
an important theory, a new fyftem of laws,
or a political revolution, the problem to be
determined will confift in afcertaining what
cffefts ought to have arifen from the will of
the
( 3*4 )
the moft numerous portion of each fociety*
This is the true object of philofophy ; becaufe
all the intermediate effects of thefe fame
caufes can be confidered only as means of
acting, at leaft upon this portion, which
truly conftitutes the mafs of the human race.
It is by arriving at this laft link of the
chain, that the obfervation of paft events, as
well as the knowledge acquired by medita-
tion, become truly ufeful. It is by arriving
at this term, that men learn to appreciate
their real titles to reputation, or to enjoy,
with a well-grounded pleafure, the progrefs of
their reafon. Hence, alone, it is, that they
can judge of the true improvement of the
human fpecies.
The notion of referring every thing to this
latter point, is dictated by juftice and by reafon ;
but it may be fuppofed to be without founda- '
tion. The fuppofition, neverthelefs, is not
true ; and it will be enough if we prove it in
this place by two ftriking examples.
The pofTeflion of the moil common obje&s
of consumption, however abundantly they
may now fatisfy the wants of man ; of thofe
obje&s which the ground produces in confe*
queues
( 3*5 )
quence of human effort, is due to the con-
tinued exertions of induftry, affifted by the
light of the fciences ; and thence it follows,
from hiftory, that this poffefTion attaches it-
felf to the gain of the battle of Salamis,
without which the darknefs of oriental def-
potifm threatened to cover the whole of the
earth. And, again, the accurate obfervation of
the longitude, which preferves navigators from
fhipwreck, is indebted to a theory which, by
a chain of truths, goes as far back as to dis-
coveries made in the fchool of Plato, though
buried for twenty centuries in perfect inu-
tility,
TENTH
( 3*6 )
TENTH EPOCH.
Future Progrefs of Mankind.
IF man can predid, almoft with certainty,
thofe appearances of which he underftands the
laws ; if, even when the laws are unknown
to him, experience of the paft enables him to
forefee, with confiderable probability, future
appearances ; why fhould we fuppofe it a chi-
merical undertaking to delineate, with fome
degree of truth, the picture of the future
deftiny of mankind from the refults of its
hiftory ? The only foundation of faith in the
natural fciences is the principle, that the gene-
ral laws, known or unknown, which regulate
the phenomena of the univerfe, are regular
and conftant ; and why Ihould this principle,
applicable to the other operations of nature,
be lefs true when applied to the developement
of the intellectual and moral faculties of man ?
In fhort, as opinions formed from experience,
relative to the fame clafs of objedts, are the
only rule by which men of foundeft under-
ftanding
( 3i7 )
(landing are governed in their condu&, why»*» U./*-*/ 1
fhould the philofopher be profcribed from
fupporting his conje&ures upon a fimilar bafis,
provided he attribute to them no greater
certainty than the number, the confiftency,
and the accuracy of adual obfervations ihall
authorife ?
Our hopes, as to the future condition of
the human fpecies, may be reduced to three
points : the deftru&ion of inequality between k*t»**Lj>.
different nations ; the progrefs of equality in _/>£**«/'&
one and the fame nation; and laftly, the>^*^.
real improvement of man.
Will not every nation one day arrive at the
ftate of civilization attained by thofe people
who are moft enlightened, moft free, moft
exempt from prejudices, as the French, for*?**5* ***** '•
inftance, and the Anglo-Americans ? Will not 1
the flavery of countries fubje&ed to kings, the j
barbarity of African tribes, and the ignorance I
offavages gradually van ifh ? Is thereupon the
face of the globe a fingle fpot the inhabitants
of which are condemned by nature never to .
enjoy liberty, never to exercife their reafon ? ^ J[^ *Jt
Does the difference of knowledge, of
means, and of wealth, obfervable hitherto in
all
( 3i8 )
all civilized nations, between the claries inta
which the people conftituting thofe nations are
divided ; does that inequality, which the earlieft
progrefs of fociety has augmented, or, to
fpeak more properly, produced, belong to ci-
vilization itfelf, or to the imperfections of the
focial order ? Mull it not continually weaken,
in order to give place to that actual equality*
the chief end of the focial art, which, diminifh-
ing even the effects of the natural difference
of the faculties, leaves no other inequality
fubfifting but what is ufeful to the interefl of
all, becaufe it will favour civilization, inftruc-
tion, and induflry, without drawing after it
either dependence, humiliation or poverty ?
In a word, will not men be continually verging
towards that ftate, in which all will pofTefs
the requifite knowledge for conducting them-
felves in the common affairs of life by their
own reafon, and of maintaining that reafon
uncontaminated by prejudices ; in wmich they
will underftand their rights, and exercife them
according to their opinion and their con-
fcience ; in which all will be able, by the
developement of their faculties, to procure
the certain means of providing for their wants ;
laftly,
( 3^9 )
laftly, in which folly and wretchednefs
will be accidents, happening only now and
then, and not the habitual lot of a confide r-
able portion of fociety ?
In fine, may it not be expected that the
human race will be meliorated by new difco-
veries in the fcienccs and the arts, and, as an
unavoidable confequence, in the means of
individual and general profperity ; by farther
progrefs in the principles of conduct, and in
moral practice ; and laftly, by the real im-
provement of our faculties, moral, intellectual
and phyfical, which may be the refult either
of the improvement of the inftruments which
increafe the power and direct the exercife of
thole faculties, or of the improvement of our
natural organization itfelf ?
In examining he three queftions we have
enumerated, we fhall find the ftrongeft rea-
fons to believe, from paft experience, from
obfervation of the progrefs wmich the fciences
and civilization have hitherto made, and from
the analyfis of the march of the human un-
derftanding, and the developement of its fa-
culties, that nature has fixed no limits to our
hopes.
If
( 3*° )
If we take a furvey of the exifting ftate of
the globe, we fhall perceive, in the firft place,
that in Europe the principles of the French
conftitution are thofe of every enlightened
mind. We fhall perceive that they are too
widely diffeminated, and too openly profened,
for the efforts of tyrants and priefts to pre-
vent them from penetrating by degrees into
V«-«~* -the miferable cottages of their flaves, where
j*u. * 7 .^hey will foon revive thofe embers of
good fenfe, and roufe that filerft indignation
which the habit of fuffering and terror have
failed totally to extinguifh in the minds of the
oppreffed.
If we next look at the different nations, we
fhall obferve in each, particular obftacles op-
pofing, or certain difpofitions favouring this
revolution. We fhall diftinguifh fome in
which it will be effected, perhaps flowly, by
the wifdom of the refpe&ive governments ;
and others in which, rendered violent by re-
fiflance, the governments themfelves will
neceffarily be involved in its terrible and
rapid motions.
Can it be fuppofed that either the wifdom
or the fenfelefs feuds of European nations,
co-operating
•
( 3*1 )
co-operating with the flow but certain effects
of the progrefs of their colonies, will not
fhortly produce the independence of the en- .^^t^ X
tire new world ; and that then, European po-^ ****
pulation, lending its aid, will fail to civilize
or caufe to difappear, even without conqueft,
thofe favage nations ftill occupying there im-
menfe tracts of country ? ,
Run through the hiftory of our projects 6* ttrtr'r'
and eftablifhments in Africa or in Afia, and
you will fee our monopolies, our treachery,
our fanguinary contempt for men of a dif-
ferent complexion or a different creed, and
the profelyting fury or the intrigues of our
priefts, deftroying that fentiment of refpecl:
and benevolence which the fuperiority of our
information and the advantages of our com-
merce had at firft obtained.
But the period is doubtlefs approaching,
when, no longer exhibiting to the view of
thefe people corruptors only or tyrants, we
lhall become to them inftruments of benefit,
and the generous champions of their redemp-
tion from bondage.
The cultivation of the fugar-cane, which
is now eftabliming itfelf in Africa, will put
Y an
( 322 )
an end to the fhameful robbery by which, for
two centuries, that country has been depopu-
lated and depraved.
Already, in Great Britain, fome friends of
humanity have fet the example ; and if its
Machiavelian government, forced to refpecl:
public reafon, has not dared to oppofe this
meafure, what may we not expect from the
fame fpirit, when, after the reform of an abjecl:
and venal conftitution, it mall become worthy
of a humane and generous people ? Will not
France be eager to imitate enterprifes which
the philanthropy and the true intereft of Eu-
rope will equally have dictated ? Spices are al-
ready introduced into the French iflands, Gui-
ana, and fome Englifh fettlements ; and we
fhall foon witnefs the fall of that monopoly
which the Dutch have fupported by fuch a
complication of perfidy, of oppreffion, and of
crimes. The people of Europe will learn in
time that exclufive and chartered companies
are but a tax upon the refpe&ive nation,
granted for the purpofe of placing a new in-
ftrument in the hands of its government for
the maintenance of tyranny.
Then will the inhabitants of the European
quarter
( 323 )
quarter of the world, fatisfied with an unre-
ftri&ed commerce, too enlightened as to their
own rights to fport with the rights of others,
refpect that independence which they have
hitherto violated with fuch audacity. Then will
their eftablifhments,inftead of being filled by the
creatures of power, who, availing themfelves
of a place or a privilege, haften, by rapine
and perfidy, to amafs wealth, in order to
purchafe, on their return, honours and titles,
be peopled with induftrious men, feeking in
thofe happy climates that eafe and comfort
which in their native country eluded their pur-
fuit. There will they be retained by liberty,
ambition having loft its allurements ; and thofe
fettlements of robbers will then become cole-
nies of citizens, by whom will be planted in ,,
Africa and Afia the principles and example -^v cgi .. h
of the freedom, reafon, and illumination of*^ '* 1 J^
Europe. To thofe monks alfo, who inculcate
on the natives of the countries in queftion
the moft ihameful fuperftitions only, and who
excite difguft by menacing them with a new
tyranny, will fucceed men of integrity and be-
nevolence, anxious to fpread among thefe
people truths ufeful to their happinefs, and
Y 2 to
( 3H )
to enlighten them upon their interefts as well
as their rights : for the love of truth is alfo a
paffion ; and when it fhall have at home no
grofs prejudices to combat, no degrading er-
rors to diflipate, it will naturally extend its
regards, and convey its efforts to remote and
foreign climes.
Thefe immenfe countries will afford am-
ple fcope for the gratification of this paffion.
In one place will be found a numerous peo-
ple, who, to arrive at civilization, appear
only to wait till we fhall furnifh them with
the means ; and who, treated as brothers by
Europeans, would inftantly become their
friends and difciples. In another will be feen
nations crouching under the yoke of facred
defpots or ftupid conquerors, and who, for fo
many ages, have looked for fome friendly
hand to deliver them : while a third will ex-
hibit either tribes nearly favage, excluded
from the benefits of fuperior civilization by
the feverity of their climate, which deters
thofe who might otherwife be difpofed to com-
municate thefe benefits from making the at-
tempt ; or elfe conquering hordes, knowing
no law but force, no trade but robbery. The
advances
( &J )
advances of thefe two laft claffes will be more
flow, and accompanied with more frequent
ftorms ; it may even happen that, reduced in
numbers in proportion as they fee themfelves
repelled by civilized nations, they will in the
end wholly difappear, or their fcanty remains
become blended with their neighbours.
We might fhew that thefe events will be
the inevitable confequence not only of the
progrefs of Europe, but of that freedom
which the republic of France, as well as of
America, have it in their power, and feel it
to be their intereft, to reftore to the com-
merce of Africa and Afia ; and that they muft
alfo necefTarily refult alike, whether from the
new policy of European nations, or their ob-
ftinate adherence to mercantile prejudices.
A fingle combination, a new invafion of
Afia by the Tartars, might be fufficient to
fruftrate this revolution ; but it may be fhewn
that fuch combination is henceforth impoffi-
ble to be effected. Meanwhile every thing
feems to be preparing the fpeedy downfal of
the religions of the Eaft, which, partaking of
the abjec~t.nefs of their minifters, left alflioft
exclufively to the people, and, in the majo-
Y 3 rity
( 3^6 )
rity of countries, confidered by powerful men
as political inftitutions only, no longer threaten
to retain human reafon in a ftate of hopelefs
bondage, and in the eternal fhackles of in-
fancy.
The march of thefe people will be lefs
flow and more fure than ours has been, be-
caufe they will derive from us that light
which we have been obliged to difcover, and
becaufe for them to acquire the fimple truths
and infallible methods which we have ob-
tained after long wandering in the mazes of
error, it will be fufficient to feize upon their
developements and proofs in our difcourfes
and publications. If the progrefs of the Greeks
was loft upon other nations, it was for want of
a communication between the people ; and
to the tyrannical domination of the Romans
muft the whole blame be afcribed. But,
when mutual wants mail have drawn clofer
the intercourfe and ties of all mankind ; when
the moft powerful nations fhall have efta-
bliflied into political principles equality be-
tween focieties as between individuals, and
refpecl for the independence of feeble ftates,
ag well as compaffion for ignorance and
wretched-
( 3*7 ) \
wretchednefs ; when to the maxims which
bear heavily upon the fpring of the human fa-
culties, thofe fhall fucceed which favour their
action and energy, will there ftill be reafon to
fear that the globe will contain fpaces inac-
ceflible to knowledge, or that the pride of
defpotifm will be able to oppofe barriers to
truth that will long be infurmountable ?
Then will arrive the moment in which the
fun will obferve in its courfe free nations
only, acknowledging no other mafter than
their reafon ; in which tyrants and flaves,
priefls and their ftupid or hypocritical inftru-
ments, will no longer exift but in hiftory and
upon the ftage ; in which our only concern
will be to lament their paft victims and dupes,
and, by the recollection of their horrid enor-
mities, to exercife a vigilant circumfpe&ion,
that we may be able inftantly to recognife and
effectually to ftifle by the force of reafon, the
feeds of fuperftition and tyranny, fhould they
ever prefume again to make their appearance
upon the earth.
In tracing the hiftory of focieties we have
had occafion to remark, that there frequently
exifts a confiderable diftin&ion between the
Y 4 rights
( 3^3 )
rights which the law acknowledges in the citi-
zens of a (late, and thofe which they really
enjoy ; between the equality eflablifhed by
political inititutions, and that which takes
place between the individual members : and
that to this difproportion was chiefly owing
the deftruclion of liberty in the ancient repub~
lies, the ftorms which they had to encounter,
and the weaknefs that furrendered them into
the power of foreign tyrants.
Three principal caufes may be afligned for
^ /. , thefe diftinctions : inequality of wealth, ine-
^ quality of condition between him whole re-
fources of fubfiftance are fecured to himfelf
and defcendable to his family, and him whofe
refources are annihilated with the termination
of his life, or rather of that part of his life in
which he is capable of labour ; and laftly, in-
equality of inftruclion.
It will therefore behove us to fhew, that
thefe three kinds of real inequality muft con-
tinually diminifh ; but without becoming ab-
folutely extind, fince they have natural and
neceilary caufes, which it would be abfurd as
well as dangerous to think of deftroying ; nor
cm we attempt even to deftroy entirely their
effecT^
( 329 )
effect^ without opening at the fame time more
fruitful fources of inequality, and giving to
the rights of man a more direct and more fa-
tal blow.
It is eafy to prove that fortunes naturally
tend to equality, and that their extreme difpro-
portion either could not exift, or would quickly
ceafe, if pofitive law had not introduced facti-
tious means of amaffing and perpetuating them;
if an entire freedom of commerce and induftry
were brought forward to fuperfede the advan-
tages which prohibitory laws and flfcal rights
necefTarily give to the rich over the poor ; if
duties upon every fort of transfer and con-
vention, if prohibitions to certain kinds, and
the tedious and expenfive formalities prefcribed
to other kinds ; if the uncertainty and expence
attending their execution had not palfied the
efforts of the poor, and fwallowed up their
little accumulations \ if political inflitutions
had not laid certain prolific fources of opu-
lence open to a few, and fhut them againft
the many ; if avarice, and the other preju-
dices incident to an advanced age, did not
prefide over marriages ; in fine, if the fimpli-
city
u~
( 33° )
city of our manners and the wifdom of our
inftitutions were calculated to prevent riches
from operating as the means of gratifying va-
nity or ambition, at the fame time that an
ill-judged aufterity, by forbidding us to ren-
der them a means of coftly pleafures, fhould
not force us to preferve the wealth that had
once been accumulated.
Let us compare, in the enlightened nations
of Europe, the actual population with the ex-
tent of territory ; let us obferve, amidft the
fpe&acle of their culture and their induftry,
the way in which labour and the means of
fubfiftance are diftributed, and we fhall fee
that it will be impoflible to maintain thefe
means in the fame extent, and of confequence
to maintain the fame mafs of population, if
any coniiderable number of individuals ceafe
to have, as now, nothing but their induftry,
and the pittance neceffary to fet it at work, or
to render its profit equal to the fupplying their
own wants and thofe of their family. But
neither this induftry, nor the fcanty referve
we have mentioned, can be perpetuated, ex-
cept fo long as the life and health of each head
of a family is perpetuated. Their little for-
tune
( 33* )
tune therefore is at beft an annuity, but in
reality with features of precarioufnefs that an
annuity wants : and from hence refults a molt
important difference between this clafs of fo-
ciety and the clafs of men whofe refources
confift either of a landed income, or the in-
tereft of a capital, which depends little upon
perfonal induftry, and is therefore not fub-
jecl: to fimilar rifks.
There exifls then a neceffary caufe of in-
equality, of dependence, and even of penury,
which menaces without ceafmg the moft nu-
merous and active clafs of our focieties.
This inequality, however, may be in great
meafure deftroyed, by fetting chance againft
chance, in fecuring to him wrho attains old
age a fupport, arifmg from his favings, but
augmented by thofe of other perfons, who,
making a fimilar addition to a common flock,
may happen to die before they fhall have oc-
cafion to recur to it ; in procuring, by a like
regulation, an equal refource for women who
may lofe their hufoands, or children who
may lofe their father ; laftly, in preparing for
thofe youths, who arrive at an age to be ca-
pable of working for themfelves, and of giving
birth
( 332 )
birth to a new family, the benefit of a capi-
tal fufficient to employ their induftry, and
increafed at the expence of thofe whom pre-
mature death may cut off before they arrive
at that period. To the application of mathe-
matics to the probabilities of life and the in-
tereft of money, are we indebted for the hint
of thefe means, already employed with fome
degree of fuccefs, though they have not been
carried to fuch extent, or employed in fuch
variety of forms, as would render them truly
beneficial, not merely to a few families, but
to the whole mafs of fociety, which would
thereby be relieved from that periodical ruin
obfervable in a number of families, the ever-
flowing fource of corruption and depravity.
Thefe eftabliihments, which may be formed
in the name of the focial power, and become
one of its greateft benefits, might alfo be the
refult of individual affociations, which may be
inftituted without danger, when the principles
by which the eftabliihments ought to be or-
ganifed, mall have become more popular, and
the errors, by which a great number of fuch
affociations have been deftroyed, fhall ceafe to
be an object of apprehenfioa.
( 33S )
O
We may enumerate other means of fecurin
the equality in queftion, either by preventing
credit from continuing to be a privilege ex-
clufively attached to large fortunes, without
at the fame time placing it upon a lefs folid
foundation ; or by rendering the progrefs of
induftry and the activity of commerce more
independent of the exiftence of great capi-
talifts : and for thefe refources alfo we mail be
indebted to the fcience of calculation.
The equality of inftruclion we can hope to
attain, and with which we ought to be
fatisfied, is that which excludes every fpecies
of dependence, whether forced or voluntary.
We may exhibit, in the actual ft ate of human
knowledge, the eafy means by which this end
may be attained even for thofe who can devote
to ftudy but a few years of infancy, and, in
fubfequent life, only fome occafional hours of
leifure. We might fhew, that by a happy
choice of the fubje&s to be taught, and of the
mode of inculcating them, the entire mafs of
a people may be inftru&ed in every thing ne-
ceflary for the purpofes of domeftic economy ;
for the tranfaction of their affairs ; for the
freedevelopement of their induftry and their
faculties ;
( 334 )
faculties ; for the knowledge, exercife and pro-
te£tion of their rights ; for a fenfe of their
duties, and the power of difcharging them ;
for the capacity of judging both their own
adlions, and the aftions of others, by their own
underftanding ; for the acquifition of all the
delicate or dignified fentiments that are an
honour to humanity ; for freeing themfelves
from a blind confidence in thofe to whom they
may entruft the care of their interefts, and the
fecurity of their rights ; for chufing and watch-
ing over them, fo as no longer to be the dupes
of thofe popular errors that torment and
way-lay the life of man with fuperftitious
fears and chimerical hopes ; for defending
themfelves againft prejudices by the fole
energy of reafon ; in fine, for efcaping from
the delufions of impofture, which would
fpread fnares for their fortune, their health,
their freedom of opinion and of confcience,
under the pretext of enriching, of healing, and
of faving them, ,
The inhabitants of the fame country being
then no longer diftinguifhed among themfelves
by the alternate ufe of a refined or a vulgar lan-
guage \ being equally governed by their own
under-
( 335 )
underftandings ; being no more confined to
the mechanical knowledge of the proceffes of
the arts, and the mere routine of a profeflion ;
no more dependent in the mod trifling affairs,
and for the flighteft information, upon men
of fkill, who, by a neceffary afcendancy,
controul and govern, a real equality muft be
the refult ; fince the difference of talents and
information can no longer place a barrier be-
tween men whofe fentiments, ideas, and
phrafeology are capable of being mutually
underftood, of whom the one part may de-
fire to be inftru&ed, but cannot need to be
guided by the other ; of whom the one part
may delegate to the other the office of a ra-
tional government, but cannot be forced to
regard them with blind and unlimited confi-
dence.
Then it is that this fuperiority will become
an advantage even for thofe who do not par-
take of it, fince it will exift not as their
enemy, but as their friend. The natural dif-
ference of faculties between men whofe un-
derftandings have not been cultivated, pro-
duces, even among favages, empirics and
dupes, the one fkilled in delufion, the others
a eafy
( 336 )
eafy to be deceived : the fame difference will
doubtlefs exift among a people where inftruc-
tion fhall be truly general ; but it will be here
between men of exalted underftandings and
men of found minds, wTho can admire the
radiance of knowledge, without fuffering
themfelves to be dazzled by it ; between ta-
lents and genius on the one hand, and on the
other the good fenfe that knows how to ap-
preciate and enjoy them : and mould this
difference be even greater in the latter cafe,
comparing the force and extent of the facul-
ties only, ftill would the effects of it not be the
lefs imperceptible in the relations of men with
each other, in whatever is interefting to their
independence or their happinefs.
The different caufes of equality we have
enumerated do not act diftinctly and apart ;
they unite, they incorporate, they fupport
one another ; and from their combined influ-
ence refults an action proportionably forcible,
fure, and conftant. If inftruction become
more equal, induftry thence acquires greater
equality, and from induftry the effect is com^
municated to fortunes ; and equality of for-
tunes neceffarily contributes to that of inftruc-
tion,
( 331 )
tion, while equality of nations, like that efta*
blifhed between individuals, have alfo a mu-
tual operation upon each other.
In fine, inftru&ion, properly directed, cor-*
rects the natural inequality of the faculties, in-
ftead of ftrengthening it, in like manner as
good laws remedy the natural inequality of
the means of fubiiftance ; or as, in focieties
whofe inftitutions fhall have effected this equa-
lity, liberty, though fubje&ed to a regular
government, wTill be more extenfive, more
complete, than in the independence of favage.
life. Then has the focial art accomplifhed its
end, that of fecuring and extending for all
the enjoyment of the common rights which
impartial nature has bequeathed to all.
The advantages that muft refult from the
flate of improvement, of which I have proved
we may almoft entertain the certain hope, can
have no limit but the abfolute perfection of the
human fpecies, fince, in proportion as different
kinds of equality fhall be elablifhed as to the
various means of providing for our wants, as
to a more univerfal inflruction, and a more
entire liberty, the more real will be this equa-
lity, and the nearer will it approach towards
Z embracing
( 338 )
embracing every thing truly important to the
happitiefs of mankind.
It is then by examining the progrefiion and
the laws of this perfection, that we can alone
arrive at the knowledge of the extent or boun-
dary of our hopes.
It has never yet been fuppofed, that all the
facts of nature, and all the means of acquiring
precifion in the computation and analyfis of
thofe facts, and all the connections of objeds
with each other, and all the poffible combi-
nations of ideas, can be exhaufted by the hu-
man mind. The mere relations of magnitude,
the combinations, quantity and extent of this
idea alone, form already a fyftem too im-
menfe for the mind of man ever to grafp the
whole of it ; a portion, more vaft than that
which he may have penetrated, will always
remain unknown to him. It has, however,
been imagined, that, as man can know a part
only of the objects which the nature of his
intelligence permits him to inveftigate, he
mull at length reach the point at which, the
number and complication of thofe he already
knows having abforbed all his powers, farther
progrefs will become abfolutely impoffible.
But,
( 339 )
But, in proportion as facts are multiplied,
man learns to clafs them, and reduce them
to more general facts, at the fame time that
the inftruments and methods for obferving
them, and registering them with exactnefs,
acquire a new precifion : in proportion as
relations more multifarious between a greater
number of objects are difcovered, man con-
tinues to reduce them to relations of a wider
denomination, to exprefs them with greater
fimplicity, and to prefent them in a way
which may enable a given ftrength of mind,
with a given quantity of attention, to take in
a greater number than before : in propor-
tion as the underftanding embraces more com-
plicated combinations, a fimple mode of an-
nouncing thefe combinations renders them
more eafy to be treated. Hence it follows
that truths, the difcovery of which was ac-
companied with the moft laborious efforts,
and which at firft could not be comprehended
but by men of the fevered attention, will after
a time be unfolded and proved in methods
that are not above the efforts of an ordinary
capacity. And thus fhould the methods that
led to new combinations be exhaufted, fhould
Z 2 their
( 34^ )
their applications to queftions, ftill unrefolvec3$
demand exertions greater than the time or the
powers of the learned can beftow, more ge-
neral methods, means more fimple would
foon come to their aid, and open a farther
career to genius. The energy, the real ex-
tent of the human intellect may remain the
fame ; but the inftruments which it can em-
ploy will be multiplied and improved ; but
the language which fixes and determines the
ideas will acquire more precifion and com-
pafs ; and it will not be here, as in the fcience
of mechanics, where, to increafe the force,
we muft diminifh the velocity ; on the con-
trary the methods by which genius will ar-
rive at the difcovery of new truths, augment
at once both the force and the rapidity of its
operations.
In a word, thefe changes being themfelves
the neceflary confequences of additional pro-
grefs in the knowledge of truths of detail,
and the caufe which produces a demand for
new refources, producing at the fame time
the means of fupplying them, it follows that
the actual mafs of truths appertaining to the
fciences of obfervation, calculation and ex-
periment
( 341 )
periment, may be perpetually augmented, and
that without fuppofing the faculties of man
to poffefs a force and activity, and a fcope of
action greater than before.
By applying thefe general reflections to the
different fciences, we might exhibit, refpect-
ing each, examples of this progreffive im-
provement, which would remove all poflibi-
lity of doubt as to the certainty of the further
improvement that may be expected. We
might indicate particularly in thofe which pre-
judice confiders as neareft to being exhaufted,
the marks of an almoft certain and early ad-
vance. We might illuftrate the extent, the
precilion, the unity which muft be added to
the fyftem comprehending all human know-
ledge, by a more general and philofophical
application of the fcience of calculation to the
individual branches of which that fyftem is
compofed. We might fhew how favourable
to our hopes a more univerfal inftruction
would prove, by which a greater number
of individuals would acquire the elementary
knowledge that might infpire them with a
tafte for a particular kind of ftudy ; and how
much thefe hopes would be further heightened
Z 3 *
( 34^ )
if this application to ftudy were to be ren-
dered ftill more extenfive by a more general
eafe of circumftances. At prefent, in the
moft enlightened countries, fcarcely do one
in fifty of thofe whom nature has bleffed
with talents receive the necefTary inftru&ion
for the developement of them : how different
would be the proportion in the cafe we are
fuppofing ? and, of confequence, how dif-
ferent the number of men deftined to extend
the horizon of the fciences ?
We might fhew how much this equality
of inftruction, joined to the national equality
we have fuppofed to take place, would ac-
celerate thofe fciences, the advancement of
wThich depends upon obfervations repeated in
a greater number of inftances, and extending
over a larger portion of territory ; how much
benefit would be derived therefrom to mine-
ralogy, botany, zoology, and the doctrine
of meteors ; in fhort, how infinite the dif-
ference between the feeble means hitherto
enjoyed by thefe fciences, and which yet
have led to ufeful and important truths, and
the magnitude of thofe which man woulcf
then have it in his power to employ.
V!" " " Laftl7?
( 343 )
Laftly, we might prove that, from the
advantage of being cultivated by a greater
number of perfons, even the progrefs of
thofe fciences, in which difcoveries are the
fruit of individual meditation, would, alfo,
be confiderably advanced by means of mi-
nuter improvements, not requiring the ftrength
of intellect, neceflary for inventions, but that
prefent themfelves to the reflection of the
leaft profound understandings.
If we pafs to the progrefs of the arts,
thofe arts particularly the theory of which
depends on thefe very fame fciences, we
fhall find that it can have no inferior limits ;
that their proceffes are fufceptible of the fame
improvement, the fame fimplifications, as the
fcientific methods ; that inftruments, machines,
looms, will add every day to the capabilities
and fkill of man — will augment at once the
excellence and precifion of his works, while
they will diminifh the time and labour ne-
ceflary for executing them ; and that then
will difappear the obftacles that ftill oppofe
themfelves to the progrefs in queftion, acci-
dents which will be forefeen and prevented $
and, laftly, the unhealthinefs at prefent at-
Z 4 tendartf
( 344 )
tendant upon certain operations, habits and
climates.
A fmaller portion of ground will then be
made to produce a portion of provifions of
higher value or greater utility; a greater
quantity of enjoyment will be procured at a
fmaller expence of confumption ; the fame
manufactured or artificial commodity will be
produced at a fmaller expence of raw mate-
rials, or will be ftronger and more durable ;
every foil will be appropriated to productions
which will fatisfy a greater number of wants
with the leaft labour, and taken in the fmall-
eft quantities. Thus the means of health
and frugality will be encreafed, together with
the inftruments in the arts of production, of
curing commodities and manufacturing their
produce, without demanding the facrifice of
one enjoyment by the confumer.
Thus, not only the fame fpecies of ground
will nourifh a greater number of individuals,
but each individual, with a lefs quantity of
labour, will labour more fuccefsfully, and be
furrpunded with greater conveniences.
It may, however, be demanded, whether,
amidft this improvement in induftry and
happinefsj
( 345 )
Iiappinefs, where the wants and faculties of
men will continually become better propor-
tioned, each fucceffive generation pollers more
various ftores, and of confequence in each
generation the number of individuals be
greatly increafed ; it may, I fay, be demand-
ed, whether thefe principles of improvement
and increafe may not, by their continual
operation, ultimately lead to degeneracy and
deftructioii ? Whether the number of inha-
bitants in the univerfe at length exceeding
the means of exiftence, there will not reiult
a continual decay of Iiappinefs and popula-
tion, and a progrefs towards barbarifm, or at
leaft a fort of ofcillation between good and
evil ? Will not this ofcillation, In focieties
arrived at this epoch, be a perennial fource
of periodical calamity and diftrefs ? In
a word, do not thefe confederations point
out the limit at which all farther improve-
ment will become impoffible, and confequent-
ly the perfe&ibility of man arrive at a period
which in the immenfity of ages it may attain,
but which it can never pafs ?
There is, doubtlefs, no individual that does
ftot perceive how very remote from us will
be
( 346 )
be this period : but mud it one day arrive ?
It is equally impoffible to pronounce on either
fide refpecting an event, which can only be
realized at an epoch when the human fpecies
will neceffarily have acquired a degree of
knowledge, of which our fhort-fighted un-
derftandings can fcarcely form an idea. And
who mall prefutne to foretel to what perfec-
tion the art of converting the elements of
life into fubftances fitted for our ufe, may,
in a progreffion of ages, be brought ?
But fuppofing the affirmative, fuppofing it
actually to take place, there would remit
from it nothing alarming, either to the hap-
pinefs of the human race, or its indefinite
perfectibility ; if we confider, that prior to
this period the progrefs of reafon will have
walked hand in hand with that of the fci-
ences ; that the abfurd prejudices of fuper-
ftition will have ceafed to infufe into morality
a harfhnefs that corrupts and degrades, in-
ftead of purifying and exalting it ; that men
will then know, that the duties they may be
under relative to propagation will confift not
in the queftion of giving exlfience to a greater
number of beings, but happ'mefs\ will have for
their
( 347 )
their object, the general welfare of the human
fpecies ; of the fociety in which they live ;
of the family to which they are attached ;
and not the puerile idea of encumbering the
earth with ufelefs and wretched mortals. Ac-
cordingly, there might then be a limit to the
poflible mafs of provifion, and of confequence
to the greateft poffible population, without
that premature deftrucxion, fo contrary to
nature and to focial profperity, of a portion
of the beings who may have received life,
being the refult of thofe limits.
As the difcovery, or rather the accurate
folution of the firft principles of metaphylics,
morals, and politics, is ftill recent ; and as
it has been preceded by the knowledge of a
confiderable number of truths of detail, the
prejudice, that they have thereby arrived at
their higheft point of improvement, becomes
eafily eftablifhed in the mind ; and men fup-
pofe that nothing remains to be done, be-
caufe there are no longer any grofs errors
to deftroy, or fundamental truths to eftablifh.
But it requires little penetration to per-
ceive how imperfecT: is Hill the developement
pf the intellectual and moral faculties of
man ;
( 34S J
man ; how much farther the fphere of his
duties, including therein the influence of his
actions upon the welfare of his fellow-crea-
tures and of the fociety to which he belongs,
may be extended by a more fixed, a more
profound and more accurate obfervation of
that influence ; how many queflions flill re-
main to be folved, how many focial ties to
be examined, before we can afcertain the
precife catalogue of the individual rights of
man, as well as of the rights which the focial
ftate confers upon the whole community with
regard to each member. Have we even as-
certained with any precifion the limits of
thefe rights, whether as they exift between
different focieties, or in any fmgle fociety,
over its members, in cafes of divifion and
hoftility ; or, in fine, the rights of individuals,
their fpontaneous unions in the cafe of a pri-
mitive formation, or their feparations when
feparation becomes neceffary I
If we pafs on to the theory which ought
to direct the application of thefe principles,
and ferve as the bails of the focial art, do we
not fee the neceflity of acquiring an exactnefs
of which firft truths, from their general nti-
tures
( 349 )
ture, are not fufceptible ? Are we fo far acP
vanced as to confider juftice, or a proved and
acknowledged utility, and not vague, uncer-
tain, and arbitrary views of pretended politi-
cal advantages, as the foundation of all infti-
tutions of law ? Among the variety, almoft
infinite, of poffible fyftems, in which the
general principles of equality and natural
rights fhouid be refpected, have we yet fixed
upon the precife rules of afcertaining with
certainty thofe which bed fecure the prefer-
vation of thefe rights, which afford the
freeft fcope for their exercife and enjoyment,
which promote moft effectually the peace and
welfare of individuals, and the ftrength, re-
pofe, and profperity of nations ?
The application of the arithmetic of com-
binations and probabilities to thefe fciences,
promiies an improvement by fo much the
more confiderable, as it is the only means of
giving to their refults an almoft mathematical
precifion, and of appreciating their degree of
certainty or probability. The facts upon
which thefe refults are built may, indeed,
without calculation, and by a glance only,
lead to fome general truths; teach us whether
the
( 35° )
the effe&s produced by fuch a caufe have*
been favourable or the reverfe : but if thefe
facts have neither been counted nor eftimated ;
if thefe effects have not been the object of
an exact admeafurement, we cannot judge of
the quantity of good or evil they contain : if
the good or evil nearly balance each other,
nay, if the difference be not confiderable, we
cannot pronounce with certainty to which
fide the balance inclines. Without the ap-
plication of this arithmetic, it would be al-
moft impoflible to chufe, with found reafon,
between two combinations propofing to them-
felves the fame end, when their advantages
are not diftinguifhable by any confiderable
difference. In fine, without this alliance,
thefe fciences would remain for ever grofs
and narrow, for want of inftruments of fuf-
ficient polifh to lay hold of the fubtility of
truth — for want of machines fufficiently ac-
curate to found the bottom of the well where
it conceals its wealth.
Meanwhile this application, notwithftand-
ing the happy efforts of certain geometers,
is ftill, if I may fo fpeak, in its firft rudi-
ments j and to the following generations muft
it
( 35i )
it open a fource of intelligence inexhauftible
as calculation itfelf, or as the combinations,
analogies, and facts that may be brought
within the fphere of its operations.
There is another fpecies of progrefs, ap-
pertaining to the fciences in queftion, equally-
important ; I mean, the improvement of
their language, at prefent fo vague and fo ob-
fcure. To this improvement muft they owe
the advantage of becoming popular, even in
their firft elements. Genius can triumph
over thefe inaccuracies, as over other obfta-
cles ; it can recognife the features of truth, in
fpite of the maik that conceals or disfigures
them. But how is the man who can devote
but a few leifure moments to inftruftion to do
this ? how is he to acquire and retain the
moil: fimple truths, if they be difguifed by
an inaccurate language ? The fewer ideas he
is able to collect and combine, the more re-
quifite it is ^that they be juft and precife.
He has no fund of truths ftored up in his
mind, by which to guard himfelf againft
error ; nor is his underftanding fo ftrength-
ened and refined by long exercife, that h<
Le
can catch thofe feeble ravs of light which
4 O
efcape
( '33* )
escape under the obfcure and ambiguous
drefs of an imperfect and vicious phrafe-*
ology.
It will be impoffible for men to become
enlightened upon the nature and develope-
ment of their moral fentiments, upon the
principles of morality, upon the mo-
tives for conforming their conduct to thofe
principles, and upon their interefls^ whether
relative to their individual or fecial capacity*
without making, at the fame time, an ad-
vancement in moral practice, not lefs real
than that of the fcience itfelf. Is not a mif-
taken intereft the moft frequent caufe of ac-
tions contrary to the general welfare ? Is
not the impetuofity of our paffions the con-
tinual refult, either of habits to which we
addict ourfelves from a falfe calculation, or
of ignorance of the means by which to re-
fill: their firft impulfe, to divert, govern,
and direct their adion ?
Is not the practice of reflecting upon our
conduct ; of trying it by the touchftone of
reafon and confeience ; of exercifmg thofe
humane fentiments which blend our happi-
nefs with that of others, the neceflary confe-
quence
( 3S3 )
quence of the well-directed ftudy of morality-
and of a greater equality in the conditions of
the focial compact ? Will not that confci-
oufnefs of his own dignity, appertaining to
the man who is free, that fyftem of educa-
tion built upon a more profound knowledge
of our moral conftitution, render common to
almoft every man thofe principles of a ftrict
and unfullied juftice, thofe habitual propen-*
fities of an active and enlightened benevo-
lence, of a delicate and generous fenfibility,
of which nature has planted the feeds in our
hearts, and which wait only for the genial
influence of knowledge and liberty to ex-
pand and to fructify ? In like manner as
the mathematical and phyfical fciences tend
to improve the arts that are employed for
our mo ft fimple wants, fo is it not equally
in the neceffary order of nature that the mo-
ral and political fciences mould exercife a
fimilar influence upon the motives that di-
rect our fentiments and our actions ?
What is the object of the improvement
of laws and public inftitutions, confequent
upon the progrefs of thefe fciences, but to
reconcile, to approximate, to blend and unite
into oae mafs the common mtereft of each
A a indi*
( 354 )
individual with the common intereft of all ?
What is the end of the focial art, but to
deftroy the oppofition between thefe two ap-
parently jarring fentiments ? And will not
the conftitution and laws of that country beft
accord with the intentions of reafon and na-
ture where the practice of virtue fhall be leaft
difficult, and the temptations to deviate from
her paths leaft numerous and leaft powerful.
What vicious habit can be mentioned, what
practice contrary to good faith, what crime
even, the origin and firft caufe of which
may not be traced in the legiflation, inftitu-
tions, and prejudices of the country in which
we obferve fuch habit, fuch practice, or fuch
crime to be committed ?
In fhort, does not the well-being, the pros-
perity, refulting from the progrefs that will
be made by the ufeful arts, in confequence
of their being founded upon a found theory,
refulting, alfo, from an improved legiflation,
built upon the truths of the political Scien-
ces, naturally difpofe men to humanity, to
benevolence, and to juftice ? Do not all the
obfervations, in fine, which we propofed to
develope in this work prove, that the moral
goodnefs of man, the neceffary confequence
of
( 355 )
of his organization, is, like all his other fa-
culties, fufceptible of an indefinite improve-*
ment ? and that nature has connected, by a
chain which cannot be broken, truth, happi-
ilefs, and virtue ?
Among thofe caufes of human improve-
ment that are of moft importance to the ge-
neral welfare, muft be included, the total an-
nihilation of the prejudices which have eftab-
lifhed between the fexes an inequality of
rights, fatal even to the party which it fa-
vours. In vain might we fearch for motives
by which to juftify this principle, in differ-
ence of phyfical organization, of intellecl:, or
of moral fenfibility. It had at firft no other
origin but abufe of ftrength, and all the 'at-
tempts which have fmce been made to fupport
it are idle fophifms.
And here we may obferve, how much the
abolition of the ufages authorized by this
prejudice, and of the laws which it has
dictated, would tend to augment the hap-
pinefs of families ; to render common the
virtues of domeftic life, the fountain-head of
all the others ; to favour infcrucdon, and,
efpecially, to make it truly general, either
becaufe it would be extended to both fexes
A a* 2 with
with greater equality, or becaufe it cannot
become general, even to men, without the
concurrence of the mothers of families.
Would not this homage, fo long in paying,
to the divinities of equity and good fenfe,
put an end to a too fertile principle of in-
juftice, cruelty, and crime, by fuperfeding
the oppolition hitherto maintained between
that natural propenfity, which is, of all
others, the mod imperious, and the mofl
difficult to fubdue, and the interefts of man,
or the duties of fociety ? Would it not
produce, what has hitherto been a mere chi-
mera, national manners of a nature mild and
pure, formed, not by imperious privations,
by hypocritical appearances, by referves im-
pofed by the fear of fhame or religious ter-
rors, but by habits freely contracted, infpired
by nature and avowed by reafon ?
The people being more enlightened, and
having refumed the right of difpofmg for
themfelves of their blood and their treafure,
will learn by degrees to regard war as the
mofl dreadful of all calamities, the moll ter-
rible of all crimes. The firft wars that will
be fuperfeded, will be thojfe into* which the
ufurpers of fovereignty have hitherto drawn
their
( 357 )
their fubjects for the maintenance of rights
pretend edly hereditary.
Nations will know, that they cannot be-
come conquerors without lofing their free-
dom ; that perpetual confederations are the
only means of maintaining their independ-
ance ; that their object mould be fecurity,
and not power. By degrees commercial pre-
judices will die away ; a falfe mercantile in-
terefl will lofe the terrible power of imbuing
the earth with blood, and of ruining nations
under the idea of enriching them. As the
people of different countries wUl at laft be
drawn into clofer intimacy, by the principles
of politics and morality, as each, for its own
advantage, will invite foreigners to an equal
participation of the benefits which it may
have derived either from nature or its own
induftry, all the caufes which produce, en-
venom, and perpetuate national animofities,
will one by one difappear, and will no more
furnifh to warlike infanity either fuel or
pretext.
Inftitutions, better combined than thofe
projects of perpetual peace which have oc-*
cupied the leifure and confoled the heart of
certain philofophers, will accelerate the pro-
A a 3 grefs
( 35« ) <
grefs of this fraternity of nations ; and wars,
like affkffihations, will be ranked in the num-*
ber of thofe daring atrocities, humiliating
and loathfome to nature ; and which fix up-
on the country or the age whofe annals are
ftained with them, an indeliable opprobrium.
In fpeaking of the fine arts in Greece, in
Italy, and in France, we have obferved, that
it is neceffary to diftinguifh, in their produc-
tions, what really belongs to the progrefs of
the art, and what is due only to the talent
of the artift. And here let us enquire what
progrefs may ftill be expected, whether, in
confequence of the advancement of philofo-
phy and the fciences, or from an additional
ftore of more judicious and profound obfer-
vations relative to the object, the effects and
„ the means of thefe arts themfelves ; or, laft-
ly, from the removal of the prejudices that
have contracted their fphere, and that ftill
retain them in the fhackles of authority, from
which the fciences and philofophy have at
length freed themfelves. Let us afk, whether,
as has frequently been fuppofed, thefe means
may be confidered as exhaufted ? or, if not
exhaufted, whether, becaufe the moft fub-
Jinxe and pathetic beauties have been fiezed ;
the
( 359 )
the moft happy fubjects treated ; the moft
iimple and linking combinations employed ;
the moft prominent and general characters
exhibited ; the moft energetic paffions, their
true expreffions and genuine features deli-
neated ; the moft commanding truths, the
moft brilliant images difplayed ; that, there-
fore, the arts are condemned to an eternal and
monotonous imitation of their firft models ?
We fhall perceive that this opinion is
merely a prejudice, derived from the habit
which exifts among men of letters and artifts
of appreciating the merits of men, inftead of
giving themfelves up to the enjoyment to be
received from their works. The fecond-hand
pleafure which arifes from comparing the
productions of different ages and countries,
and from contemplating the energy and fuc-
cefs of the efforts of genius, will perhaps be
loft ; but, in the mean time, the pleafure
arifmg from the productions confidered in
themfelves, and flowing from their abfolute
perfection, need not be lefs lively, though"
the improvement of the author may lefs ex-
cite our aftonifhment. In proportion as ex-
cellent productions fhall multiply, every fuc*
ceflive generation of men will direct its at-
A a 4 tentiQA
( 36° )
tention to thofe which are moil perfect, and
the reft will infenfibly fall into oblivion ;
while the more fimple and palpable traits,
which were feized upon by thofe who firft
entered the field of invention, will not the
lefs exift for our pofterity, though they (hall
be found only in the lateft productions.
The progrefs of the fciences fecures the
progrefs of the art of initruclion, which
again accelerates in its turn that of the fci-
ences ; and this reciprocal influence, the ac-
tion of which is inceffantly increafed, muft be
ranked in the number of the moft prolific
and powerful caufes of the improvement of
the human race. At prefent, a young man,
upon finifhing his ftudies and quitting our
fchools, may know more of the principles of
mathematics than Newton acquired by pro-
found ftudy, or difcovered by the force of
his genius, and may exercife the inftrument
of calculation with a readinefs which at that
period was unknown. The fame obfervation,
with certain reftri&ions, may be applied to
all the fciences. In proportion as each mall
advance, the means of comprefTing, within a
jfmaller circle, the proofs of a greater number
pf truths, and of facilitating their compre-
henfion?
( 3h )
henfion, will equally advance. Thus, not-
withftanding future degrees of progrefs, not
only will men of equal genius find them-.
felves, at the lame period of life, upon a
level with the actual ftate of fcience, bur,
refpecting every generation, what may he
acquired in a given fpace of time, by the
fame ftrength of intellect and the fame de-
gree of attention, will neceflarily increafe,
and the elementary part of each fcience, that
part which every man may attain, becoming-
more and more extended, will include, in a
maimer more complete, the knowledge ne-
ceffary for the direction of every man in the
common occurences of life, and for the free
and independant exercife of his reafon.
In the political fciences there is a deferip-
tion of truths, which, particularly in free
countries (that is, in ail countries in cer-
tain generations), can only be ufeful when
generally known and avowed. Thus, the
influence of thefe fciences upon the freedom
and profperity of nations, muft, in fome
fort, be meafured by the number of thofe
truths that, in confequence of e-ementary in-
ftrucxion, ihall pervade the general mind ;
and thus, as the growing progrefs of this
ele-
elementary inftruction is connected with the
neceflary progrefs of the fciences, we may
expert a melioration in the doctrines of the *
human race which may be regarded as inde-
finite, fmce it can have no other limits than
thofe of the two fpecies of progrefs on which
it depends.
We have itill two other means of general
o
a
pplication to coniider, and which mull in-
fluence at once both the improvement of the
art of inftruction and that of the fciences.
One is a more extenfive and more perfect
adoption of what may be called technical
methods ; the other, the inftitution of an
univerfal language.
By technical methods I underftand, the
art of uniting a great number of objects in
an arranged and fyftematic order, by which
we may be enabled to perceive at a glance
their bearings and connections, feize in an
inftant their combinations, and form from
them the more readily new combinations.
Let us develope the principles, let us ex-
amine the utility of this art, as yet in its
infancy, and we mail find that, when im-
proved and perfected, we might derive from
it, either the advantage of pofleffing within
the
■••>
( 3*3 )
the narrow compafs of a picture, what it
would be often difficult for volumes to ex-
plain to us fo readily and fo well ; or the
means, ftill more valuable, of prefenting ifo-
lated facts in a difpofition and view beft
calculated to give us their general refults.
We fhal] perceive how, by means of a fmall
number of thefe pictures or tables, the ufe of
which may be eafily learned, men who have
not been able to appropriate fuch ufeful de-
tails and elementary knowledge as may apply
to the purpofes of common life, may turn to
them at the fhorteft notice; and how elementary
knowledge itfelf, in all thofe fciences where this
knowledge is founded either upon a regular
code of truths or a feries of obfervations and
experiments, may hereby be facilitated.
An univerfal language is that which ex-
preffes by figns, either the direct objects, or
thofe well-defined collections conftituted of
fimple and general ideas, which are to be
found or may be introduced equally in the
tmderftandings of all mankind ; or, laftly,
the general relations of thefe ideas, the ope-
rations of the human mind, the operations
peculiar to any fcience, and the mode of
procefs in the arts. Thus, fuch perfons as
fliall
( 364 )
fliall have become matters of thefe figns, the
method of combining and the rules for con-
ftructing them, will underftand what is writ-
ten in this language, and will read it with
fimilar facility in the language of their own
country, whatever it may happen to be.
It is apparent, that this language might
be employed to explain either the theory of
a fcience or the rules of an art ; to give an
account of a new experiment or a new ob-
fervation, the acquifition of a fcientific truth,
the invention of a method, or the difcovery
of a procefs ; and that, like, algebra, when
obliged to make ufe of new figns, thofe al-
ready known would afford the means of as-
certaining their value.
A language like this has not the inconve-
nience of a fcientific idiom, different from the
vernacular tongue. We have before obferved,
that the ufe of fuch an idiom neceffarily di-
vides focieties into two extremely unequal
claries ; the one compofed of men, under-
ftanding the language, and, therefore, in
pofTeffion of the key to the fciences ; the
other of thofe who, incapable of learning it,
find themfelves reduced almoft to an abfolute
iinpoffibility of acquiring knowledge. On
the
( 365 )
the contrary, the univerfal language we are
fuppofing, might be learned, like the language
of algebra, with the fcience itfelf ; the fign
might be known at the fame inftant with the
object, the idea, or the operation which it
exprefles. He who, having attained the ele-
ments of a fcience, mould wifh to profecute
farther his enquiries, would find in books,
not only truths that he could underftand, by
means of thcfe figns, of which he already
knows the value, but the explanation of the
new figns of which he has need in order to
afcend to higher truths.
It might be fhown that the formation of
fuch a language, if confined to the expreffing
of fimple and precife propofitions, like thofe
which form the fyfterri of a fcience, or the
practice of an art, would be the reverfe of
chimerical ; that its execution, even at pre-
fent, would be extremely practicable as to a
great number of objects; and that the chief
obftacle that WT>uld ftand in the way of ex-
tending it to others, would be the humiliating
neceflity of acknowledging how few precife
ideas,, and accurately defined notions, under-
ftood exactly in the fame fenfe by every
mind, we really poffefs.
2 It
( ^ )
it might be mown that this language, im-
proving every day, acquiring incefFantly
greater extent, would be the means of giv-
ing to every object that comes within the
reach of human intelligence, a rigour, and
precifion,"that would facilitate the knowledge
of truth, and render error almoft impoffible.
Then would the march of every fcience be
as infallible as that of the mathematics, and
the proportions of every fyftem acquire, as
far as nature will admit, geometrical demon-
ftration and certainty.
Ail the caufes which contribute to the im-
provement of the human fpecies, all the means
we have enumerated that infure its progrefs,
mult, from their very nature, exercife an in-
fluence always active, and acquire an extent for
ever increafing. The proofs of this have been
exhibited, and from their developement in the
work itfelf they will derive additional force :
accordingly we may already conclude, that
the perfectibility of man is indefinite. Mean-
while we have hitherto confidered him as pof-
feffing only the fame natural faculties, as en-
dowed with the fame organization. How
much greater would be the certainty, how
much wider the compafs of our hopes, could
wTe
( 3^7 )
we prove that thefe natural faculties themfelves,
that this very organization, are alio fuicep-
tible of melioration ? And this is the lail ques-
tion we mall examine.
The organic perfectibility or deterioration
of the dalles of the vegetable, or fpecies of
the animal kingdom, may be regarded as one
of the general laws of nature.
This law extends itfelf to the human race •
and it cannot be doubted that the progrefs of
the fanative art, that the uie of more whole-
fome food and more comfortable habitations,
that a mode of life which mall develope the
phyfical powers by exercife, without at the
iame time impairing them by excels ; in fine,
that the deftru&ion of the two moil active
caufes of deterioration, penury and wretched-
nefs on the one hand, and enormous wealth
on the other, muft neceffarily tend to prolong
the common duration of man's exiftence, and
fecure him a more conftant health and a more
robuft conftitution. It is manifeft that the
improvement of the practice of medicine, be-
come more efficacious in confequence of the
progrefs of reafon and the focial order, muft
in the end put a period to tranfmiffible or con-
tagious diforders, as well to thofe general ma-
ladies refulting from climate, aliments, and the
nature
( 368 )
nature of certain occupations. Nor would it
be difficult to prove that this hope might be
extended to almoft every other malady, of
which it is probable we lliall hereafter difco-
ver the moft remote caufes. Would it even
be abfurd to fuppofe this quality of meliora-
tion in the human fpecies as fuiceptible of an
indefinite advancement ; to fuppofe that a pe-
riod muft one day arrive when death will
be nothing more than the effedt either of ex-
traordinary accidents, or of the flow and gra-
dual decay of the vital powers ; and that the
duration of the middle fpace, of the interval
between the birth of man and this decay, will
itfelf have no affignable limit ? Certainly man
will not become immortal ; but may not the
diftance between the moment in which he
draws his firft breath, and the common term
when, in the courfe of nature, without ma-
lady, without accident, he finds it impoffible
any longer to exift, be neceffarily protracted ?
As we are now fpeaking of a progrefs that is
capable of being reprefented with precifion,
by numerical quantities or by lines, we mail
embrace the opportunity of explaining the
two meanings that may be affixed to the word
indefinite.
In reality, this middle term of life, which
in
( 3^9 )
in proportion as men advance upon the ocean
of futurity, we have fuppofed inceffantly to
increafe, may receive additions either in con-
formity to a law by which, though approach-
ing continually an illimitable extent, it could
never poflibly arrive at it ; or a law by which,
in the immenfity of ages, it may acquire a
greater extent than any determinate quantity
whatever that may be affigned as its limit. In
the latter cafe, this duration of life is indefinite
in the ftri&eft fenfe of the word, fince there
exift no bounds on this fide of which it mull
neceffarily flop. And in the former, it is
equally indefinite to us ; if we cannot fix the
term, it may for ever approach, but can never
furpafs ; particularly if, knowing only that
it can never flop, we are ignorant in which of
the two fenfes the term indefinite is applicable
to it : and this is precifely the ftate of the
knowledge we have as yet acquired relative to
the perfectibility of the fpecies.
Thus, in the inftance we are considering,
we are bound to believe that the mean dura-
tion of human life will for ever increafe, unlefs
its increafe be prevented by the phyfical revo-
lutions of the fyftem : but we cannot tell what
Bb is
( 37° )
is the bound which the duration of human life
can never exceed ; we cannot even tell, whe-
ther there be any circumftance in the laws of
nature which has determined and laid down
its limit.
But may not our phyfical faculties, the
force, the fagacity, the acutenefs of the
fenfes, be numbered among the qualities, the
individual improvement of which it will be
practicable to tranfmit ? An attention to the
different breeds of domeftic animals muft lead
us to adopt the affirmative of this queftion, and
a direct obfervation of the human fpecies it-
felf will be found to ftrengthen the opinion.
Laftiy, may we not include in the fame
circle the intellectual and moral faculties ?
May not our parents, who tranfmit to us the
advantages or defects of their conformation,
and from whom we receive our features and
fhape, as well as our propenfities to certain
phyfical affections, tranfmit to us alfo that
part of organization upon which intellect,
ftrength of unclcTitanding, energy of foul or
moral fenfibility depend ? Is it not probable
that education, by improving thefe qualities,
will at the fame time have an influence upon,
will
( 371 )
will modify and improve this organization
kfelf ? Analogy, an inveftigation of the hu-
man faculties, and even fome fafts, appear
to authorife thefe conjectures, and thereby to
enlarge the boundary of our hopes.
Such are the queftions with which we fhall
terminate the laft divifton of our work. And
how admirably calculated is this view of the
human race, emancipated from its chains, re-
leafed alike from the dominion of chance, as
well as from that of the enemies of its progrefs,
and advancing with a firm and indeviate ftep
in the paths of truth, to confole the philofo-
pher lamenting the errors, the flagrant adts
of injuftice, the crimes with which the earth
is ftill polluted? It is the contemplation of
this profpecl: that rewards him for all his ef-
forts to aflift the progrefs of reafon and the
eftabliihment of liberty. He dares to regard
thefe efforts as a part of the eternal chain of
the deftiny of mankind ; and in this perfuafion
he finds the true delight of virtue, the pleafure
of having performed a durable fervice, which
no viciflitude will ever deftroy in a fatal ope-
ration calculated to reftore the reign of pre-
judice and flavery. This fentiment is the afy-
lum
( 372 )
lum into which he retires, and to which the
memory of his perfecutors cannot follow him :
he unites himfelf in imagination with man
reftored to his rights, delivered from oppref-
ilon, and proceeding with rapid ftrides in the
path of happinefs : he forgets his own misfor-
tunes while his thoughts are thus employed ;
he lives no longer to adverfity, calumny and
malice, but becomes the affociate of thefe
wifer and more fortunate beings whofe en-
viable condition he fo earnestly contributed to
produce.
THE END.
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