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YOLJNEY'S EUINS: 
 
 it 
 
 OR, 
 
 MEDITATION ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES. 
 
 TRANSLATED, 
 
 UNDER THE IMMEDIATE INSPECTION OF THE AUTHOR, 
 FROM THE LATEST PARIS EDITION. 
 
 WITH HIS 
 
 NOTES OF ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 THE LAW OF NATURE, 
 
 AND 
 
 A SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE 
 
 BY COUNT DARU. 
 
 •I will go into the desert and dwell among ruins ; I will interrogate ancient 
 ■ monuments on the wisdom of past times." — Chap, iv., p. 31. 
 
 BOSTON. 
 PUBLISHED BY JOSIAH P. MENDUM 
 
 AT THE OFFICE OF THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR. 
 
 1869. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 UTDP/A 
 
 VOLNEY'S RUINS: 
 
 OR, MEDITATION ON THE REVOLUTIONS OF EMPIRES 
 
 The superior merits of this work are too vr^W kBown to require 
 commendation; but as it is not generally known that there are in 
 circulation three English translations ot^ it, varying very materially 
 in regard to faithfulness and elegance of diction, the publisher of 
 the present edition insert the following extracts for the information 
 of purchasers and readers : — 
 
 PARIS TRANSLATION, 
 From which this Edition is printed. 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 Hail, solitary ruins ! holy sepulchres, and silent walls ! you I invoke ; to 
 you I address my prayer. While your aspect averts, with secret terror, the 
 vulgar regard, it excites in my heart the charm of delicious sentiments— sub- 
 lime contemplations. What useful lessons ! what affecting and profound re- 
 flections you suggest to him who knows how to consult you. When the whole 
 earth in chains and silence, bowed the neck before its tyrants, you had already 
 proclaimed the truths which they abhor, and confounding the dust of the king 
 with that of the meanest slave, had announced to man the sacred dogma of 
 Equality I Within your pale, in solitary adoration of Liberty, I saw het 
 Genius arise from the mansions of the dead ; not such as she is painted by the 
 impassioned multitude, armed with fire and sword, but under the august aspect 
 of Justice, poising in her hand the sacred balance, wherein are weighed the 
 actions of men at the gates of eternity. - 
 
 O Tombs ! what virtues are yours ! you appal the tyrant's heart, and poison 
 with secret alarm his impious joys ; he flies, with coward step, your incorrupt- 
 ible aspect, and erects afar his throne of insolence. 
 
 LONDON TRANSLATION 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 Solitary ruins, sacred tombs, ye mouldering and silent walls, all hail ! To 
 you I address my Invocation. While the vulgar shrink from your aspect with 
 secret terror, my heart finds in the contemplation a thousand delicious senti- 
 ments, a thousand admirable recollections. Pregnant, I may truly call you 
 with useful lessons, with pathetic and irresistible advice to the man who 
 knows how to consult you. A while ago the whole world bowed the neck in 
 silence before the tyrants that oppiessed it ; and yet in that hopeless moment 
 you already proclaimed the truths that tyrants hold in abhorrence : mixing the 
 dust of the proudest kings with that of the meanest slaves, you called upon us 
 to contemplate this example of Equality. From your caverns, whither the 
 musing and anxious love of Liberty led me, I saw escape its venerable shade, 
 and with unexpected felicity, direct its flight and marshal my steps the way to 
 renovated France. 
 
 329195 
 
4 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Tombs I what virtues and potency do you exhibit I Tyrants tremble at yoai 
 aspect— you poison with secret alarm their impious pleasures — they turn from 
 you with impatience, and, cowardlike, endeavor to forget you amid the sump- 
 tuousness of tlieir palaces. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA TRANSLATION. 
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 Hail, ye solitary ruins, ye sacred tombs, and silent walls ! 'Tis 3'our auspl 
 cious aid that I invoke ; 'tis to you my soul, wrapt in meditation, pours forth 
 its prayer I What though the profane and vulgar mind shrinks with dismay 
 from your august and awe-inspiring aspect ; to me ye unfold the sublimest 
 charms of contemplation and sentiment, and offer to rny senses the luxury of a 
 thousand delicious and enchanting thougiits ! How sumptuous the feast to a 
 being that has a taste to relish, and an understanding to consult you I What 
 rich and noble admonitions ; what exquisite and pathetic lessons do you read 
 to a heart that is susceptible of exalted feelings I When oppressed humanity 
 bent in timid silence throughout the globe beneath the galling yoke of slavery, 
 it was you that proclaimed aloud Uie birthright of those truths which tyrants 
 tremble at while tliey detect, and which, by sinking the loftiest head of the 
 proudest potentate, with all his boasted pageantry, to the level of mortality 
 with iiis meanest slave, confirmed and ratified by your unerring testimony the 
 sacred and immortal doctrine of Equality. 
 
 Musing within the precincts of your inviting scenes of philosophic solitude, 
 whither the insatiate love of true-born Liberty had led me, I beheld her Ge- 
 nius ascending, not in the spurious character and habit of a blood-thirsty Fury 
 armed with daggers and instruments of rnurder, and followed by a frantic and 
 intoxicated multitude, but under the placid and chaste aspect of Justice, hold- 
 ing with a pure and unsullied hand the sacred scales in which the actions of 
 mortals are weighed on the brink of eternity. 
 
 O ye tombs and emblematic images of death! How superlative is your 
 power! how irresistible your influence ! Your presence appals aud chills the 
 souls of tyrants with electric horror and remorse ; the very remembrance of 
 you haunts their minds like a ghastly spectre in the midst of their voluptuous 
 enjoyiiients, and the terror you inspire plants thorns in all their thoughts, and 
 poisons their impious pleasures into pains. 
 
 The first translation was made and published in London soon 
 after the appearance of the work in French, and, by a late edition, 
 is still adopted without alteration. Mr. Volney, when in this coun- 
 try, in 1797, expressed his disapprobation of this translation, al- 
 leging that the translator must have been overawed by the tCTvern- 
 ment or clergy from rendering his ideas faithfully ; and acco: -"Ugly 
 an English gentleman, then in Philadelphia, volunteered to c( • ecX 
 this edition. But by his endeavors to give the true and full meicU- 
 ing of the author with great precision, he has so overloaded his 
 composition with an exuberance of words, as in a great measure to 
 dissipate the simple elegance and sublimity of the original. Mr. 
 Volney, when he became better acquainted with the English lan- 
 guage, perceived this defect ; and, with the aid of our countryman, 
 Joel Barlow, made and published in Paris a new, correct, and ele 
 gant translation, of J^\iiich the present edition is a faithful and cor 
 reet copy- 
 
PREFACE 
 
 OF THE EDITOR. 
 
 If books were to be judged of by their volume, the fol- 
 lowing would have but little value ; if appraised by iheir 
 contents, it will perhaps be reckoned among the most in- 
 structive. 
 
 In general, nothing is more important than a good ele- 
 mentary book ; but, also, nothing is more difficult to com- 
 pose, and even to read : and why ? Because, as every- 
 thing in it should be analysis and definition, all should be 
 expressed with truth and precision. If truth and precision 
 are wanting, the object has not been attained ; if they ex- 
 ist, its very force renders it abstract. 
 
 The first of these defects has been hitherto evident in 
 all books of morality ; we find in them only a chaos of in- 
 coherent maxims, precepts without causes, and actions 
 without a motive. The pedants of the human race have 
 treated it like a little child ; they have prescribed to it 
 good behavior by frightening it with spirits and hobgoblins. 
 Now that the growth of the human race is rapid, it is time 
 to speak reason to it ; it is time to prove to men that the 
 springs of their improvement are to be found in their very 
 organization, in the interest of their passions, and in a^' 
 
$ editor's preface. 
 
 that composes their existence. It is time to demonstrate 
 that morality is a physical and geometrical science, sub- 
 jected to the rules and calculations of the other mathemat- 
 ical sciences : and such is the advantage of the system 
 expounded in this book, that the basis of morality being 
 laid in it on the very nature of things, it is both constant 
 and immutable ; whereas, in all other theological systems, 
 morahty being built upon arbitrary opinions, not demonstra- 
 ble and often absurd, it changes, decays, expires with them, 
 and leaves men in an absolute depravation. It is true that, 
 because our system is founded on facts and not on reveries, 
 it will with much greater difficulty be extended and adopt- 
 ed ; but it will derive strength from this very struggle, and 
 sooner or later the eternal religion of Nature must overturn 
 the transient religions of the human mind. 
 
 This book was published for the first time in 1793, under 
 the title of " The French Citizen's Catechism." It was at 
 first intended for a national work ; but as it may be equally 
 well entitled the Catechism of men of sense and honor, it 
 is to be hoped that it will become a book common to all 
 Europe. It is possible that its brevity may prevent it from 
 attaining the object of a popular classical work ; but the 
 author will be satisfied if he has at least the merit of point- 
 ing out the way to make a better. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 The Life of Volney 9 
 
 Invocation 19 
 
 Chap. I. The Journey 21 
 
 II. Meditation 23 
 
 III. The Apparition 26 
 
 IV. The Exposition 30 
 
 V. Condition of Man in the Universe 35 
 
 VI. The Primitive State of Man 37 
 
 VII. Principles of Society 38 
 
 VIII. Source of the Evils of Societies 39 
 
 IX. Origin of Governments and Laws 41 
 
 X. General Causes of the Prosperity of Ancient States. 43 
 XI. General Causes of the Revolutions and Ruin of An- 
 cient States 46 
 
 XII. Lessons of Times Past repeated on the Present 54 
 
 XIII. Will the Human Race improve 65 
 
 XIV. The Great Obstacle to Improvement 71 
 
 XV. The New Age 74 
 
 XVI. A Free and Legislative People 78 
 
 XVII. Universal Basis of all Right and all Law 80 
 
 XVIII. Consternation and Conspiracy of Tyrants 82 
 
 XIX. General Assembly of the Nations 84 
 
 XX. The Search of Truth 87 
 
 XXL Problem of Religious Contradictions 96 
 
 XXII. Origin and Filiation of Religious Ideas 118 
 
 § I. Origin of the Idea of God : Worship of the Elements 
 
 and of the Physical Powers of Nature 122 
 
 §11. Second System. Worship of the Stars, or Sabeism. . 124 
 § III. Third System. Worship of Symbols, or Idolatry. . . . 128 
 § IV. Fourth System. Worship of two Principles, or Du- 
 alism 138 
 
g CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 § V. Moral and Mystical Worship, or System of a Future 
 
 State 143 
 
 § VI. Sixth System. The Animated World, or Worship of 
 
 the Universe under divers Emblems 148 
 
 § VII. Seventh System. Worship of the Soul of the World, 
 that is to say, the Element of Fire, Vital Princi- 
 ple of the Universe 151 
 
 § VIII. Eighth System. The World Machine : Worship of 
 
 the Demi-Ourgos, or Grand Artificer 153 
 
 § IX. Religion of Moses, or Worship of the Soul of the . 
 
 World (Youpiter) 157 
 
 § X. Religion of Zoroaster 160 
 
 § XI. Brahmism, or Indian System 160 
 
 § XII. Boudhism, or Mystical Systems 161 
 
 § XIII. Christianity, or the Allegorical Worship of the Sun, 
 under the cabalistic names of Chris-en or Christ, 
 
 and Yesus or Jesus 161 
 
 XXIII. The Object of all Religions Identical 170 
 
 XXIV. Solution of the Problem of Contradictions 180 
 
 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 C¥ap. I. The Law of Nature 185 
 
 II. Characters of the Law of Nature 187 
 
 III. Principles of the Law of Nature with relation to Man 191 
 
 IV. Basis of Morality : of Good, of Evil, of Sin, of Crime, 
 
 of Vice, and of Virtue 195 
 
 V, Of Individual Virtues 197 
 
 VI. On Temperance 199 
 
 VII. On Continence 201 
 
 ^III. On Courage and Activity 204 
 
 IX. On Cleanliness ,, 206 
 
 X. On Domestic Virtues 208 
 
 XI. Of the Social Virtues ; of Justice 211 
 
 XII. Development of the Social Virtues 214 
 
THE LIFE OF VOLNEY. 
 
 BY COUNT DARU. 
 
 CoNSTANTiNE Francis Chassebeuf de Volney was 
 born in 1757, at Craon, in that intermediate condition of life 
 which is of all the happiest, since it is disinherited only 
 of fortune's too dangerous favors, and can aspire at the 
 social and intellectual advantages reserved for a laudable 
 
 ambition. 
 
 From Kis earliest youth, he devoted himself to the searclv 
 after truth, without being disheartened by the serious stud- 
 ies which alone can initiate us into her secrets. After 
 having become acquainted with the ancient languages, the 
 natural sciences and history, and being admitted into the 
 society of the most eminent literary characters, he submit- 
 ted, at the age of twenty, to an illustrious academy, the 
 solution of one of the most difficult problems that the his- 
 tory of antiquity has left open to discussion. This attempt 
 received no encouragement from the learned men who were 
 appointed his judges ; the author's only appeal from their 
 sentence was to his courage and his efforts. 
 
 Soon after, a small inheritance having fallen to his lot, 
 the difficulty was how to spend it (these are his own words). 
 He resolved to employ it in acquiring, by a long voyage, a 
 new fund of information, and determined to visit Egypt and 
 Syria. But these countries could not be explored to ad- 
 vantage without a knowledge of the language. Our young 
 traveller was not to be discouraged by this difficulty. In 
 
19 THE LLF^ 
 
 Stead of learning Arabic in Europe, he withdrew to a con- 
 vent of Copts, until he had made himself master of an 
 idiom which is spoken by so many nations of the East. 
 This resolution already betrayed one of those undaunted 
 spirits that remain unshaken amid the trials of life. 
 
 Although, like other travellers, he might have amused us 
 with the account of his hardships, and the perils surmount- 
 ed by his courage, he overcame the temptation of inter- 
 rupting his narrative by personal adventures. He disdained 
 the beaten track ; he does not tell us the road he took, the 
 accidents he met with, or the impressions he received. He 
 carefully avoids appearing upon the stage ; he is an inhab- 
 itant of the country, who has long and well observed it, and 
 who describes its physical, political, and moral state. The 
 illusion would be entire, if an old Arab could be supposed 
 to possess all the erudition, all the European philosophy, 
 which are found united and in their maturity in a traveller 
 of twenty-five. 
 
 But though a master in all those artifices by which a 
 narration is rendered interesting, the young man is not to 
 be discerned in the pomp of labored descriptions ; although 
 possessed of a lively and brilliant imagination, he is never 
 found unwarily explaining by conjectured systems the phys- 
 ical or moral phenomena which he describes. In his ob- 
 servations he unites prudence with science ; with these 
 two guides, he judges with circumspection, and sometimes 
 confesses himself unable to account for the effects he has 
 made known to us. 
 
 Thus his account has all the qualities that persuade, ac- 
 curacy and candor ; and when, ten years later, a vast mili- 
 tary enterprise transported forty thousand travellers to the 
 classic ground, which he had trod unattended, unarmed, 
 and unprotected, they all recognised a sure guide and an 
 enlightened observer in the writer who seemed to have 
 preceded them only to remove or point out a part of the 
 difficulties of the way. 
 
OF VOLNEY. 11 
 
 The unanimous testimony of all parties proved the accu» 
 racy of his account, and the justness of his observation 
 and his Travels in Egypt and Syria were recommended by 
 universal suffrage to the gratitude and the confidence of the 
 
 public. 
 
 Before it had undergone this trial, the work had obtained 
 in the learned world such a rapid and general success, that 
 it found its way into Russia. The empress then upon the 
 throne (in 1787) sent the author a medal, which he re- 
 ceived with respect, as a mark of esteem for his talents, 
 and with gratitude, as a proof of the approbation given to 
 his principles. But when the empress declared against 
 France, Volney sent back the honorable present, saying — 
 If I obtained it from her esteem, I can only preserve her 
 esteem by returning it. 
 
 The revolution of 1789, which had drawn upon France 
 the menaces of Catharine, had opened to Yolney a politi- 
 cal career. As deputy in the assembly of the states-gen- 
 eral, the first words he uttered there were in favor of the 
 publicity of their deliberations. He also supported the or- 
 ganization of the national guards and that of the communes 
 and departments 
 
 At the period when the question of the sale of the do- 
 main lands was agitated (in 1790), he published an essay, 
 in which he lays down the following principles • " The 
 force of a state is in proportion to its population ; popula- 
 tion is in proportion to plenty ; plenty is in proportion to 
 tillage ; and tillage, to personal and immediate interest — 
 that is, to the spirit of property. Whence it follows, that 
 the nearer the cultivator approaches the passive condition 
 of a mercenary, the less industry and activity are to be ex- 
 pected from him ; and, on the other hand, the nearer he is 
 to the condition of a free and entire proprietor, the more 
 extension he gives to his own forces, to the produce of his 
 lands, and to the general prosperity of the state." 
 
 The author draws this conclusion, thai a state is so much 
 
12 THE LIFE 
 
 the more powerful as it includes a greater number of pro 
 prietors ; that is, a greater division of property. 
 
 Conducted into Corsica by that spirit of observation 
 which belongs only to men whose information is varied and 
 extensive, he perceived at the first glance all that could be 
 done for the improvement of agriculture in that country ; 
 but he knew that, for a people firmly attached to ancient 
 customs, there can exist no other demonstration or means 
 of persuasion than example. He purchased a considerable 
 estate, and made experiments on all the kinds of tillage 
 that he hoped to naturalize in that climate : the sugar-cane, ■ 
 cotton, indigo, and cofl^ee, soon demonstrated the success 
 of his eflx)rts. This success drew upon him the notice of 
 the government : he was appointed director of agriculture 
 and commerce in that island, where, through ignorance, all 
 new methods are introduced with such difiiculty. 
 
 It is impossible to calculate all the good that might have 
 resulted from this peaceable magistracy ; and we know 
 that neither instritction, zeal, nor a persevering courage, 
 was wanting to him who had undertaken it ; of this he 
 had given convincing proofs. It was in obedience to an- 
 other sentiment, no less respectable, that he voluntarily in- 
 terrupted the course of his labors. When his fellow-citi- 
 zens of Angers appointed him their deputy in the constituent 
 assembly, he resigned the employment he held under gov- 
 ernment, upon the principle that no man can represent the 
 nation and be dependant for a salary upon those by whom 
 it is administered. 
 
 Through respect for the independence of his legislative 
 functions, he had ceased to occupy the place he possessed 
 in Corsica before his election ; but he had not ceased to 
 be the benefactor of that country. He returned thither 
 after the session of the constituent assembly. Invited into 
 that island by the principal inhabitants, who were anxious 
 to put in practice his lessons, he spent there a part of the 
 years 1792 and 1793. 
 
OF VOLNEY. 13 
 
 On his return, "he published a work entitled " An account 
 of the present state of Corsica." This was an act of cour- 
 age ; for it was not a physical description, but a political 
 review of the condition of a population divided into several 
 factions, and distracted by violent animosities. Volney 
 unreservedly revealed the abuses, solicited the interest of 
 France in favor of the Corsicans, without flattering them, 
 and boldly denounced their defects and vices ; so that the 
 philosopher obtained the only recompense he could expect 
 from his sincerity. He was accused by the Corsicans of 
 heresy. 
 
 To prove that he had not merited this reproach, he soon 
 after published a short treatise, entitled " The law of na- 
 ture, or physical principles of morality." 
 
 He was soon exposed to a much more dangerous charge ; 
 and this, it must be confessed, he did merit. This philos- 
 opher, this worthy citizen, who, in our first national assem- 
 bly, had seconded with his wishes and his talents the 
 establishment of an order of things which he considered 
 favorable to the happiness of his country, was accused of 
 not being sincerely attached to that liberty for which he 
 had contended ; that is to say, of being averse to anarchy. 
 An imprisonment of ten months, which only ended after 
 the 9th Thermidor, ^as a new trial reserved for his cour- 
 age. 
 
 The moment at which he recovered his liberty was that 
 when the horror inspired by criminal excesses recalled 
 men to those noble sentiments which fortunately are one 
 of the first necessaries of civilized life. They sought for 
 consolations in study and literature, after so many crimes 
 and misfortunes, and organized a plan of public instruction. 
 
 It was, in the first place, necessary to ensure the apti- 
 tude of those to whom education should be confided ; but 
 as the systems were various, the best methods and a unity 
 of doctrine were to be determined. It was not enough to 
 interrogate the masters ; they were to be formed, new ones 
 
14 . THE LIFE 
 
 were to be created, and, for that purpose, a school was 
 opened in 1794, wherein the celebrity of the professors 
 promised new instruction even to the best informed. This 
 was not, as was objected, beginning the edifice by the roof, 
 but creating architects who were to superintend all the arts 
 requisite for the construction of the building. 
 
 The more difficult their functions were, the greater car© 
 ■was to be taken in the choice of the professors ; but France, 
 though then accused of being plunged in barbarism, pos- 
 sessed men of transcendent talents, already enjoying the 
 esteem of all Europe, and we may be bold to say, that, by 
 their labors, our literary glory had likewise extended its 
 conquests. Their names were proclaimed by the public 
 voice, and Yolney's was associated with those of the men 
 most illustrious in science and in literature.* 
 
 This institution, however, did not answer the expecta- 
 tions that had been formed of it, because the two thousand 
 students that assembled from all parts of France were not 
 equally prepared to receive these transcendent lessons, and 
 because it had not been sufficiently ascertained how far the 
 theory of education should be kept distinct from education 
 itself, 
 
 Volney's lectures on history, which were attended by an 
 immense concourse of auditors, became one of his chief 
 claims to literary glory. When forced to interrupt them, 
 by the suppression of the Normal school, he might have 
 reasonably expected to enjoy, in his retirement, that con- 
 sideration which his recent functions had added to his 
 name. But, disgusted with the scenes he had witnessed 
 in his native land, he felt that passion revive within him, 
 which, in his youth, had led him to visit Africa and Asia. 
 America, civilized within a century, and free only within a 
 few years, fixed his attention. There everything was new, 
 
 * Lagrange, Laplace, Berthollet, Garat, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, 
 Daubenton, Hauy, Volney, Sicard, Monge, Thouin, La Harpe, Buache, 
 Mentelle 
 
OF VOLNEY. 15 
 
 the inhabitants, the constitution, the earth itself. These 
 were objects worthy of his observation. When embark- 
 ing, however, for this voyage, he felt emotions very differ- 
 ent from those which formerly accompanied him into Tur- 
 key. Then in the prime of life, he joyfully bid adieu to a 
 land where peace and plenty reigned, to travel among bar- 
 barians ; now, mature in years, but dismayed at the spec- 
 tacle and experience of injustice and persecution, it was 
 with diffidence, as we learn from himself, that he went to 
 implore from a free people an asylum for a sincere friend 
 of that liberty that had been so profaned. 
 
 Our traveller had gone to seek for repose beyond the 
 seas ; he there found himself exposed to aggression from 
 a celebrated philosopher — Dr. Priestley. Although the sub- 
 ject of this discussion was confined to the investigation of 
 some speculative opinions published by the French writer 
 in his work entitled " The Ruins," the naturalist, in this 
 attack, employed a degree of violence which added nothing 
 to the force of his arguments, and an acrimony of expres- 
 sion not to be expected from a philosopher. M. Volney, 
 though accused of Hottentotism and ignorance, preserved, 
 in his defence, all the advantages that the scurrility of his 
 adversary gave over him. He replied in English, and 
 Priestley's countrymen could only recognise the French- 
 man in the refinement and politeness of his answer. 
 
 While M. Volney was travelling in America, there had 
 been formed in France a literary body, which, under the 
 name of Institute, had attained in a very few years a dis- 
 tinguished rank among the learned societies of Europe. 
 The name of the illustrious traveller was inscribed in it at 
 its formation, and he acquired new rights to the academical 
 honors conferred on him during his absence, by the publi- 
 cation of his observ^ations on the United Slates. 
 
 These rights were further augmented by the historical 
 and physiological labors of the Academician : an examina- 
 tion and justification of Herodotus's chronology, with nu 
 
16 THE LIFE 
 
 merous and profound researches on the history ot the most 
 ancient nations, occupied for a long time him who had ob- 
 served their monuments and traces in the countries they 
 inhabited. The trial he had made of the utility of the 
 oriental languages inspired him with an ardent desire to 
 propagate the knowledge of them, and to be propagated, he 
 felt how necessary it was to render it less difficult. In 
 this view, he conceived the project of applying to the study 
 of the idioms of Asia, a part of the grammatical notions we 
 possess concerning the languages of Europe. It only ap- 
 pertains to those conversant with their relations of dissi- 
 militude or conformity, to appreciate the possibility of re- 
 alizing this system ; but already the author has received 
 the most flattering encouragement, and the most unequivo- 
 cal suffrage, by the inscription of his name among the 
 members of the learned and illustrious society founded by 
 English commerce in the Indian peninsula. 
 
 M. Volney developed his system in three works,* which 
 prove that this idea of uniting nations separated by immense 
 distances and such various idioms, had never ceased to 
 occupy him for twenty-five years. Lest those essays, of 
 the utility of which he was persuaded, should be interrupted 
 by his death, with the clay-cold hand that corrected his 
 last work, he drew up a will which institutes a premium 
 for the prosecution of his labors. Thus he prolonged, be- 
 yond the term of a life entirely devoted to letters, the glo- 
 rious services he had rendered them. 
 
 This is not the place, nor does it belong to me, to appre- 
 ciate the merit of the writings which render Volney's name 
 illustrious •• his name had been inscribed in the list of the 
 senate, and afterward of the house of peers. The philos- 
 opher who had travelled in the four quarters of the world, 
 and observed their social state, had other titles to his ad- 
 
 •"On the Simplification of the Oriental Languages, 1795.''— "The 
 European Alphabet ajjplied to the Languages of Asia, 1819."— <' Hebrew 
 Simplified, 1820." 
 
OF VOLNEY. 17 
 
 mission into this body, than his literary glory. His public 
 life, his conduct in the constituent assembly, his independ- 
 ent principles, the nobleness of his sentiments, the wisdom 
 and fixity of his opinions, had gained him the esteem of 
 those who can be depended upon, and with whom it is so 
 agreeable to discuss political interests. 
 
 Although no man had a better right to have an opinion, 
 no one was more tolerant for the opinions of others. In 
 state assemblies, as well as in academical meetings, the 
 man whose counsels were so wise voted according to his 
 conscience, which nothing could bias ; but the philosopher 
 forgot his superiority, to hear, to oppose with moderation, 
 and to doubt sometimes. The extent and variety of his 
 information, the force of his reason, the austerity of his 
 manners, and the noble simplicity of his character, had 
 procured him illustrious friends in both hemispheres ; and 
 now that this vast erudition is extinct in the tomb,* we may 
 be allowed at least to predict that he was one of the very 
 tew whose memory shall never die.- , 
 
 • He died in Paris, en the 20th of April, 1820. 
 
 ^-f—^-u — ^-^-^.^^^,^^^_^ 
 
 J^ 'O,^^ ^w4^ ^^w^, ^ , I 
 
 -^^■^^1^^'^s^ -^0^1^ 
 
 
 
 ^i-v^-'^,^ ^a^^/i. 
 
18 WORKS OF VOLNEY. 
 
 A. LIST OF THE WORKS PUBLISHED BY COUNT 
 
 VOLNEY. 
 
 Travels in Egypt and Syria during the years 1783, 1784, and 
 
 1785 : 2 vols. 8vo.— 1787. 
 Chronology of the Twelve Centuries that preceded the en 
 
 trance of Xerxes into Greece. 
 Considerations on the Turkish War, in 1788. 
 The Ruins, or Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires — 1791. 
 Account of the Present State of Corsica — 1793. 
 The luAVf of Nature, or Physical Principles of Morality — 1793 
 On the Simplification of Oriental Languages — 1795. 
 A Letter to Dr. Priestley — 1797. 
 
 Lectures on History, delivered at the Normal School in the year 
 3—1800. 
 
 On the Climate and Soil of the United States of America, 
 to which is added an account of Florida, of the French colony of 
 Scioto, of some Canadian Colonies, and of the Savages — 1803. 
 
 Report made to the Celtic Academy on the Russian Work of 
 Professor Pallas, entitled " A Comparative Vocabulary of all 
 the Languages in the World." 
 
 The Chronology of Herodotus conformable with his Text — 1808 
 and 1809. 
 
 New Researches on Ancient History, 3 volq. 8vo. — 1814. 
 The European Alphabet Applied to the Languages of Asia— 1819. 
 A History of Samuel — 1819. 
 Hebrew Simplified — 1820. 
 
INVOCATION. 
 
 Hail, solitary ruins, holy sepulchres, and silent walls ! 
 you I invoke ; to you I address my prayer. While your 
 aspect averts, with secret terror, the vulgar regard, it ex- 
 cites in my heart the charm of delicious sentiments — sub- 
 lime contemplations. What useful lessons, what affecting 
 and profound reflections, you suggest to him who knows 
 how to consult you ! When the whole earth, in chains and 
 silence, bowed the neck before its tyrants, you had already 
 proclaimed the truths which they abhor, and confounding 
 the dust of the king with that of the meanest slave, had an- 
 nounced to man the sacred dogma of Equality. Within 
 your pale, in solitary adoration of Liberty, I saw her 
 Genius arise from the mansions of the dead : not such as 
 she is painted by the impassioned multitude, armed with 
 fire and sword, but under the august aspect of Justice, 
 poising in her hand the sacred balance wherein are weighed 
 the actions of men at the gates of eternity ! 
 
 O Tombs ! what virtues are yours ! You appal the ty- 
 rant's heart, and poison with secret alarm his impious joys ; 
 he flies, with coward step, your incorruptible aspect, and 
 erects afar his throne of insolence. You punish the pow- 
 erful oppressor ; you wrest from avarice and extortion their 
 ill-gotten gold, and you avenge the feeble whom they have 
 despoiled ; you compensate the miseries of the poor by the 
 anxieties of the rich ; you console the wretched, by open- 
 ing to him a last asylum from distress ; and you give to tba 
 
20 INVOCATION. 
 
 soul that just equipoise of strength and sensibility whiJi 
 constitutes wisdom — the true science of life. Aware that 
 all must return to you, the wise man loadeth not himself 
 with the burdens of grandeur and of useless wealth : he 
 restrains his desires within the limits of justice ; yet, 
 knowing that he must run his destined course of life, he 
 fills with employment all its hours, and enjoys the comforts 
 that fortune has allotted him. You thus impose on the im- 
 petuous sallies of cupidity a salutary rein ! you calm the 
 feverish ardor of enjoyments which disturb the senses ; you 
 free the soul from the fatiguing conflict of the passions ; 
 elevate it above the paltry interests which torment the 
 crowd ; and surveying, from your commanding position, the 
 expanse of ages and nations, the mind is only accessible 
 to the great affection — to the solid ideas of virtue and of 
 glory. Ah ! when the dream of life is over, what will 
 then avail all its agitations, if not one trace of utility re- 
 mains behind ? 
 
 O Ruins ! to your school I will return ! I will seek 
 again the calm of your solitudes ; and there, far from the 
 afflicting spectacle of the passions, I will cherish in re- 
 membrance the love of man, I will employ myself on the 
 means of effecting good for him, and build my own happi- 
 ness on the promotion of his. 
 
THE RUINS, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE JOURNEY. 
 
 In the eleventh year of the reign of Abd-ul-Hamid, son of 
 Ahmed, emperor of the Turks — when the victorious Russiani 
 seized on the Krimea, and planted their standards on the shore 
 that leads to Constantinople — 
 
 I was trayelling in the empire of the Ottomans, and through 
 those provinces which were anciently the kingdoms of Egypt 
 and Syria. 
 
 My whole attention bent on whatever concerns the happiness 
 of man in a social state, I visited cities and studied the manners 
 of their inhabitants ; entered palaces, and observed the conduct 
 of those who govern; wandered over the fields, and examined 
 the condition of those who cultivate them ; and nowhere per- 
 ceiving aught but robbery and devastation, tyranny and wretch- 
 edness, my heart was oppressed with sorrow and indignation. 
 
 I saw daily on my road fields abandoned, villages deserted, 
 
 and cities in ruin. Often I met with ancient monuments, wrecks 
 
 of temples, palaces, and fortresses; columns, aqueducts, and 
 
 ombs : and this spectacle led me to meditate on times past, and 
 
 filled my mind with serious and profound contemplations. 
 
 Arrived at Hems, on the banks of the Orontes, and being at 
 no great distance from Palmyra of the desert, I resolved to see 
 its celebrated monuments. After three days travelling through 
 an arid wilderness, having traversed the valley of caves and sep- 
 ulchres, on issuing into the plain, I was suddenly struck with a 
 ■cene of the most stupendous ruins — a countless multitude of 
 
22 THE RUINS. 
 
 superb columns, stretching in avenues beyond the reach of sight. 
 Among them were magnificent edifices, some entire, others in 
 ruins. The ground was covered on all sides with fragments of 
 cornices, capitals, shafts, entablatures, pilasters, all of white 
 marble, and of the most exquisite workmanship. After a walk 
 of three quarters of an hour along these ruins, I entered the 
 enclosure of a vast edifice, formerly a temple dedicated to the 
 sun, and accepting the hospitality of some poor Arabian peas- 
 ants, who had built their huts on the area of the temple, I re- 
 solved to stay some days to contemplate, at leisure, the beauty 
 of so many stupendous works. 
 
 Every day I visited some of the monuments which covered 
 the plain ; and one evening, absorbed in reflection, 1 had ad- 
 vanced to the valley of sepulchres. I ascended the heights 
 which surround it, and whence the eye commands the wliole 
 group of ruins, and the immensity of the desert. The sun had 
 just sunk below the horizon ; a red border of light still marked 
 his track behind the distant mountains of Syria ; the full-moon 
 was rising in the east on a blue ground over the plains of the 
 Euphrates ; the sky was clear, the air calm and serene ; the 
 dying lamp of day still softened the horrors of approaching 
 darkness ; the refreshing breeze of night attempered the sultry 
 emanations from the heated earth ; the herdsmen had led the 
 camels to their stalls ; the eye perceived no motion on the dusky 
 and uniform plain ; profound silence rested on the desert ; the 
 bowlings only of the jackal,* and the solemn notes of the bird 
 of night, were heard at distant intervals. Darkness now in- 
 creased, and already, through the dusk, I could distinguish 
 nothing more than the pale fantasies of columns and walls. 
 The solitude of the place, the tranquillity of the hour, the maj- 
 esty of the scene, impressed on my mind a religious pensive- 
 ness. The aspect of a great city deserted, the memory of times 
 past, compared w^ith its present state, all elevated my mind to 
 high contemplations. I sat on the shaft of a column ; and 
 there, my elbow reposing on my knee, and head reclining on 
 my hand, my eyes fixed, sometimes on the desert, sometimei 
 on the ruins, I fell into a profound revery. 
 
 * A kind of fox that roves only during the night. 
 
THE RUINS. 23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MEDITATION. 
 
 Here, said I, here once flourished an opulent city; here was 
 the seat of a j>owerful empire. Yes ! these places, now so 
 desert, were once animated by a living multitude — a busy crowd 
 circulated in these streets now so solitaiy. Within these walls, 
 where a mournful silence reigns, the noise of the arts and shouts 
 of joy and festivity incessantly resounded ; these piles of marble 
 were regular palaces ; these prostrate pillars adorned the maj- 
 esty of temples ; these ruined galleries surrounded public places. 
 Here a numerous people assembled for the sacred duties of re- 
 ligion, or the anxious cares of their subsistence ; here industry, 
 parent of enjoyments, collected the riches of all climates, and 
 the purple of Tyre was exchanged for the precious thread of 
 Serica ;* the soft tissues of Kachemiref for the sumptuous tapes- 
 try of Lydia; the amber of the Baltic for the pearls and per- 
 fumes of Arabia ; the gold of Ophir for the*tin of Thule. 
 
 And now a mournful skeleton is all that subsists of this pow- 
 erful city I naught remains of its vast domination, but a doubt- 
 ful and empty remembrance ! To the tumultuous throng which 
 crowded under these porticoes, has succeeded the solitude of 
 death. The silence of the tomb is substituted for the bustle of 
 public places. The opulence of a commercial city is changed 
 into hideous poverty. The palaces of kings are become a den 
 of wild beasts ; flocks fold on the area of the temple, and un- 
 clean reptiles inhabit the sanctuary of the gods ! Ah ! how 
 has so much glory been eclipsed ? How have so many labors 
 been annihilated ? Thus perish the works of men, and thus do 
 empires and nations disappear ! 
 
 And the history of former times revived in my mind. I rec- 
 
 • That is, the silk originally derived from the mountainous country 
 where the great wall terminates, and which appears to have been the 
 cradle of the Chinese empire, known to the Latins under the name of 
 Regio Serarum — Serica. 
 
 t The shawls which Ezekiel seems to have described, five centuriea 
 before our era, under the appellation of Choud-choud. 
 
24 THE RUINS. 
 
 ollected those distant ages when many illustrious nations inhab- 
 ited these countries. I figured to myself the Assyrian on the 
 banks of the Tigris, the Kaldean on those of the Euphrates, 
 the Persian reigning from the Indus to the iMediterranean. I 
 enumerated the kingdoms of Damascus and Idumea, of Jeru- 
 salem and Samaria, the warlike states of the Philistines, and the 
 commercial republics of Phoenicia. This Syria, said I, now so 
 depopulated, then contained a hundred flourishing cities, and 
 abounded with towns, villages, and hamlets.* Everywhere 
 were seen cultivated fields, frequented roads, and crowded hab- 
 itations. Ah ! what are become of those ages of abundance 
 and of life ? How have so many brilliant creations of human 
 industiy vanished ? Where are those ramparts of Nineveh, 
 those walls of Babylon, those palaces of Persepolis, those tem- 
 ples of Balbeck and of Jerusalem ? Where are those fleets of 
 Tyre, those dock-yards of Arad, those workshops of Sidon, and 
 that multitude of sailors, of pilots, of merchants, and of sol- 
 diers ? Where those husbandmen, those harvests, those flocks, 
 and all the creation of living beings in which the face of the 
 earth rejoiced ? Alas ! I have passed over this desolate land ! 
 I have visited the places once the theatre of so much splendor, 
 and I beheld nothing but solitude and desolation. I sought the 
 ancient inhabitants and their works, and could only find a faint 
 trace, like that of the foot of a traveller over the sand. The 
 temples are fallen, the palaces overthrown, the ports filled up, 
 the cities destroyed, and the earth, stripped of inhabitants, 
 seems a dreary burying-place. Great God ! whence proceed 
 such fatal revolutions ? What causes have so altered the for- 
 tunes of these countries ? Why are so many cities destroyed? 
 Why has not this ancient population been reproduced and per- 
 petuated ? 
 
 Thus absorbed in contemplation, a crowd of new reflections 
 continually poured in upon my mind. Everything, continued 
 I, confounds my reason, and fills my heart with trouble and un- 
 certainty. When these countries enjoyed what constitutes the 
 glory and happiness of man, they were inhabited by an infidel 
 people : it was the Phoenician, that homicide sacrificer to Mo- 
 
 • According to the calculations of Josephus and Strabo, Syria must 
 have contained ten millions of inhabitants. There are not two at the 
 present day. 
 
THE RUINS. 25 
 
 loch, who gathered into his stores the riches of all climates; it 
 was the Kaldean, prostrate before a serpent,* who subjn gated 
 opulent cities, and despoiled the palaces of kings and the tem- 
 ples of the gods ; it was the Persian, adorer of fire, who received 
 the tribute of a hundred nations ; it was the inhabitant of this 
 very city, worshipper of the sun and stars, who erected so many 
 monuments of prosperity and luxury. Numerous flocks, fer- 
 tile fields, abundant harvests, whatsoever should be the reward 
 of piety, was in the hands of these idolaters : and now, when a 
 people of saints and believers occupy these fields, all is become 
 sterility and solitude. The earth, under these holy hands, pro- 
 duces only thorns and briers. Man sows in anguish, and reaps 
 only vexation and tears ; war, famine, pestilence, assail him in 
 turn. Yet, are not these the children of the prophets ? — the 
 Mussulman, Christian, Jew — are they not the elect children of 
 God, loaded with favors and miracles ? Why, then, do these 
 privileged races no longer enjoy the same advantages ? Why 
 are these fields, sanctified by the blood of martyrs, deprived of 
 their ancient benefits ? Why have those blessings been ban- 
 ished hence, and transferred for so many ages to other nations 
 and different climes ? 
 
 At these words, revolving in my mind the course of vicissi- 
 tudes which have transmitted the sceptre of the world succes- 
 sively to people so different in religion and manners, from those 
 of ancient Asia to the most recent of Europe, this name of a 
 natal land revived in me the sentiment of my country : and 
 turning my eyes toward her, I began to reflect on the situation 
 in which I left her.f 
 
 I called to mind her fields so richly cultivated, her roads so 
 sumptuously constructed, her cities inhabited by a countless 
 people, her fleets spread over every sea, her ports filled with the 
 produce of either India ; and comparing with the activity of her 
 commerce, the extent of her navigation, the magnificence of 
 her monuments, tlie arts and industry of her inhabitants, what 
 Egypt and Syria had once possessed, I was gratified to find in 
 modern Europe the departed splendor of Asia : but the charm 
 of my revery was soon dissolved by a last term of comparison. 
 Reflecting that such had once been the activity of the places I 
 
 ♦ The dragon Bel. 
 
 t In 17S2, at the close of the American war. 
 3 
 
26 THE RUINS. 
 
 was then contemplating — Who knows, said I, but such may 
 one day be the abandonment of our countries ? Wlio knows 
 if, on the banks of the Seine, the Thames, or the Zuyder-Zee, 
 where now, in the tumult of so many enjoyments, the heart and 
 the eye suffice not for the multitude of sensations — who knows 
 if some traveller, like myself, shall not one day sit on their si- 
 lent ruins, and weep in solitude over the ashes of their inhabit- 
 ants and the memory of their greatness ? 
 
 At these words, my eyes filled with tears ; and, covering my 
 head with the fold of my garment, 1 sunk into gloomy medita- 
 tions on human affairs. Ah ! hapless man, said I, in my grief, 
 a blind fatality sports with thy destiny ! A fatal necessity rules 
 with the hand of chance the lot of mortals ! But no : it is the 
 justice of Heaven fulfilling its decrees ! A mysterious God 
 exercising his incomprehensible judgments {^Doubtless he has 
 pronounced a secret anathema against this land — blasting with 
 maledictions the present for the sins of the past generations. 
 Oh ! who shall dare to fathom the depths of the Divinity ?* 
 
 And T remained motionless, plunged in profound melancholy. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE APPARITION. 
 
 Meanwhile a noise struck my ear — like to the agitation ol a 
 flowing robe, or of slow footsteps on dry and rustling grass. 
 Startled, I opened my mantle, and casting around a timid glance, 
 suddenly on my left, by the glimmering light of the moon 
 through the columns and ruins of a neighboring temple, I 
 thought I saw a pale aj)parition, clothed in large and flowing 
 robes, as spectres are represented rising from their Tombs. I 
 shuddered : and while agitated and hesitating whether to fly or 
 to ascertain the object, a deep voice, in sulenm accents, pro- 
 nounced these words : — 
 
 * Fatality is the universal and rooted prejudice of the East : It was 
 written, is there the answer to everything : hence result an unconcern 
 and apathy the most powerful inipediineuts to instruction and civilization. 
 
 /3^ 
 
THE RUINS. 27 
 
 ** How long will man importune Heaven with unjust com- 
 plaint ? How long, with vain clamors, will he accuse Fate as 
 the author of his calamities ? Will he, then, never open his 
 eyes to the light, and his heart to the insinuations of truth and 
 reason ? The light of truth meets him everywhere ; yet he 
 sees it not ! The voice of reason strikes his ear, and he hears 
 it not ! Unjust man ! if for a moment you can suspend the de- 
 lusion which fascinates your senses — if your heart can compre- 
 hend the language of reason, interrogate these ruins ! Read 
 the lessons which they present to you ! — And you, witnesses 
 of twenty different centuries, holy temples ! venerable tombs ! 
 walls once so glorious ! — appear in the cause of nature herself! 
 Approach the tribunal of sound reason, and bear testimony 
 against unjust accusations ! Come and confound the declama- 
 tions of a false wisdom or hypocritical piety, and avenge the 
 heavens and the earth of man who calumniates them ! 
 
 " What is that blind fatality, which, without order and with- 
 out law, sports with the destiny of mortals ? What is that un- 
 just necessity, which confounds the effect of actions, whether 
 of wisdom or of folly ? In what consist those anathemas of 
 Heaven over this land ? Where is that divine malediction which 
 perpetuates the abandonment of these fields ? Say, monuments 
 of past ages ! have the heavens changed their laws, and the 
 earth its motion ? Are the fires of the sun extinct in the regions 
 of space ? Do the seas no longer emit their vapors ? Are the 
 rains and the dews suspended in the air? Do the mountains 
 withhold their springs ? Are the streams dried up ? and do the 
 plants no longer bear fruit and seed ? Answer, generation of 
 falsehood and iniquity ! Has God deranged the primitive and 
 settled order of things which he himself assigned to nature? 
 Has heaven denied to earth, and earth to its inhabitants, the 
 blessings which once they proffered ? If nothing has changed 
 in the creation — if the same means exist now which existed be- 
 fore, why, then, are not the present what former generations 
 were ? Ah ! it is falsely that you accuse fate and Heaven ! It 
 is injuriously that you refer to God the cause of your evils ! 
 Say, perverse and hypocritical race ! if these places are deso- 
 late—if powerful cities are reduced to solitude — is it God who 
 has caused their ruin ? Is it his hand which has overthrown 
 these walls, destroyed these temples, mutilated these columns 
 
28 THE RUINS. 
 
 or is it the hand of man ? Is it the arm of God which has car- 
 ried the sword into your cities, and fire into your fields, which 
 has slau.ij;htered the people, burned the harvests, rooted up trees, 
 and ravaged the pastures, or is it the hand of man ? And when, 
 after the destruction of crops, famine has ensued, is it the ven- 
 geance of God which has produced it, or the mad fury of mor- 
 tals ? When, sinking under famine, the people have fed on 
 impure aliments, if pestilence ensues, is it the wrath of God 
 which sends it, or the folly of man ? When war, famine, and 
 pestilence, have swept away the inhabitants — if the earth re- 
 mains a desert, is it God who has depopulated it ? Is it his 
 rapacity which robs the husbandman, ravages the fruitful fields, 
 and wastes the earth, or is it the rapacity of those who govern ? 
 Is it his pride which excites murderous wars, or the pride of 
 kings and their ministers ? Is it the venality of his decisions 
 which overthrows the fortunes of families, or the corruption of 
 the organs of the law ? Are they his passions which, under a 
 thousand forms, torment individuals and nations, or are they the 
 passions of man ? And if, in the anguish of their miseries, they 
 see not the remedies, is it the ignorance of God which is to 
 blame, or their ignorance ? Cease, then, mortals, to accuse the 
 decrees of Fate, or the judgments of the Divinity ! If God 
 is good, will he be the author of your misery ? If he is just, 
 will he be the accomplice of your crimes ? No ! the caprice 
 of which man complains is not the caprice of destiny ; the dark- 
 ness that misleads his reason is not the darkness of God ; the 
 source of his calamities is not in the distant heavens : it is 
 beside hini on the earth ; it is not concealed in the bosom of 
 the divinity ; it resides in man himself; he bears it in his own 
 heart. 
 
 *' You murmur and say. How have an infidel people enjoyed 
 the blessings of Heaven and earth ? Why is a holy and chosen 
 race less fortunate than impious generations ? Deluded man ! 
 where, then, is the contradiction which oHends you ? Where 
 is the inconsistency which you impute to the justice of Heav- 
 en ? Take into your own hands the balance of rewards and 
 punishments — of causes and effects. Say, when those infidels 
 observed the laws of the heavens and of the earth — when they 
 regulated their intelligent labors by the order of the seasons and 
 course of the stars, ought God to have troubled the equilibrium 
 
THE RUINS. og 
 
 of the universe to defeat their prudence ? When their hands 
 cultivated these fields with toil and care, should he have di- 
 verted the course of the rains, suspended the fertilizing dews, 
 and caused thorns to spring up ? When, to render these arid 
 fields productive, their industry constructed aqueducts, dug ca- 
 nals, and led the distant waters across the desert, should he 
 have dried up their sources in the mountains ? Should he have 
 blasted the harvests which art had created, wasted the plains 
 which peace had peopled, overthrown cities which labor had 
 caused to flourish, disturbed, in fine, the order established by 
 the wisdom of man ? And what is that infidelity, which found- 
 ed empires by prudence, defended them by valor, and strength- 
 ened them by justice ; which erected powerful cities, formed 
 capacious ports, drained pestilential marshes, covered the sea 
 with ships, the earth Avith inhabitants, and, like the creative 
 spirit, diffused life and motion through the world ? If such be 
 infidelity, what, then, is the true faith ? Does sanctity consist 
 in destruction ? The God who peoples the air with birds, the 
 earth with animals, the waters with fishes — the God who ani- 
 mates all nature ; is he, then, a God of ruins and tombs ? Does 
 he ask devastation for homage, and conflagration for sacrifice ? 
 Requires he groans for hymns, murderers for votaries, a rav 
 aged and desert earth for his temple ? Yet such, holy and be- 
 lieving people, are your works ! These are the fruits of your 
 piety ! You have massacred the people, burnt their cities, de- 
 stroyed cultivation, reduced the earth to a solitude : and you 
 ask the reward of your works ! Miracles, then, must be per- 
 formed, the laborers whom you cut off must be recalled to life, 
 the walls re-edified which you have overthrown, the harvests 
 reproduced which you have destroyed, the waters gathered to- 
 gether which you have dispersed— the 'laws, in fine, of Heaven 
 and earth reversed : those laws established by God himself, in 
 demonstration of his magnificence and wisdom ; those eternal 
 laws anterior to all codes, to all the prophets ; those immutable 
 laws, which neither the passions nor the ignorance of man can 
 pervert : but that passion which mistakes, that ignorance which 
 observes not causes, and predicts no effect, has said, in the folly 
 of her heart—' Everything comes from chance ; a blind fatality 
 dispenses good and evil on the earth, so that prudence and wis- 
 dom can not guard against it/ Or else, assuming the language 
 
 3* 
 
30 THE RUINS. 
 
 of liypocrisy, she has said— ' A.l thiiiJLiis are from God ; he takes 
 pleasure in deceiving wisdom and confounding reason; . . . .* 
 and ignorance, applauding herself in her malice, has said — 
 *Thus I shall not be inferior to that science which I detest; I 
 will render useless that prudence which fatigues and torments 
 me;' and cupidity has added — '1 will oppress the weak and 
 devour the fruits of his labors ; and I will say. It is God who 
 decreed and Fate who ordained it so.' — But 1 1 I swear by the 
 laws of heaven and earth, and by the law which is written in 
 the heart of man, the hypocrite shall be deceived in his guile — 
 the oppressor in his rapacity : the sun shall change his course, 
 before folly shall prevail over wisdom and knowledge, or stupid- 
 ity surpass prudence in the delicate and sublime art of procu- 
 ring to man his true enjoyments, and of building his happiness 
 OQ a solid foundation !" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EXPOSITION. 
 
 Thus spoke the Phantom. Astonished at his discourse, and 
 my heart agitated with different reflections, I was for some time 
 silent. At length, taking courage, I thus addressed him : — 
 ♦'O Genius of tombs and ruins ! your presence, your severity, 
 have disordered my senses ; but the justness of your reasoning 
 restores confidence to my soul. Pardon my ignorance. Alas I 
 if man is blind, can that which constitutes his torment be also 
 his crime ? I may have mistaken the voice of reason ; but 
 never knowingly have I rejected her authority. Ah ! if you 
 read in my heart, you know with what sincerity, with what en- 
 thusiasm, it seeks truth. And is it not in pursuit of her that 
 you see me in this sequestereji spot ? Alas ! I have wandered 
 over the earth — I have visited cities and countries; and seeing 
 everywhere misery and desolation, a sense of the evils which 
 oppress my fellow-men have deeply afflicted my soul. I have 
 said with a sigh. Is man. then, born but for sorrow and anguish 1 
 
THE RUINS. ?\ 
 
 A.nd I have meditated upon human miseries, that I mighf find 
 out their remedy. I have said, I will separate myself from cor- 
 rupt societies ; I will retire far from palaces where the mind is 
 depraved by satiety, and from the hovel where it is debased by 
 misery. I will go into the desert and dwell among ruins ; I 
 will interrogate ancient monuments on the wisdom of past 
 times; I will invoke from the bosom of the tombs the spirit 
 which once in Asia gave splendor to states, and glory to na- 
 tions. I will ask of the ashes of legislators, by what secret 
 causes do empires rise and fall ; from what sources spring 
 the prosperity and misfortunes of nations ; on what princi- 
 ples can the peace of society and the happiness of man be 
 established." 
 
 I ceased, and awaited in submissive silence the reply of the 
 Genius. "Peace and happiness," said he, "attend on him who 
 practises justice ! Young man ! since your heart searches after 
 truth with sincerity, since you can still recognise her through 
 the mist of prejudice, your prayer shall not be vain ; I will un- 
 fold to your view that truth you invoke ; I will teach your rea- 
 son that wisdom you are in search of; I will reveal to you the 
 wisdom of the tombs and the science of ages-" Then approach- 
 ing, and laying his hand on my head, "Rise, mortal," said he, 
 •' and extricate thy senses from the dust in which thou movest." 
 Suddenly a celestial flame seemed to dissolve the bands which 
 fix us to the earth, and, like a light vapor, borne up on the wings 
 of the Genius, I felt myself wafted to the regions above. Thence, 
 from the aerial heights, looking down on the earth, I beheld a 
 scene entirely new. Under my feet, floating in the void, a globe, 
 like that of the moon, but smaller and less luminous, presented 
 to me one of its phases ; and that phase had the aspect of a 
 disk, variegated with large spots, some white and nebulous, 
 others brown, green, or gray ; and while I strained my sight to 
 distinguish what were these spots, " Disciple of Truth," said 
 the Genius, "do you know that object?" 
 
 "O Genius!" answered I, "if I did not see the moon in 
 another quarter of the heavens, I should have supposed that 
 to be her globe ; it has the appearance of that planet, seen 
 through the telescope during the obscuration of an echpse ; 
 these variegated spots might be mistaken for seas and conti- 
 nents." 
 
32 THE RUINS. 
 
 "They are seas and continents," said he, " and those of the 
 very hemisphere you inhabit.'* 
 
 " What !" said I, " is that the earth, the habitation of man?" 
 
 " Yes," rephed he; "that dusky space, which occupies irreg- 
 ularly a great portion of the disk, and envelops it almost on ev- 
 ery side, is v^^hat you call the great ocean, which, advancing 
 from the south pole toward the equator, forms first the great 
 gulf of India and Africa, then extends eastward across the 
 Malay islands to the confines of Tartary, while toward the west 
 it encircles the continents of Africa and Europe, even to the 
 north of Asia. 
 
 " That square peninsula under our feet is the arid country of 
 the Arabs; the great continent on its left, almost as naked in its 
 interior, with a little verdure only toward its borders, is the 
 parched soil inhabited by the black men.* To the north, be- 
 yond a long, narrow, and irregular sea,f are the countries of 
 Europe, rich in meadows and cultivated fields ; on its right, 
 from the Caspian, extend the snowy and naked plains of Tar- 
 tary. Returning again this way, that white space is the vast 
 and dreary desert of Gobi, which separates China from the rest 
 of the world. You see that empire in the furrowed plain, which 
 Beems by a sudden obliquity to escape from the view. On yon- 
 der coasts, those narrow necks of land and scattered points are 
 the peninsulas and islands of the Malays, the wretched posses- 
 sors of the spices and perfumes. That triangle, which advan- 
 ces so far into the sea, is the too-famous peninsula of India. :[ 
 You see the winding course of the Ganges, the rough moun- 
 tains of Tibet, the lovely valley of Kachemire, the briny deserts 
 of Persia, the banks of the Euphrates and Tygris, the deep bed 
 of the Jordan, and the canals of the solitary Nile — " 
 
 " O Genius!" said I, interrupting him, "the sight of a mortal 
 reaches not to objects at such a distance." Immediately he 
 touched my eyes, and they became piercing as those of an 
 
 * Africa. t The Mediterranean. 
 
 X What real advantage does the commerce of India,, composed entirely 
 of articles of hixury, procure to the mass of a nation? What are its ef- 
 fects, unless to export, by a marine expense in men, objects of necessity 
 and utility, and to import useless commodities, which only serve to mark 
 more strongly the difference betv/een the rich and poor ; and what a mass 
 of superstition has not India added to the general superstition. 
 
THE RUINS. 33 
 
 eagle; nevertheless the rivers still appeared like waving lines, 
 the mountains winding furrows, and the cities little compart- 
 ments, like the squares of a chessboard. 
 
 And the Genius, proceeding to point out the objects to me : 
 ♦♦ Those pilee," said he, " which you see in that narrow valley, 
 watered by the Nile, are the skeletons of opulent cities, the pride 
 of the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia : behold Thebes, with her 
 hundred palaces,* that first metropolis of the arts and sciences, 
 the mysterious cradle of so many opinions which still govern 
 man without his knowledge. Lower down, those quadrangular 
 blocks are the pyramids, whose masses have astonished you ; 
 farther on, the const, hemmed in between the sea and a narrow 
 ridge of mountains, was the habitation of the Phoenicians ; there 
 stood the powerful cities of Tyre, of Sidon, of Ascalon, of 
 Gaza, and of Berytus. This stream of water without an issue 
 is the river Jordan, and those naked rocks were once the theatre 
 of events which have resounded through the world. Behold 
 that desert of Horeb, and that Mount Sinai, where, by means 
 
 • The French expedition to Egypt has proved that Thebes, divided into 
 four or five cities, on both banks of the Nile, could not have the hundred 
 gates mentioned in Homer. (See the second volume of the Commission 
 of Egypt.) The historian Diodorus Siculus had already shown the cause 
 of the error, by observing that the oriental word gate signified also a 
 palace (on account of the pubhc vestibule always at its entrance) ; and 
 this author seems to have understood the cause of the Greek tradition, 
 when he adds: " From Thebes to Memphis, there were along the river 
 a hundred royal stables, the ruhis of which are still to be seen, and which 
 contained each two hundred horses (for the service of the monarch) :" 
 all these are exactly the same numbers as Homer's. (See Diodorus Sicu- 
 lus, book i., sec. 11, ^ of the first kings of Egypt.) The name of Ethi- 
 opians, here applied to the Thebans, is justified by the example of Ho- 
 mer, and by the really black color of that people. The expressions of 
 Herodotus, when he says that the Egyptians had a black skin and woolly 
 hair, coinciding with the head of the sphinx of the pyramids, necessarily 
 induced the author of Travels in Syria to believe that this ancient people 
 was of negro race ; but all the mummies and engraved heads discovered 
 by the French expedition contradict this idea ; and the traveller, yielding 
 to evidence, has abandoned his opinion, with several others consigned in 
 a chronological memoir, composed at the age of twenty-two, and which 
 was erroneously inserted in the Encyclopedia in 4to, 3d vol. of Antiqui 
 ties. Experience and study have enabled him to correct many errors, in 
 a late work published at Paris, in 1 SI 4 and 1815, entitled New Researches 
 on Ancient History, (See the 3d vol., concerning the Egyptians.) 
 
J4 THE RUINS. 
 
 unknown to the vulgar, a profound and adventurous leader cre« 
 ated institutions whose influence extended to the whole human 
 race. On that barren shore, which borders it, you see no lon- 
 ger any trace of splendor, yet there was an eniporium of riches. 
 There were those famous Idumean ports,* whence the fleets 
 of Phoenicia and Judea, coasting the Arabian peninsula, pene- 
 trated into the Persian gulf, to seek there the pearls of Hevila, 
 the gold of Saba and of Ophir. Yes, on that coast of Oman, 
 and of Bahrain, was the seat of a commerce of luxuries which, 
 by its fluctuations and revolutions, fixed the destinies of ancient 
 nations : thither came the spices and precious stones of Ceylon, 
 the shawls of Kachemire, the diamonds of Golconda, the am- 
 ber of the Maldives, the musk of Tibet, the aloes of Cochin, the 
 apes and peacocks of the Indian continent, the incense of Ha- 
 dramant, the myrrh, the silver, the gold dust, and ivory of Afri- 
 ca ; thence passing, sometimes by the Red sea, on the vessels 
 of Egypt and Syria, these luxuries nourished successively the 
 wealth of Thebes, of Sidon, of Memphis, and of Jerusalem; 
 sometimes, ascending the Tygris and Euphrates, they excited 
 the activity of the Assyrians, Medes, Kaldeans, and Persians ; 
 and that wealth, according to the use or abuse of it, raised or 
 Yeversed alternately their domination. To this is to be attributed 
 the magnificence of Persepolis, whose columns you still per- 
 ceive ; of Ecbatana, whose seven-fold wall exists no more ; of 
 Babylon, now level with the ground ; of Nineveh, whose name 
 is scarce remembered ; of Thapsacus, of Auatho, of Gerra, and 
 the desolated Palmyra. O names forever glorious! fields of 
 renown ! illustrious countries ! what sublime lessons does youi 
 aspect offer! what profound truths are written on the surface 
 of your soil! remembrances of times past recur to my mind, 
 places, witnesses of the life of man in so many different ages, 
 retrace for me the revolutions of his fortune! say, what were 
 their springs and secret causes I say from what sources he de- 
 rived success and disgrace ! uuveil to himself the causes of his 
 
 • The cities of Ailah and Atsiom-Gaber, v.-hence the Jews of Solomon, 
 ginded hy the Tyrians of Hiram, set out on their voyage to Ophir, an 
 uuknown place, concerning which a great deal has been written, but which 
 appears to have left some traces in Ofor, an Arabian district, at the en. 
 trance of the Persian gulf. (See New Researches, vol. i., and Travels in 
 Syria, vol. ii.) 
 
THE RUINS. 35 
 
 evils ! correct him by the spectacle of his errors ! teach him the 
 wisdom which belongeth to him, and let the experience of past 
 ages become a mirror of instruction, and a germ of happiness 
 to present and future generations !" 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONDITION OF MAN IN THE UNIVERSE. 
 
 A.FTER a short silence, the Genius resumed in these words : — 
 *' I have told you already, O friend of truth, that man vainly 
 ascribes his misfortunes to obscure and imaginary agents ; in 
 vain he seeks for mysterious and remote causes of liis ills. In 
 the general order of the universe his condition is, doubtless, sub- 
 ject to inconveniences, and his existence overruled by sifperior 
 powers ; but those powers are neither the decrees of a blind 
 fatality, nor the caprices of whimsical and fantastic beings ; like 
 the world, of which he forms a part, man is governed by natu- 
 ral laws, regular in their course, consistent in their effects, im- 
 mutable in their essence ; and those laws, the common source 
 of good and evil, are not written among the distant stars, or 
 hidden in mysterious codes ; inherent in the nature of terrestrial 
 beings, interwoven with their existence, they are at all times, 
 and in all places, present to man ; they act upon his senses, 
 they warn his understanding, and dispense to every action its 
 reward or punishment. Let man, then, study these laws ! let 
 him comprehend his own nature, and the nature of the beings 
 that surround him, and he will know the regulators of his des- 
 tiny, the causes of his evils, and the remedies he ought to 
 apply. 
 
 *' When the secret power which animates the universe formed 
 the glol5e of the earth, he implanted in the beings by whom it 
 is inhabited essential properties, which became the law of their 
 individual motion, the bound of their reciprocal relations, the 
 cause of the harmony of the whole ; he thereby established a 
 regular order of causes and effects, of principles and consequen- 
 ces, which, under an appearance of chance, governs the uni- 
 verse, and maintains the equilibrium of the world : thus, he gave 
 
36 THE RUINS. 
 
 to fire motion and activity ; to air, elasticity ; weight and den- 
 sity to matter : he made air lighter than water, metal heavier 
 than earth, wood less cohesive than steel ; he ordered the flama 
 to ascend, stones to fall, plants to vegetate : man, who was to 
 be exposed to the action of so many different beings, and whose 
 frail life was, nevertheless, to be preserved, was endowed with 
 the faculty of sensation. By this faculty, all action hurtful to 
 his existence gives him a feeling of pain and evil; and every 
 favorable action an impression of pleasure and happiness. By 
 these sensations man, sometimes averted from that which wounds 
 his senses, sometimes alUired toward that which sooths them, 
 has been obliged to cherish and preserve his own life. Thus, 
 self-love, the desire of happiness, aversion to pain, are the essen- 
 tial and primary laws imposed on man by Nature herself; the 
 laws which the directing power, whatever it be, has established 
 for his government, and which, like those of motion in the phys- 
 ical world, are the simple and fruitful principle of whatever 
 happens in the moral world. 
 
 "Such, then, is the condition of man : on one side, exposed 
 to the action of the elements which surround him, he is subject 
 10 many inevitable evils ; and if, in this decree, Nature has been 
 severe, on the other hand, just, and even indulgent, she has not 
 only tempered the evils with equivalent good, she has even en- 
 abled him to augment the good and alleviate the evil ; she seems 
 to say : ' Feeble work of my hands, I owe 3'^ou nothing, and I 
 give you life ; the world wherein I placed you was not made 
 for you, yet I grant you the use of it ; you will find in it a mix- 
 ture of good and evil ; it is for you to distinguish them, and to 
 direct your footsteps in the paths of flowers and thorns. Be the 
 arbiter of your own lot : I put your destiny into your own 
 hands.' Yes, man 'S i^ade the artisan of his own destiny ; it is 
 he who has alternately seated the successes or reverses of his 
 fortune ; and if, on a review of all the pains with which he has 
 tormented his life, he finds reason to weep over his own weak- 
 ness or imprudence; yet, considering the beginnings from which 
 he set out, and the height attained, perhaps he has more rea- 
 son to presume on his strength, and to pride himself on hia 
 genius. 
 
THE RUINS. 3t 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PRIMITIVE STATE OF MAN. 
 
 " At first, formed naked both in body and mind, man found 
 nimself thrown, as it were by chance, on a confused and savage 
 land ; an orphan, abandoned by the unknown power that pro- 
 duced him, he saw no supernatural beings at hand to warn him 
 of those wants which arise only from his senses, or to instruct 
 nim in those duties which spring only from his wants. Like 
 to other animals, without experience of the past, without fore- 
 sight of the future, he wandered in the depth of the forest, 
 guided only and governed by the affections of his nature ; by 
 the pain of hunger he was led to seek food, and provide for his 
 subsistence ; by the inclemency of the air be was urged to cover 
 his body, and he made him clothes ; by the attraction of a pow- 
 erful pleasure he approached a fellow-being, and he perpetuated 
 his race. 
 
 " Thus the impressions which he received from every object, 
 awakening his faculties, developed, by degrees, his understand- 
 ing, and began to instruct his profound ignorance ; his wants 
 excited industry, dangers formed his courage ; he learned to 
 distinguish useful from noxious plants, to combat the elements, 
 to pursue his prey, to defend his life ; and he thus alleviated its 
 miseries. 
 
 '*Thus self-love, aversion to pain, the desire of happiness, were 
 the simple and powerful incentives which drew man from the 
 savage and barbarous state in which nature had placed him ; 
 and now, when his life is replete with enjoyments, when he 
 may count every day by the comforts it brings, he may applaud 
 himself, and say : 'It is I who have produced the blessings that 
 encompass me ; it is I who am the fabricator of my own fehci- 
 ty ; a safe dwelling, convenient clothing, wholesome and abun- 
 dant nourishment, smiling fields, fertile hills, populous empires, 
 all is my work ; without me, this earth, given up to disorder, 
 would have been but a filthy fen, a savage forest, and a hideous 
 desert.' Yes, creative man, receive my homage ! thou hast 
 measured the expanse of the heavens, calculated the volume of 
 
 4 
 
36 THE RUINS. 
 
 the stars, arrested the lightning in its clouds, subdued seas and 
 storms, subjected all the elements. Ah! how are so many sub- 
 lime energies allied to so many errors! 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRINCIPLES or SOCIETY. 
 
 " Wandering in woods, and on the banks of rivers, in pursuit 
 of game and fish, the first men, beset with dangers, assailed by 
 enemies, tormented by hunger, by reptiles and ravenous beasts, 
 felt their own individual weakness ; and impelled by a common 
 need of safety, and a reciprocal sentiment of .like evils, they 
 united their resources and their strength ; and when one incur- 
 red a danger, many aided and relieved him ; when one wanted 
 subsistence, another shared his prey with him ; thus men asso- 
 ciated to secure their existence, to augment their powers, to 
 protect their enjoyments; and self-love became the principle of 
 society. 
 
 "Instructed afterward by the experience of various and repeat- 
 ed accidents, by the fatigues of a wandering life, by the distress 
 of frequent scarcity, men reasoned with themselves, and said : 
 * Why weary ourselves in search of the scattered fruits which 
 a parsimonious soil affords ? why exhaust ourselves in pursuing 
 prey which eludes us in the woods or waters ? why not collect 
 under our hands the animals that nourish us? why not apply 
 our cares to multiply and preserve them ? We will feed on 
 their increase, be clothed in their skins, and live exempt from 
 the fatigues of the day, and solicitude for the morrow.' And 
 men, aiding one another, seized the nimble goat, the timid 
 sheep ; they tamed the patient camel, the ferocious bull, the 
 impetuous horse ; and, applauding their own industry, they sat 
 down in the joy of their souls, and began to taste repose and 
 comfort ; and self-love, the principle of all reasoning, became 
 the instigator to every art, and every enjoyment. 
 
 " When men could thus pass their days in leisure, and the 
 communication of their ideas, they began to contemplate the 
 
THE RUINS 39 
 
 earth, the heavens, and their own existence, as objects of curi- 
 osity and reflection ; they remarked the course of the seasons, 
 the action of the elements, the properties of fruits and plants, 
 and applied their thoughts to the multiplication of their enjoy- 
 ments. And in some countries, having observed that certain 
 seeds contained a wholesome nourishment in a small volume, 
 convenient for transportation and preservation, they imitated the 
 process of nature ; they confided to the earth rice, b'^rley, and 
 wheat, which multiplied so as to answer their most sanguine 
 hopes ; and having found the means of obtaining within a small 
 compass, and without removal, plentiful subsistence and dura- 
 ble stores, they prepared for themselves fixed habitations ; they 
 constructed houses, villages, and towns ; formed societies and 
 nations ; and self-love produced all the developments of genius 
 and of power. 
 
 " Thus, by the sole aid of his faculties, man has been able to 
 raise himself to the astonishing height of his present fortune. 
 Too happy if, observing scrupulously the law of his being, he 
 had faithfully fulfilled its only and true object ! But, by a fatal 
 imprudence, sometimes mistaking, sometimes transgressing ita 
 limits, he has launched forth into a labyrinth of errors and mis- 
 fortunes ; and self-love, sometimes unruly, sometimes blind, be- 
 came an abundant source of calamities. 
 
 CHAPTERS 
 
 SOURCE OF THE EVILS OF SOCIETY. 
 
 **In truth, scarcely were the faculties of men developed, when, 
 inveigled by the attraction of objects which gratify the senses, 
 they gave themselves up to inordinate desires. The sweet sen- 
 sations which NATURE had attached to their real wants, to en- 
 dear to them their existence, no longer satisfied them. Not 
 content with the fruits oflered by the earth, or produced by 
 industry, they wished to accumulate enjoyments, and coveted 
 those possessed by their fellow-men ; and the strong man rose 
 up against the feeble, to take from him the profit of his labor; 
 
40 THE RUINS. 
 
 the feeble invoked another feeble one to repel the violence : and 
 two strong ones then said : "Why fatigue ourselves to produce 
 e-^'oynients which we may find in the hands of the weak ? Let 
 us join and despoil them ; they shall labor for us, and we will 
 enjoy without labor." And the strong associating for oppres- 
 sion, and the weak for resistance, men mutually afflicted each 
 other ; and a general and fatal discord spread over the earth, ir 
 which the passions, assuming a thousand new forms, have nevei 
 ceased to generate a continued series of calamities. 
 
 *' Thus the same self-love which, moderate and prudent, was a 
 principle of happiness and perfection, becoming blind and dis- 
 ordinate, was transformed into a corrupting poison ; and cupid- 
 ity, offspring and companion of ignorance, became the cause 
 of all the evils which have desolated the earth. 
 
 "Yes, iGiNORANCE and Cupidity I these are the twin sources 
 of all that torments the existence of man ! Biased by these 
 into false ideas of happiness, he has mistaken or infringed the 
 laws of nature in his own relations with external objects, and 
 injuring his existence, he has violated individual morality; 
 shutting through these his heart to compassion, and his mind 
 Injustice, he has persecuted and atflicted his equal, ;md violated 
 sdcial morality. Through ignorance and cupidity man has 
 armed against man, family against family, tribe against tribe, 
 and the earth is become a theatre of blood, of discord, and of 
 rapine. By ignorance and cupidity, a secret war, fermenting 
 in the bosom of every state, has separated citizen from citizen ; 
 and the same society is constituted of oppressors and oppressed, 
 of masters and slaves : by these, the heads of^a nation, some- 
 times insolent and audacious, have forged its chains within its 
 own bowels, and mercer.ary avarice has founded political des- 
 j)otism : sometimes hypocritical and deceitful, they have called 
 from Heaven a lying power, and a sacrilegious yoke ; and cred- 
 ulous cupidity has founded religious despotism : by these, iij 
 fine, have been perverted the ideas of good and evil, just and 
 unjust, vice and virtue ; and nations have wandered in a laby- 
 rinth of errors and calamities. The cupidity of man, and his 
 ignorance : these are the evil genii that have laid waste the 
 earth ! These are the decrees of fate which have overthrown 
 empires ! These are the celestial anathemas which have smit- 
 ten these walls, once so glorious, and converted the splendor of 
 
THE RUINS. 41 
 
 a populous city into a solitude of mourning and of ruins ! But 
 as in the bosom of man have sprung all the evils which afflict 
 his life, there also he is to seek and to find a remedy for them. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENTS AND LAWS. 
 
 " In fact, the period soon arrived when men, tired of the evils 
 they occasioned each other, began to sigh for peace ; and, re- 
 flecting on the nature of their misfortunes, they said : ' We 
 mutually injure each other by our passions, and, from a desire 
 to grasp everything, we in reality possess nothing ; what one 
 seizes to-day, another robs to-morrow, and our cupidity reacts 
 upon ourselves. Let us establish arbitrators to judge our claims, 
 and settle our differences. When the strong rises up against 
 the weak, the arbitrator shall restrain him, and dispose of our 
 force to suppress violence ; and the life and property of each 
 shall be under the guaranty and protection of all, and all shall 
 enjoy the blessings of nature.' 
 
 " Conventions were thus formed in society, sometimes express, 
 sometimes tacit, which became the rule of the actions of indi- 
 viduals, the measure of their rights, the law of their reciprocal 
 relations ; and persons were appointed to superintend their ob- 
 servance, and to these the people confided the balance of rights, 
 and the sword to punish transgressions. 
 
 "Then was established among individuals a happy equilibrium 
 of force and action, which constituted the common security. 
 The name of equity and of justice was recognised and revered 
 over the earth ; every man, assured of enjoying in peace the 
 fruits of his toil, exerted all the energies of his soul ; and in- 
 dustry, excited and maintained by the reality or the hope of en- 
 joyment, developed all the treasures of nature and of art ; the 
 fields were covered with harvests, the valleys with flocks, the 
 hills with fruits, the sea with vessels, and man was happy and 
 powerful upon the earth. 
 
 " Thus did his own wisdom repair the disorder which his im- 
 
 .4* 
 
42 THE RUINS. 
 
 prudence had occasioned ; and that wisdom was only the effect 
 of liis own organization. It was to secure his own enjoy- 
 ments that he respected those of others ; and cupidity found its 
 corrective in an enlightened self-love. 
 
 " Thus the love of self, the moving principle of every individ- 
 ual, became the necessary basis of every association ; and on 
 the observance of this natural law depended the fate of nations. 
 Have the factitious and conventional laws tended to that object, 
 and accomplished its aim? Every man, impelled by a power- 
 ful instinct, has displayed all the faculties of his being ; and the 
 sum of individual felicities has constituted the general felicity. 
 Have these laws, on the contrary, impeded the effort of man 
 toward his happiness ? His heart, deprived of its exciting prin- 
 ciple, has languished in inaction, and from the discouragement 
 of the individual has proceeded the weakness of the state. 
 
 "As self-love, impetuous and improvident, is ever urging man 
 against his equal, and consequently tends to dissolve society, 
 the art of legislation and the merit of administrators consists in 
 attempering the conflict of individual cupidities, in maintaining 
 an equilibrium of powers, and securing to every one his happi- 
 ness, in order that, in the shock of society against society, all 
 the members may have a common interest in the preservation 
 and defence of the public weal. 
 
 "Therefore, the internal splendor and prosperity of empires 
 were owing to the equity of their laws and government ; and 
 their relative external powers have been in proportion to the 
 number of individuals interested, and to the degree of their in 
 terest in the public weal. 
 
 " On the other hand, the multiplication of men, by compli- 
 cating their relations, having rendered the precise limitation of 
 their rights difficult — the perpetual play of their passions hav- 
 ing produced unforeseen incidents — their conventions having 
 been vicious, inadequate, or nugatory — in fine, the authors of 
 the laws having sometimes mistaken, sometimes disguised their 
 object, and their ministers, instead of restraining the cupidity 
 of others, having been hurried away by their own : all these 
 causes have introduced disorder and trouble into societies ; and 
 vicious laws and unjust governments, the result of cupidity and 
 ignorance, have caused the misfortunes of nations and the sub- 
 version of states. 
 
THE RUINS. 43 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GENERAL CAUSES OF THE PROSPERITY Of ANCIENT STATES. 
 
 " Such, O youth, who seekest wisdom, have been the causes of 
 revolution in the ancient states of which thou contemplatest the 
 ruins ! To whatever spot I direct my view, to whatever period 
 my thoughts recur, the same principles of growth or destruc- 
 tion, of rise or fall, present themselves to my mind. Wherever 
 a people is powerful, or an empire prosperous, there the con- 
 ventional laws are comformable with the laws of nature : the 
 government there procures for its citizens a free use of their 
 faculties, equal security for their persons and property. If, on 
 the contrary, an empire goes to ruin, or dissolves, it is because 
 its laws have been vicious, or imperfect, or trodden under foot 
 by a corrupt government. If the laws and government, at first 
 wise and just, degenerate afterward, it is because the alternation 
 of good and evil derives from the nature of the heart of man, the 
 succession of his propensities, his progress in knowledge, and 
 the combination of circumstances and events, as is proved by 
 the history of the human species. 
 
 " In the infancy of nations, when men yet lived in the forest, 
 subject to the same wants, endowed with the same faculties, all 
 were nearly equal in strength ; and that equality was a circum- 
 stance highly advantageous in the composition of society : ev- 
 ery individual thus finding himself sufficiently independent of 
 every other, no one was the slave, and no one thought of being 
 the master of another. Untaught man knew neither servitude 
 nor tyranny ; furnished with resources sufficient for his exist- 
 ence, he thought not of borrowing from others. Owing noth- 
 ing, exacting nothing, he judged the rights of others by his own, 
 and acquired precise notions of justice. Ignorant, moreover, in 
 the art of enjoyments, unable to produce more than his necessa- 
 ries, possessing nothing superfluous, cupidity lay dormant; or 
 if excited, man, attacked in his real wants, resisted it with en- 
 ergy, and the very foresight of such resistance maintained a sal- 
 utary equilibrium. 
 
 "Thus original equality, without a compact, secured personal 
 
44 THE RUINS. 
 
 liberty, respect for property, monility, and good order. Every 
 man labored by himself and for himself, and his heart being oc- 
 cupied, wandered not to culpable desires ; his enjoyments were 
 few, but his wants were satisfied, and, as indulgent nature had 
 made them less than his resources, the labor of his hands soon 
 produced abundance — abundance population ; the arts developed 
 themselves, cultivation extended, and the earth, covered with 
 numerous inhabitants, was divided into different domains. 
 
 "The relations of men becoming complicated, the internal or- 
 der of societies was more difficult to maintain. Time and in- 
 dustry having created affluence, cupidity became more vigilant, 
 and because equality, practicable among individuals, could not 
 subsist among families, the natural equilibrium was broken. Tt 
 became necessary to substitute a factitious equilibrium in its 
 place — to appoint rulers, to establish laws ; and in the primitive 
 inexperience, it necessarily happened that these laws, occa^ 
 sioned by cupidity, assumed its character. But different cir- 
 cumstances concurred to correct the disorder, and impose on 
 governments the necessity of being just. 
 
 " States, in fact, being weak at first, and having foreign enemies 
 to fear, the chiefs found it their interest not to oppress their 
 subjects ; for, by lessening the confidence of the citizens in their 
 government, they would diminish their means of resistance — • 
 they would facilitate foreign invasion, and, for superfluous en- 
 joyments, endanger their veiy existence. 
 
 '* In the interior, the character of the people was repugnant to 
 tyranny : men had contracted too long habits of independence; 
 they had too few wants, and too great a consciousness of their 
 own strength. 
 
 ** States being of small extent, it was difficult to divide their 
 citizens so as to oppress some by means of others : their com- 
 munications were too easy, and their interests too simple and 
 evident. Besides, every man being at once proprietor and cul- 
 tivator, no one was induced to sell himself, and the despot could 
 find no mercenaries. 
 
 *'If dissensions arose, they were between family and family, 
 faction and faction, and they interested a great number. The 
 troubles indeed were warmer, but fears from abroad pacified 
 discord. If the oppression of a party prevailed, the earth being 
 still uno(;cupied, and man, still in a state of simplicity, finding 
 
THE RUINS. 45 
 
 everywhere the same advantages, the injured jjarty emigrated, 
 and carried elsewhere their independence. 
 
 "The ancient states then enjoyed within themselves numerous 
 means of prosperity and power. Every man finding his own 
 well-being in the constitution of his country, took a lively inter- 
 est in its preservation. If a stranger attacked it, having to de- 
 fend his field, his house, he carried into combat all the animos- 
 ity of a personal quarrel, and, devoted to his own interests, be 
 was devoted to his country. 
 
 " As every action useful to the public attracted its esteem and 
 gratitude, every one was eager to be useful, and self-love multi- 
 plied talents and civic virtues. 
 
 " Every citizen contributing equally by his goods and his per- 
 son, armies and funds were inexhaustible, and nations displayed 
 formidable masses of power. 
 
 " The earth being free, and its possession secure and easy, 
 every man was a proprietor ,• and the division of property pre- 
 served morals, and rendered luxury impossible. 
 
 "Every one cultivating for himself, culture was more active 
 produce more abundant, and individual opulence constituted 
 public wealth. 
 
 " The abundance of produce rendering subsistence easy, pop- 
 ulation was rapid and numerous, and states attained quickly the 
 term of their plenitude. 
 
 " Productions increasing beyond consumption, the neces- 
 sity of commerce was felt, and exchanges took place between 
 people and people, which augmented their activity and recipro- 
 cal advantages. 
 
 " In fine, certain countries, at certain times, uniting the ad- 
 vantages of good government with a position on the route of the 
 most active circulation, they became emporiums of flourishing 
 commerce, and seats of powerful domination. And on the banks 
 of the Nile and Mediterranean, of the Tygris and Euphrates, the 
 accumulated riches of India and of Europe raised in successive 
 splendor a hundred metropolises. 
 
 " The people, growing rich, applied their superfluity to works 
 of common and public use ; at)d this was, in every state, the 
 epoch of those works whose grandeur astonishes the mind ; of 
 those wells of Tyre, of those dikes of the Euphrates, of those 
 subterranean conduits of Media, of those fortresses of the des- 
 
45 THE RUINS. 
 
 ert, of those aqueducts of Palm^'ra, of those temples, those por 
 ticoes,* And sucli labors might be immense, without oppressing 
 the nations, because they were the efil'ect of an equal and com- 
 mon contribution of the force of men animated and free. 
 
 " Thus ancient states prospered, because their social institu- 
 lions were conformable to the true laws of nature, and because 
 men, enjoying liberty and security for their persons and their 
 property, could display all tlie extent of their faculties, all the 
 energies of their self-love. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GENERAL CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTIONS AND RUIN OF ANCIENT 
 
 STATES. 
 
 •* Cupidity had, nevertheless, excited among men a constant 
 and universal conflict, which incessantly prompting individuals 
 and societies to reciprocal invasions, occasioned successive revo- 
 lutions, and returning agitations. 
 
 " And first, in the savage and barbarous state of the first men, 
 this inordinate and audacious cupidity produced rapine, violence, 
 assassination, and retarded for a long time the progress of civ- 
 ilization. 
 
 " When afterward societies began to be formed, the effect of 
 bad habits, communicated to laws and governments, corrupted 
 their institutions and objects, and established arbitrary and facti- 
 tious rights, which depraved the ideas of justice, and the moral- 
 ity of the people. 
 
 " Thus, one man being stronger than another,f their inequal- 
 
 * See, respecting these facts, my Travels into Syria, vol. ii., and New 
 Researches on Ancient History, vol. iii. 
 
 t Almost all the ancient pliilosophers and politicians have laid it down 
 as a principle, that men are born unequal ; that nature has created some 
 to be free and others to be slaves. 'I'hese are the positive expressions 
 of Aristotle in his Politics ; and of Plato, called the divine, doubtless in 
 the same sense as the mythological reveries which he promulgated. With 
 all the people of antiquity, the Gauls, the Romans, the Athenians, the 
 right of the strongest was the right of nations ; and from the c-arae prin- 
 ciple are derived ail political disorders and public nationed crimes 
 
THE RUINS. 47 
 
 * 
 ity, an accident of nature, was taken for her law ; and the strong 
 having spared the weak, whose hfe was in his power, arrogated 
 over his person an abusive right of property, and the slaverj- of 
 individuals prepared the way for the slavery of nations. 
 
 ♦' Because the head of a family could exercise an absolute 
 authority in his own house, he made his affections and desires 
 the sole rule of his conduct; he gave or resumed his goods with- 
 out equality, without justice, and paternal despotism laid the 
 foundation of despotism in government.* And in societies 
 formed on such foundations, when time and labor had developed 
 riches, cupidity, restrained by the laws, became more artful, but 
 not less active. Under the mask of union and civil peace, it 
 fomented, in the bosom of every state, an intestine war, in 
 which the citizens, divided into contending corps of professions, 
 classes, and families, unremittingly struggled to appropriate to 
 themselves, under the name of supreme power, the ability of 
 plundering everything, and rendering everything subservient to 
 the dictates of their passions ; and this spirit of encroachment, 
 disguised under all possible forms, but always the same in 
 its object and motives, has been the perpetual scourge of na- 
 tions. 
 
 "Sometimes, opposing the social compact, or infringing that 
 which already existed, it committed the inhabitants of a country 
 to the tumultuous shock of all their discords ; and states, thus 
 dissolved, and reduced to the condition of anarchy, were tor- 
 mented by the passions of all their members. 
 
 " Sometimes a nation, jealous of its liberty, having appointed 
 agents to administer, these agents assumed to themselves the 
 powers of which they were only the guardians, and employed 
 the public treasures in corrupting elections, gaining partisans, 
 and dividing the people against itself. By these means, from 
 
 * What is a family? An elementary portion of that great body called 
 nation. The spirit of this great body is but the sum of its fractions ; as 
 the manners of the family are, so are the manners of the whole. The 
 great vices of Asia are : 1. Paternal despotism ; 2. Polygamy, which de- 
 moralizes the entire family, and which, among kings and princes, causes 
 the massacre of the brothers at each succession, and ruins the people in 
 appanages ; 3. The want of landed property, owing to the tyrannical 
 right usurped by the despot ', 4. The unequal portioning of children ; 5. 
 The abusive right of legacies ; 6. The exclusion of women from the in- 
 heritance. Change these laws, and you change Asia. 
 
48 THE RUINS. 
 
 being temporary, tliey became perpetual, from^ elective, hered- 
 itary ; and the state, agitated by the intrigues of the ambitious, 
 by largesses from the rich and factious, by the venality of the 
 indolent poor, by the empiricism of orators, by the boldness of 
 perversit3% and the weakness of the virtuous, was convulsed with 
 all the inconveniences of democracy. 
 
 " In some countries the chiefs, equal in strength, and mutu- 
 ally fearing each other, formed impious pacts, nefarious associ- 
 ations, and, portioning out power, rank, and honors, arrogated 
 to themselves privileges and immunities; erected themselves into 
 separate orders and distinct classes : united in enslaving the peo- 
 ple ; and, under the name of aristocracy, the state was tormented 
 by the passions of the wealthy and the great. 
 
 " In other countries, tending by other means to the same ob- 
 ject, sacred impostors have taken advantage of the credulity of 
 the ignorant. In the gloom of their temples, behind the cur- 
 tain of the altar, they made their gods act and speak, delivered 
 oracles, worked miracles, ordered sacrifices, levied offerings, 
 prescribed endowments, and, under the names of theocracy and 
 religion, the states were tormented by the passions of the 
 priests. 
 
 " Sometimes a nation, weary of its dissensions, or of its ty- 
 rants, to lessen the sources of evil, submitted to a single master: 
 but, if it limited his powers, his sole aim was to enlarge them ; 
 if it left them indefinite, he abused the trust confided to him ; 
 and, under the name of monarchy, the state was tormented by 
 the passions of kings and princes. 
 
 " Then the factions, availing themselves of the general dis- 
 content, flattered the people with the hope of a better master, 
 dealt out gifts and promises, deposed the despot to take his 
 place ; and their contests for the succession, or its partition, 
 tormented the state with the disorders and devastations of civil 
 war. 
 
 " In fine, among these rivals, one more artful, or more fortu- 
 nate, gained the ascendancy, and concentrated all power within 
 himself: by a strange phenomenon, a single individual mastered 
 millions of his equals against their will, or without their consent, 
 and the art of tyranny was also the offspring of cupidity. In fact, 
 observing the spirit of egotism which incessantly divides mankind, 
 the ambitious man fomented it vi^ith dexterity — fluttered the vani- 
 
THE RUINS. 49 
 
 ty of one, excited the jealousy of another, favored the avarice of this, 
 inflamed tlie resentment of that, and irritated the passions of nil; 
 then, placing in opposition their interests and prejudices, he sowed 
 divisions and hatreds, promised to the poor the spoils of the rich, 
 to the rich the subjection of the poor, threatened one man by an- 
 other, this class by that, and, insulating all by distrust, created hia 
 strength by their weakness, and imposed the yoke of opinion 
 which they mutually riveted on each other. With the army he 
 levied contributions, and with contributions he disposed of the 
 army ; lavishing wealth and office on these principles, he en- 
 chained a whole people in indissoluble bonds, and they lan- 
 guished under the slow consumption of despotism. 
 
 "Thus did a same principle, varying its action under every 
 possible form, unremittingly attenuate the consistence of states, 
 and an eternal circle of vicissitudes flowed from an eternal circle 
 of passions. 
 
 " And this constant spirit of egotism and usurpation produced 
 two principal effects equally destructive : the one, a division and 
 subdivision of societies into their smallest fractions, inducing a 
 debility which facilitated their dissolution ; the other, a perse- 
 vering tendency to concentrate power in a single hand,* which, 
 by a successive absorption of societies and states, was fatal to 
 their peace and social existence. 
 
 *' Thus, as in a state, a party absorbed the nation, a family the 
 party, and an individual the family; so a movement of absorp- 
 tion took place between state and state, and exhibited on a larger 
 scale in the political order, all the particular evils of the civil or- 
 der. Thus a state, having subdued a state, held it in subjection 
 in the form of a province ; and two provinces, one of which had 
 swallowed up the other, formed a kingdom : finally, two king- 
 doms being united by conquest, gave birth to empires of gigan- 
 tic size ; and in this conglomeration the internal strength of 
 • It is remarkable that this has, in all instances, been the constant 
 progress of societies ; beginning with a stale of anarchy or democracy, 
 that is, with a great division of power, they have passed to aristocracy' 
 and from aristocracy to monarchy : does it not follow, from this histori- 
 cal fact, that those who constitute states under the democratic form des. 
 tine them to undergo all the intervening troubles between that and mon 
 archy ; but it should, at the same time, be proved that social experience 
 is already exhausted for the human race, and that this spontaneous move- 
 nent is not solely the effect of ignorance. 
 
 5 
 
50 THE RUINS. 
 
 States, instead of increasing, diminished; and the condition of 
 the people, instead of ameliorating, became daily more irksome 
 and wretched, for cansts constantly derived from the nature of 
 things. 
 
 " Because, in proportion as states increased in extent, their 
 administration becoming more difficult and complicated, greater 
 energies of ])ower were necessary to move such masses, and 
 there was no longer any proportion between the duties of sove- 
 reigns and their ability to perform their duties : 
 
 "Because despots, feeling their weakness, feared whatever 
 might develop the strength of nations, and studied only how to 
 enfeeble them : 
 
 "Because nations, divided by the prejudices of ignorance 
 and hatred, seconded by the perversity of governments, and 
 availing themselves reciprocally of satellites, aggravated their 
 mutual slavery : 
 
 *' Because, the balance between states being destroyed, the 
 strong more easily oppressed the weak : 
 
 " Finally, because, in proportion as states w^ere concentrated, 
 the people, despoiled of their laws, of their usages, and of the 
 governments that suited them best, lost that spirit of per- 
 sonal identification with the government which gave them en- 
 ergy- 
 
 " And despots, considering empires as their private domains, 
 
 and the people as their property, abandoned themselves to 
 depredations, and to all the licentiousness of the most arbitrary 
 authority. 
 
 " And all the strength and wealth of nations were diverted to 
 private expense and personal caprice ; and kings, fatigued with 
 gratification, launched into all the extravagances of a factitious 
 and depraved taste : they must have gardens erected upon ar- 
 cades, rivers raised over mountains, fertile fields converted into 
 haunts fur wild beasts, lakes scooped in dry lands, rocks elevated 
 in lakes, palaces built of marble and porphyry, furniture of gold 
 and diamonds. Under the cloak of religion, their pride founded 
 temples, endowed indolent priests, built, for vain skeletons, ex- 
 travagant tombs, mausoleums, and pyramids;* millions of hands 
 were employed in sterile labors; and tfie luxury of princes, im- 
 
 * The learned Dupuis could not be persuaded that the pyramids wera 
 tombs J but, besides the positive testimony of historians, read what Dir 
 
THE RUINS. 51 
 
 rtated by their parasites, and descending step by step to the 
 lowest ranks, became a general source of corruption and im 
 poverishment. 
 
 " And in the insatiable thirst of enjoyment, the ordinary reve- 
 nues no longer sufficing, they were augmented ; the cuhivator, 
 seeing his labors increase without retribution, was disheart- 
 ened ; the merchant, desjjoiled, was disgusted with industry; 
 the multitude, condemned to eternal poverty, restrained their 
 labor to simple necessaries, and all productive activity van- 
 ished. 
 
 " The surcharge of taxes rendering lands a burdensome pos- 
 session, the poor proprietor abandoned his field, or sold it to the 
 powerful, and fortune became concentrated in a few hands. All 
 the laws and institutions favoring this accumulation, the nation 
 became divided into a group of indolent rich, and a multitude 
 of Mjercenary poor. The people were degraded with indigence, 
 the great depraved with satiety, and the number of those inter- 
 ested in the preservation of the state decreasing, its strength and 
 existence became proportionably precarious. 
 
 " On the other hand, emulation finding no object, science no 
 encouragement, the mind sunk into profound ignorance. 
 
 " The -.idministration being secret and mysterious, there ex- 
 isted no means of reform or amelioration ; the chiefs governing 
 by force or fraud, the people viewed them as a faction of public 
 enemies, and all harmony ceased between the governors and 
 governed. 
 
 odorus says of the religious and superstitious importance every Egyptian 
 attached to building his eternal dwelling, book i. 
 
 During twenty years, says Herodotus, a hundred thousand men labored 
 every day to build the pyramid of the Egyptian king Cheops. Supposing 
 only throe hundred days a year, on account of the sabbath, there will be 
 thirty millions of days' work in a year, and six hundred miUions in twen- 
 ty years ; at 15 sous a day, this makes 450 millions of francs lost, with- 
 out any further benelit. With this sum, if the king had shut the isthmus 
 ot Suez by a strong wall, like that of China, the destinies of Egypt might 
 have been entirely changed. Foreign invasions would have been stopped 
 prevented, and the Arabs of the desert would neither have conquered nor 
 harassed tiiat country. Sterile labors ! how many millions lost in putting 
 one stone upon another, under the forms of temples and churches ! Al- 
 chymists convert stones into gold ; but architects change gold into stone. 
 VVo to the kings (as well as subjects) who trust their purse to these two 
 classes of en)j)irics ! 
 
fci THE KUINS. 
 
 " All these vices having eneiv;itc(J the states o! opulent Asia, 
 he Vrigraiit and indigent inhabitants of the adjacent deserts and 
 nionntains coveted the enjoyments of the fertile plains, and, 
 urged by a cupidity common to all, attacked the polished em- 
 pires, and overturned the thrones of their despots; and these 
 revolutions were rapid and easy, because the policy of tyrants 
 had enervated the subjects, razed the fortresses, destroyed the 
 warriors ; and because the oppressed subjects remained with- 
 out |)ersonal interest, and the mercenary soldiers without 
 courage. 
 
 " And hordes of barbarians having reduced entire nations to 
 slavery, the empires formed of conquerors and conquered united 
 in their bosom two classes essentially opposite and hostile. All 
 the principles of society were dissolved ; there was no longer 
 any common interest, any public spirit ; and there arose a dis- 
 tinction of castes and races, which reduced into a regular sys- 
 tem the maintenance of disorder ; and according as a man was 
 born, of this or that blood, he was born a slave or a tyrant, prop- 
 erty or proprietor. 
 
 " The oppressors being less numerous than the oppressed, it 
 was necessary to perfect the science of oppression, in order to 
 support this false equilibrium. The art of governing became 
 the art of subjecting the many to the few. To enforce an obe- 
 dience so contrary to instinct, the severest punishments were 
 established ; and the cruelty of the laws rendered manners atro- 
 cious. The distinction of persons establishing in the state two 
 codes, two orders of justice, two sets of laws, the people, placed 
 between the propensities of the heart, and the oath uttered from 
 the mouth, had two consciences in contradiction with each 
 other; and the ideas of justice and injustice had no longer any 
 foundation in the understanding. 
 
 " Under such a system, the people fell into dejection and 
 despair. And the accidents of nature being added to the other 
 evils which assailed them, in the despondency caused by so 
 many calamities, they attributed their causes to superior and 
 hidden powers ; and because they saw tyrants on earth, they fan- 
 cied others in heaven; and superstition aggravated the misfor- 
 tunes of nations. 
 
 " Hence originated fatal doctrines, gloomy and misanthropic 
 systems of religion, which painted the gods malignant and en- 
 
TTIE RUINS. 53 
 
 vious, li4<e their des])ots. Man, to iippease tliein, offered up the 
 sacrifice of all his enjoyiuents ; he environed himself in priva- 
 tions, and reversed the laws of nature. Conceiving his pleas- 
 ures to be crimes, his sufferings expiations, he endeavored to 
 love pain, and to abjure the love of self ; he persecuted his sen- 
 ses, hated his life; and a self denying and anti-social morality 
 plunged nations into the apathy of death. 
 
 " But provident nature having endowed the heart of man with 
 inexhaustible hope, when he found his desires of happiness all 
 baffled on this earth, he pursued it into another world : by a 
 sweet illusion he created for himself another country — an asy- 
 lum where, far from tyrants, he should recover the rights of his 
 naiure ; and thence resulted new disorders. Smitten with an 
 imaginary world, man despised that of nature ; for chimerical 
 hopes, he neglected the reality. His life began to appear a toil- 
 some journey — a painful dream ; his body a prison, the obstacle 
 to his-felicity ; and the earth, a place of exile and of pilgrimage, 
 not worthy of culture. Then a holy indolence spread over the 
 political world ; the fields were deserted, empires depopulated, 
 monuments neglected and deserts multiplied ; ignorance, super- 
 stition, and fanaticism, combining their operations, overwhelmed 
 the earth with devastation and ruin. 
 
 " Thus agitated by their own passions, men, whether collec- 
 tively or individually taken, always greedy and improvident, 
 passing from slavery to tyranny, from pride to servilit}', from 
 presumption to despondency, have made themselves the per- 
 petual instruments of their own misfortunes. 
 
 " These, then, are the principles, simple and natural, which 
 regulated the destiny of ancient states ; by this regular and 
 connected series of causes and eflfects, they rose or fell, in pro- 
 portion as the physical laws of the human heart were respected 
 or violated ; and in the course of their successive clianges, a 
 hundred dilferent nations, a hundred empires, by turns hum- 
 bled, elevated, conquered, overthrown, have repeated for the 
 earth their instructive lessons. Yet these lessons Avere lost for 
 the generations which have followed ! The disorders of times 
 past have reappeared in the present age! The chiefs of the 
 nations have continued to walk in the paths of falsehood and 
 tyranny I the people to wander in the darkness of superstition 
 and ignorance I 
 
 5* 
 
64 THE RUliVS. 
 
 "Since then," continued tlie Genius, " wifli new-collectrd 
 energy — since the experience of past ages is lost for the hving, 
 since the errors of |)rogf nitors have not instructed tlieir descend- 
 ants, tlie ancient examples are about to reappear ; the earth will 
 see renewed the tremendous scenes it has forgotten. New rev- 
 olutions will agitate nations and empires ; powerful thrones will 
 bo again overturned, and terrible catastrophes will teach man- 
 kind that tlie luws of nature and the precepts of wisdom and 
 truth can never be infringed with impunity." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 LESSONS OF TIMES PAST REPEATED ON THE PRESENT. 
 
 Thus spoke the Genius. Struck with the justice and cohe- 
 rence of his discourse — assailed with a crowd of ideas, repug- 
 nant to my habits, yet convincing to my reason, I remained ab- 
 sorbed in profound silence. At length, while with serious and 
 pensive mien, I kept my eyes fixed on Asia, suddenly in the 
 north, on the shores of the i31;!ck sea and in the fields of the 
 Krimea, clouds of smoke and flame attj acted my attention : they 
 appeared to rise at the sajne time from all parts of the peninsula, 
 and, passing by the isthmus into the continent, they ran, as if 
 driven by a westerly wind, along the muddy lake of Azof, and 
 disappeared in the grassy plains of Kouban ; and following 
 more attentively the course of these clouds, I observed that 
 they were preceded or followed by swarms of moving creatures, 
 which, like ants or grasshoppers disturbed by the foot of a pas- 
 senger, agitated themselves with vivacity : sometimes these 
 swarms appeared to advance and rush against each other, and 
 numbers, after the concussion, remained motionless. While 
 disquieted at this spectacle, I strained my sight to distinguish 
 the objects : — "Do you see," said the Genius, "those flames 
 which spread over the earth ? and do you comprehend their 
 causes and effects?" — " O Genius," I answered, "I see those 
 columns of flame and smoke, and something like insects accom- 
 panying them ; but when 1 can scarcely discern the great mass- 
 
THE RUINS. 5. 
 
 es of e,„e.s a,,d n.onu.nents Imw should I discover such Ikile 
 .n-amres only ,t should seem .hut these inseets mi,„ic battles 
 or they advance retreat, attack, and pursue."-" I, is no mock- 
 er., said the Gen.us, "these are real battles."-" And vvlia- 
 ...ad atnmalcules," said 1, "are those which destroy each other' 
 -bemgs Of a dt.y ! will they not perish soon enough .'"-Then 
 •heGen.us, again touching my sighf and hearing-" Look " 
 s|..d he, "and hear."-Im,nediate!y directing my sight towa,' 
 tlsatne objects-" Ah! wretches," cried I, oppressed with 
 gnef, "these columns of flames! these insects! O Genius 
 hey are men-fhese are the ravages of war ! These torrent.; 
 .ne nse fro.n towns and villages! I see the squadrons 
 lot Kile them, and who sword in hand overrun the country; 
 1. J dnve before them crowds of old n,en, wotnen, and chfl- 
 d, „- ugtuve and ,lesoit,te. 1 perceive other horse.nen. who 
 wth shouldered lat.ces accompany and guide them. I even 
 recogmse them to be Tartars, by their led horses, their ka paks 
 and tttfts of h.urs ; and doubtless they who pursue, in trirgt 
 ar hats and green uniforn.s, are Muscovites.--Ah ! I now com- 
 1 rehend-a war is kindled between tlte empire of the czTrs aTd 
 .>..t of the sultans !"_" Not yet," replied t'he Gen us ; Mi 
 only a prehm.nary : these Tartars have been, and mi.h s' 1 
 be, troublesome neighbors; the Muscovites are driving hem 
 oft, find.ng the.r country would be a convenient extendonoT 
 the.r own Imnts ; atrd as a prelude to another revolution, the 
 throne of the Guerais is destroyed." 
 
 And, in fact, I saw the Russian standards floating over the 
 Krnnea-and soon after their flag waving on the Euxine. 
 
 M anwhde, at the 0,7 of the flying Tartars, the Mussuhnan 
 e.np ,e was ,n commotion. " They are driving off our breth 
 -n, crted the children of Maho.net ; " tl^e people „ hi 
 "Phet are outraged ! infidels occupy a consecratei land, and 
 P.oiane the temples of Islamism ! Let us arm ! let us ru h to 
 co,„!,at, ,0 avenge the gloty of God and our own cause - 
 .4r.d a general moven.e.u of war took place in both empires 
 
 ff™: eTe'r'"''"'r' ''"''"' """ "" '"«= "-'^-•"- ^-PP-'- 
 nat be ' 7r '■'" '■"''"'''''"^ ' "'-^ "^^ '^'"P'^^ »f bo". 
 
 -en.lded before thetr mo,,ques, washed their hands and feet 
 
56 THE RUIXS. 
 
 pared their nails, and combed tliiiir beard ; then spreadi\ ^ v-cJi 
 l)ets upon the iirouud, and turiiing toward the soutli, with rheir 
 arms sonjetimes crossed and sometimes extended, ihey mada 
 genudexions and prostratioiis; aisd recollecting the disasiers of 
 the late war, they exclaimed : " God of mercy and clemencj^ ! 
 hast thou then ab ndoned thy faiihful people ? Thou who hast 
 jTomised to thy Prophet the em[)ire over nations, and stamped 
 liis leliuion by so many triumphs, dost thou deliver thy true 
 ix'iievers to the swords of infidels?" And the Imams and the 
 Santons said to the people: "It is in chastisement of your 
 sins: yon eat poik, you drink wine, you touch unclean things, 
 (lod huth punishfd 30U. Do penance, iherefore ; purify, re 
 j)pat the profession of faith :* fast from (he rising lo tlie setting 
 sun ; give t)ie tenth of your goods to the mosques ; go to Mec- 
 ca : and God Will render you victorious." And the people, re- 
 covering courage, uttered loud cries : " There is but one God,'' 
 said they, transi)orted with fury, "and Mahomet is liis prophet: 
 cursed be the man who believeth not I — God of mercy, grant us 
 to exterminate these Christians : it is for thy glory we fight, 
 and our death is a martyrdom for thy name." — And then, offer- 
 ing victims, they prepared for battle. 
 
 On the other side, the Russians, kneeling, said : "Render 
 thanks to God, and celebrate his power; he hath strengthened 
 our arm to humble his enemies. Hear our prayers, O merciful 
 God : to please thee, we will pass three days without eating 
 either meat or eggs. Grant us to exterminate these impious 
 Mahometans, and to overturn thfir empire : to thee we will 
 consecrate the tenth of our spoils ; to thee we will raise new 
 temples." And the priests filled the churches with a cloud of 
 smoke, and said to the peoi)le : " W^e pray for you, God ac- 
 cepteth our incense, and blesseth our arms. Continue to fast 
 and to fight : contess to us your secret crimes ; give your wealth 
 to tbe :;hurch : we will absolve you from your sins, and you 
 shall die in a state of grace." And they sprinkled water upon 
 the peoj)le, distributed among them, as amulets and charms, 
 small relics of the dead : and the people breathed nothing but 
 war and slaughter. 
 
 Struck with this contrasting picture of the same passions, and 
 lamenting their baneful consequences, I was considering how 
 * There is but one God, and Maho net is his prophet. 
 
THE RUINS. 57 
 
 difficult it would be for the common judge to comply with such 
 contradictory demands, when the Genius, inflamed with anger, 
 indignantly exclaimed : — 
 
 " What accents of madness strike my ear ; what blind and 
 perverse delirium disorders the spirits of the nations ! Sacri- 
 legious prayers, rise not from the earth I — and you, oh Heavens, 
 reject their homicide vows and impious thanksgivings ! Delu- 
 ded mortals ! is it thus you revere the Divinity ? Say, how 
 should he, whom you call you common father, receive the 
 homage of his children murdering one another ? Ye victors ! 
 with what eye should he view your hands reeking in the blood 
 he has created ? And what do you expect, oh vanquished, from 
 unavailing groans ? Hath God the heart of a mortal, with pas- 
 sions ever changing ? Is he, like you, agitated with vengeance 
 or compassion, wiih wrath or repentance ? What base con 
 ception of the most sublime of beings ! According to them, it 
 would seem that God, whimsical and capricious, is irritated or 
 appeased as a man ; that he loves and hates alternately ; that 
 he punishes or favors ; that, weak or wicked, be broods over 
 his hatred ; that contradictory or perfidious, he lays snares to 
 entrap ; that he punishes the evils he permits ; that he foresees 
 but hinders not crimes ; that, like a corrupt judge, he is bribed 
 by offerings ; like an ignorant despot, he makes laws and re- 
 vokes them ; that, like a savage tyrant, he grants or resumes 
 favors without reason, and can only be appeased by servility 
 .... Ah ! now I know the lying spirit of man ! Contempla- 
 ting the picture he hath drawn of the Divinity, No, said I, it is 
 not God who hath made man, but man who hath made God 
 after his own image ; he hath given him his own mind, clothed 
 him with his own propensities, ascribed to him his own judg- 
 ments .... And when in this medley he finds the contradic- 
 tion of his own principles, affecting hypocritical humility, he 
 imputes weakness to his reason, and names the absurdities of 
 his own mind mysteries of God. 
 
 " He hath said : God is immutable ; yet he offers prayers to 
 change him. He hath pronounced him incomprehensible; yet 
 he is never without interpreters. 
 
 *' Imposters have arisen on the earth who have called them- 
 selves the confidants of God, and who, erecting themselves into 
 teachers of the people, have opened the ways of falsehood and 
 
rj3 THE RUINS. 
 
 iniquity ; they have ascribed merit to practices indiffer nt oi 
 ridiculous ; they have supposed a virtue in certain postures, in 
 pronouncing certain w^ords, articulating certain names ; they 
 have transformed into a crime the eating of certain meats, the 
 drinking of certain Hquors, on one day rather than on another. 
 The Jew would rather die than labor on the sabbath ; the Per- 
 sian would endure suffocation, before he would blow the fire 
 with his breath ; the Indian places supreme perfection in be- 
 smearing himself with cow-dung, and pronouncing mysteriously 
 Aum ;* the Mussulman believes he has expiated everything m 
 washing his head and arms, and disputes, sword in hand, wheth- 
 er the ablution should commence at the elbowf or finger ends; 
 the Christian would think himself damned, were he to eat flesh 
 instead of milk or butter. Oh, sublime doctrines ! Doctrines 
 truly from Heaven ! Oh, perfect morals, and worthy of martyr- 
 dom or the apostolate ! I will cross the seas to teach these ad- 
 mirable laws to the savage people, to distant nations ; I will say 
 unto them, 'Children of nature, how long will you walk in the 
 paths of ignorance ? How long will you mistake the true prin 
 ciples of morality and religion ? Come and learn its lessons 
 from nations truly pious and learned, in civilized countries: 
 they will inform you, how, to gratify God, you must in certain 
 months of the year languish the whole day with hunger and 
 thirst ; how you may shed you neighbor's blood, and purify 
 yourself from it by professions of faith and methodical ablu- 
 tions ; how you may steal his property and be absolved on 
 sharing it with certain persons, who devote themselves to its 
 consumption.' 
 
 *' Sovereign and invisible power of the universe ! mysterious 
 
 * This word, in signification, and nearly in sound, resembles the Aeuum 
 (aevum) of the Latins— eternity, unbounded time. According to the 
 Indians, this word is the emblem of the tripartite divinity : A denotes 
 Braniah (the time past that created), U, Vichenou (the time present 
 that preserves), M, Chiven (the lime future that shall destroy). 
 
 t Tiiis is one of the grand points of schism between the partisans of 
 Omar and those of Ali. Suppose two Mahometans to meet on a jour- 
 ney, and to accost each other with brotherly affection : the hour of 
 prayer arrives ; one begins his ablution at his fingers, the other at the 
 elbow — and instantly they are mortal enemies. In other countries, if a 
 man eats meat on one day rather than on another, a cry of indignation 
 wiii be raise<l against him. By what name are we to call such follies ? 
 
THE RUINS. 
 
 59 
 
 mover of nature I universal soul of beings ! thou who art un- 
 knoAvn, yet revered by mortals under so mc.ny names ' bein^ 
 Jncomprehensible and infinite! God, who in the immensity of 
 the heavens directest the movement of worlds, and peoplest the 
 abyss of space with millions of suns ! say, what do these human 
 mserts, which my sight no longer discerns on the earth, appear 
 m thy eye ? To thee, who art guiding stars in their orbits, 
 what are those wormlings writhing themselves in the dust ^ 
 Of what import to thy immensity, their distinctions of parties 
 and sects? And, of what concern the subtleties with which 
 their folly torments itself? 
 
 ''And you, credulous men, show me the effect of your prac- 
 tices ! In so many centuries, during which you have been fol- 
 lowing or altering them, what changes have your prescriptions 
 wrought m the laws of natnre ? Is the sun brighter ^ Is the 
 course of the seasons varied ? Is the earth more fruitful, or its 
 inhabitants more happy ? If God is good, can your penances 
 p ease hum ? If infinite, can your homage add to his glory ^ 
 It his decrees have been formed on foresight of every circum- 
 stance, can your prayers change them ? Answer, inconsistent 
 
 men 
 
 ;; Ye conquerors of the earth, who pretend you serve God ' 
 do h he need your aid 1 If he wishes to punish, hath he no. 
 earthquakes, volcanoes, and thunder, at command ? And can 
 not a merciful God correct without extermination ' 
 
 " \ e Mnssuhnans, if God chastiseth you for violating the five 
 precepts, ho.v hath he raised up the Franks who ridicufetem ' 
 
 he udrT"r : r"" '^ "^^ ''°^^"' »" ^^a. princip.es did 
 he judge, before the days of the prophet, so many nations who 
 
 i! 1 ' !!'"■'• ^'■" '■'" '" M^'^'"- ^"'J "hom he never- 
 heless permuted to raise powerful empires ? Ho,v did he 
 judge the Sabeans of Nineveh and of Babylon ; thPe/sian 
 worshipper of fire ; the Greek and Roman WoIatJrs the an 
 cent k,n,doms of the Nile ; and your own ancesto s.'the Ara-' 
 ^^ ns and Tartars ? How doth he ye. judge so ma y natt", 
 
 of Tndirns 7he : """ '""' '''"''''^■- ""^ -"""•''- -^ 
 Afr a hei ,;r' Tr °' *^ ^'"™'''' "^esableraceof 
 Afr ca, the .slanders of the ocean, the tribes of America ' 
 
 yourselves . ,f God were to um.e together aH .he generations 
 
CO THE RUIXS. 
 
 past and present, what would be, in their ocean, the sects, call- 
 ing themselves universal, of Christians and Mussulmans? 
 What would be the judgments of his equal and common jus- 
 tice over the real universality of mankind ? Therein it is that 
 your knowledge loselh itself in incoherent mysteries ; it is there 
 that truth shines with evidence ; and there are manifested the 
 powerful and simple laws of nature and reason — laws of a com- 
 mon and general mover; of an impartial and just God, who 
 sheds rain on a country without asking who is its prophet; who 
 causeth his sun to shine alike on all the races of men, on the 
 white as on the black, on the Jew, the Mussulman, the Chris- 
 tian, and the Idolater ; who reareth the harvest wherever culti- 
 vated with care ; who prospereth every empire where justice is 
 practised, where the powerful man is restrained, and the poor 
 protected by the laws — where the weak live in safety, and every 
 one enjoys the rights given him by nature and a compact formed 
 in justice. 
 
 " These are the principles by which people are judged ! this 
 is the true religion which regulates the destiny of empires, and 
 which, O Ottomans, has governed yours ! Interrogate your 
 ancestors, ask of them by what means they rose to greatness, 
 when, few, poor, and idolaters, they came from the deserts of 
 Tartary, and encamped in these fertile countries ; ask if it was 
 by Islamism, till then unknown to them, that they conquered 
 the Greeks and the Arabs, or by their courage, their prudence, 
 moderation, spirit of union, the true powers of the social state. 
 Then the sultan himself dispensed justice and maintained disci- 
 pline ; the prevaricating judge, the extortionate governor, were 
 punished, and the multitude lived at ease ; the cultivator was 
 protected from the rapine of the janissary, and the fields pros- 
 pered ; the highroads were safe, and commerce produced abun- 
 dance. You were a band of plunderers, but just among jj^our- 
 selves ; you subdued nations, but did not oppress them. Har- 
 assed by their own princes, they preferred being your tributa- 
 ries. What matters it, said the Christian, whether my master 
 breaks or adores images, if he renders justice to me ? God will 
 judge his doctrine in heaven. 
 
 " You were sober and hardy, your enemies timid and effemi 
 nate ; you were expert in battle, your enemies unskilful ; your 
 leaders experienced, your soldiers warlike and obedient : booty 
 
THE RUINS. 61 
 
 excited ardor, bravery was rewarded ; cowardice and indiscipline 
 punished ; and all the springs of the human heart were in ac- 
 tion ; thus you vanquished a hundred nations, and of a mass of 
 conquered kingdoms compounded an immense empire. 
 
 " But other manners have succeeded; and in the reverses at- 
 tending them, the laws of nature have still exerted their force, 
 After devouring your enemies, your cupidity, always insatiable, 
 has reacted on itself, and, concentrated in your own bowels, has 
 consumed you. Having become rich, you have quarrelled for 
 partition and enjoyment ; and disorder arose in every class of 
 society. The sultan, intoxicated with grandeur, has mistaken 
 the object of his functions, and all the vices of arbitrary power 
 have been developed. Meeting no obstacle to his appetites, he 
 has become a depraved being ; weak and arrogant, he has kept 
 the people aloof, and the voice of the people has no longer in- 
 structed and guided him. Ignorant, yet flattered, neglecting all 
 instruction, all study, he has fallen into imbecility ; unfit for 
 business, he has thrown its burden on hirelings, and these have 
 deceived him. To gratify their own passions, they have stimu- 
 lated and nourished his; they have multiplied his wants, and 
 his enormous luxury has consumed everything ; the frugal ta- 
 ble, plain clothing, and simple dwelling of his ancestors no lon- 
 ger sufficed ; to supply his pomp, earth and sea were exhaust- 
 ed ; the rarest furs were brought from the poles ; the most 
 costly tissues from the equator : he has devoured at a meal tho 
 tribute of a city, and expended in a day the revenue of a prov- 
 ince. He is surrounded with an army of women, eunuchs, and 
 satellites. They tell him that liberality and munificence are the 
 virtues of kings, and the treasures of the people have been de- 
 livered into the hands of flatterers; in imitation of their master, 
 his servants also must have splendid houses, the most exquisite 
 furniture, carpets embroidered at great cost, vases of gold and 
 silver for the vilest purposes, and all the riches of the empire 
 have been swallowed up in the Serai. 
 
 *' To supply this inordinate luxury, the slaves and women 
 have sold their influence, and venality has introduced a general 
 depravation ; the favor of the sovereign has been sold to the 
 vizier, and the vizier has sold the empire. The law has been 
 sold to the cadi, and the cadi has made sale of justice. The 
 altar has been sold to the priest, and the priest has sold the 
 
 6 
 
62 
 
 THI5 RUIXS. 
 
 kingdom of heaven. And gold obtaining everything, they 
 Biicrificed everything to obtain gold : for gold the friend be- 
 trayed his friend; the child his parent ; the servant his mas- 
 ter ; the wife her honor ; the merchant his conscience ; and 
 good Aiith, morals, concord, and strength, vk^ere banished from 
 the state. 
 
 " The pacha, who purchased the government of his province, 
 considered it as his farm, and practised in it every species of ex- 
 tortion. He sold in turn the collection of the taxes, the com- 
 mand of the troops, the administration of the villages, and, as 
 everv employ has been transient, rapine, spread from rank to 
 rank, has been greedy and precipitate. The revenue officer has 
 fleeced the merchant, and commerce was annihilated ; the aga 
 has plundered the husbandman, and culture declined. The 
 laborer, deprived of his stock, has been unable to sow ; when 
 the taxgatherer came he was unable to pay ; threatened with 
 the bastonade, he was forced to borrow ; money, from want of 
 security, being locked up from circulation, bore an enormous 
 interest, and the usury of the rich has aggravated the misery of 
 the laborer. 
 
 " When excessive droughts and accidents of seasons have 
 blasted the harvest, the government admitted no delay, no indul- 
 gence for the tax ; and distress bearing hard on the village, a 
 part of its inhabitants have taken refuge in the cities ; and their 
 burden falling on those who remained, has completed their ruin, 
 and depopulated the country. 
 
 "If driven to extremity by tyranny and outrage, the villages 
 have revolted, the pacha rejoices : he wages war on them, as- 
 sails their houses, pillages their property, carries off their stock ; 
 and when the fields have become a desert, ' What care I ?' says 
 he ; 'I go away to-morrow.' 
 
 " The earth wanting laborers, the rains of heaven and ovei- 
 flowings of torrents have stagnated in marshes, and their putrid 
 exhalations, in a warm climate, have caused epidemics, plagues, 
 and diseases of all sorts ; whence have flowed additional depop- 
 ulaiion, penury, and ruin. 
 
 " Oh, who can enumerate all the calamities of tyrannical gov- 
 ernment ! 
 
 " Sometimes the pachas make war on each other, and for 
 their personal quarrels the provinces of the same state are laid 
 
THE RUINS. (;3 
 
 waste. Somethnes, fearing their masters, they attempt inde- 
 pendence, and draw on their subjects the chastisement of thefr 
 revolt. Sometimes, dreadina; their subjects, they call in and 
 subsidize strangers, and to insure their fidelity set no bounds 
 to their depredations. Here they persecute the rich, and de- 
 spoil them under false pretences ; there they suborn false wit- 
 nesses, and impose penalties for supposititious offences : every- 
 where they excite the hatred of parties, encourage informations 
 to obtain amercements, extort property, seize persons ; and 
 when their short-sighted avarice has accumulated into one mass 
 all the riches of a country, the government, under pretence of 
 avenging the oppressed people, takes to itself by an execrable 
 perfidy all their spoils with those of the culprit, and sheds use- 
 less blood for a crime of which it is the accomplice. 
 
 " Oh wretches, monarchs or ministers, who sport with the 
 lives and fortunes of the people ! is it you who gave breath to 
 man, that you dare take jt from him ? do you give growth to 
 the plants of the earth, that you may waste them ? do you toil 
 to furrow the field ? do you endure the ardor of the sun, and 
 the torments of thirst, to reap the harvest or thrash the sheaf? 
 do you watch, like the shepherd, in the nocturnal dew? do you 
 traverse deserts, like the merchant? Ah! on beholding the 
 pride and cruelty of the powerful, I was transported with indig- 
 nation, and have said in my wrath : * Will there never arise on 
 the earth men who will avenge the people and punish tyrants ! 
 a handful of brigands devour the multitude, and the multitude 
 submits to be devoured ! Oh, degenerate people ! know you not 
 your rights ? All authority is from you, all power is yours. 
 In vain kings command you, on the authority of God and of 
 their lance — soldiers, be still ; if God supports the sultan, he 
 needs not your aid ; if his sword suffices, he wants not yours : 
 let us see what he can do alone. The soldiers grounded their 
 arms ; and behold these masters of the world, feeble as the 
 meanest of their subjects! People! know that those who gov- 
 ern are your chiefs, not your masters; your agents, not your 
 owners; that they have no authority over you, but by you, and 
 for you ; that your wealth is yours, and they accountable for it ; 
 that, kings or subjects, God has made all men equal, and no 
 mortal has a right to oppress his fellow creature.* 
 
 "But this nation and its chiefs have mistaken these holj 
 
li THE RUINS. 
 
 truths. They must abide, then, the consequences of theii 
 blindness. The decree is past ; the day approaches when this 
 colossus of power shall be crushed and crumbled under its own 
 mass : yes, I swear by the ruins of so many empires destroyed 
 the empire of the crescent shall share the fate of the despotism 
 it imitated. A nation of strangers shall drive the sultan from his 
 metropolis ; the throne of Orkhan shall be overturned, the last 
 ehoot of his trunk shall be broken oflf; and the horde of Ogu- 
 zians,* deprived of their chief, shall disperse like that of the 
 Nogais : in this dissolution, the people of the empire, loosened 
 from the yoke which united them, shall resume their ancient 
 distinctions, and a general anarchy shall follow, as happened in 
 the empire of the Sophis, until there shall arise among the Ara- 
 bians, Armenians, or Greeks, legislators who may compose new 
 states. Oh, if there were on earth men profound and bold ! 
 what elements of grandeur and glory ! But already the hour 
 of destiny approaches. The cry of wjar strikes my ear, and the 
 catastrophe begins. In vain the sultan leads forth his armies, 
 his ignorant warriors are beaten and dispersed ; in vain he calls 
 his subjects, their hearts are ice ; ' it is written,' say they, 'what 
 matters who is our master? we can not lose by the change.' 
 In vain the true believers invoke Heaven and the prophet; the 
 prophet is dead, and relentless Heaven answers : ' Cease to in- 
 voke me ; you have caused your own misfortunes, cure them 
 yourselves. Nature has established laws, your part is to obey 
 them ; observe, reason, and profit by experience. It is the folly 
 of man which ruins him, let his wisdom save him. The people 
 are ignorant, let thera acquire instruction; their chiefs are wick- 
 ed, let them correct and amend ; for such is Nature's decree.' 
 Since the evils of society spring from cupidity and ignorance, 
 men will never cease to be persecuted, till they become enlight- 
 ened and wise; till they practise justice, founded on a knowledge 
 of their relations, and of the laws of their organization." 
 
 * Before the Turks took the name of their chief Othman I., they bore 
 that of Oguzians ; and it was under this appellation that they were driven 
 out of Tartary by Gengiz, and came from the borders of the Gihoun to 
 settle in Anadoli. 
 
THE RUrXR. 65 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WILL THE HUMAN RACE IMPROVE? 
 
 At these words, oppressed with the painful sentiment with 
 which their severity overwhelmed me : " Wo to the nations !'* 
 cried I, bursting into tears; "wo to myself! Ah! now it is 
 that I despair of the h;ippiness of mnn ! Since his miseries pro- 
 ceed from his heart, since he himself must apply the remedy, 
 wo for ever to his existence ! Who, indeed, will ever be able 
 to restrain ihe lust of wealth in the strong and powerful ? Who 
 can enlighten the ignorance of the weak ? Who can teach the 
 multitude to know their rights, and force their chiefs to peifurm 
 their duties ? Thus the race of man is always doomed to suf- 
 fer ! Thus the individual will not cease to oppress the individ- 
 ual, a nation to attack a nation, and days of prosperity, of glory, 
 for these regions shall never return. Alas I conqueiors will 
 come ; they will drive out the oppressors, and fix themselves 
 in their place ; but, inheriting their power, they will inherit 
 their rapacity ; and the earth will have changed tyrants, but not 
 the tyranny." 
 
 Then turning to the Genius : " O Genius !" said I, " despair 
 has sunk into my soul : knowing the nature of man, the per- 
 versity of those who govern, and the debasement of the gov 
 erned, have disgusted me with life ; and since there is no choice 
 but to be the accomplice or the victim of oppression, what re- 
 mains to the man of virtue but to join his ashes to those of the 
 tomb I" 
 
 The Genius, fixing on me a look of severity, mixed with com- 
 passion, replied, after a few moments' silence, " Does virtue, 
 then, consist in dying ? The wicked man is indefatigable in 
 consummating his crime, and the just is discouraged from doinj^ 
 good at the first obstacle he meets I But such is the heart of 
 man ; success intoxicates him with confidence, a reverse over- 
 turns and confounds him : always given up to the sensation of 
 the moment, he never judges things by their nature, but by the 
 impulse of passion. Mortal, who despairest of the human race, 
 on what profound combinations of facts and of reasoning hast 
 
 6* 
 
66 THE RUTXS. 
 
 tliou established iliy conclusion ? Hast tljou scrutinized the 
 organization of sensible beings, to determine with precision 
 whether the instinctive force which moves them on to happi- 
 ness is essentially weaker than that which repels them from it '^ 
 or, embracing in one glance the history of the species, and judg- 
 ing the future by the past, hast thou shown that all improve- 
 ment is impossible ? Say ! has human society, since its origin, 
 m ide no progress toward knowledge and a better state ? Are 
 men still in their forests, destitute of everything, ignorant, stu- 
 pid, and ferocious ? Are all the nations still in that age when 
 uothiug was seen upon the globe but brutal robbers and brutal 
 slaves ? If at any time, in any place, individuals have ameliora- 
 ted, why shall not the whole mass ameliorate ? If partial so- 
 cieties have improved, what shall hinder the improvement of 
 society in general? And if the first obstacles are overcome, why 
 should the others be insurmountable ? 
 
 *' Are you of opinion that the human race is degenerating? 
 Guard against the illusion and the paradoxes of the misanthrope: 
 man, dissatisfied with the present, ascribes to the past a perfec- 
 tion which never existed, and which only serves to cover his 
 chagrin. He praises the dead out of hatred to the living, and 
 beats the children with the bones of their fathers. 
 
 " To prove this pretended retrograde progress from perfec- 
 tion, we must contradict the testimony of reason and of fact; 
 and if the facts of history are in any measure uncertain, we must 
 contradict the living fact of man's organization ; we must prove 
 that he is born with the enlightened use of his senses ; that, 
 without experience, he can distinguish aliment from poison ; 
 that the child is wiser than the old man ; that the blind walks 
 with more safety than the clear sighted ; that the civilized man 
 is more miserable than the cannibal; in a word, that there is no 
 ascending scale in experience and instruction. 
 
 " Young man, believe the voice of tombs, and the testimony 
 of monuments : some countries have doubtless fallen from what 
 they were at certain epochs; but, if we weigh the wisdom and 
 happiness of their inhabitants, even in those times, we shall find 
 more of splendor than of reality in their glory ; we shalr find, 
 in the most celebrated of ancient states, enormous vices and 
 cruel abuses, the true causes of their decay ; we shall find, ir* 
 general, that the principles of government were atrocious ; that 
 
TllV. RUINS. 67 
 
 insolent robberies, barbarous wars, and implacable hatreds, were 
 Idling from nation to nation;* tliat natural right was unknown; 
 that morality was perverted by senseless fanaticism and deplora- 
 ble superstition ; that a dream, a vision, an oracle, were con- 
 stantly the causes of vast commotions : perhaps the nations are 
 Dot yet entirely cured of all these evils ; but their intensity at 
 least is diminished, and the experience of the past has not been 
 who]]}^ lost. For the last ihree centuries, especially, knowledge 
 has increased and been extended; civilization, favored by happy 
 circumstances, has made a considerable progress, inconvenien- 
 ces and abuses have even turned to its advantage ; for, if states 
 have been too much extended by conquest, the people, by uni- 
 ting under the same yoke, have lost the spirit of estrangement 
 and division which made them all enemies one to the other; if 
 the powers of government have been more concentrated, there 
 has been more system and harmony in their exercise ; if wars 
 have become more extensive in the mass, they are less bloody 
 in the detail ; if men have gone to battle with less personality, 
 less energy, their struggles have been less sanguinary and less 
 ferocious, they have been less free, but less turbulent, more ef- 
 feminate, but more pacific. Despotism itself has rendered them 
 some service ; for, if governments have been more absolute, 
 they have been more quiet and less tempestuous: if thrones 
 have become a property and hereditary, they have excited less 
 dissensions, and the people have suffered fewer convulsions ; 
 finally, if the despots, jealous and mysterious, have interdicted 
 all knowledge of their administration, all concurrence in the 
 management of public affairs, the passions of men, drawn aside 
 from politics, have attended to the arts, and the sciences of 
 nature, and the sphere of ideas in every direction has been en- 
 larged : man, devoted to abstract studies, has better understood 
 his place in the system of nature, and his relations in society ; 
 principles have been better discussed, final causes better ex- 
 plained, knowledge more extended, individuals better instructed, 
 manners more social, and life more happy ; the species at large, 
 especially in certain countries, has gained considerably ; and 
 
 • Read the history of the wars of Rome and Carthage, of Sparta and 
 Messina, of Athens and Syracuse, of the Hebrews and the Phoenicians • 
 yet these are the nations which antiquity celebrates as being most pel 
 ished ! 
 
fJ8 TFIR RUTXS. 
 
 this amelioration can not but increase in fnture, bocanse its 
 two principsi obsnicles, those even which, till then, hnd ren- 
 dered it so slow and sometimes retrograde, the diflficidty of 
 :ransmitting ideas and of communicating them rapidly, hav« 
 jeen at last removed. 
 
 " Indeed, atnong the ancients, each canton, each city, having 
 a peculiar language, the consequence was favorable to igno- 
 rance and anarchy. Tliere was no communication of ideas, no 
 participation of discoveries, no harmony of interests or of wills, 
 no unity of action or design ; besides, the only means of trans- 
 mitting and of propagating ideas being that of speeclj, fugitive 
 and limited, and that of writing, tedious of execution, expensive 
 and scarce, the consequence was a hinderance of present in- 
 struction, loss of experience from one generation to another, 
 instability, retrogradation of knowledge, and a perpetuity of 
 confusion and childhood. 
 
 " But in tl:e modern world, especially in Europe, great na- 
 tions having allied themselves in language, and established vast 
 communities of opinions ; the minds of men are assimilated, 
 and their affections expanded; there is a sympathy of opinion, 
 and a unity of action ; then that gift of heavenly genius, the 
 holy art of Printing, having furnished the means of communi- 
 cating in an instant the same idea to millions of men, and of 
 fixing it in a durable manner, beyond the power of tyrants to 
 arrest or annihilate, there arose a mass of progressive instruc- 
 tion, an expanding atmosphere of science, which assures to fu- 
 ture ages a solid amelioration. This amelioration is a necessary 
 elfect of the laws of nature ; for, by the law of sensibility, man 
 as invincibly lends to render himself happy, as the flame to 
 mount, the stone to descend, or the water to find its level. Hia 
 obstacle is his ignorance, which misleads him in the means, and 
 deceives him in causes and effects. He will enlighten himself 
 by experience, go right by dint of errors, grow wise and good 
 because it is interest to be so ; and in a nation, ideas being 
 conununicated, whole classes will gain instruction ; science will 
 become a vulgar possession, and all men will know what are 
 the principles of individual happiness and of public prosperity; 
 ihey will know the relations they bear to society, their duties, 
 and their rights ; they will learn to guard against the illusions 
 ol the lust of gain ; they will perceive that morality is a phys 
 
THE RUINS. 69 
 
 ical science, composed, indeed, of elements complicated in their 
 operation, but simple and invariable in their nature, since they 
 are only the elements of the organization of man. They will 
 see the propriety of being moderate and just, because in that is 
 found the advantage and security of each ; they will perceive 
 that the wish to enjoy at the expense of another is a false cal- 
 culation of ignorance, because it gives rise to reprisal, hatred, 
 and vengeance, and that dishonesty is the never-failing offspring 
 of folly. 
 
 " Individuals will feel that private happiness is allied to pub- 
 lic good : 
 
 "The weak that, instead of dividing their interests, they ought 
 to unite them, because equality constitutes their force : 
 
 " The rich, that the measure of enjoyment is bounded by the 
 constitution of the organs, and that lassitude follows satiety : 
 
 " The poor, that the employment of time, and the peace of 
 the heart, compose the highest happiness of man. 
 
 "And public opinion, reachmg kings on their thronesf will 
 force them to confine themselves within the limits of regular 
 authority. 
 
 " Even chance itself, serving the cause of nations, will some- 
 times give them feeble chiefs, who, from weakness, will suffer 
 them to become dee ; and sometimes enlightened chiefs, who, 
 from a principle of virtue, will free them. 
 
 "And when nations, free and enlightened, shall become like 
 great individuals, the whole species will have the same flicilities 
 as particular portions have now ; the communication of knowl- 
 edge will extend from one to another, and reach the whole. 
 By the law of imitation, the example of one people will be fol- 
 lowed by others, who will adopt its spirit and its laws. Even 
 despots, perceiving that they can no longer maintain their au- 
 thority without justice and beneficence, will soften their sway 
 from necessity, from rivalship ; and civilization will become 
 universal. 
 
 " There will be established among -the several nations an 
 equilibrium of force, which, restraining them all within the 
 bounds of a just respect for their reciprocal rights, shall put an 
 end to the barbarous practice of w.ir, and submit their disputes 
 to civil arbitration ; the human race will become one great so- 
 ciety, one individual family, governed by the same spirit, by 
 
70 THE RUINS. 
 
 common laws, and enjoying all the happiness of which ihcii 
 nature is susceptible. 
 
 ♦♦ Doubtless this great work will be long accomplishing, be- 
 cause the same movement must be given to an immense body ; 
 the same leaven must assimilate an enormous mass of hetevo- 
 geneous parts. But this movement shall be effected ; its pre- 
 sages are already to be seen. Already the great society, assu- 
 ming in its course the same characters as partial societies have 
 doiK', is evidently tending to a like result. At first disconnected 
 in all its parts, it saw its members for a long time without cohe- 
 sion ; and this general solitude of nations formed its first age of 
 anarchy and childhood : divided afterward by chance into irreg- 
 ular sections, called states and kingdoms, it has experienced the 
 fatal effects of an extreme inequality of wealth and rank ; and 
 the aristocracy of great empires has formed its second age : 
 then, these lordly states disputing for pre-eminence, have ex- 
 hibited the period of the shock of factions. At present, the 
 contending parties, wearied with their discord, feel the want of 
 laws, and sigh for the age of order and peace. Let but a virtu- 
 ous chief appear ! a just, a powerful people arise I and the earth 
 will raise them to supreme power ; the world is waiting for a 
 legislative people ; it wishes and demands it ; and my heart 
 hears its voice." — Then turning toward the West — " Yes," con- 
 tinued he, " a hollow sound already strikes my ear : a cry of 
 liberty, proceeding from far distant shores, resounds on the an- 
 cient continent. At this cry, a secret murmuragainstoppression 
 is raised in a powerful nation ; a salutary inquietude alarms her 
 respecting her situation ; she inquires what she is, and what 
 she ought to be, while, surprised at her own weakness, she in- 
 terrogates her rights, her resources, and what has been the con- 
 duct of her chiefs. Yet another day — a little more reflection — • 
 and an immense agitation will begin ; a new-born age will 
 open ! an age of astonishment to vulgar minds, of surprise and 
 terror to tyrants, of emancipation to a great nation, and of hope 
 to the human race." 
 
THE RUINS. 71 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE GREAT OBSTACLE TO IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 The Genius ceased. — But, preoccupied with melancholy 
 thoughts, my mind resisted persuasion ; fearing, however, to 
 shock him by my resistance, I remained silent. — After a while, 
 turning to me with a look which pierced my soul — " You are 
 silent," said he, " and your heart is agitated with thoughts which 
 it dares not utter I" — Confused and terrified — "O Genius!" I 
 made answer, *' pardon my weakness : doubtless your mouth 
 can utter nothing but truth ; but your celestial intelligence can 
 seize its rays, where my grosser faculties discern nothing but 
 clouds. I confess it : conviction has not penetrated my soul, 
 and I feared that my doubts might offend you." 
 
 "And what is doubt," replied he, "that it should be a crime ? 
 Can man feel otherwise than as he is affected ? If a truth be 
 palpable and of importance in practice, let us pity him who 
 misconceives it : his blindness will bring on its own punish- 
 ment. If it be uncertain or equivocal, how is he to find in it 
 what it has not ? To believe without evidence or proof, is an 
 act of ignorance and folly : the credulous man loses himself in 
 a labyrinth of contradictions : the man of sense examines and 
 discusses, that he may be consistent in his opinions ; the honest 
 man will bear contradiction, because it gives rise to evidence. 
 Violence is the argument of falsehood ; and to impose a creed 
 by authority, is the act and indication of a tyrant." 
 
 Encouraged by these words — " O Genius !" said I, "since 
 my reason is free, I strive in vain to entertain the flattering hope 
 with which you endeavor to console me. The sensible and 
 virtuous soul is easily caught with dreams of happiness ; but a 
 cruel reality constantly awakens it to suffering and wretched- 
 ness. The more I meditate on the nature of man, the more I 
 examine the present state of societies, the less possible it ap- 
 pears to realize a world of wisdom and felicity. I cast my eye 
 over the whole of our hemisphere : I perceive in no place the 
 germ, nor do t foresee the instinctive energy of a happy revo- 
 lution. All Asia lies buried in profound darkness The Chi 
 
72 THK RUINS. 
 
 nese, def^riided by a bamboo despotism.* blii)ded by astrological 
 superstition, restrained by an immutable code of gestures, by 
 the radical vices of an ill-constructed language,f and still more 
 defeciive writing, apjienr to be, in their abortive civilization, 
 nothing ))ut a people of automatons. Tiie Indian, borne down 
 by prejudices, and enchained in the sacred fetters of his castes, 
 veoetates in an incurable apathy. The Tartar, wandering or 
 fixed, always ignorant and ferocious, lives in the savageness of 
 his ancestors. The Arab, endowed with a happy genius, loses 
 >ts force and the fruits of his virtue in the anarchy of his tribes 
 and the jealousy of his families. The African, degraded from 
 the rank of man, seems irrevocably doomed to servitude. In 
 the north, I see nothing but vilified serfs, herds of men, with 
 which the landlords stock their estates. Ignorance, tyranny, 
 and wretchedness, have everywhere stupefied the nations ; and 
 vicious habits, depraving the natural senses, have destroyed the 
 very instinct of happiness and of truth. In some countries of 
 Europe, indeed, reason has begun to dawn ; but even there, do 
 nations partake of the knowledge of individuals ? Are the tal- 
 ents and genius of governors turned to the benefit of the peo- 
 ple ? And those nations which call themselves polished, are 
 they not the same that for the last three centuries have filled 
 the earth with their injustice ? Are they not those who, under 
 the pretext of commerce, have desolated India, dispeopled a 
 new continent, and subject Africa at present to the most barba- 
 rous slavery ? Can liberty be born from the bosom of despots ? 
 and shall justice be rendered by the hands of piracy and extor- 
 tion ? O Genius ! I have seen the civilized countries, and the 
 illusion of their wisdom has vanished from my sight : I saw 
 riches accumulated in the hands of a few, and the multitude 
 poor and destitute. I have seen all rights, all powers, concen- 
 tred in certain classes, and the mass of the people passive and 
 dependant. I have seen families of princes, but no families ot 
 the nation. I have seen government interests, but no public 
 
 * The Jesuits have endeavored to represent under favorable colors the 
 Chinese government ; it is now known to be a pare oriental despotism. 
 
 t The Chinese people proves to us that in antiquity, until the discovery 
 of alphabetical writing, the human understanding found it very difficult 
 to advance, as before Arabian ciphers it was very difficult to settle ac- 
 counts. All depends on method: and China can only be changed by an 
 alteration in its language. 
 
THE RUINS. ^„ 
 
 ineeres,, o,- sp,r„. I have seen ,hat all ,he science of govern- 
 m n was ,0 oppress prudently; and the refined servifude of 
 po .shed „a„ons appeared .o me only the more irremed We 
 One obstacle above all has profoundly struck my mind On 
 
 systems of religion : every nation has received, or formed od 
 postte op,n,ons ; and every- one ascribing to itse f the ex Live 
 possesston of the truth, must believe t1,e other to be wro I 
 Now ,f, as must be the fact in this discordance of opinil the 
 greater part are in an error, and are sincere in it, then it fo I'ow 
 that our m,nd embraces falsehood as i, does truth ; and T 
 
 thTmind 1' ""''"^T' • '^'^™ "^"J"*- »- "--zed 
 he ba dte ;;^" " '° '' "'T'""'^ ' ^ow shall we remove 
 he bandage f,om our eyes, when the first article in every creed 
 
 oubt tht'T " '" ''"'""'• '' '"« =•"-'""' prose lotion of' 
 doubt, the mterd.ctmn of examination, and the rejection of our 
 own judgment ? How is truth to make herself knowlf she 
 resorts to arguments and proofs, the timid man stifles he vo ce 
 of h,s own conscience ; if she invokes the authority of elesial 
 
 roTihe'sr''''''"""' '"'" »PP--i'withanofherat!:h r 
 "y of the same or,g,„, and calls all innovation blasphemy 
 Thus man ,n h.s blindness has riveted his own chains, and sTtr-" 
 rendered h.mself for ever, without defence, to the sp^rt of h s 
 .gnorance and his passions. To dissolve such fatal L La 
 
 ce'sTa:; r:rr""" "' '^■'"^ circumstances wonid b „'e! 
 cessarj . a whole nation, cured of the delirium of superstition 
 
 r ot'trfr^'d '° "^ '-"-"^ of fa„a.icism; E t^ 
 tself ?h t r "'■'""• ' "''°''= P-^OP'" ™"^' impose upon 
 
 on at: .s and" "'T'''^ '"' ""^°" ^ '"'^ P-P'^ *o"'d ^e 
 cou.ageous and prudent, wise and docile; each individml 
 
 nowmg h,s rights, should not transgress then, : the p„r 
 . onid know how to resist seduction, and the rich the alCe 
 
 m d sf r:;r' """ ^•"'""' "•' '■"""'' '-^-•-' *- '-• "^ 
 
 n s/w :, ""';'>-'--*'"^*-W "e seized with a spirit of m:,d 
 ,rbii , ^ '' " "'"P''' '-^c^^'ing its rights, should feel it, 
 n bl .y ,0 exercse them in person, and should na.ne its re re 
 
 r Tndrrr ": '""'""'■"''' " ^'"'"" "-- - - -o 
 
 nat ,„ » ' 1^" """" ' '" ""' ^"'J'^^" "■'^form of a whole 
 
 bear with patience h,s pr^ations, and submit to a change 
 
74 THE RUINS. 
 
 of habits ; this nation should have the courage to conquer its 
 Hberfy, the power to defend it, the wisdom to establish it, and 
 the generosity to extend it to others : — and can we ever expect 
 the union of so many circumstances ? But suppose that chance, 
 in its infinite combinations, should produce them, shall I see 
 those fortunate days ? Will not my ashes long ere then be cold 
 in the tomb ?" 
 
 Here, sunk in sorrow, my oppressed heart no longer found 
 utterance. — The Genius answered not, but I heard him say, in 
 a low voice — " I must revive the hope of this man; for if he 
 who loves his fellow-creatures be suffered to despair, what will 
 become of nations ? The past is, perhaps, too discouraging ; I 
 must anticipate futurity, and disclose to the eye of virtue the 
 astonishing age that is ready to begin ; that, on viewing the ob- 
 iect she desires, she may be animated with new ardor, and re- 
 double her efforts to attain it." 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE NEW AGE. 
 
 Scarcely had he finished these words, when a great noise 
 arose in the west ; and turning to that quarter, I perceived, at 
 the extremity of the Mediterranean, in one of the nations of 
 Europe, a prodigious movement — such as when a violent sedi- 
 tion arises in a vast city — a numberless people, rushing in all 
 (iiiections, pour through the streets and fluctuate like waves in 
 the public places. My ear, struck with the cries which re- 
 sounded to the heavens, distinguished these words : — 
 
 "What is this new prodigy ? What cruel and mysterious 
 scourge is this ? We are a numerous people, and we want 
 hands ! we have an excellent soil, and we are in want of sub- 
 sistence I we are active and laborious, and we live in indigence ! 
 we pay enormous tributes, and we are told they are not suffi- 
 ?-ient I we are at peace without, and our persons and property 
 3)6 not safe within ! Who, then, is the secret enemy thai de- 
 V >urs us ?" 
 
THE RUINS. 75 
 
 Some voices, from the midst of the multitude, replied : — 
 •' Raise a discriminating standard, and let all those who main- 
 tain and nourish mankind by useful labors gather round it, and 
 you will discover the enemy that preys upon you." 
 
 The standard being raised, this nation divided itself at once 
 into two unequal bodies, of a contrasted appearance : one, innu- 
 merable, and almost total, exhibited, in the general poverty of 
 its clothing, in its emaciated appearance and sun-burnt faces, 
 the marks of misery and labor; the other, a little group, an im- 
 perceptible faction, presented, in its rich attire bedaubed with 
 gold and silver, and in its sleek and ruddy faces, the signs of 
 leisure and abundance. 
 
 Considering these men more attentively, I found that the 
 great body was composed of farmers, artificers, merchants, all 
 professions useful to society, and that the little group was made 
 up of the ministers of worship of every order (monks and 
 priests), of financiers, nobles and men in livery, of the com- 
 manders of troops and other hireling agents of government. 
 
 These two bodies being assembled face to face, and regarding 
 each other with astonishment, I saw indignation and rage arising 
 in one side, and a sort of panic in the other ; and the larger said 
 to the smaller body : — 
 
 " Why are you separated from us ? are you not of our num- 
 ber?" 
 
 " No," replied the group : '* you are the people ; we are a 
 privileged class, who have our laws, customs, and rights, pecu- 
 liar to ourselves." 
 
 People. — '' And what labor do you perform in our society ?" 
 Privileged Class. — " None ; we are not made to work." 
 People. — " How, then, have you acquired these riches ?" 
 Privileged Class. — " By taking the pains to govern you." 
 People. — " What ! we toil, and you enjoy ! we produce, and 
 you dissipate ! Wealth proceeds from us ; you absorb it, and 
 you call this governing ! — Privileged class, distinct body not 
 belonging to us, form your nation apart, and we shall see how 
 you will subsist." 
 
 Then the smaller group, deliberating on this new state of 
 things, some just and generous men among them said : " We 
 must join the people, and bear our part of the burden, for they 
 are men like us, and our riches come from them." But other? 
 
76 THE RUINS. 
 
 arrogantly exclaimed : " It would be a shame, an infamy, for us 
 to mingle with the crowd ; they are born to serve us. Are we 
 not the noble and pure descendants of the conquerors of this 
 empire ? This multitude must be reminded of our rights and 
 its own origin." 
 
 The Nobles. — " People ! know you not that our ancestors 
 conquered this land, and that your race was spared only on 
 condition of serving us ? This is our social compact ! this the 
 government constituted by custom and prescribed by time." 
 
 People. — " O conquerors, pure of blood ! show us your gene- 
 alogies ! we shall then see if what in an individual is robbery 
 and plunder, can be virtuous in a nation." 
 
 And forthwith, voices were heard in every quarter calling out 
 the nobles by their names ; and relating their origin and parent- 
 age, they told how the grandfather, great-grandfather, or even 
 father, born traders and mechanics, after acquiring wealth in 
 every waj', had purchased their nobility for money : so that but 
 very few families were really of the original stock. *' See," 
 said these voices, "see these purse-proud commoners who deny 
 their parents ! see these plebeian recruits who look on them- 
 selves as illustrious veterans !" — and peals of laughter were 
 heard. 
 
 To stifle them, some astucious men cried out : " Mild and 
 faithful people, acknowledge the legitimate authority :* the king 
 wills, the law ordains." 
 
 • To ascertain the signification of the word legitimate, it should be 
 considered that it comes from the Latin legi-intimvs — intrinsic in the 
 law, written in it. If, therefore, the law is made by the prince alone, 
 the prince alone makes himself legitimate : then he is merely a de^^pot ; 
 his will is the law. 'J'his is not wliat is meant, for the same right would 
 he transferred to the power tliat should overturn him. What is the law 
 (the source of right) ? The Latin also informs us : from Icgere, to read 
 lectio — is derived lex, res lecta — thing read : this thing read is an order to 
 do, or not to do, a particular action, and this on condition of penalty or 
 reward attached tn the observance or infringement. This order is read 
 to those concerned, that they might not plead ignorance. It was writ- 
 icn, that it might he read without any alteration : such is the signilica- 
 \'ox\, and such the origin, of the word law. Hence the several epithets 
 of which it is .susceptible : wise law, absurd law, just law, unjust law, 
 according to the effect resulting from it, and it is this effect which char- 
 dcterizes the power whence it proceeds. Now, in the social state, in 
 Ihe government of men. what is just and unjust ? Justice consists in 
 
THE RUINS. 77 
 
 People. — '• Privileged class, explain the word legitimate : if 
 It means conformable to intrinsic in the law, say who made the 
 law ? Can the law ordain anything else than the presei-vatioa 
 of the multitude ?" 
 
 Then the military governors said : " The multitude will only 
 submit to force ; we must chastise them. Soldiers, strike this 
 rebellious people !" 
 
 People. — " Soldiers ! you are of our blood ! Will you strike 
 your brothers, your relations ? If the people perish, who will 
 nourish the army ?'* 
 
 And the soldiers, grounding their arms, said : **We are like- 
 wise the people ; show us the enemy !" 
 
 Then the ecclesiastical governors said : " There is but one 
 resource left : the people are superstitious ; we must frighten 
 them with the name of God and religion- 
 
 ** Our dear brethren ! our children ! God has ordained us to 
 govern you." 
 
 People. — " Show us your powers from God !" 
 
 Priests. — " You must have faith ; reason leads astray." 
 
 People. — " Do you govern without reason ?" 
 
 Priests. — " God commands peace : religion prescribes obedi- 
 ence." 
 
 People. — " Peace supposes justice ; obedience implies con 
 viction of a duty." 
 
 Priests. — " Suffering is the busmess of this world." 
 
 People. — " Show us the example." 
 
 preserving or restoring to each individual what belongs to him ; conse- 
 quently, 1st, life, which he owes to a power above all ; 2d, the use of 
 the senses and faculties given him by that same power ; 3d, the enjoy- 
 «ient of the fruits of his labor : and all this, as long as he injures not 
 these same rights in others ; for, if he does injure them, there is injus- 
 tice — that is to say, a breach of equality and equilibrium between man 
 and man. But the greater the number of the injured, the more injustice 
 is committed : consequently, if, as is the fact, what is called the people 
 composes the immense majority of a nation, it is the interest, the happi- 
 ness of that majority, which constitutes justice. This truth is well ex- 
 pressed by the axiom : Salus populi, suprema lex esfo—the safety of the 
 people, this is the law, this is legitimacy. And observe that salus does 
 not say the will, as some fanatics have imagined j for, first, the people 
 may be deceived ; then how is this collective and abstract will to be 
 expressed ? experience proves it. Salus popvli ! the art is to know and 
 to accomplish it. 
 
 7« 
 
78 THE RUIXS. 
 
 Priests. — " Would you live with gods or kings? 
 People. — " We would live without oppressors." 
 Priests. — " You must have mediators, intercessors." 
 People. — " Mediators with God, and with the king ! courtieri 
 and priests, your services are too expensive ; we will henceforth 
 manage our own affairs." 
 
 And then the little group said : "All is lost ' the multitude is 
 enlightened." 
 
 And the people answered : *' All is safe ! Since we are en- 
 lightened, we will commit no violence ; we only claim oui 
 rights. We feel resentments ; but we forgot them : we were 
 slaves — we might command ; but we only wish to be free, and 
 liberty is but justice." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A FREE AND LEGISLATIVE PEOPLE. 
 
 Considering now that all public power was suspended, and 
 that the habitual restraint of the people had suddenly ceased, I 
 shuddered with the apprehension that they would fall into the 
 dissolution of anarchy ; but immediately a voice was heard to 
 say :— 
 
 " It is not enough that we have freed ourselves from tyrants 
 and parasites; we must prevent their return. We are men, and 
 exi)erience has abundantly taught us that every one is fond of 
 power, and wishes to enjoy at the expense of others. It is 
 necessary, then, to guard against a propensity which is the 
 source of discord ; we must establish certain rules of duty and 
 of right. But the knowledge of our rights, and the estimation 
 of our duties, are so abstract and difficult as to require all the 
 time and all the faculties of a man. Occupied in our own af- 
 fairs, we have not leisure for these studies ; nor can we exercise 
 these functions in our own persons. Let us choose, then, 
 among ourselves, such persons as are capable of this employ- 
 ment. To them we will delegate our powers to institute our 
 government and laws ; they shall be the representatives of our 
 
THE RUINS. 7» 
 
 wills and of our interests. And in order to attain the fairest 
 representation possible of our wills and our interests, let it be 
 numerous, and composed of men resembling ourselves." 
 
 Having made the election of a numerous body of delegates, 
 the people thus addressed them : — 
 
 " We have hitherto lived in a society formed by chance, with- 
 out fixed agreements, without free conventions, without a stipu- 
 lation of rights, without reciprocal engagements ; and a multi- 
 tude of disorders and evils have arisen from this precarious state. 
 We are now determined on forming a regular compact, and we 
 have chosen you to adjust the articles : examine, then, with 
 care what ought to be its basis and its conditions ; consider 
 what is the end and the principle of every association ; recog- 
 nise the rights which every member brings, the powers which 
 he gives up, and those which he reserves to himself : point out 
 to us the rules of conduct, and equitable laws; prepare us a 
 new system of government, for we feel that the one which has 
 hitherto guided us is corrupt. Our fathers have wandered in 
 the paths of ignorance, and habit has taught us to stray after 
 them ; everything has been done by fraud, violence, and delu- 
 sion, and the true laws of morality and reason are still obscure; 
 clear up, then, their chaos ; trace out their connexion; publish 
 their code, and we will adopt it." 
 
 And the people raised an immense throne, in form of a pyra- 
 mid, and, seating on it the men they had chosen, said to them : 
 ♦ We raise you to-day above us, that you may better discover 
 the whole of our relations, and be above the reach of our pas- 
 sions. 
 
 "But remember that you are our fellow-citizens ; that the 
 power we confer on you is our own ; that we deposite it with 
 you, not as a property or an inheritance ; that you must be the 
 first to obey the laws you make ; that to-morrow you redescend 
 among us, and that you will have acquired no other right but 
 that of our esteem and gratitude. And reflect what tribute of 
 glory the world, which reveres so many apostles of error, will 
 bestow on the first assembly of rational men, who shall have sol- 
 emnly proclaimed the immutable principles of justice, and con- 
 secrated in the face of tyrants the rights of nations!" 
 
90 THE RUINS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 UNIVERSAL BASIS OF ALL RIGHT AND ALL LAW. 
 
 The men chosen by the people to investigate the true prin- 
 ciples of morals and of reason then proceeded in the sacred 
 object of their mission ; and, after a long exammation, having 
 discovered a fundamental and universal principle, a legislator 
 arose and said to the people : — 
 
 " Here is the primordial basis, the physical origin of all jus- 
 tice and of all right. 
 
 " Whatever be the active power, the moving cause that gov- 
 erns the universe, since it has given to all men the same organs, 
 the same sensations, and the same wants, it has thereby declared 
 that it has given to all the same right to the use of its treasures, 
 and that all men are equal in the order of nature. 
 
 " Secondly, since this power has given to each man the 
 necessary means of preserving his own existence, it is evident 
 that it has constituted them all independent one of another; that 
 it has created them free; that no man is subject to another; that 
 each is absolute proprietor of his own person. 
 
 " Equality and liberty are, therefore, two essential attributes 
 of man — two laws of the Divinity constitutional and unchangea- 
 ble, like the physical properties of matter. 
 
 " Now, every individual being absolute master of his own 
 person, it follows that a full and free consent is a condition in- 
 dispensable to all contracts and all engagements. 
 
 '* Again, since each individual is equal to another, it follows 
 that the balance of what is received, and of what is given, should 
 be strictly in equilibrium ; so that the idea of liberty necessarily 
 imports that of justice, the daughter of equality.* 
 
 • The words themselves retrace this connexion ; for (Equililrium, eequi- 
 tas, ceqiialUas, are all of the same family, and the physical idea of equal- 
 ity in the scales of a balance is the archetype of all these abstract ideas. 
 Liberty itself, when rightly analyzed, is only justice ; for, if a man, be- 
 cause he calls himself free, attacks another, the latter, by the same right 
 of liberty, can and ought to repel him ; the right of one is equal to the 
 right of the other j force may suspend this equilibrium, but it becomes 
 
THE RUINS. 81 
 
 •* Equality and liberty are therefore the physical and unalter- 
 able basis of every union of men in society, and consequently 
 the necessary and generating principle of every law and of every 
 system of regular government. 
 
 " A disregard of this basis has introduced in your nation, and 
 in every other, those disorders which have finally roused you. 
 It is by returning to this rule that you may reform them, and 
 reorganize a happy order of society. 
 
 " But observe, this reorganization will occasion a violent com- 
 motion in your habits, your fortunes, and your prejudices. Vi- 
 cious contracts and abusive claims must be dissolved ; unjust 
 distinctions, and ill-founded property, renounced ; indeed, you 
 must recur for a moment to a state of nature. Consider whether 
 you can consent to so many sacrifices." 
 
 Then, reflecting on the cupidity inherent in the heart of man, 
 I thought that this people would renounce all ideas of ameliora- 
 tion. 
 
 But, in a moment, a great number of generous men of the 
 highest rank, advancing toward the pyramid, made a solemn ab 
 juration of all their distinctions and all their riches. " Establish 
 for us," said they, "the laws of equality and liberty ; we will 
 henceforth possess nothing but on the sacred title of justice 
 
 " Equalit}', justice, liberty, these shall be our code and our 
 standard." 
 
 And then the people immediately raised a great standard, in- 
 scribed with these three words, in three different colors. They 
 displayed it over the pyramid of the legislator, and for the first 
 time the fip.g of universal justice floated on the face of the 
 earth ; and the people raised before the pyramid a new altar, on 
 which they placed golden scales, a sword, and a book with thia 
 inscription : 
 
 " To equal Law, ivhich judges and protects.''' 
 
 And having surrounded the pyramid and the altar with a vast 
 amphitheatre, all the nation took their seats to hear the publica- 
 tion of the law. And millions of men, raising at once their 
 hands to heaven, took the solemn oath to live free and just ; to 
 
 injustice and tyranny in the lowest democrat as well as in the highest 
 potentate. 
 
2 THE RUTNS. 
 
 aspect their reciprocal properties and rights ; to obey the law 
 «nd its ministers regularly constituted. 
 
 A spectacle so forceful and sublime, so replete with generous 
 emotions, moved me to tears, and, addressing myself to the Gen- 
 ius, "Let me now live," said I, "for in future 1 have eveiything 
 to hope." 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CONSTERNATION AND CONSPIRACY OF TYRANTS. 
 
 But scarcely had the solemn voice of liberty and equality 
 resounded through the earth, when a movement of confusion 
 and astonishment arose indifferent nations: on the one hand, 
 the people, warmed with desire, but wavering between hope 
 and fear, between the sentiment of right and habit of oppression, 
 began to be in motion; the kings, on the other hand, suddenly 
 awakened from the sleep of indolence and despotism, were 
 alarmed for the safety of their thrones; while, on all sides, those 
 clans of civil and religious tyrants, who deceive kings and op- 
 press the people, were seized with rage and consternation ; and 
 concerting their perfidious plans, "Wo to us," said they, "if 
 this fatal cry of liberty comes to the ears of the multitude! wo 
 to us if this pernicious spirit of justice be propagated!" And 
 pointing to the floating banner, "Conceive," said they, "what 
 a swarm of evils are included in those three words ! If all men 
 are equal, where is our exclusive right to honors and to power? 
 If all men are to be free, what becomes of our slaves, our vas- 
 sals, our property ? If all are equal in the civil state, where is 
 our prerogative of birtli, of inheritance ? what becomes of no- 
 bility ? li they are all equal in the sight of God, what need of 
 mediators ? where is the priesthood ? Let us hasten, then, to 
 destroy a germ so prolific, and so contagious ! We must em- 
 ploy all our cunning against this calamity; we must frighten 
 the kings, that they may join our cause. We must divide the 
 people by national jealousies, and occupy them with commo- 
 tions, wars, and conquests. They must be alarmed at the 
 power of this free nation. Jjet us form a league against the 
 
THE RUINS. 83 
 
 common enemy, demolish that sacrilegious standard, overturn 
 that throne of rebellion, and stifle the flame of revolution in its 
 birth." 
 
 And, indeed, the civil and religious tyrants of nations formed 
 a general coalition ; and multiplying their followers by force 
 and seduction, they marched in hostile array against the free 
 nation ; and, surrounding the altar and the pyramid of natural 
 law, they exclaimed, " What is this new and heretical doctrine? 
 What this impious altar, this sacrilegious worship? True be- 
 lievers and loyal subjects ! can you suppose that truth is first 
 disclosed to you to-day, and that hitherto you have been walk- 
 ing in error ? that those rebels, more lucky than you, have the 
 sole privilege of wisdom ? And you, misguided nation, per^ 
 ceive you not that your new leaders are deceiving you, that 
 they pervert the principles of your faith, and overturn the reli- 
 gion of your fathers ? Ah, tremble ! lest the wrath of Heaven 
 should kindle against you, and hasten by speedy repentance to 
 retrieve your error." 
 
 But, inaccessible to seduction, as well as to fear, the free na- 
 tion answered not, and rising universally in arms, assumed an 
 imposing attitude. 
 
 And the legislator said to the chiefs of nations: " If while we 
 walked with a bandage over our eyes the light guided our steps, 
 why, since we are no longer blindfold, should it escape our 
 search ? If guides, who prescribe clear-sightedness to man, 
 mislead and deceive him, what can be expected from those who 
 profess to keep him in darkness? 
 
 " Leaders of the people! if you possess the truth, show it to 
 us : we will receive it with gratitude ; for we seek it with ar- 
 dor, and have a great interest in finding it : we are men, and 
 liable to be deceived ; but you are also men, and equally falli- 
 ble. Aid us, then, in this labyrinth, where the human race has 
 wandered for so many ages; help us to dissipate the illusion of 
 so many prejudices and vicious habits ; amid the shock of so 
 many opinions which dispute for our acceptance, assist us in 
 discovering the proper and distinctive character of truth. Let 
 us terminate this day the long combat of error ; let us establish 
 between it and truth a solemn contest, to which we will invite 
 the opinions of men of all nations ; let us convoke a general as- 
 sembly of the nations ; let them be judges in their own cause , 
 
g4 THE RUINS. 
 
 and in the debate of all systems, let no champion, no argument* 
 be wanting, either on the side of prejudice or of reason ; and let 
 the sentiment of a general and common mass of evidence give 
 birth to a universal concord of opinions and of hearts." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NATIONS. 
 
 Thus spoke the legislator; and the multitude, seized with 
 those emotions which a reasonable proposition always inspires, 
 expressed its applause, while the tyrants, left without support, 
 were overwhelmed with confusion. 
 
 A scene of a new and astonishing nature then opened to my 
 view : all the people and nations inhabiting the globe, men of 
 every race and of every region, converging from their various 
 cliniates, seemed to assemble in one allotted place ; where, 
 forming an immense congress, distinguished in groups by the 
 vast variety of their dresses, features, and complexion, the 
 numberless multitude presented a most unusual and affecting 
 sight. 
 
 On one side I saw the European, witli his short close coat, 
 pointed triangular hat, smooth chin, and powdered hair; on the 
 other side the Asiatic, with a flowing robe, long beard, shaved 
 head, and round turban. Here stood the nations of Africa, with 
 their ebony skins, their woolly hair, their body girt with white 
 and blue tissues of bark, adorned with bracelets and necklaces of 
 coral, shells, and glass : there the tribes of the north, enveloped 
 in their leathern bags ; the Laplander, with his pointed bonnet 
 and his snow-shoes ; the Samoyede, with his feverish body and 
 strong odor ; the Tongouse, with his horned cap, and carrying 
 his idols pendent from his neck ; the Yakoute, with his freckled 
 face ; the Kalmuc, with his flat nose and little retorted eyes. 
 Farther distant were the Chinese, attired in silk, with their hair 
 hanging in tresses ; the Japanese, of mingled race ; the Malays, 
 with wide-spreading ears, rings in their noses, and broad hata 
 of the palm- 'eaf ; and the tattooed races of the isles of the oceao 
 
THE RUINS. 86 
 
 and of the continent of the antipodes. The view of 80 many 
 varieties of the same species, of so many extravagant inventiona 
 of the same understanding, and of so many modifications of the 
 same organization, affected me with a thousand feelings and a 
 thousand thoughts. I contemplated with astonishment this 
 gradation of color, which, passing from a bright carnation to a 
 light brown, a deeper brown, smutty, bronze, olive, leaden, 
 copper, ends in the black of ebony and jet. And finding the 
 Kachemirian, with his rosy cheek, next to the sun-burnt Hin 
 doo, and the Georgian by the side of the Tartar, I reflected on 
 the effects of climate hot or cold, of soil high or low, marshy 
 or dry, open or shaded. I compared the dwarf of the pole with 
 the giant of the temperate zones ; the slender body of the Arab 
 with the clumsy Holhmder ; ihe squat stunted figure of the 
 Samoyede with the elegant form of the Greek and the Sclavo- 
 nian ; the greasy black wool of the Negro with the bright silken 
 locks of the Dane ; the broad face of the Kalmuc, his little an- 
 gular eyes and flattened nose, with the oval prominent visage, 
 large blue eyes and aquiline nose, of the Circassian and the 
 Abazan. I contrasted the brilliant calicoes of the Indian, the 
 well-wrought stuffs of the European, the rich furs of the Sibe- 
 rian, with the tissues of bark, of osiers, leaves, and feathers, of 
 savage nations ; and the blue figures of serpents, flowers, and 
 stars, with which they painted their bodies. Sometimes the 
 variegated appearance of this multitude reminded me of the 
 enamelled meadows of the Nile and of the Euphrates, when, 
 after rains or inundations, millions of flowers are rising on every 
 side; sometimes their murmurs and their motions' called to 
 mind the numberless swarms of locusts which, issuing from the 
 desert, cover in spring the plains of Hauran. • 
 
 At the sight of so many rational beings, considering on the 
 one hand the immensity of ideas and sensations assembled in 
 this place, and, on the other hand, reflecting on the opposition 
 of so many opinions, and the shock of so many passions of men 
 so capricious, I struggled between astonishment, admiration, 
 and secret dread — when the legislator commanded silence, and 
 attracted all my attention. 
 
 " Inhabitants of earth ! a free and powerful nation addresses 
 you the words of justice and of peace, and offers you the sure 
 uliidges of her intentions in her own conviction and experience. 
 
 b 
 
S^ THE RUIXS. 
 
 Long afflicted with the same evils as yourselves, we sought fot 
 their source, and found them all derived frum violence and in- 
 justice, erected into law by the inexperience of past ages, and 
 maintained by tlie prejudices of the present ; tlien abolishing 
 our artificial and arbitrary institutions, and recurring to the origin 
 of all right and all reason, we have found that there existed in 
 the very order of nature, and in the physical constitution of man, 
 eternal and immutable laws, which only waited his observance 
 to render him happy. O men ! cast your eyes on the heavens 
 that give you light, and on the earth that gives you bread ! 
 Since they offer the same bounties to you all, since from the 
 power that gives them iiiotion you have all received the same 
 life, the same organs, have you not all received the same right 
 to enjoy its benefits ? Has it not hereby declare'd you all equal 
 and free ? What mortal shall dare refuse to his fellow that 
 which nature gives him ? O nations I let us banish all tyranny 
 and all discord ; let us form but one society, one great family; 
 and, since human nature has but one constitulion, let there ex- 
 ist in future but one law, that of nature — but one code, that of 
 reason — but one throne, that of justice — but one altar, that of 
 union." 
 
 He ceased ; and an immense acclamation resounded to the 
 skies : ten thousand benedictions announced the transports of 
 the multitude, and they made the earth re-echo justice, equal- 
 ity, and union. But ditferent emotions soon succeeded ; soon 
 the doctors and the chiefs of nations, exciting a spirit of dispute, 
 there was heard a sullen murmur, which growing louder, and 
 spreading from group to group, became a vast disorder ; and 
 each nation, setting up exclusive pretensions, claimed a prefer- 
 ence for its own code and opinion. 
 
 " You are in error," said the parties, pointing one to the 
 other; "we alone are in possession of reason and truth. We 
 alone have the true law, the real rule of right and justice, the 
 only means of happiness and perfection : all other men are 
 either blind or rebellious." And great agitation prevailed. 
 
 But the legislator, ])aving ordered silence : " People," said 
 he, " wli;»t is that passionate emotion ? Whither will that 
 quarrel conduct you ? What can you expect from this dissen- 
 sion ? The earth has been for ages a field of disputation, and 
 you have shed torrents of blood for chimerical opinions : Whai 
 
THE RUINS. 87 
 
 hAve you gained by so many battles and tears ? When the 
 strong has subjected the weak to his opinion, has he thereby 
 aided the cause of truth ? O nations ! take counsel of your 
 own wisdom ! When among yourselves disputes arise between 
 families and individuals, how do you reconcile them ? Do you 
 not give them arbitrators ?" — " Yes," cried the whole multi- 
 tude. — " Do so, then, to the authors of your present dissensions. 
 Order those who call themselves your instructors, and who force 
 their creeds upon you, to discuss before you their reasons. 
 Since they appeal to your interests, inform yourselves how they 
 support them. — And you, chiefs and doctors of the people, be- 
 fore dragging ihem into the quarrels of your opinions, let the 
 reasons for and against them be discus^^ed. Let us establish 
 one solemn controvers}', one public scrutiny of truth — not be- 
 fore the tribunal of a corruptible individual, or a prejudiced 
 party, but in the forum of mankind, presided by all their infor- 
 mation and all their interests. Let the natural sense of the 
 whole human race be our arbiter and judge." 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE SEARCH OF TRUTH. 
 
 The people e-xpressed their applause, and the legislator said ; 
 "To proceed with order, and avoid all confusion, let a spacious 
 semicircle be left vacant in front of the altar of peace and union ; 
 let each system of religion, and each particular sect, erect its 
 proper distinctive standard on the line of this semicircle ; let its 
 chiefs and doctors place themselves around the standard, and 
 their followers form a column behind them." 
 
 The semicircle being traced, and the order published, there 
 instantly rose an innumerable multitude of standards, of all col- 
 ors and of every form, like what we see in a great commercial 
 port, when, on a day of rejoicing, a thousand different flags and 
 streamers are floatiuo; fiom a forest of masts. At sight of this 
 prodigious diversity, turning toward the Genius — " I thought," 
 said I, " that the earth was divided only into eight or ten sys- 
 
gg THE RUINS. 
 
 leriis of faith, and I then despaired of a reconcihation : now tba 
 I behold thousands of different sects, how can I hope for con 
 coi-d 7" — "But these," replied the Genius, "are not all; and 
 yet they will be intolerant !" 
 
 Then, as the groups advanced to take their stations, he point- 
 ed out to me their distinctive marks, and thus began to explain 
 their characters ; — 
 
 "That first group," said he, "with a green banner, bearing a 
 crescent, a bandage, and a sabre, are the followers of the Ara- 
 bian prophet. To say there is a God (without knowing what 
 he is) ; to believe the words of a man (without understanding' 
 his language) ; to go into the desert to pray to God (who is 
 eveiywhere); to wash the hands with water (and not abstain 
 from blood) ; to fast all day (and eat all night) ; to give alms of 
 their own goods (and to plunder those of others) : such are the 
 means of perfection instituted by Mahomet — such are the sym- 
 bols of his followers. Whoever does not adopt them is a rep- 
 robate, stricken with anathema, and devoted to the sword. A. 
 merciful God, the author of life, has instituted these laws of 
 oppression and murder : he made them for all the world, but 
 has revealed them only to one man ; he established them from 
 all eternity, though he made them known but yesterday ; they 
 are abundantly sufficient for all purposes, and yet a volume is 
 added to them : this volume was to diffuse light, to exhibit evi- 
 dence, to lead men to perfection and happiness, and yet every 
 page was so full of obscurities, ambiguities, and contradictions, 
 that commentaries and explanations became necessary, even in 
 the lifetime of its apostles ; and its interpreters, differing in 
 opinion, divided into opposite and hostile sects. One maintains 
 that Ali is the true successor; the other contends for Omar and 
 Aboubekre. This denies the eternity of the Koran ; that the 
 necessity of ablutions and prayers. The Carmate forbids pil- 
 grimages, and allows the use of wine ; the Hakemike preaches 
 the transmigration of souls. Thus .they make up the number 
 of seventy-two sects, whose banners arc before you. In this 
 contestation, every one attributing the evidence of truth exclu- 
 sively to himself, and taxing all others with heresy and rebel- 
 lion, turns against them his sanguinary zeal. And their religion, 
 which celebrates a mild and merciful God, the common father 
 
 ""all men, converted to a torch of discord, a signal for war and 
 
THE RUINS. ^9 
 
 murder, has not ceased for twelve hundred years to deluge the 
 earth in blood,* and to ravage and desolate the ancient hemi- 
 sphere from one end to the other. 
 
 ''.TJ?osejmenj_distmguished by their enormous white turbans, 
 their broad sleeves, and their long rosaries, are the Imams, the 
 Mollas, and the Muftjes ; and near them are the dervices, with 
 pointed bonnets, and the Santons, with dishevelled hair. Be- 
 hold with what vehemence they recite their professions of faith 
 They are now beginning a dispute about the greater and lesser 
 impurities; about the matter and the manner of ablutions 
 about the attributes of God and his perfections ; about the chai- 
 tan, and the good and wicked angels ; about death, the resur- 
 rection, the interrogatory in the tomb, the judgment, the passage 
 of the bridge not broader than a hair, the balance of works, the 
 pains of hell, and the joys of paradise. 
 
 " Next to these, that second, more numerous group, with 
 white banners intersected with crosses, are the followers of Je- 
 sus. Acknowledging the same God with the Mussulmans, found- 
 ing their belief on the same books, admitting, like them, a first 
 man who damned the human race by eating an apple, they hold 
 them, however, in a holy abhorrence, and out of pure piety they 
 call each other impious blasphemers. The great point of their 
 dissension consists in this, that, after admitting a God one and 
 indivisible, the Christian divides him into three persons, each 
 of which he believes to be a complete and entire God, without 
 ceasing to constitute an identical whole, by the indivisibility of 
 the three. And he adds, that this being, who fills the universe, 
 has dwindled into the body of a man, and has assumed material, ' 
 perishable, and limited organs, without ceasing to be immaterial, 
 infinite, and eternal. The Mussulman, who does not compre- 
 hend these mysteries, rejects them as follies, and the visions of 
 a distempered brain, though he conceives perfectly well the 
 eternity of the Koran and the mission of the prophet ; hence 
 their implacable hatreds. 
 
 * Read the history of Islamism by its own writers, and you will be 
 convinced that one of the principal causes of the wars which have deso- 
 lated Asia and Africa since the days of Mahomet, has been the apos- 
 tolical fanaticism of its doctrine. Cesar has been supposed to have 
 destroyed three millions of men ; it would be interesting to make a 
 similar calculation respecting every founder of a religious system 
 
 8* 
 
90 THE RUIXS. 
 
 •' Again, the ChiistiaiiR, divided among themselves on many 
 points, have formed parties not less violent than the Mussulmans ; 
 and their quarrels are so much the more obstinate, as the ob- 
 jects of them are inaccessible to the senses, and incapable of 
 demonstration : their opinions, therefore, have no other basis 
 but the will and caprice of the parties. Thus, while they agree 
 that God is a being incomprehensible and unknown, they dis- 
 pute, nevertheless, about his essence, his mode of acting, and 
 his attributes : while they agree that his pretended transforma- 
 tion into a man is an enigma above the human understanding, 
 they dispute on the junction or distinction of his two wills and 
 his two natures, on his change of substance, on the real or ficti- 
 tious presence, on the mode of incarnation, etc., etc. 
 
 " Hence those innumerable sects, of which two or riiree hun- 
 dred have already perished, and three or four hundred others, 
 which still subsist, display those numberless banners which here 
 distract your sight. The first in order, surrounded by a group 
 m various fantastic dress — that confused mixture of violet, red, 
 white, black, and speckled garments — with heads shaved, with 
 tonsures, or with short hair — with red hats, square bonnets, 
 pointed mitres, or long beards — is the standard of the Roman 
 pontiff, who, uniting the civil government to the priesthood, hag 
 erected the supremacy of his city into a point of religion, and 
 made of his pride an article of faith. 
 
 " On his right you see the Greek pontiff, who, proud of the 
 rivalship of his metropolis, sets up equal pretensions, and sup- 
 ports them against the Western church by the priority of that 
 of the East. On the left are the standards of two recent chiefs,* 
 who, shaking off a yoke that had become tyrannical, have raised 
 allar against altar in their reform, and wrested half of Europe 
 from the pope. Behind these are the subaltern sects, subdivided 
 from the principal divisions, the Nestorians, the Eutycheans, 
 the Jacobites, the Iconoclasts, the Anabaptists, the Presbyteri- 
 ans, the Wicliffites, the Osiandrians, the Manicheans, the Pie- 
 tists, the Adamites, the Contemplatives, the Quakers, the Weep- 
 ers, and a hundred others, f all of distinct parties, persecuting 
 when strong, tolerant when weak, hating each other in the 
 
 * Luther and Calvin. 
 
 t Consult, upon this subject, Dictionnaire des Heresies par I'abbe Plu 
 quel, who has omitted a great number, in 2 vols, octavo. 
 
THE RUINS. 91 
 
 name of a God of peace, forming each an exclusive heaven in a 
 religion of universal charity, dooming each other to pains with- 
 out end in a future state, and realizing in this world the imagi- 
 nary hell of the other." 
 
 After this group, observing a solitary standard of the color of 
 hyacinth, round which were assembled men of all the different 
 dresses of Europe and Asia, "At least," said I to the Genius, 
 *' we shall find unanimity here." 
 
 " Yes," said he, " at first sight, and by a momentary accident* 
 do you not know that system of worship ?" 
 
 Then, perceiving in Hebrew letters the monogram of the 
 name of God, and the palms which the rabbins held in their 
 hands, " True," said I, " these are the children of Moses, dis- 
 persed even to this day, abhorring every nation, and abhorred 
 and persecuted by all." 
 
 ♦' Yes," he replied, " and for this reason, that, having neither 
 time nor liberty to dispute, they have the appearance of una- 
 nimity; but no sooner will they come together, compare their 
 principles, and reason on their opinions, than they will separate, 
 as formerly, at least into two principal sects ;* one of which, 
 taking advantage of the silence of their legislator, and adhering 
 to the literal sense of his books, will deny everything that is not 
 clearly expressed therein, and on this principle will reject, as 
 inventions of the circumcised, the immortality of the soul, its 
 transmigration to places of pain or pleasure, its resurrection, 
 the final judgment, the good and bad angels, the revolt of the 
 evil Genius, and all the poetical system of a world to come ; 
 and this highly-favored people, whose perfection consists in cut- 
 ting off a little piece of skin — this atom of a people, which forms 
 but a wave in the ocean of mankind, and which insists that God 
 has made nothing but for them — will by its schism reduce to 
 one half its present trifling weight in the scale of the universe." 
 
 He then showed me a neighboring group, composed of men 
 dressed in white robes, wearing a veil over their mouths, and 
 ranged around a banner of the color of the morning sky, on 
 which was painted a globe cut into two hemispheres, black and 
 white : " The same thing will happen," said he, " to these 
 children of Zoroaster, the obscure remnants of a people once 
 80 powerfut; 'St present, persecuted, like the Jews, and dis- 
 • The Sadducees and the Pharisees. 
 
go THE RUINS. 
 
 persed among other uations, they receive without discussion 
 the precepts of (he representative of their prophet ; but, as soon 
 as the mobed and the destours shall assemble, they will renew 
 the controversy about the good and the bad principle ; on the 
 combats of Ormuzd, god of light, and Ahrimanes, god of dark 
 ness ; on the direct and allegorical sense ; on the good and evil 
 genii; on the worship of fire and the elements; on impurities 
 and ablutions ; on the resurrection of the soul and body, or only 
 of the soul ; on the renovation of the present world, and on 
 that which is to take its place. And the Parses will divide into 
 sects,* so much the more numerous, as during their dispersion 
 their families will have contracted the manners and opinions of 
 foreign nations. 
 
 " Next to these, remark those banners of an azure ground, 
 painted with monstrous figures of human bodies, double, triple, 
 quadruple, with heads of lions, boars, and elephants, with tails 
 of fishes, tortoises, etc. ; these are the ensigns of the sects of 
 India, who find their gods in various animals, and the souls of 
 their fathers in reptiles and insects. These men endow hospi- 
 tals for hawks, serpents, and rats ; and they abhor their fellow- 
 creatures ! They purify themselves with the dung and urine 
 of cows, and think themselves defiled by the touch of a man ! 
 They wear a net over the mouth, for fear of swallowing, in a 
 fly, a soul in a state of penance, and they can see a paria perish 
 with hunger ! They acknowledge the same gods, but they 
 separate into hostile bands. 
 
 *' The first standard, retired from the rest, bearing a figure 
 with four heads, is that of Brahma, who, though the creator of 
 the universe, is without temples or followers ; but, reduced to 
 serve as a pedestalf to the Lingam, he contents himself with a 
 httle water, which the brahmin throws every morning on his 
 shoulder, reciting an idle canticle in his praise. 
 
 " The second, bearing a kite with a scarlet body and a white 
 
 • The followers of Zoroaster, called Parses, because they are descended 
 from the Persians, are better knowTi in Asia by the opprobrious name of 
 Gaures or Guebres, which means infidels : they are in Asia what the Jews 
 are in Europe. The name of their pope or high priest is mobed See, 
 respecting the rites of this religion, Henry Lord, Hyde, and the Zend 
 A.vesta. 
 
 f See Sonnerat, Voyaee aux Indes vol. i. 
 
THE RUINS. 93 
 
 head, is that of Vichenou, who, though preserver of the world, 
 has passed part of his life in wicked actions. You sometimes 
 see him under the hideous form of a boar or a lion tearing 
 human entrails, or under that of a horse shortly to come armed 
 with a sabre to destroy all that has life, to extinguish the stars, 
 annihilate the planets, shake the earth, and force the great ser- 
 pent to vomit a fire which shall consume the spheres. 
 
 " The third is that of Chiven, god of desolation and destruc- 
 tion, who has, however, for his emblem the symbol of genera- 
 tion : he is the wickedest of the three, and he has the most 
 followers. These men, proud of his character, express in their 
 devotions to him their contempt for the other gods,* his equals 
 and brothers ; and, in imitation of his inconsistencies, while 
 they profess great modesty and chastity, they publicly crown 
 with flowers, and sprinkle with^ injlk and honey, the obscene 
 image of the Lingam. 
 
 *' In the rear of theie approach the smaller standards of a mul- 
 titude of gods, male, female, and hermaphrodite ; these are 
 friends and relations of the three principal gods, and have passed 
 their lives in wars among themselves; and their followers imi- 
 tate them. These gods have need of nothing, and they are 
 constantly receiving presents ; they are omnipotent and omni- 
 present, and a brahmin by muttering a few words shuts them 
 up in an idol, or a pitcher, to sell their favors for his own 
 benefit. 
 
 " Beyond these, that cloud of standards, which, on a yellow 
 ground, common to them all, bear various emblems, are those 
 of the same god, who reigns under different names in the nations 
 of the East. The Chinese adores him in Fot,f the Japanese in 
 
 * When a sectary of Chiven hears the name of Vichenou pronounced, 
 he stops his ears, runs away, and purifies himself. 
 
 t The Chinese language having neither b nor d, that people pronounces 
 Fot what the Indians and Persians call Bodd, or Boudd (with short on). 
 Fot, in Pegu, changes into Fota and Fta, etc. It is only within a few 
 years that we begin to have exact notions of the doctrine of Boudd and 
 of his various sectaries ; and we are indebted for them to the learned men 
 of England, who, according as their nation subdues the jjeople of India, 
 study their religions and manners in ordt^ to make them known. The 
 work entitled Asiatic Researches is a precious collection of the kind : we 
 find in volume vi., page 163, in volume vii., page 32 aud page 399, three 
 Instructive memoirs concerning the Bouddists of Ceylon, and of Birn)ah 
 
94 THE RUINS. 
 
 Budso, the inhabitant of Ceylon in Bedhou and Boudah, of 
 Laos in Chekia, the Peguan in Phta, the Siamese in Sonimona- 
 Kodora, the Tibetan in Boudd and in La; aj2;reeing in some 
 points of his history, they all celebrate his life of penitence, his 
 mortifications, his fastings, his functions of mediator and expia- 
 tor, the enmity between him and another god, his adversary, 
 their battles, and his ascendency. But as they disagree on the 
 means of pleasing him, they dispute about rites and ceremonies, 
 and about the dogmas of interior doctrine and of public doctrine. 
 \^That Japanese bonze, with a yellow robe, and naked head, 
 preaches the eternity of souls, and their successive transmigra- 
 tions into various bodies; near him, the Sintoist denies that 
 souls can exist separate from the senses,* and maintains that 
 they are only the eflect of the organs to which they belong, 
 and with which they must perish, as the sound with the musi- 
 cal instrument. Near him, the Siamese, with his eyebrows 
 shaved, and a talipat screen in his hand,f recommends alms, 
 offerings, and expiations, and yet believes in blind necessity and 
 inexorable fate. The Chinese hochang sacrifices to the souls 
 of his ancestors ; and next him, the follower of ConfuciusJ in- 
 terrogates his destiny in the cast of dice and the movement of 
 the stars. That child, surrounded by a swarm of priests in yel- 
 low robes and hats, is the grand lama,l| in whom the god of 
 
 or Ava. An anonymous writer, but who appears to have meditated this 
 subject, has published in the Asiatic Jnurnal of 1816, month of January, 
 and following, until May, letters which promise further details of the 
 highest interest. We shall resume this subject in a note to chapter xxi. 
 
 * See, in Kempfer, the doctrine of the Sintoists, which is a mixture of 
 that of Epicurus and the Stoics. 
 
 t It is a leaf of the latanier species of the palm-tree ; hence the Bonzes 
 of Siam take the apellation of Talapoin. The use of this screen is an 
 exclusive privilege. 
 
 + The sectaries of Confucius are no less addicted to astrology than the 
 Bonzes. It is, indeed, the moral malady of every eastern nation. 
 
 II Is the same person whom we find nientioned in our old books of 
 travels by the name of Trester-John, from a corruption of the Persian 
 word djehan, which signifies the world. Thus the priest World and the 
 god World are intimately connected. 
 
 In a recent expedition, the English have found certain idols of the La- 
 mas filled in the inside with sacred pastels from the close stool of the 
 high priest. The fact is attested by Hastings, and Colonel Pollier, who 
 
THE RUINS. 95 
 
 Tibet has just become incarnate. But a rival has arisen, who 
 partakes this benefit with him ; and the Kalmouc on the banks 
 of Lake Baikal has a God similar to the inhabitant of Lasa; 
 but they agree, however, in one important point — that god can 
 inhabit only a human body ; they both laugh at the stupidity 
 of the Indian who pays homage to cowdung, though they them- 
 selves consecrate the excrements of their high priest." 
 
 After these, a crowd of other banners, which no man could 
 number, came forward into sight ; and the Genius exclaimed : 
 *' I should never finish the detail of all the systems of faith which 
 divide these nations. Here the hordes of the Tartars adore, in 
 the form of beasts, birds, and insects, the good and evil genii, 
 who, under a principal, but indolent god, govern the universe ; 
 in their idolatry they call to mind the ancient paganism of the 
 west. You observe the fantastical dress of their chamans, who, 
 under a robe of leather hung round with bells and rattles, idols 
 of iron, claws of birds, skins of snakes, and heads of owls, are 
 agitated by factitious convulsions, and invoke with magical cries 
 the dead to deceive the living. There the black tribes of Africa 
 exhibit the same opinions in the worship of iheir fetiches. See 
 the inhabitant of Juida worship god in a great snake,* which, 
 unluckily, the swine delight to eat. The Teleuteanf attires his 
 god in a coat of several colors, like a Russian soldier. The 
 
 perished in the troubles of Avignon. It will be very extraordinary to 
 observe, that this disgusting ceremony is connected with a profound 
 philosophical system, to wit, that of the metempsychosis, admitted by 
 the Lamas. When the Tartars swallow the sacred relics of the pontiff 
 (which they are accustomed to do), they imitate the laws of the uni- 
 verse, the parts of which are incessantly absorbed and pass into the sub- 
 stance of each other. It is the serpent devouring his tail ; and this ser- 
 pent is Boudd and the world. 
 
 * It frequently happens that the swine devour the very species of ser- 
 pents adored by the negroes, and this occasions great desolation in the 
 country. President de Brosscs has given us in his history of the Fetiches 
 a curious collection of absurdities of this nature. 
 
 t The Teleuteans, a Tartar nation, paint God as wearing a vesture of 
 all colors, particularly red and green ; and, as these constitute the uni. 
 form of the Russian dragoons, they compare him to this description of 
 soldiers. The Egyptians also dress the god World in a garment of every 
 color. Eusebius, Propp. Evang., p. 115, book iii. The Teleuteans call God 
 Bon, which is only an alteration of Boudd, the god Egg and World. 
 
9fi THE RUINS. 
 
 Kamchadale,* observing that everything goes wrong in his fro 
 zen climate, considers him as an old, ill-natured ma^, smoking 
 his pipe, and hunting foxes and martins in his sledge ; but you 
 may still behold a hundred savage nations who have none of the 
 ideas of civilized people respecting God, the soul, another 
 world, and a future life ; who have formed no system of worship, 
 and who, nevertheless, enjoy the gifts of nature in the irreligioo 
 ID which she has created them." -» 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS CONTRADICTIONS. 
 
 The various groups having taken their places, an unbounded 
 silence succeeded to the murmurs of the multitude, and the 
 legislator said : " Chiefs and doctors of mankind ! you remark 
 how the nations, living apart, have hitherto followed (^iferent 
 paths, each believing its own to be that of truth. If, however 
 truth is one, and opinions are various, it is evident that some 
 are in error. If, then, suoh vast numbers of us are in the wrong, 
 who shall dare to say, 'I am in the right?' Begin, therefore, 
 by being indulgent in your dissensions. Let us all seek truth 
 as if no one possessed it. The opinions which to this day have 
 governed the world, originating from chance, propagated in ob- 
 scurity, admitted without discussion, accredited by a love of 
 novelty and imitation, have usurped their empire in a clandes- 
 tine manner. It is time, if they are well founded, to give a 
 solemn stamp to their certainty, and legitimate their existence. 
 Let us summon them this day to a general scrutiny, let each 
 propound his creed, let the whole assembly be the judge, and 
 let that alone be acknowledged true which is so for the whole 
 human race." 
 
 Then, by order of position, the first standard on the left was 
 allowed to speak : " You are not permitted to doubt," said their 
 
 X Consult upon this subject a work entitled, Description des peuples sou- 
 mis I la Russie, and it will be found that the picture is not overcharged 
 
THE RUliXS. g^ 
 
 chiefs, "that odr doctiine is the only true and infaHible one. 
 First, it is revealed by God himself." 
 
 " So is ours," cried all the other standards, " and you are not 
 permitted to doubt it." 
 
 "But, at least," said the legislator, "you must prove it; fof 
 , we can not believe what we do not know." 
 
 " Our doctrine is proved," replied the first standard, " by nu- 
 merous facts ; by a multitude of miracles, by resurrections of 
 the dead, by rivers dried up, by mountains removed," etc. 
 
 "And we, also," cried all the others, "we have numberless 
 miracles;" and each began to recount the most incredible 
 things. 
 
 " Their miracles," said the first standard, "are imaginary, or 
 the fictions of the evil spirit, who has deluded them." 
 
 "They are yours," said the others, "that are imaginaiy;" 
 and each group, speaking of itself, cried out ; " None but ours 
 are true ; all the others are false." 
 
 The legislator asked : " Have you living witnesses ?" 
 " No," replied they all ; " the facts are ancient, the witnesses 
 are dead, but their writings remain." 
 
 "Be it so," replied the legislator; " but if they contradict 
 each other, who shall reconcile them ?" 
 
 "Just judge!" cried one of the standards, "the proof that 
 our witnesses have seen the truth is, that they died to confirm 
 It, and our faith is sealed with tlie blood of martyrs." 
 
 "And ours too," said the other standards ; "we have thou- 
 sands of martyrs who died in the most excruciating torments 
 without ever denying the truth." Then the Christians of everj^ 
 sect, the Mussulmans, the Indians, the Japanese, recited endless 
 legends of confessors, martyrs, penitents, etc. 
 
 And one of these parties having denied the martyrology of 
 the others-" Well," said they, "we will then die ourselves to 
 prove the truth of our belief." 
 
 And instantly a crowd of men, of every religion and of every 
 sect, presented themselves to suffer the torments of death. 
 Many even began to tear their arms, and to beat their heads and 
 breasts, without discovering any symptom of pain. 
 
 But the legislator, preventing them— " O men!" said he, 
 *• hear my words with patience ; if you die to prove that two 
 
98 THE RUINS. 
 
 and (wo make four, will your death render this truth moie evi- 
 dent ?" 
 
 " No," answered all. 
 
 "And if you die to prove that they make five, will that make 
 them five ?" 
 
 Again they all answered, " No." * 
 
 ♦' What, then, is your persuasion to prove, if it changes not 
 the existence of things ? Truth is one — your persuasions are 
 various ; many of you, therefore, are in error. Now, if man, 
 as is evident, can persuade himself of error, what does his per- 
 suasion prove ? 
 
 " If error has its martyrs, what is the criterion of truth ? 
 
 *' If the evil spirit works miracles, what is the distinctive char- 
 acter of God ? 
 
 " Besides, why resort for ever to incomplete and insufficient 
 miracles ? Instead of changing the course of nature, w^iy not 
 rather change opinions ? Why murder and terrify men, instead 
 of instructing and correcting them ? 
 
 " O credulous, but opiniated mortals ! none of us know what 
 was done yesterday, what is even doing to-day under our eyes, 
 and we swear to what was done two thousand years ago ! 
 
 " Oh, the weakness, and yet the pride of men ! The laws 
 of nature are immutable and profound, our minds are full ot 
 illusion and frivolity, and yet we would comprehend everything, 
 determine everything ! Verily, it is easier for the whole hu- 
 man race to be in an error, than to change the nature of an 
 atom." 
 
 "Well, then," said one of the doctors, "let us lay aside th* 
 evidence of fact, since it is uncertain ; let us come to argument 
 the proofs inherent in the doctrine." 
 
 Then came forward, with a look of confidence, an Imam ol 
 the law of Mahomet ; and, having advanced into the circle 
 turned toward Mecca, and recited with great fervor his confes 
 sion of faith : " Praised be God," said he, with a solemn anfl 
 imposing voice ; " the light shineth with full evidence, and truth 
 has no need of examination." Tlien showing the Koran — 
 " Here," said he, " is the light of truth in its proper essence. 
 There is no doubt in this book ; it conducts with safety him 
 who walks in darkness, and wlio receives without discussion the 
 divine word which descended on the prophet to save the simple 
 
THE RUINS. 99 
 
 and confound the wise. God has established Mahomet his 
 minister on earth ; he has given him the world, that he may 
 subdue with the sword whoever shall refuse to receive his law. 
 Jnfidels dispute, and will not believe • their obduracy comes 
 from God, who has hardened their hearts to deliver them to 
 dreadful punishments ."* 
 
 At these words, a violent murmur arose on all sides, and si- 
 lenced the speaker. " Who is this man," cried all the groups, 
 "who thus gratuitously insults us ? What right has he to im- 
 pose his creed on us as conqueror and tyrant ? Has not God 
 endowed us, as well as him, with eyes, understanding, and rea- 
 son ? And have we not an equal right to use them, in choosing 
 what to believe and what to reject ? If he attacks us, shall we 
 not defend ourselves ? If he likes to believe without examina- 
 tion, must we therefore not examine before we believe ? 
 
 "And what is this luminous doctrine that fears the light? 
 What is this apostle of a God of clemency, who preaches noth- 
 ing but murder and carnage ? What is this God of justice, 
 who punishes blindness which he himself has made ? If vio- 
 lence and persecution are the arguments of truth, must gentle- 
 ness and charity be looked on as signs of falsehood ?" 
 
 A man then advancing from a neighboring group, said to the 
 Imam: "Admitting that Mahomet is the apostle of the best 
 doctrine, the prophet of the true religion, have the goodness 
 at least to tell us, in the practice of his doctrine, whether we 
 are to follow his son-in-law Ali, or his vicars Omar and Abou- 
 bekre ?"t 
 
 At the sound of these names, a terrible schism arose among 
 the Mussulmans themselves : the partisans of Omar and of Ali, 
 calling out heretics and blasphemers, loaded each other with 
 execrations. The quarrel became so violent that the neighbor- 
 ing groups were obliged to interfere to prevent their coming to 
 blows. 
 
 At length, tranquillity being somewhat restored, the legislator 
 Baid to the Imams : " See the consequences of your principles ! 
 If you yourselves were to carry them into practice, you would 
 
 * This passage contains the sense, and nearly the very words, of the 
 first chapter of the Koran, 
 
 t These are the two grand parties into which the Mussulmans are di- 
 vided. The Turks have embraced the second, the Persians the first. 
 
100 THE RUINS. 
 
 destroy each other to the last man. Is it not the first law of 
 God tliat man should live ?" Then addressing himself to the 
 other groups : " Doubtless," said he, " this intolerant and ex- 
 clusive spirit shocks every idea of justice, and overturns the 
 whole foundation of morals and society ; but before we totally 
 reject this code of doctrine, is it not proper to hear some of its 
 dogmas, in order not to pronounce on the forms, without having 
 some knowledge of the substance ?" 
 
 The groups having consented, the Imam began to expound 
 how God, after having sent to the nations, lost in idolatry, twen- 
 ty-four thousand prophets, had finally sent the last, the seal and 
 j)erfecfion of all, Mahomet, on whom be the salvation of peace; 
 how, to prevent the divine word from being any longer perverted 
 by infidels, the supreme bounty had itself written the pages of 
 the Koran. Then explaining the particular dogmas of Islam- 
 Um, the Imam unfolded how the Koran, partaking of the divine 
 nature, was increate and eternal, like its author : how it had 
 been sent leaf by leaf in twenty-four thousand nocturnal appari- 
 tions of the angel Gabriel : how the angel announced himself 
 by a gentle knocking, which threw the prophet into a cold 
 sweat : how, in the vision of one night, he had travelled over 
 nineiy lieavens, riding on the animal boraq — half a horse and 
 lialf a woman : how, endowed with the gift of miracles, he 
 walked in the sunshine without a shadow, turned dry trees to 
 green, filled wells and cisterns with water, and split in two the 
 body of the moon : how, by divine command, Mahomet had 
 propagated, sword in hand, the religion the most worthy of God 
 by its sublimity, and the best adapted for man by the simplicity 
 of its practice, since it consisted in only eight or ten points : to 
 profess the uni'y of God ; to acknowledge Mahomet as his only 
 prophet ; to pray five times a day ; to fast one month in the 
 year; to go to Mecca once in our life; to pay the tenth of all 
 we possess ; to drink no wine ; to eat no pork ; and to make 
 war upon the infidels. He taught that by these means every 
 Mussulman, becoming himself an apostle and a mariyr, should 
 enjoj' in this world many blessings, and at his death his soul, 
 weighed in the balance of works, and absolved by the two black 
 angels, should pass the infernal pit on the bridge as narnnv as a 
 aair and as sharp as the edge of a sword, and should finnlly !)e 
 received to a region of delight, watered with rivers of milk and 
 
THE RUINS. 10 
 
 honey, and embalmed in all the perfumes of India and Arabia; 
 and where the celestial houris, virgins always chaste, are eter- 
 nally crowning with repeated favors the elect of God, who pre- 
 serve an eternal youth. 
 
 At these words, an involuntary smile was seen on every coun- 
 tenance ; and the various groups, reasoning on these articles of 
 faith, exclaimed with one voice : " Is it possible that reasonable 
 beings can admit such reveries ? Would not you think it a 
 chapter from the Arabian Nights ?" 
 
 A Samoyede advanced into the circle : " The paradise of 
 Mahomet," said he, "appears very desirable ; but one of the 
 means of gaining it is embarrassing : for if we must neither 
 eat nor drink between the rising and setting sun, as he has or- 
 dered, how are we to practise that fast in my country, where 
 the sun continues above the horizon four months without set 
 ling ?" 
 
 " That is impossible," cried all the Mussulman doctors, to 
 support the honor of the prophet ; but a hundred nations hav- 
 ing attested the fact, the infallibility of Mahomet could not but 
 receive a severe shock. 
 
 " It is singular," said an European, "that God should be con- 
 stantly revealing what takes place in heaven, without ever in- 
 structing us what is doing on the earth !" 
 
 " For my part," said an American, "I find a great difficulty 
 in the pilgrimage ; for suppose twenty-five years to a genera- 
 lion, and only a hundred millions of males on the globe — each 
 being obliged to go to Mecca once in his life — there must be 
 four millions a year on the journey ; and as it would be imprac- 
 ticable for them to return the same year, the numbers would be 
 doubled — that is, eight millions : where would you find pro- 
 visions, lodging, water, vessels, for this universal procession ? 
 Here must be miracles indeed !" 
 
 " The proof," said a catholic doctor, " that the religion of 
 Mahomet is not revealed, is, that the greater part of the ideas 
 which serve for its basis existed a long time before, and that it 
 is only a confused mixture of truths disfigured and taken from 
 our holy religion and from that of the Jews ; which an am!)i- 
 tious man has made to serve his projects of domination and his 
 worldly views. Peruse his book, you will see nothing there but 
 ^he histories of the Bible and the gospel travestied into absurd 
 
 9* 
 
102 THE RUTXS. 
 
 fables — a tissue of vague and contradictory declamations, and 
 ridiculous or dangerous precepts. Analyze the spirit of these 
 precepts, and the conduct of their apostle, you will find there 
 an artful and audacious character, which, to obtain its end, 
 works ably, it is true, on the passions of the people it had to 
 govern. Speaking to simple and credulous men, it entertains 
 them with miracles ; they are ignorant and jealous, and it flat- 
 ters their vanity by despising science ; they are poor and rapa- 
 cious, and it excites their cupidity by the hope of pillage ; hav- 
 ing notliing at first to give them on earth, it tells them of 
 treasures in heaven ; it teaches them to desire death as the 
 supreme good ; it threatens cowards with hell ; it rewards the 
 brave with paradise ; it sustains the weak with the opinion of 
 fatality ; in short, it produces the attachment it wants by all the 
 allurements of sense and all the power of the passions. 
 
 " How different is the character of our religion ! and how 
 completely does its empire, founded on the counteraction of our 
 natural inclinations, and the mortification of all our passions, 
 prove its divine origin ! How forcibly does its mild and com- 
 passionate morality, its afllections altogether spiritual, attest its 
 emanation from the divinity ! Many of its doctrines, it is true, 
 soar above the reach of the understanding, and impose on rea- 
 gon a respectful silence ; but this more fully demonstrates its 
 revelation, since the human mind could never have imagined 
 such mysteries." Then, holding the Bible in one hand and the 
 four Gospels in the other, the doctor began to relate, that, in 
 the beginning God (after having passed an eternity in inaction) 
 took the resolution, without any known cause, of making the 
 world out of nothing ; that having created the whole universe 
 in six days, he found himself fatigued on the seventh ; that 
 having placed the first human pair in a garden of delights, to 
 make them completely happy, he forbade their tasting a partic- 
 ular fruit which he left within their reach ; that these first 
 parents, having yielded to the temptation, all their race (yet un- 
 born) had been condemned to bear the penalty of a fault which 
 they had not committed ; that, after having left the human race 
 to damn themselves for four or five thousand years, this God of 
 mercy ordered a dearly beloved son, whom he had engendered 
 without a mother, and who was as old as himself, to go and be 
 put to death on the earth : and this for the salvation of man- 
 
THE RUTXS. . lOa 
 
 kind, of whom much the greater portion, nevertheless, have 
 ever since continued in the way of perdition ; that to remedj' 
 this new difficulty, this same God, born of a virgin, having died 
 and risen from the dead, assumes a new existence everj'- day, 
 and in the form of a piece of bread, multiplies himself by mil- 
 lions ai the voice of one of the vilest of men : then passing on 
 to the doctrine of the sacraments, he was going to treat at large 
 of the power of absolution and reprobation, of the means of 
 purging all sins oy a little water and a few words, when, utter- 
 ing the words indulgence, power of the pope, sufficient or effi 
 cacious grace, he was interrupted by a thousand cries : " It is 
 a horrible abuse," exclaimed the Lutherans, " to pretend to re- 
 mit sins for money." — " The notion ofthe real presence," cried 
 the Calvinists, "is contrary to the text of the gospel." — " The 
 pope has no right to decide anything of himself," cried the Jan- 
 senists ; and thirty other sects rising up and accusing each other 
 of heresy and error, it was no longer possible to hear anything 
 distinctly. 
 
 Silence being at last restored, the Mussulmans observed to 
 the legislator: " Since you have rejected our doctrine as con- 
 taining things incredible, can you admit that ofthe Christians? 
 Is not theirs still more contrary to common sense and justice ? 
 — a God, immaterial and infinite, to become a man ! to have a 
 son as old as himself! this god-man to become bread — to be 
 eaten and digested I Have we anything equal to tha* ? Have 
 the Christians an exclusive right to exact implicit faith ? And 
 will you grant them privileges of belief to our detriment ?" 
 
 Some savage tribes then advanced : " What !" said they, 
 *' because a man and woman ate an apple six thousand years 
 ago, all the human race are damned ! and you call God just I 
 What tyrant ever rendered children responsible for the faults 
 of their fathers ? What man can answer for another's actions ? 
 Is not this subversive of every idea of justice and of reason ?" 
 
 Others exclaimed : " Where are the proofs, the witnesses, ol 
 these pretended facts? Can we receive them without examin- 
 ing the evidence ? The least action in a court of justice re- 
 quires two witnesses ; and we are ordered to believe all this on 
 mere tradition and hearsay !" 
 
 A Jewish rabbin then addressing the assembly, said : "As to 
 the fundamental facts we are sureties ; but with regard to theii 
 
104 THE RUINS. 
 
 form and application, the case is different, and the Christiana 
 are Jiere condemned by their own arguments : for they can not 
 deny that we are the original source from which they are de- 
 rived — the primitive stock on which they are grafted ; and hence 
 the reasoning is very short : either our law is from God, and 
 then theirs is a heresy, since it differs from ours, or our law is 
 not from God, and then theirs fall at the same time." 
 
 " But you must make this distinction," replied the Christian : 
 " your law is from God, as typical and preparative, but not as 
 final and absolute ; you are the image of which we are the sub- 
 stance." 
 
 " We know," replied the rabbin, "that such are your preten- 
 sions ; but they are absolutely gratuitous and false. Your sys- 
 tem turns altogether on mystical* meanings, on visionary and 
 allegorical interpretations : with violent distortions on the letter 
 of our books, you substitute the most chimerical ideas to the 
 true ones, and find in them whatever pleases you, as a wild im- 
 agination will find figures in the clouds. Thus you have madet 
 a spiritual Messiah of that which, in the spirit of our prophets, 
 is only a temporal king ; you have made a redemption of the 
 human race out of the simple re-establishment of our nation ; 
 your conception of the virgin is founded on a single phrase, which 
 you have misunderstood. Thus you make from our Scriptures 
 whatever your fancy dictates — you even find there your trinity, 
 though there is not the most distant allusion to it, and it is an 
 invention of profane writers, admitted into your system with a 
 host of other opinions, of every religiofl and of every sect, during 
 the anarchy of the first three centuries of your era." 
 
 At these words, the Christian doctors, crying sacrilege and 
 blasphemy, sprang forward in a transport of fury to fall upon 
 the Jew. And a troop of monks, in motley dresses of black 
 and white, advanced with a standard, on which were painted 
 pincers, gridirons, lighted fagots, and the words justice, chari- 
 
 * When we read the Fathers of the church, and see upon what argu- 
 ments they have built the edifice of religion, we are inexpressibly aston- 
 ished with their credulity or their knavery ; but allegory was the rage of 
 that period : the pagans employed it to explain the actions of their gods 
 and the Christians acted in the same spirit when they employed it in an- 
 other manner. It would be interesting to publish now such books, or only 
 extracts from them. 
 
THE RUINS. 105 
 
 ty» mercy ; " we must," said they, " make an example of these 
 impious wretches, and burn them for the glory of God." They 
 began even to prepare the pile, when a Mussulman answered in 
 a strain of irony : — 
 
 " This, then, is your religion of peace, that meek and benefi- 
 cent system which you so much extol ! This is that evangeli- 
 cal charity which combats infidelity with persuasive mildness, 
 and repays injuries with patience! Ye hypocrites I it is thus 
 that you deceive mankind, thus that you propagate your ac- 
 cursed errors ! When you were weak, you preached liberty, 
 toleration, peace ; when you are strong, you practise persecu- 
 tion and violence — " 
 
 And he was going to begin the history of the wars and slaugh 
 ters of Christianity, when the legislator, demanding silence, sus- 
 pended this scene of discord. 
 
 The monks, aflfecting a tone of meekness and humility, ex- 
 claimed, "Jt is not ourselves that we avenge, it is the cause of 
 God, it is his glory that we defend." 
 
 " And what right have you, more than we," said the Imams, 
 " to constitute yourselves the representatives of God ? Have 
 you privileges that we have not? Are you not men like us ?" 
 
 " To defend God," said another group, " to pretend to avenge 
 him, is to insult his wisdom and his power. Does he not know 
 better than men what befits his dignity ?" 
 
 " Yes," replied the monks ; " but his ways are secret." 
 
 " And it remains for you to prove," said the rabbins, " that 
 jou have the exclusive privilege of understanding them." 
 
 Then, proud of finding supporters to their cause, the Jews 
 thought that their law would be triumphant, when the mobed 
 (high priest) of the Parses obtained leave to speak : — 
 
 "We have heard," said he, "the account of the Jews and 
 Christians of the origin of the world ; and, though greatly mu- 
 tilated, we find in it some facts which we admit ; but we deny 
 that they are to be attributed to their prophet Moses, first, be- 
 cause it can not be shown that the books which bear his name 
 were really his ; we can j)rove, on the contrary, by twenty pos- 
 itive passages, that they were written at least six centuries later, 
 and proceed evidently from the connivance of a high priest and 
 a king, both well known : next, if you examine attentively the 
 laws, the ceremonies, the precepts, established by Moses in 
 
106 THE RUINS. 
 
 those books, you will not find the slightest indication, eithei 
 expressed or understood, of what constitutes the bases of the 
 present theological doctrine of the Jews, and of their children 
 the Christians. You nowhere find the least trace of the immor- 
 tality of the soul, or of a future life, or of heaven, or of hell, or 
 of the revolt of the principal angel, author of the evils of the 
 human race, etc. 
 
 '* These ideas were not known to Moses, and the reason ia 
 very obvious, since it was not till two centuries afterward that 
 our prophet Zerdoust, named Zoroaster, first evangelized them 
 in Asia. Thus," added the mobed, turning to the rabbins, " it 
 is not till after that epoch, that is to say, in the time of your 
 first kings, that these ideas begin to appear in your writers; and 
 then their appearance is obscure and gradual, according to the 
 progress of the political relations between your ancestors and 
 ours. It was especially when, having been conquered by the 
 kings of Nineveh and Babylon, and transported to the banks of 
 the Tygris and Euphrates, they resided there for three succes- 
 sive generations, that they imbibed manners and opinions which 
 had been rejected as contrary to their law. When our king 
 Cyrus had delivered them from slavery, disciples and imitators, 
 the most distinguished families, whom the kings of Babylon 
 had got instructed in the Chaldean sciences, carried back to Je- 
 rusalem new ideas and foreign tenets. 
 
 " At first the mass of the people, who had not emigrated, 
 pleaded the text of the law and the absolute silence of the 
 prophet; but the Phari.sean or Parse doctrine prevailed, and, 
 being modified according to the ideas and genius of your nation, 
 gave rise to a new sect. You expected a king to restore your 
 political independence; we announced a God to regenerate 
 and save mankind : from this combination of ideas, your Esse- 
 nians laid the foundation of Christianity : and whatever your 
 pretensions may be, Jews, Christians, Mussulmans, you are, in 
 your systems of spiritual beings, only the blundering followers 
 of Zoroaster !" 
 
 The mobed, then passing on to the details of his religion, 
 quoting from the Sad-der and the Zend-Avesta, recounted, in 
 the same order as Genesis, the creation of the world in six 
 gahans ; the formation of a first man and a first woman in a di^ 
 vine place, under the reign of good; the introduction of evi 
 
THE RULVS. 107 
 
 into the world by the great snake, emblem of Ahrimanes ; the 
 revolt and battles of the genius of evil and darkness against Or- 
 muzd, god of good and light; the division of the angels into white 
 and black, or good and bad; their hierarchal orders, cherubim, 
 seraphim, thrones, dominions, etc. ; the end of the world at the 
 close of six thousand years ; the coming of the lamb, the re- 
 generator of nature ; the new world ; the future life, and the 
 regions of happiness and misery ; the passage of souls over the 
 bridge of the bottomless pit ; the celebration of the mysteries 
 of Mythras ; the unleavened bread which the initiated eat ; the 
 baptism of new-born children ; the unction of the dead, the 
 confession of sins ; and, in a word, he recited so many things 
 analogous to the three religions* before mentioned, that it seemed 
 like a commentary or a continuation of the Koran and the Apoc- 
 alypse. 
 
 But the Jewish, Christian, and Mahometan doctors, crying 
 out against this recital, and treating the Parses as idolaters and 
 worshippers of fire, charged them with falsehood, interpolations, 
 falsification of facts ; and there arose a violent dispute as to the 
 dates of the events, their order and succession, the origin of the 
 doctrines, their transmission from nation to nation, the authen- 
 ticity of the books that established them, the epoch of their 
 composition, the character of their compilers, and the validity 
 of their testimony; and the various parties, pointing out recip- 
 
 * The modern Parses and the ancient Mithriacs, who are the same 
 sect, observe all the Christian sacraments, even the laying on of hands 
 in confirmation. " The priest of Mithra," says Tertullian (De Proe- 
 scriptione, c. xl.), " promises absolution from sin on confession and bap- 
 tism ; and, if I rightly remember, Mithra marks his soldiers in the fore- 
 head (with the chrism, the Egyptian kouphi) ; he celebrates the sacrifice 
 of bread, which is the resurrection, and presents the crown to his follow- 
 ers, menacing them at the same time with the sword," etc. 
 
 In these mysteries they tried the courage of the initiated with a thou- 
 sand terrors, presenting fire to his face, a sword to his breast, etc. ; they 
 also ofiered him a croum, which he refused, saying : " God is my crown :" 
 and this crown is to be seen in the celestial sphere by the side of Bootes. 
 'J'hc personages in these mysteries were distinguished by ihe names of 
 the animal constellations. The ceremony of mass is nothing more than 
 an imitation of these mysteries, and of those of Eleusis. The bene- 
 diction, " The Lord be with you," is a literal translation of the formula 
 of admission, " Chon-k, am, p-ak." See Beausobre, Histoire du Mani- 
 eheisme, vol. ii. 
 
108 THE RUINS. 
 
 rocal contradictions, improbabilities, and forgeries, accused each 
 other of having established this belief on popular rumors, vague 
 traditions, and absurd fables, invented vsnthout discernment, and 
 admitted without examination by unknown, ignorant, or partial 
 writers, and at false or uncertain epochs. 
 
 A great murmur now arose from under the standards of the 
 various Indian sects ; and ihe brahmins, protesting against the 
 pretensions of the Jews and Parses, said : — 
 
 " What are these new and almost unheard-of nations, who 
 arrogantly set themselves up as the sources of the human race, 
 and the depositaries of its archives? To hear their calculations 
 of five or six thousand years, it would seem that the world was 
 of yesterday, whereas our monuments prove a duration of many 
 thousands of centuries. And for what reason are their books to 
 be preferred to ours? Are, then, the Vedas,* Chastras, and 
 Pourans, inferior to the Bibles, Zend-Avestas, and Sad-ders ? 
 And is not the testimony of our fathers and our gods as valid as 
 that of the fathers and the gods of the occidentals ? Ah! if it 
 were permitted to reveal our mysteries to profane men ! if a sa- 
 cred veil did not justly conceal them from every eye !" 
 
 The brahmins stopping short at these words, " How can we 
 admit your doctrine," said the legislator, "if you will not make 
 it known ? And how did its first authors propagate it, when, 
 being alone possessed of it, their own people were to them pro- 
 fane ? Did Heaven reveal it to be kept a s6cret ?" 
 
 / * The Vedas or Vedams are the sacred vohimes of the Hindoos, as the 
 Bibles with us. They are three in number : the Rick Veda, the Yadjour 
 Veda, and the Sama Veda : they are so scarce in India, that the English 
 could with great difficulty find an original one, of which a copy is depos- 
 ited in the British museum : they who reckon four Vedas, include among 
 them the Attar Veda, concerning ceremonies, but which is lost. There 
 are besides commentaries, named upanishada, one of which was published 
 by Anquetil du Peron, and entitled Oupnekhat, a curious work. The date 
 of these books is more than twenty-five centuries prior to our era ; their 
 contents prove that all the reveries of the Greek metaphysicians come 
 from India and Egypt. Since the year 1788, the learned men of England 
 are working in India a mine of literature totally unknown in Europe, and 
 which proves that the civilization of India ascends to a very remote an- 
 tiquity. After the Vedas come the Chastras, amounting to six. They 
 treat of theology and the sciences. Afterward eighteen Pouranas, treat- 
 ing of mythology and history. See the Bahgouet-guita, the Bapa Vedam, 
 and the Ezonr-Vodam, etc. 
 
THE RUINS. 109 
 
 But the brahmins persisting in their silence, *• Let them have 
 the honor of the secret," said a European : " their doctrine is 
 DOW divulged ; we possess their books, and I can give you the 
 substance of them." 
 
 Then beginning with an abstract of the four Vedas, the eigh- 
 teen Pourans, and the five or six Chastras, he recounted how a 
 being, infinite, eternal, immaterial, and round, after having 
 passed an eternity in self-contemplation, and determining at last 
 to manifest himself, separated the male and female facuitieg 
 which were in him, and performed an act of generation, of 
 which the Lingam remains an emblem ; how that first act gave 
 birth to three divine powers, Brahma, Bichen or Vichenou, and 
 Chib or Chiven, whose functions were — the first to create, the 
 second to preserve, and the third to destroy or change the form 
 of the universe : then, detailing the history of their operations 
 and adventures, he explained how Brahma, proud of having 
 created the world and the eight spheres of purifications, thought 
 himself superior to Chib, his equal ; how this pride brought on 
 a battle between them, in which the celestial globes, or orbits 
 were crushed, like a basket of eggs; how Brahma, vanquished 
 in this conflict, was reduced to serve as a pedestal to Chib, met- 
 amorphosed into a Lingam ; how Vichenou, the god mediator, 
 has assumed at diflferent times, to preserve the world, nine mor- 
 tal forms of animals; how first, in shaj^e of a fish, he saved from 
 the universal deluge a family who repeopled the earth ; how 
 afterward, in the form of a tortoise, he drew from the milky sea 
 the mountain Mandreguiri (the pole) : then, becoming a boar, 
 he tore the belly of the giant Erenniachessen, who was drown- 
 ing the earth in the abyss of Djole, and saved it on his tusks ; 
 how, becoming incarnate in a black shepherd, and under the 
 name of Chris-en, he delivered the world of the venomous ser- 
 pent Calengam, and then crushed his head, after having been 
 wounded by him in the heel. 
 
 Then passing on to the history of the secondary genii, he 
 related how the Eternal, to manifest his glory, created various 
 orders of angels, who were to sing his praises, and to direct the 
 universe ; how a part of these angels revolted under the gui- 
 dance of an ambitious chief, who strove to usurp the power of 
 God, and to govern all ; how God plunged them into a world 
 of darkness, there to undergo the punishment of their crimes; 
 
 10 
 
110 THE RUINS. 
 
 how at last, touched with compassion, he consented to release 
 them, and receive them into favor, after they should undergo a 
 long series of probations ; how, after creating for this purpose 
 fifteen orbits or regions of planets, and peopling them wirli bod- 
 ies, he ordered these rebel angels to undergo in them eighty- 
 seven transmigrations; he then explained how souls, thus pu- 
 rified, returned to the first source, to the ocean of life and ani- 
 mation from which they had proceeded ; and since all living 
 creatures contain portions of this universal soul, lie taught how 
 criminal it was to deprive them of it. He was finally proceed- 
 ing to explain the rites and ceremonies, when speaking of offer- 
 ings and libations of milk and butter to gods of copper and wood, 
 and then of purifications by the dung and urine of cows, there 
 arose a universal murmur, mixed with peals of laughter, which 
 interrupted the orator. 
 
 Each of the different groups began to reason on that religion : 
 " They are idolaters," said the Mussulmans, " and should be 
 exterminated." — " They are deranged in their intellect," said 
 the followers of Confucius ; " we should try to cure them." — 
 ♦'What ridiculous gods," said others, "are these puppets, be- 
 smeared with grease and smoke, that must be washed like dirt) 
 children, and from whom you must brush away the Hies, at- 
 tracted by honey, and fouling them with their excrements !" 
 
 But a brahmin exclaimed with indignation : " These are pro- 
 found mysteries — emblems oi truth which you are not worthy 
 to hear." 
 
 "And in what respect are you more worthy than we ?" ex- 
 claimed a lama of Tibet. " Is it because you pretend to be 
 issued from the head of Brahma, and the rest of the human race 
 from the less noble parts of his body? But to support the 
 pride of your distinctions of origin and castes, prove to us in 
 the first place, that you are different from other men. Estab- 
 lish, in the next place, as historical facts, the allegories which- 
 yuu relate ; show us, indeed, that you are the authors of all 
 this doctrine, for we will demonstrate, if necessary, that you 
 h'.ive oiily stolen and disfigured it— that you are only the imita- 
 tors of the ancient paganism of the occidentals ; to which, by 
 an ill-assorted mixture, you have allied the pure and spiritual 
 doctrine of our God— a doctrine totally detached from the 
 
THE RUINS. Ill 
 
 senses, and entirely unknown on earth till Boudh taught it to 
 the nations." 
 
 A number of groups having inquired what was this doctiine, 
 and who was this God, whose name the greater part of them 
 had never heard, the lama resumed, and said : — 
 
 *' In the beginning, a sole and self-existent God, having passed 
 an eternity in the contemplation of his own being, resolved to 
 manifest his perfections out of himself, and created the matter 
 of the world. The four elements being produced, but still in a 
 state of confusion, he breathed on the face of the waters, which 
 swelled like an immense bubble in form of an egg, which un- 
 folding, became the vault or orb of heaven enclosing the world. 
 Having made the earth, and the bodies of animals, this God, 
 essence of motion, imparted to them a portion of his own being 
 to animate them : for this reason, the soul of everything that 
 breathes being a fraction of the universal soul, no one of them 
 can perish ; they only change their form and mould in passing 
 successively into different bodies. Of all these forms, the one 
 most pleasing to God is that of man, as most resembling his 
 own perfections. When a man, by an absolute disengagement 
 from his senses, is wholly absorbed in self-contemplation, he 
 then discovers the divinity and becomes himself God. Of all 
 the incarnations of this kind that God has hitherto taken, the 
 greatest and most solemn was that in which he appeared twen- 
 ty-eight centuries ago in Kaohemire, under the name of Fot or 
 Boudh, to preach the doctrine of self-denial and self-annihila- 
 tion." Then, pursuing the history of Fot, the lama said : "He 
 was born from the right flank of a virgin of royal blood, who did 
 not cease to be a virgin for having become a mother ; that the 
 king of the country, alarmed at his birth, wished to destroy 
 him, and for this purpose ordered a massacre of all the males 
 born at that period ; that being saved by shepherds, Boudh lived 
 in the desert till the age of thirty, when he began his mission, 
 to enlighten men and cast out devils ; that he performed a mul- 
 titude of the most astonishing miracles ; that he spent his life 
 in fasting and severe penitence, and at his death bequeathed to 
 his disciples a book which contained his doctrines." And the 
 lama began to read : — 
 
 " ' He that leaveth his father and mother to follow me,' says 
 Fot, ' becomes a perfect Samanean' (heavenly man). 
 
l]o THE rUIXS. 
 
 " ' He that practises my precepts to the fourth degree of per 
 fection, acquires the faculty of flying in the air, of moving 
 heaven and earth, of prolonging and shortening life' (rising from 
 the dead). 
 
 " ' The Samanean despises riches, and uses only what is 
 strictly necessary ; he mortifies his body; silences his passions; 
 desires nothing ; forms no attachments ; meditates my doctrines 
 without ceasing ; endures injuries with patience, and bears no 
 malice to his neighbor. 
 
 " '^Heaven and earth shall perish,' says Fot : 'despise, there- 
 fore, your bodies composed of the four perishable elements, and 
 think only of your immortal soul. 
 
 " ' Listen not to the flesh : fear and sorrow spring from the 
 passions : stifle the passions, and you destroy fear and sorrow. 
 
 " ' Whoever dies without having embraced my religion,' says 
 Fot, ' returns among men until he embraces it.' " 
 
 The lama* was proceeding, when the Christians, interrupting 
 
 * See the History of Manicheism, by Beausobre, who proves that these 
 sectaries were pure Zoroastrians ; which makes the existence of their 
 opinions to precede J. C. by 1200 years. It follows, therefore, that 
 Boudh Chaucasam was still more ancient, since the Boudhite doctrine is 
 found in the oldest Indian books, that preceded our era by 3100 years 
 (such as Bahgouet Guita). Observe, moreover, that Boudh is the ninth 
 avatar or incarnation of Vichenou, which places him at the origin of this 
 theology. Further, among the Indians, Chinese, Tibetans, etc., Boudh 
 is the name of the planet we call Mercury, and of the day of the week 
 consecrated to that planet (Wednesday) : this carries him back to the 
 origin of the calendar, at the same time that it shows him to have been 
 primitively identical with Hermes. His existence, therefore, extended to 
 Egypt. Now observe, that the Egyptian priests make Hermes at his 
 death to say : " I have hitherto lived banished from my true country ; I 
 now go back th^re. Do not weep for me : I return to the celestial coun- 
 try whither every one goes in his turn ; there dwells God: this life is but 
 death." (See Chalcidius in Timceum.) Now, this doctrine is precisely 
 that of the ancient Boudhites or Samaneans, of the Pythagoricians and 
 of the Orphies. In the doctrine of Orpheus, the god world is represented 
 by an egg : in the Hebrew and Arabian idioms, the egg is called baidh — 
 analogous to Boudh (God), and to Bond, in Persian, existence, what is 
 (the world). Boudh is also analogous to bed vad, signif3ing, among the 
 Indians, science. Hermes was its god : he was the author of the sacred 
 Dooks, or F^gyptian Vedas. What ramifications, and what a remote an- 
 tiquity, does not all this suppose. Now the Boudhite priest of Ava adds • 
 " It is an article of faith that from time to lime Heaven sends upon earth 
 
THE RUINS. 113 
 
 him, exclaimed that this was their own rehgion aduherated ; 
 that Fot was no other than Jesus himself disfigured, and that 
 the lamas were the Nestorians and Manicheans disguised and 
 bastardized. 
 
 But the lama, supported by the chamans, bonzes, gonnis, 
 talapoins, of Siam, of Ceylon, of Japan, and of China, proved 
 to the Christians, even from their own authors, that the doctrine 
 of the Samaneans was diffused through the East more than 
 thousand years before the Christian era ; that their name was 
 cited before the time of Alexander ; and that Boutta or Boudh 
 was known long before Jesus. Then, retorting the pretensions 
 of the Christians against themselves : "Prove to us, now," said 
 the lama, " that you are not yourselves degenerate Samaneans, 
 and that the man whom you make the author of your sect is 
 not Fot himself disfigured. Prove to us by historical facts that 
 he even existed at the epoch you pretend ; for it being destitute 
 of authentic testimony,* we absolutely deny it ; and we main- 
 some Boudhas to reclaim men, to save them from vice, and show them 
 the ways of salvation." With such a dogma extending over India, Per- 
 sia, Egypt, and Judea, it is no wonder that men's minds should be pre- 
 pared long beforehand for what latter ages offer to our view. 
 
 * " All the world knows,'' says Faustus, who, though a Manichean, 
 was one of the most learned men of the third century—" All the world 
 knows that the gospels were neither written by Jesus Christ, nor his 
 apostles, but, a long time after, by unknown persons, who, rightly judg- 
 ing that they should not obtain belief respecting things which they had 
 not seen, placed ai the head of their recitals the names of contemporary 
 apostles." Consult upon this question, '' Histoire des Apologistes de la 
 Religion Chretienne," attributed to Freret, but which was written by 
 Burigny, member of the Academy of Inscriptions. See, also, Mosheim, 
 de Rebus Christianorum ; Correspondence of Atterbury, archbishop, 5 
 vols. 8vo., 1798 J Toland Nazarenus ; and Beausobre, Histoire du Mani- 
 cheisme, vol. 1. From aJl that has been written for and against it, re- 
 suits that the precise origin of Christianity is unknown ; that the pre- 
 tended testimonies of Josephus (Antiq. Jud., lib. xviii., c. 3) and of 
 Tacitus (Annals, b. xv., c. 44), have been interpolated about the time 
 of the council of Nice, and that nobody could ever demonstrate the radi- 
 cal fact, that is to say, the real existence of the personage who gave rise 
 to the system. Without that existence, however, it would be difficult 
 to conceive the appearance of the system at its known epoch, although 
 history offers many examples of gratuitous and absolute suppositions 
 To resolve this truly curious and important problem, some man of sa- 
 gacity, instruction, and, above all, impartiality, benefiting by the re- 
 searches already made, should form a comparative table of the doctrin« 
 
 10* 
 
114 THE fiurxs. 
 
 tain that your very o;osi)els ure ouly the book of some Mithriaca 
 of Persia, and Esseiiiaiis of Syria, vvlio were a branch of re- 
 formed Samaneans.'' 
 
 At these words, tlie Christians set up a general cry, and a 
 new dispute was going to l)egin, when a number of Chinese 
 cljamans, and talapoins of Siam, came forward, and said that 
 they would settle the whole controversy. And one of them 
 s|)eaking for the whole—" It is time," said he, "to put an end 
 to these frivolous contests by drawing aside the veil from the 
 interior doctrine* that Fot iiimself revealed to his disciples on 
 his death-bed." 
 
 of the Boudhites, and specially of the seel of Samana Gautama, contem- 
 porary with Cyrus ; he should examine what was the facility of commu- 
 nication of India with Persia and Syria, particularly after the reign of 
 Darius Hystaspes, who, according to Agithius and Ammianus, consulted 
 the wise men of India, and introduced several of their ideas among the 
 magi : further, what facility tliere was after Alexander's time, under the 
 SeleucidoGjWho kept up diplomatical relations with the Indian kings; he 
 would see that, through these communications, the system of the Sama- 
 neans might have gradually extended as far as Egypt ; that it might 
 have been the deteriruning cause of the corporation of the Essenians in 
 Judea, etc. The only question then would be, if, when all was thus pre- 
 pared, the general exaltation of mens minds might not have prompted 
 an individual to fill the allotted part, either because he declared and be- 
 lieved himself to be the personage announced, or because the multitude, 
 enchanted with his conduct, doctrine, and preaching, attributed to him 
 that character. In either case, it is extremely probable that popular 
 disturbances excited the suspicions and vigilance of the Roman govern- 
 ment, and that at length some remarkable incident, such as the entrance 
 into Jerusalem, forced the prefect to adopt a measure of rigor, an act of se- 
 verity, that suddenly put an end to the drama (nearly as related) , but which 
 only augmputed the interest which the regretted personage inspired, and 
 by that means gave rise to n&rrations and associations the result of which 
 would perfectly agree with the state of things afterward seen in history. 
 Doubtless where her positive testimony is wanting, there no moral cer- 
 tainty can exist ; but by the concatenation of causes and effects, a de. 
 gree of probability producing the same effect may be attained, since, 
 even with the most positive testimonies, history can only pretend to a 
 greater or lesser degree of probability. 
 
 • The Boudhites have two doctrines : the one public and ostensible, 
 the other interior and secret, precisely like the Egyptian priests. It may 
 be asked, why this distinction ? Because, as the public doctrine reccm. 
 mends offerings, expiations, endowments, etc., the priests find their 
 profit in preaching it to the people ; whereas the other, teaching ihe 
 vanity of worldly things, and being attended with no lucre, it is thoup^hl 
 
THE RUINS. 115 
 
 ♦'All these theological opinions," said he, "are but chimeras. 
 All the stories of the nature of the gods, of their actions and 
 lives, are but allegories and mythological emblems, under which 
 are enveloped ingenious ideas of morals, and the knowledge of 
 the operations of nature in the action of the elements and the 
 movement of the planets. 
 
 " The truth is, that all is reduced to nothing ; that all is illu- 
 sion, appearance, dream; that the moral metempsychosis is only 
 the figurative sense of the physical metempsychosis, or the suc- 
 cessive movement by which the elements of the same body 
 perish not, but, at its dissolution, pass into other mediums and 
 form other combinations. The soul is but the vital principle 
 which results from the properties of matter, and from the action 
 of the elements in those bodies where they create a spontaneous 
 movement. To suppose that this product of the play of the 
 organs, born with them, matured with them, and which sleeps 
 with them, can subsist when they cease, is the romance of a 
 wandering imagination — perhaps agreeable, but absolutely chi- 
 merical. God itself is nothing more than the moving principle, 
 the occult force inherent in all beings ; the sum of their laws 
 and properties ; the animating principle ; in a word, the soul of 
 the universe, which, on account of the infinite variety of its 
 connexions and operations, sometimes simple, sometimes mul- 
 tiple, sometimes active, sometimes passive, has always presented 
 to the human mind an insolvable enigma. All that man can 
 comprehend with certainty is, that matter does not perish; that 
 it possesses essentially those properties by which the world is 
 held together like a living and organized being ; that the knowl- 
 edge of these laws, with respect to man, is what constitutes 
 wisdom ; that virtue and merit consist in their observance, and 
 evil, sin, and vice, in the ignorance and violation of them ; that 
 happiness and misery result from these by the same necessity 
 which makes heavy bodies descend, and light ones rise, by a fa- 
 tality of causes and effects, whose chain extends from the small- 
 est atom to the greatest of the heavenly bodies. All this was 
 revealed on his death-bed by our Boudah Somona Goutama." 
 
 At these words, a crowd of theologians of every sect cried out 
 that this doctrine was materialism ; and those who profess it 
 
 proper to make it known only to adepts. Thus are men divided into the 
 two evidently distinct classes of knaves and dupes ! 
 
lltJ THE RUINS. 
 
 were impious. atheists, enemies to God and man, who must be 
 exterminated. — " Very well !" replied the Chamans, " suppose 
 we are in an error, which is not impossible, since the first attri- 
 bute of the human mind is to be subject to illusion : but what 
 right have you to take away from men like yourselves, the life 
 which Heaven has given them ? ]f Heaven holds us guilty, 
 and in abhorrence, why does it impart to us the same blessings 
 as to you ? And if it tolerates us, what right have you to be 
 less indulgent? Pious men ! who speak of God with so much 
 certainty and confidence, please to tell us what it is ; give us to 
 comprehend what these abstract metaphysical beings are, which 
 you call God and soul, substance without matter, existence 
 without body, life without organs or sensation. If you know 
 those beings by your senses or their reflections, render them iu 
 like manner perceptible to us ; or, if you speak of them on tes- 
 timony and tradition, show us a uniform account, and give a 
 determinate basis to our creed." There now arose among the 
 theologians a great controversy respecting God and his nature; 
 his manner of acting and of manifesting himself; on the nature 
 of the soul and its union with the body; whether it exists be- 
 fore the organs, or only after they are formed ; on the future 
 life and the other world : and every sect, every school, every in- 
 dividual, differing on all these points, and each assigning plausi- 
 ble reasons, and respectable though opposite authorities, for his 
 opinion, they fell into an inextricable labyrinth of contradic- 
 tions. 
 
 Then the legislator, having commanded silence and recalled 
 the dispute to its true object, said : " Chiefs and instructors of 
 the people, you came together in search of truth. At first, ev- 
 ery one of you, thinking he possessed it, demanded of the others 
 an implicit faith; but receiving the contrariety of your opin- 
 ions, you found it necessary to submit them to a common rule 
 of evidence, and to bring them to one general term of compari- 
 son : and you agreed that each should exhibit the proofs of his 
 doctrine. You began by alleging facts ; but each religion and 
 every sect, being equally furnished with miracles and martyrs, 
 each producing an equal cloud of witnesses, and offering to sup- 
 port them by a voluntary death, the balance on this first point, 
 by right of parity, remained equal. 
 
 " You then passed to the trial of reasoning ; but the same 
 
THE RUINS. 117 
 
 •rguments applying equally to contrary positions — the same as^ 
 sertions, equally gratuitous, being advanced and repelled with 
 equal force, and all having an equal right to refuse assent, noth- 
 ing was demonstrated. What is more, the confrontation of 
 your systems has brought up new and extraordinary difficulties; 
 for amid the apparent or adventitious diversities, you have dis- 
 covered a fundamental resemblance, a common groundwork ; 
 and each of you, pretending to be the inventor and first depos- 
 itary, have taxed each other with adulterations and plagiarisms . 
 and thence arises a difficult question concerning the transmis- 
 sion of religious ideas from people to people. 
 
 " Finally, to complete the embarrassment, when you endeav- 
 ored to explain your doctrines to each other, they appeared con- 
 fused and foreign, even to their adherents ; they were founded 
 on ideas inaccessible to your senses : of consequence you had 
 no means of judging of them, and you confessed yourselves in 
 this respect to be only the echoes of your fathers. Hence fol- 
 lows this other question : How came they to the knowledge of 
 your fathers, who themselves had no other means than you to 
 conceive them ?— so that, on the one hand, the succession of 
 these ideas being unknown, and, on the other, their origin and 
 existence being a mystery, all the edifice of your religious 
 opinions becomes a complicated problem of metaphysics and 
 history. 
 
 *' Since, however, these opinions, extraordinary as they may 
 be, must have had some origin — since even the most abstract 
 and fantastical ideas have some physical model, it may be useful 
 to recur to this origin, and discover this model ; in a word, to 
 find out from what source the human understanding has drawn 
 these ideas, at present so obscure, of the divinity, the soul, and 
 all immaterial beings, which make the basis of so many sys- 
 tems ; to unfold the filiation which they have followed, and the 
 alterations which they have undergone in their transmissions 
 and ramifications. If, then, there are any persons present who 
 have made a study of these objects, let them come forward, and 
 endeavor, in the face of nations, to dissipate the obscuritv in 
 which their opinions have so long strayed." 
 
\lg THE RUINS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ORIGIN AND FILIATION OF RELIGIOUS IDEAS. 
 
 At these words, a new group, formed in an instant by men 
 from various standards, but not distinguished by any, came for- 
 ward in the circle ; and one of them spoke in the name of the 
 whole : — 
 
 " Legislator ! friend of evidence and truth, it is not astonish- 
 ing that the subject in question should be enveloped in so many 
 clouds, since, besides its inherent difficulties, thought itself has 
 alw^iys been encumbered with superadded obstacles peculiar to 
 this study, where all free inquiry and discussion have been in- 
 terdicted by the intolerance of every system ; but now that our 
 views are permitted to expand, we will expose to open day, and 
 submit to the judgment of nations, that which unprejudiced 
 minds after long researches have found to be most reasonable; 
 and we do this, not with the pretension of imposing a new creed, 
 but with the hope of provoking new lights, and obtaining better 
 information. 
 
 " Doctors and instructors of nations ! You know what thick 
 darkness covers the nature, the origin, the history, of the dogmas 
 which you teach: imposed by force and authority, inculcated by 
 education, and maintained by example, they pass from age to age, 
 and strengthen their empire from habit and inattention. But if 
 man, enlightened by reflection and experience, brings to mature 
 examination the prejudices of his childhood, he soon discovers 
 a multitude of incongruities and contradictions which awaken 
 his sagacity and excite his reasoning powers. 
 
 " At first, remarking the diversity and opposition of the creeds 
 which divide the nations, he rejects the infallibility which each 
 of them claims; and arming himself with their reciprocal pre- 
 tensions, he conceives that his senses and his reason, derived 
 immediately from God, are a law not less holy, a guide not less 
 sure, than the mediate and contradictory codes of the prophets. 
 
 ♦' If he then examines the texture of these codes themselves, 
 he observes that their laws, pretended to be divine, that is, im- 
 OJUtable and eternal, have arisen fiom circumstances of times, 
 
THE RUINS. 119 
 
 places, and persons ; that they have issued, one from the other, 
 in a kind of genealogical order, borrowing from each other re- 
 ciprocally a common and similar fund of ideas, which every 
 lawgiver modifies according to his fancy. 
 
 " If he ascends to the source of these ideas, he finds it involv- 
 ed in the night of time, in the infancy of nations, even m the 
 origin of the world, to which they claim alliance; and there, 
 f)l;iced in the darkness of chaos, in the empire of fables and tra- 
 ditions, they present themselves, accompanied with a state of 
 things so full of prodigies, that it seems to forbid all access to 
 the judgment; but this state itself excites a first effort of reason, 
 which resolves the difficulty; for, if the prodigies found in the 
 theological systems have really existed — if, for instance, the 
 metamorphoses, the apparitions, the conversations with one or 
 many gods, recorded in the sacred books of the Indians, the 
 Hebrews, the Parses, are historical events, he must agree that 
 nature in those times was totally different from what it is at 
 present; that the present race of men are quite another species 
 from those who then existed, and, therefore, he ought not to 
 trouble his head about them. 
 
 " If, on the contrary, these miraculous events have really not 
 existed in the physical order of things, then he readily conceives 
 that they are creatures of the human intellect ; and this faculty 
 being still capable of the most fantastical combinations, explains 
 at once the phenomenon of these monsters in history : it only 
 remains, then, to find how and wherefore they have been formed 
 in the imagination. Now, if we examine with care the subjects 
 of these intellectual creations, analyze the ideas which they 
 combine and associate, and attentively weigh all the circum- 
 stances which they allege, we shall find that this first obscure 
 and incredible state of things is explained by the laws of nature; 
 we find that these stories of a fabulous kind have a figurative 
 sense, different from the apparent one ; that these events, pre- 
 tended to be marvellous, are simple and phj^sical facts, which, 
 being misconceived or misrepresented, have been disfigured by 
 accidental causes dependent on the human mind, by tlie confu- 
 sion of signs employed to paint the ideas, the want of precision 
 in words, permanence in language, and perfection in writing : 
 we find that these Siods. for instance, who disj:)lay such singular 
 characters in every system, are only the physical agents of na- 
 
100 THE RUINS. 
 
 fure, the elements, the winds, tlie stars, and the meteors, which 
 h.ive been personified by the necessary mechanism of language 
 and of the human understanding ; that their lives, their man- 
 ners, their actions, are onl}'^ their mechanical operations and 
 connexions ; and that all their pretended history is only the de- 
 scription of these phenomena, formed by the first naturalists 
 who observed them, and misconceived by the vulgar who did 
 not understand them, or by succeeding generations who forgot 
 them. In a word, all the theological dogmas on the origin of 
 the world, the nature of God, the revelation of his laws, the 
 manifestation of his person, are known to be only the recital of 
 asti-onomical facts, only figurative and emblematical accounts 
 of the motion of the heavenly bodies ; we are convinced that 
 the very idea of a God, that idea at present so obscure, is, in its 
 first origin, nothing but that of the physical powers of the uni- 
 verse, considered sometimes as a plurality by reason of their 
 agencies and phenomena, sometimes as one simple and only be- 
 ing by reason of the universality of the machine and the con- 
 nexion of its parts; so that the being called God has been some- 
 times the wind, the fire, the water, all the elements ; sometimes 
 the sun, the stars, the planets, and their influence ; sometimes 
 the matter of the visible world, the totality of the universe ; 
 sometimes abstract and metaphysical qualities, such as space, 
 duration, motion, and intelligence ; and we everywhere see this 
 conclusion, that the idea of God has not been a miraculous 
 revelation of invisible beings, but a natural ofl'spring of the 
 human intellect, an operation of the mind, whose progress it 
 has followed, and whose revolutions it has undergone, in all 
 the knowledge it has acquired of the physical world and its 
 agents. 
 
 " It is, then, in vain that nations attribute their rehgion to 
 heavenly inspirations, it is in vain that their dogmas pretend to 
 a primeval state of supernatural events : the original barbarity 
 of the human race,* attested by their own monuments, belies 
 these assertions at once ; but there is one constant and indubita- 
 ble fact which refutes, beyond contradiction, all these doubtful 
 
 • It is the unanimous tpstimony of history and even of legends, that 
 the first human beings were everywjiore savages, and that it was to civ- 
 ilize them, and to teach Ihem to make broad, that liie gods manifested 
 themselves. 
 
THE RUINS. 121 
 
 accounts of past ages. From this position, that man acquires 
 and receives no ideas but through the medium of his senses,* it 
 follows, with certainty, that every notion which pretends to any 
 other origin than that of sensation and experience, is the erro- 
 neous supposition of a posterior reasoning ; now, it is sufficient 
 to cast an eye upon the sacred systems' of the origin of the 
 world, and of the actions of the gods, to discover in every idea, 
 in every word, the anticipation of an order of things which could 
 not exist till a long time after. Reason, strengthened by these 
 contradictions, rejecting everything that is not in the order of 
 nature, and admitting no historical facts but those founded on 
 probabilities, lays open its own system, and pronounces itself 
 with assurance : — 
 
 " Before one nation had received from another nation dogmas 
 already invented ; before one generation had inherited ideas ac- 
 quired by a preceding generation, none o.f these complicated 
 systems could have existed in the world. The first men, being 
 children of nature, anterior to all events, ignorant of all science, 
 were born without any idea of the dogmas arising from scholas- 
 tic disputes ; of rites founded on the practice of arts not then 
 known ; of precepts framed after the development of passions ; 
 of laws which suppose a language, a state of society, not then 
 in being ; of God, whose attributes all refer to physical objects, 
 and his actions to a despotic state of government ; or of the soul, 
 or of any of those metaphysical beings, which we are told are 
 not the objects of sense, and for which, however, there can be 
 no other means of access to the understanding. To arrive at so 
 many results, the necessary circle of preceding facts must have 
 been observed ; slow experience and repealed trials must have 
 taught the rude man the use of his organs ; the accumulated 
 observations of successive generations must have invented and 
 improved the means of Uving ; and the mind, freed from the 
 cares of the first wants of nature, must have raised itself to the 
 complicated art of comparing ideas, of digesting argument, and 
 seizing abstract similitudes. 
 
 * The rock on which the ancients split, and which has occasioned all 
 their errors, has been the supposing the idea of God innate, and coeter 
 nal with the soul ; and hence all the reveries developed in Plato and Jam- 
 blicus. See the Timogus, the Phedon, and De Mysteriis .^yptioruin, 
 sect. 1., c. iii. 
 
 11 
 
122 THE ruins;. 
 
 Origin of the idea of God ; worship of the elements and of the 
 physical powers of nature. 
 
 *' It was not till after having overcome these obstacles, and 
 gone through a long career in the night of history, that man, 
 reflecting on his condition, began to perceive that he was sub- 
 jected to forces superior to his own, and independent of his 
 will. The sun enlightened and warmed him, fire burned him, 
 thunder terrified him, the wind beat upon him, and water 
 drowned him ; all beings acted upon him powerfully and irre- 
 sistibly. He sustained this action for a long time, like a machine, 
 without inquiring the cause ; but the moment he began his in- 
 quiries, he fell into astonishment, and, passing from the surprise 
 of his first reflections to the revery of curiosity, he began a chain 
 of reasoning. 
 
 " First, considering the action of the elements on him, he 
 conceived an idea of weakness and subjection on his part, and 
 of power and domination on theirs ; and this idea of power 
 was the primitive and fundamental type of every idea of the 
 Divinity. 
 
 " Secondly, the action of these natural existences excited in 
 him sensations of pleasure or pain, of good or evil ; and by a 
 natural effect of his organization, he conceived for them love or 
 aversion ; he desired or dreaded their presence ; and fear or hope 
 gave rise to the first idea of religion. 
 
 " Then, judging everything by comparison, and remarking in 
 these beings a spontaneous movement like his own, he supposed 
 this movement directed by a will, an intelligence, of the nature 
 of his own ; and hence, by induction, he formed a new reason- 
 ing. Having experienced that certain practices toward his fel- 
 low-creatures had the eflfect to modify their affections and direct 
 their conduct, he resorted to the same practices toward these 
 powerful beings of the universe: he reasoned thus: 'When my 
 fellow-creature, stronger tha« I, is disposed to do me injury, I 
 demean myself before him, and by prayers succeed in appeasing 
 him. Twill pray to these powerful beings who strike me; I 
 will implore the intelligences of the winds, the stars, and the 
 waters, and they will hear me. I will conjure them to avert the 
 evil and give me the good that is at their disposal ; I will move 
 
THE RUINS. 123 
 
 them by my tears, I will soften them by offerings, and will en- 
 joy happiness.' 
 
 " Thus simple man, in the infancy of his reason, spoke to the 
 Bun and moon ; he animated with his own understanding and 
 passions the great agents of nature ; he thought, by vain sounds 
 and vain practices, to change their inflexible laws : fatal error ! 
 He prayed the stone to ascend, the water to rise above its level, 
 the mountains to remove, and, substituting a fantastical world for 
 the real one, he peopled it with imaginary beings, to the terror 
 of his mind and the torment of his race. 
 
 " In this manner the ideas of God and religion have sprung, 
 like all others, from physical objects, and were produced in the 
 mind of man by his sensations, his wants, the circumstances of 
 his life, and the progressive state of his knowledge. 
 
 " Now, as the ideas of the Divinity had their first models in 
 physical agents, it followed that the Divinity was at first varied 
 and manifold, like the form under which he appeared to act : 
 every being was a power, a genius, and the first men conceived 
 the universe filled with innumerable gods. 
 
 •'Again, the ideas of the Divinity have been created by the 
 affections of the human heart ; they became necessarily divided 
 into two classes, according to the sensations of pleasure or pain, 
 love or hatred : the powers of nature, the gods, the genii, were 
 divided into beneficent and malignant, good and evil ; and 
 hence the universality of these two characters in all the systems 
 of religion. 
 
 *' These ideas, analogous to the condition of their inventors, 
 were for a long time confused and ill-digested. Savage men, 
 wandering in the woods, beset with wants, and destitute of re- 
 sources, had not the leisure to combine principles and draw con- 
 clusions; afl^ected with more evils than they found pleasures, 
 their most habitual sentiment was that of fear, their theology 
 terror ; their worship was confined to a few salutations and of- 
 ferings to beings whom they conceived as ferocious and as 
 greedy as themselves. In their state of equality and independ- 
 ence, no man offered himself as a mediator between men and 
 gods as insubordinate and poor as himself. No man having su- 
 perfluities 'to give, there existed no parasite by the name of 
 priest, no tribute by the name of victim, no empire by the name 
 of altar ; their dogmas and their morals were the same thing, it 
 
 ^ 
 
124 IHE RUINS. 
 
 ^as only self-preservation ; and religion, that arbitrary idea, 
 without influence on the mutual relations of men, was a vain 
 Qoinage rendered to the visible powers of nature. 
 " Such was the necessary and original idea of" the Divinity." 
 And the orator addressing himself to the savage nations : " We 
 ippeal to you, men who have received no foreign and factitious 
 /deas, say, have you ever gone beyond what I have described ? 
 And you, doctors, we call you to witness, is not this the unani- 
 mous testimony of all ancient monuments?* 
 
 * " It clearly results," says Plutarch, " from the verses of Orpheus, 
 nd the sacred books of the Egyptians and Phrygians, that the ancient 
 .heology, not only of the Greeks, but of all nations, was nothing more 
 «han a system of physics, a picture of the operations of nature, wrapped 
 ip in mysterious allegories and enigmatical symbols, so that the ignorant 
 multitude attended rather to their apparent than to their hidden meaning, 
 and even in what they understood of the latter, supposed something more 
 Jeep than what they perceived." — Fragment of a work of Plutarch, now 
 lost, quoted by Eusebius Prcspar. Evaug., lib. iii., c. i., p. 85. 
 
 " The majority of philosophers," says PorphjTy, " and among others 
 Choeremon (who lived in Egypt in the first age of Christianity), imagine 
 .here never existed any other world than the one we see, and acknowl. 
 «dged no other gods, of all those recognised by the Egyptians, than such 
 as are commonly called planets, signs of the zodiac, and constellations ; 
 whose aspects (risings and settings) are supposed to influence the for- 
 tunes of men ! to which they add their divisions of the signs into decans 
 or rulers of time, whom they style lords of the ascendant, whose names, 
 virtues in healing distempers, rising, setting, and presages of future 
 events, are the subjects of almanacs "(and the Egyptian priests had alma^ 
 nacs the exact counterpart of Maltiiew Laensberg's) ; for when the 
 priests affirmed that the sun was the architect of the universe, Chceremon 
 presently concludes that all their narratives respecting Isis and Osiris, 
 together with their other sacred fables, referred in part to the planets, 
 the phases of the moon, and the revolution of the sun, and in part to the 
 stars of the daily and nightly hemispheres, and the river Nile ; in a word, 
 to physical and natural existences, and never to such as might be imma- 
 terial and incorporeal. All these philosophers believe that the acts of 
 our Avill and the motion of our bodies depend upon those of the stars to 
 which they are subjected, and they refer everything to the laws of 
 (physical) necessity, which they call destiny or fate, supposing a chain 
 of causes and effects which binds, by 1 know not what connexion, all be- 
 ings together, from the atom to the supreme power and primary influence 
 of the gods ; so that, whether in their temples, or in their images and 
 idols, the only subject of worship is the power of destiny." (Porph. Ep 
 ttd lanebonem.) 
 
THE RUINS. 125 
 
 II. Second system. Worship of the Stars, or Saheism. 
 
 "But those same monuments present us, likewise, a more 
 methodical and complicated system — that of the worship of all 
 the stars, adored sometimes in their proper forms, sometmies 
 under figurative emblems and symbols; and this worship waa 
 the effect of the knowledge men had acquired in physics, and 
 was derived immediately from the first causes of the social state, 
 that is, from the necessities and arts of the first degree, which 
 are among the elements of society. 
 
 ** Indeed, as soon as men began to unite in society, it became 
 necessary for them to multiply the means of subsistence, and 
 consequently to attend to agriculture : agriculture, to be carried 
 on with success, requires the observation and knowledge of the 
 heavens.* It was necessary to know the periodical return of 
 the same operations of nature, and the same phenomena in the 
 skies ; indeed, to go so far as to ascertain the duration and suc- 
 cession of the seasons and the months of the year. It was in- 
 dispensable to know, in the first place, the course of the sun, 
 who, in his zodiacal revolutions, shows himself the first and su- 
 preme agent of the whole creation ; then of the moon, who, by 
 her phases and periods, regulates and distributes time ; then of 
 the stars, and even planets, which, by their appearance and dis- 
 appearance on the horizon and nocturnal hemisphere, marked 
 the minutest divisions; finally, it was necessary to form a whole 
 system of astronomy, or a calendar; and from these works there 
 naturally followed a new manner of considering these predomi- 
 nant and governing powers. Having observed that the produc- 
 tions of the earth had a regular and constant relation with the 
 heavenly bodies; that the rise, growth, and decline of each plant 
 
 * It continues to be repeated every day, on the indirect authority of the 
 book of Genesis, that astronomy was the invention of the children of 
 Noah. It has been gravely said that, while wandering as shepherds in 
 the plains of Shinar, they employed their leisure in composing a plan- 
 etary system ; as if shepherds were under the necessity o#knowJng more 
 than the polar star, and as if necessity was not the sole motive of every 
 invention .' If the ancient shepherds were so studious and sagacious, how 
 does it happen that the modern ones are so ignorant and inattentive 
 Novr it is a fact, that the Arabs of the desert do not know six constella. 
 tions, and do not understand a word of astronomy. 
 
 11* 
 
126 THE RUINS. 
 
 kept pace with the appearance, elevation, and declination of the 
 same star, or gioLp of stars ; in short, that the languor or ac- 
 tivity of vegetation seemed to depend on celestial influences, 
 men drew ihence an idea of action, of power in those beings, 
 superior to earthly bodies ; and the stars, dispensing plenty 
 or scarcity, became powers, genii, gods, authors of good and 
 evil. 
 
 " As the state of society had already introduced a regular 
 hienirchy of ranks, employments, and conditions, men, continu- 
 ing to reason by comparison, carried their new notions into 
 their theology, and formed a complicated system of gradual 
 divinities, in which the sun, as first god, was a military chief, 
 a political king ; the moon was his wife, and queen ; the plan- 
 ets were servants, bearers of commands, messengers ; and the 
 multitude of stars were a nation, an army of heroes, genii, 
 whose office was to govern the world under the orders of their 
 chiefs; and all the individuals had names, functions, attributes, 
 drawn from their relations and influences ; and even sexes, from 
 the gender of their appellations.* 
 
 "And as the social state had introduced certain usages and 
 ceremonies,* religiow also adopted similar ones ; these ceremo- 
 nies, at first simple and private, became public and solemn ; the 
 offerings became rich and more numerous, and the rites more 
 methodical; they assigned certain places for the assemblies, and 
 began to have chapels and temples ; they instituted officers to 
 administer them, and these became priests and pontiffs; they 
 established liturgies, and sanctified certain days, and religion 
 became a civil act, a political tie. But in this aVrangement re- 
 ligion did not change its first principles, and the idea of God 
 was always that of physical beings, operating good or evil, that 
 is, impressing sensations of pleasure or pain ;. the dogma was 
 the knowledge of their laws or manner of acting ; virtue and sin 
 the observance or infraction of these laws; and morality, in its 
 native simplicity, was the judicious practice of whatever con- 
 
 • According^ the gender of the object was, in the language of the aa 
 tion, masculine or feminine, the divinity who bore its name was male or 
 female. *Thus the Cappadocians called the moon god, and the sun g )d« 
 dess ; a circumstance which gives to the same beings a perpetual variety 
 in ancient mythology. 
 
THE RUINS. 127 
 
 fribHtes to the preservation of existence,* the well-being of one's 
 self and his fellow-creatures. 
 
 " Should it be asked at what epoch this system took its birth, 
 we shall answer, on the testimony of the monuments of astron- 
 omy itself, that its principles appear incontestably to have been 
 established more than fifteen thousand years ago :f and if it be 
 asked to what people it is to be attributed, we shall answer that 
 the same monuments, supported by unanimous traditions, at- 
 tribute it to the first tribes of Egypt ; and when reason finds in 
 that country all the circumstances which could lead to such a 
 system ; when it finds there a zone of sky, bordering on the 
 
 * To this Plutarch adds, that these (Egyptian) priests always regarded 
 the preservation of health as a point of first importance, and as indispen- 
 sably necessary to the practice of piety and the service of the gods, etc, 
 (See Isis and Osiris, toward the end.) 
 
 t The historical orator follows here the opinion of the learned Dupuis, 
 who first, in his memoir concerning the origin of the constellations, and 
 afterwatd in his great work concerning the origin of all worship, has col- 
 lected a great many arguments to prove that formerly Libra v/as the sign 
 of the Vtjrnal, and Aries of the autumnal equinox ; that is, that the pre- 
 cession o/ the equinoxes has produced a change of more than seven signs. 
 The actiua of this phenomenon can not be denied : the most recent cal- 
 culations value it at 50 seconds, 12 or 15 thirds a year : therefore, 
 every degice of the zodiacal signs is removed or put back in 71 years, 8 
 or 9 monthiii ; therefore an entire sign in 2,152 or 2,153 years. But if, as 
 is the fact, the equinoctial point of spring was exactly in the first degree 
 of Aries, in the year 388 before J. C. ; that is, if at that period the sun 
 had gone through and put back a whole sign, to enter into Pisces, which 
 he has left in our own time, it follows that if he had left Taurus 2,153 
 years before, that is, about the year 2,540 before J. C, and had entered 
 it about the year 4,692 before J. C. Thus ascending from sign to sign, 
 the first degree of Aries was the autumnal equinoctial point about 12,912 
 years before the year 388, that is to say, 13,300 years before the Christian 
 era: add our eighteen centuries, you will find 15,100 years, and, more 
 over, the quantity of time and of ages necessary to bring astronomical 
 knowledge to such a degree of perfection. Now it is to be observed that 
 the worship of the Bull is the principal article in the theological creed 
 of the Egyptians, Persians, Japanese, etc., which clearly indicates at that 
 epoch some common system of ideas among these nations. The five or 
 six thousand years of Genesis can be objected only by those who believe 
 in it from education. (See on this subject the analysis of Genesis, in the 
 first volume of New Researches on Ancient History : see also Origin of 
 Constellations, by Dupuis, 1781 ; the Origin of Worship, in 3 vols., 1794 , 
 and th6 Chronological Zodiac, in 4to, 1S06.) 
 
J2tt THE RUINS. 
 
 tropic, equally free from the rains of the equator and the foga 
 of the north ; when it finds there a central point of the sphere 
 of the ancients, a salubrious climate, a great, but manageable 
 riyer, a soil fertile without labor or art, inundated without mor- 
 bid exhalations, and placed between two seas which communi- 
 cate with the richest countries, it conceives that the inhabitant 
 of the Nile, addicted to agriculture from the nature of his soil, 
 to geometry from the annual necessity of measuring his lands, 
 to commerce from the facility of communications, to astronomy 
 from the state of his sky, always open to observation, must have 
 been the first to pass from the savage to the social state, and con- 
 sequently to attain the physical and moral sciences necessary to 
 civilized life. 
 
 " It was, then, on the borders of the upper Nile, among a 
 black race of men, that was organized the complicated system 
 of the worship of the stars considered in relation to the produc- 
 tions of the earth and the labors of agriculture ; and this first 
 worship, characterized by their adoration under their own forms 
 and natural attributes, was a simple proceeding of the human 
 mind : but in a short time, the multiplicity of the objects, of 
 their relations, and their reciprocal influence, having complica- 
 ted the ideas and the signs that represented them, there followed 
 a confusion as singular in its cause as pernicious in its effects. 
 
 III. Tliird System. — Worship of Symbols, or Idolatry. 
 
 *'As soon as this agricultural people began to observe the 
 stars with attention, they found it necessary to individualize or 
 group them, and to assign to each a proper name, in order to 
 understand each other in their designation. But to this there 
 was a great obstacle ; for, on the one hand, the heavenly bodies, 
 similar in form, offered no distinguishing characteristics by 
 which to denominate them, and, on the other, language, in its 
 infancy and poverty, had no expressions for so many new and 
 metaphysical ideas. Necessity, the usual stimulus of genius, 
 surmounted everything. Having remarked that, in the annual 
 revolution, the renewal and periodical appearance of terrestrial 
 productions were constantly associated with the rising and set- 
 ting of certain stars, and to their position as reJative to the sun, 
 the fundamental term of all comparison, the mind, by a natural 
 
THE RUINS. 121 
 
 operation, connected in thought these terrestrial and celestial 
 objects, which were connected in fact ; and applying to them 
 a common sign, it gave to the stars and their groups the names 
 of the terrestrial objects to which they answered.* 
 
 " Thus the Ethiopian of Thebes named stars of inundation, 
 or aquarius, those under which the Nile began to overflow; 
 stars of the ox or bull, those under which he began to plough; 
 stars of the lion, those under which that animal, driven from the 
 desert by thirst, appeared on the banks of the Nile ; stars of the 
 sheaf or of the harvest virgin, those of the reaping season; stars 
 of the lamb, stars of the kids, those under which these precious 
 animals were brought fcfrth : and thus was resolved the first 
 part of the difficulty. 
 
 " Moreover, man having remarked, in the beings which sur- 
 rounded him, certain qualities distinctive and peculiar to each 
 species, and having thence derived a name by which to desig- 
 nate them, he found in the same source an ingenious mode of 
 generalizing his ideas ; and transferring the name already in- 
 vented to everything which bore any resemblance or analogy, 
 he enriched his language with a perpetual round of metaphors. 
 
 " Thus the same Ethiopian, having observed that the return 
 of the inundation always corresponded with the rising of a beau- 
 tiful star which appeared toward the source of the Nile, and 
 seemed to warn the husbandman against the coming waters, he 
 compared this action to that of the animal who, by his barking, 
 gives notice of danger, and he called this star the dog, the barker 
 (Sirius). In the same manner he named the stars of the crab 
 those where the sun, having arrived at the tropic, retreated by 
 a slow retrograde motion like the crab or cancer. He named 
 stars of the wild goat, or Capricorn, those where the sun, having 
 reached the highest point in his annuary tract, rests at the sum- 
 mit of the horary gnomon, and imitates the goat, who delights 
 to climb tlie summit of the rocks. He named stars of the bal- 
 ance, or libra, those where the days and • nights, being equal, 
 seemed in equilibrium like that instrument ; and stars of the 
 scorpion, those where certain periodical winds bring vapors, 
 burning like the venom of the scorpion. In the same manner 
 
 * "The ancients," says Maimonidos, " directing, all their attention ta 
 agriculture, gave to the stars names derived from their occupation du 
 ring the year." (More Neb — ~, pars 5.) 
 
130 THE RUINS. 
 
 he called by the name of rings and serpents the figured tracei 
 of the orbits of the stars and planets : and such was' the general 
 mode of naming* all the stars, and even the planets, taken by 
 groups or as individuals, according to their relations with hus- 
 bandry and terrestrial objects, and according to the analogies 
 which each nation found between them and the objects of its 
 particular soil and climate. 
 
 " From this, it appeared that abject and terrestrial beings be- 
 came associated with the superior and powerful inhabitants of 
 heaven ; and this association became stronger every day by the 
 mechanism of language and the constitution of the human mind. 
 Men would say, by a natural metaphor, 'The bull spreads over 
 the earth the germs of fecundity (in spring) — he restores vege- 
 tation and plenty ; the lamb (or ram) delivers the skies from the 
 malevolent genii of winter ; he saves the world from the ser- 
 pent (emblem of the humid season), and restores the empire of 
 goodness (summer, joyful season). The scorpion pours out his 
 poison on the earth, and scatters diseases and death,' etc. : the 
 same of all similar effects. 
 
 " This language, understood by every one, v\ras attended at 
 first with no inconvenience ; but in the course of time, when 
 the calendar had been regulated, the people, who had no longer 
 any need of observing the heavens, lost sight of the original 
 meaning of these expressions, and the allegories remaining in 
 common use became a fatal stumbling-block to the understand- 
 ing and to reason. Habituated to associate to the symbols the 
 ideas of iheir archetypes, the mind at last confounded them : 
 then the same animals, whom fancy had transported to the skies, 
 turned again to the earth ; but being thus returned, clothed in 
 the livery of the stars, they claimed the stellary attributes, and 
 imposed on their own authors. Then it was that the people, 
 believing that they saw their gods among them, could pray to 
 them with more convenience : they demanded from the ram of 
 their flock the influences which might be expected from the 
 heavenly ram ; they prayed the scorpion not to pour out his 
 venom upon nature ; they revered the crab of the sea, the sca- 
 rab of the mire, the fish of the river ; and by a series of corrupt 
 
 • The ancients had verbs from the substantives crab, goat, tortoise, ai 
 the French have at present the verbs serpenter, coqueter. The mfciian 
 Ism of all languages is nearly the same. 
 
THE RUINS. 131 
 
 out inseparable analogies, they lost themselves in a labyrinth of 
 well-connected absurdities. 
 
 " Such was the origin of that ancient whimsical worship of 
 the animals ; such is the train of ideas by which the character 
 of the divinity became common to the vilest of brutes, and by 
 which was formed that theological system, extremely compre- 
 hensive, comphcated, and learned, which, rising on the borders 
 of the Nile, propagated from country to country by commerce, 
 war, and conquest, overspread the whole of the ancient world, 
 and which, modified by time, circumstances, and prejudices, is 
 still seen entire among a hundred nations, and remains as the 
 essential and secret basis of the theology of those even who de- 
 spise and reject it." 
 
 Some murmurs at these words being heard from various 
 groups — *' Yes," continued the orator, " hence arose, for in- 
 stance, among you, nations of Africa, the adoration of your 
 fetiches, plants, animals, pebbles, pieces of wood, before which 
 your ancestors would not have had the folly to bow, if they had 
 not seen in them talismans endowed with the virtue of the stars.* 
 Here, ye nations of Tartary I is the origin of your marmosets, 
 and of all that train of animals with which your chamans orna- 
 
 ♦ The ancient astrologers, says the most learned of the Jews (Mai- 
 monides), having consecrated to each planet a color, an animal, a tree, 
 a metal, a fruit, a plant, formed from them all a figure or representation 
 of the star ; taking care to select for the purpose a proper moment, a 
 fortunate day, such as the conjunction, or some other favorable aspect. 
 They conceived that by their (magic) ceremonies they could introduce 
 into those figures or idols the influences of the superior beings after 
 which they were modelled. These were the idols that the Kaldean Sa- 
 beans adored ; and in the performance of their worship they were obliged 
 to be dressed in the proper color .... Thus the astrologers, by their 
 practices, introduced idolatry, desirous of being regarded as the dis- 
 pensers of the favors of Heaven ; and as agriculture was the sole em- 
 ployment of the ancients, they succeeded in persuading them that the 
 rain and other blessings of the seasons were at their disposal. Thus, 
 the whole art of agriculture was exercised by rules of astrology, and the 
 priests made talismans or charms which were to drive away locusts, 
 flies, etc. (See Maimonides, More Nebuchim, pars III., c. 9.) 
 
 " The priests of Egypt, Persia, India, etc., pretended to bind the gods 
 to their idols, and to make them descend from heaven at their pleasure. 
 They threatened the sun and moon to reveal the secret mysteries, tp 
 shake the heavens," etc. (Euseb Proepar. Evang., p. 19S, and Jambli 
 lus, de Mysteriis ./Egypt.) 
 
132 THE RUINS. 
 
 meni their magical robes. This is the origin of those figures 
 of birds and of snaUes which savage nations imprint upon their 
 skins with sacred and mysterious ceremonies. Ye inhabitants 
 of India I in vain you cover yourselves with the veil of mys- 
 tery : the hawk of your god Vichenou is but one of the thou- 
 sand emblems of the sun in Egypt ; and your incarnations of 
 god in the fish, the boar, the lion, the tortoise, and all his mon- 
 strous adventures, are only the metamorphoses of the sun, who 
 passing through the signs of the twelve animals, was supposed 
 to assume their figures, and perform their astronomical func- 
 tions.* People of Japan ! your bull, which breaks the mun- 
 dane egg, is only the bull of the zodiac, which in former times 
 opened the seasons, the age of creation, the vernal equinox. It 
 is the same bull Apis which Egypt adored, and which your 
 ancestors, O Jewish rabbins ! worshipped in the golden calf. 
 This is still your bull, followers of Zoroaster ! which, sacri- 
 ficed in the symbolic mysteries of Mithra, poured out his blood 
 which fertilized the earth. And, ye Christians ! your bull of 
 the apocalj'pse, with his wings, symbol of the air, has no other 
 origin ; and your lamb of God, sacrificed, like the bull of Mith- 
 ra, for the salvation of the world, is only the same sun, in the 
 sign of the celestial ram, which, in a later age, opening the 
 equinox in his turn, was supposed to deliver the world from 
 evil — that is to say, from the constellation of the serpent, from 
 that great snake, the parent of winter, the emblem of the 
 Ahrimanes or Satan of the Persians, your instructors. Yes, in 
 vain does your imprudent zeal consign idolaters to the torments 
 of Tartarus which they invented : the whole basis of your sys- 
 tem is only the worship of the sun, with whose attributes you 
 have decorated your principal personage. It is the sun which, 
 under the name of Orus, was born, like your god, at the winter 
 solstice, in the arms of the celestial virgin, and who passed a 
 childhood of obscurity, indigence, and want, answering to the 
 season of cold and frost. It is he that, under the name of Osi- 
 ris, persecuted by Typhon and by the tyrants of the air, was 
 put to death, shut up in a dark tomb, emblem of the hemisphere 
 of winter, and afterward, ascending from the inferior zone tow- 
 
 * These are the very words of Jamblicus, de Symbolis ^gyptiorum 
 c. 2., sect. 7. The sun was the grand Proteus, the universal metamor 
 phist. 
 
THE RUINS. 133 
 
 ard the zenitn of heaven, arose again from the dead triumphant 
 over the giants and the angels of destruction. 
 
 " Ye priests ! w^ho murmur at this relation, you wear his 
 emblems all over your bodies : your tonsure is the disk of the 
 sun ;* your stole is his zodiac ;f your rosaries are symbols of the 
 stars and planets. Ye pontiffs and prelates ! your mitre, your 
 crosier, your mantle, are those of Osiris ; and that cross, whose 
 mystery you extol without comprehending it, is the cross of 
 Serapis, traced by the hands of Egyptian priests on the plan of 
 the figurative world, which, passing through the equinoxes and 
 tropics, became the emblem of the future life, and of the resur- 
 rection, because it touched the gates of ivory and of horn, 
 through which the soul passed to heaven." 
 
 At these words, the doctors of all the groups began to look at 
 each other with astonishment ; but no one breaking silence, the 
 orator proceeded : — 
 
 " Three principal causes concur to produce this confusion of 
 ideas. First, the figurative expressions under which an infant 
 language was obliged to describe the relations of objects; which 
 expressions, passing afterward from a limited to a general sense, 
 and from a physical to a moral one, caused, by their ambiguities 
 and synonymes, a great number of mistakes. 
 
 " Thus, it being first said that the sun had surmounted or 
 finished twelve animals, it was thought afterward that he had 
 killed, fought, conquered them ; and this gave rise to the his- 
 torical life of Hercules.t 
 
 " It being said that he regulated the periods of rural labor, 
 
 * " The Arabs," says Herodotus, b. in., " shave their heads in a cir- 
 cle and about their .temples, in imitation, as they pretend, of Bacchus" 
 (who is the sun). Jeremiah speaks also of this custom, c. 25, v. 23. 
 The tuft of hair which the Mussulmans preserve, is taken also from the 
 sun, who was painted by the Egyptians, at the winter solstice as having 
 but a single hair on his head. 
 
 t The robes of the goddess of Syria and of Diana of Ephesus, whence 
 are borrowed the dress of the priests, have the twelve animals of the 
 zodiac painted on them. The rosaries are found upon all the Indian 
 idols, erected more than four thousand five hundred years ago, and their 
 use in the East has been universal from time immemorial. The crosier 
 is precisely the staff of Bootes of Osiris. All the lamas wear the mitre 
 or cap in the shape of a cone, which was an emblem of the sun. 
 
 t See Dupuis's work, " Origin of Constellations and Origin of all Wor- 
 •hip." 
 
 12 
 
134 THE RUINS. 
 
 the seed-time, and the harvest, that he distributed the seasons 
 and occupations, that he ran through the chmates and ruled the 
 earth, etc., he was taken for a legislative king, a conquering 
 warrior; and they framed from this the history of Osiris, of 
 Bacchus, and others of that description. 
 
 " Having said that a planet entered into a sign, they made of 
 this conjunction a marriage, an adultery, an incest. Hiving 
 said that the planet was hid or buried, when it came back to 
 light and ascended to its exaltation, they said it had died, risen 
 again, ascended into heaven, etc. 
 
 "A second cause of confusion was the material figures them- 
 selves, by which men first painted thoughts, and which, under 
 the name of hieroglyphics, or sacred characters, were the first 
 invention of the mind. Thus, to give warning of the inunda- 
 tion, and of the necessity to guard against it, they painted a 
 boat, the ship Argo ; to express the wind, they painted the wing 
 of a bird ; to designate the season or the month, they painted 
 the bird of passage, the insect, or the animal which made its 
 appearance at that epoch ; to describe the winter, they painted 
 a hog or serpent, which delight in humid places : and the com- 
 bination of these figures carried the known sense of words and 
 phrases.* But as this sense could not be fixed with precision, 
 
 * The reader will doubtless see with pleasure some examples of an- 
 cient hieroglyphics. 
 
 " The Egyptians,'' says Hor- Apollo, " represent eternity by the figures 
 of the sun and moon. They designate the world by a blue serpent with 
 yellow scales (stars : it is the Chinese dragon). If they had to express 
 the year, they painted Isis, who is also in their language called Sothis, 
 or dogstar — the first of the constellations, by the rising of which the year 
 commences. Its inscription at Sais was : ' It is I that rise in the con- 
 stellation of the dog.' 
 
 " They also represent the year by a palm-tree, and the month by one 
 of its branches ; because it is the nature of this tree to produce a branch 
 every month. 
 
 " They further represent it by a quarter of an acre. (The acre, divi- 
 ded into four, denotes the bissextile period of four years. The abbrevi- 
 ation of this figure of a field in four divisions is manifestly the letter lia 
 or heth, the seventh in the Samaritan alphabet. In general, the letters 
 of the alphabet are merely astronomical hieroglyphics ; and it is for this 
 reason that the mode of writing is frpm right to left, like the march of 
 the stars.) They denote a prophet by the image of a dog, because the 
 dogstar (Anoubis) by its rising gives notice of the inundation. 
 
 " They represent inundation by a lion, because it takes place under 
 
THE RUINS. 
 
 135 
 
 as the number of these figures and their combinations became 
 excessive, and overburdened the memory, the immediate con- 
 sequence was confusion and false interpretations. Genius af 
 
 that sign; and hence (says Plutarch), the custom of placing at the 
 gates of temples figures of lions spouting water from iheir moUTTs. 
 
 They express God and destiny by a star. They also represent God 
 (says Porphyry) by a black stone, because his nature is dark and ob. 
 scure. All white things express the celestial and luminous gods ; all cir- 
 cular ones the world, the moon, the sun, the orbits ; all bows and cres- 
 cents, the moon. Fire and the gods of Olympus, they represent by 
 pyranriids and obelisks (the name of the sun, Baal, is found in this latter 
 word) ; the sun by a cone (the mitre of Osiris) ; the earth by a cylinder 
 (which rolls) ; the generative power (of the air) by the phaUus ; and 
 that of the earth by a triangle-emblem of the female organ. (Euseb , 
 Praepar. Evang., p. 98.) ' 
 
 " Clay (says Jamblicus, de Symbolis, sect. 7, c. 2) denotes matter, the 
 generative and nutritive power-everything which receives the warmth 
 and fermentation of life. 
 
 "A man sitting upon the lotos or nenuphar, represents the moving 
 spirit (the sun) which, in like manner as that plant lives in the water 
 without any communication with clay, exists equally distinct from mat- 
 ter, swimming in space, resting on itself j round in all its parts like the 
 frmt, leaves, and flowers, of the lotos. Brahma has lotos-eyes (says 
 the Chaster Neardisen), to denote his intelligence j his eye swimmine 
 over everything, like the flower of the lotos on the waters. A man at 
 the helm of a ship (adds Jamblicus) is descriptive of the sun, which 
 govern all. And Porphyry tells us that the sun is also represented by a 
 man in a ship resting on a crocodile (the amphibious emblem of air and 
 water). 
 
 " At Elephantina they worshipped the figure of a man sitting, of a blue 
 color, with a ram's head, and a goat's horns encompassing the disk • all 
 which represented the sun and moon's conjunction in the ram, the blue 
 color denoting the power of the moon, at the period of junction, to raise 
 water into clouds (apud Euseb., Prspar. Evang., p. }16) 
 
 "The hawk is an emblem of the sun and light, on account of his rapid 
 flight, and his soaring into the highest regions of the air where light 
 abounds. ® 
 
 "A fish is the emblem of aversion, and the hippopotamus of violence, 
 because it is said to kill its father and ravish its mother. Hence (.ays 
 Plutarch) the hieroglyphical inscription of the temple of Sais, where we 
 see painted on the vestibule, 1st, a child ,• 2d, an old man ; 3d, a hawk ; 
 vf \. J ^""^ ^^^' ^ ^'PP'^P^t'^"^^^ : which signify, 1st, entrance into 
 hie ; 2d, departure ; 3d, god ; 4th, hates ; 5th, injustice. (See Isis and 
 Usiris.) . 
 
 « The Egyptians (adds he) represent the world by a scarab, because 
 this uisect pushes in a direction contrary to that in which it proceeds, a 
 
136 
 
 THE RUINS. 
 
 t?rward having invented the more simple art of applying signs 
 to sounds, of which the number is limited, and painting words, 
 instead of thoughts, alphabetical writing threw into disuse 
 hi'eroglyphical painting ; and its signification, falling daily into 
 oblivion, gave rise to a multitude of illusions, ambiguities, and 
 errors. 
 
 " Finally, a third cause of confusion was the civil organiza- 
 tion of ancient states. When the people began to apply them- 
 selves to agriculture, the formation of a rural calendar requiring ' 
 a continued series of astronomical observations, it became ne- 
 cessary to appoint certain individuals charged with the functions 
 of watching the appearance and disappearance of certain stars, 
 to foretell the return of the inundation, of certain winds, of the 
 rainy season, the proper time to sow every kind of grain : these 
 men, on account of their service, were exempt from common 
 labor, and the society provided for their maintenance. With 
 this provision, and wholly employed in their observation, they 
 soon became acquainted with the great phenomena of nature, 
 and even learned to penetrate the secret of many of her opera- 
 tions. They discovered the movement of the stars and planets ; 
 the coincidence of their phases and returns with the productions 
 
 ball containing its eggs, just as the heaven of the fixed stars causes the 
 revolution of the sun (the yolk of an egg) in an opposite direction to its 
 own. 
 
 " They represent the world, also, by the number five, being that of 
 the elements, which (says Diodorus) are earth, w^ater, air, fire, and ether, 
 or spiritus (they are the same among the Indians) ; and according to 
 the mystics, in Macrobius, they are the supreme God, or primum mobile, 
 the intelligence or mens born of him, the soul of the world which pro- 
 ceeds from him, the celestial spheres and all things terrestrial. Hence 
 (adds Plutarch) the analogy between the Greek pente, five, mxdpan, all. 
 
 "The ass (says he, again) is the emblem of Typhon, because he is 
 of a ruddy color like that animal. Now Typhon signifies whatever is of 
 a mirey or clayey nature ; and in Hebrew I find the three words clay, 
 ruddy, and ass, to be formed from the same root, hamr. Jamblicus has 
 further told us that clay denoted matter, and he elsewhere adds, that ali 
 evil and corruption proceeded from matter ; which, compared with the 
 phrase of Macrobius — all is perishable, liable to change, in the celestia. 
 sphere, gives us the theory, first physical, then moral, of the system of 
 good and evil of the ancients." (See, also, the Memoir concerning the 
 zodiac of Dendera, which the learned Dupuis has inserted in the journal 
 entitled Revue Philosophique, year 1801.) 
 
THE RUINS. 137 
 
 of the earth and the action of vegetation ; the medicinal and 
 nutritive properties of plants and fruits; the action of the ele- 
 ments, and their reciprocal affinities. Now, as there was no 
 other method of communicating the knowledge of these discov- 
 eries^but the laborious one of oral instruction, they transmitted 
 it only to their relations and friends, it followed that all science 
 and instruction were confined to a few families, who, arrogating 
 it to themselves as an exclusive privilege, assumed a professional 
 distinction, a corporation spirit, fatal to the public welfare. 
 This continued succession of the same researches and the same 
 labors hastened, it is true, the progress of knowledge ; but by 
 the mystery which accompanied it, the people were daily plun- 
 ged in deeper shades, and became more superstitious and more 
 enslaved. Seeing their fellow-mortals produce certain phenom- 
 ena, announce, as at will, eclipses and comets, heal diseases, and 
 handle serpents, they thought them in alliance with celestial 
 powers ; and to obtain the blessings and avert the evils which 
 they expected from above, they took them for mediators and in- 
 terpreters : and thus became established in the bosom of every 
 state sacrilegious corporations of hypocritical and deceitful men, 
 who engrossed all the authority ; and the priests, being at once 
 astronomers, theologians, naturalists, physicians, magicians, in- 
 terpreters of the gods, oracles of men, and rivals of kings, or their 
 accomplices, established, tmder the name of religion, an empire 
 of mystery and a monopoly of instruction, which to this day have 
 ruined every nation " 
 
 Here the priests of all the groups interrupted the orator; and 
 with loud cries accused him of impiety, irreligion, blasphemy^ 
 and endeavored to cut short his discourse; but the legislator 
 observing that this was only an exposition of historical facts, 
 which, if false or forged, would be easily refuted ; that hitherto 
 the declaration of every opinion had been free, and without 
 this it would be impossible to discover the truth, the orator pro- 
 ceeded : — 
 
 " Now, from all these causes, and from the continual associ- 
 ation of ill-assorted ideas, arose a mass of disorders in theology, 
 in morals, and in traditions : first, because the animals repre- 
 sented the stars, the characters of the animals, their appetites, 
 their sympathies, their aversions, passed over to the gods, and 
 were supposed to be their actions : thus, the god ichneumon 
 
 12* 
 
138 THE RUINS. , 
 
 made war against the god crocodile ; the god wolf liked to cat 
 tlie god sheep ; the god ibis devoured the god serpent ; and the 
 Deity became a strange, capricious, and ferocious being, whose 
 idea deranged the judgment of man, and corrupted his morals 
 and his reason. • • 
 
 " Again, because in the spirit of their worship"every family, 
 everj^ nation, took for its special patron a star or constellation, 
 the aftections or antipathies of the symbolic animal were trans- 
 ferred to its sectaries ; and the partisans of the god dog were 
 enemies to those of the god wolf; those who adored the god ox 
 abhorred those who eat him ; and religion became the sense- 
 less cause of phrensy and super>!tition.* 
 
 " Besides, the names of tliose animal-stars having, for this 
 same reason of patronage, been conferred on nations, countries, 
 mountains, and rivers, these objects were taken for gods, and 
 hence followed a mixture of geographical, historical, and mytho- 
 logical beings, which confounded all traditions. 
 
 " Finally, by the analogy of the actions which were ascribed 
 to them, the god-stars having been taken for men, for heroes, 
 for kings, kings and heroes took, in their turn, the actions of 
 gods for models, and by imitation became warriors, conquerors, 
 proud, lascivious, indolent, sanguinary ; and religion conse- 
 crated the crimes of despots, and perverted the principles of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 IV. Fourth system. Worship of two Princijjles, or Dualism, 
 
 . *' In the meantime, the astronomical priests, enjoying peace 
 and abundance in their temples, made every day new progress 
 in the sciences ; and the system of the world unfolding gradu- 
 ally to their view, they raised successively various hypotheses, 
 as to its agents and effects, which became so many theological 
 systems. 
 
 '* The voyages of the maritime nations, and the caravans of 
 the nomads of Asia and Africa, having given them a knowledge 
 of the earth from the Fortunate islands to Serica, and from the 
 
 * These are Plutarch's own words, who relates that those various wor- 
 ships were given by a king of Egypt lo the different towns, to disunite 
 and enslave them. (And these kings had been chosen from the castes of 
 priests.) See Isis and Osiris. 
 
THE RUINS. 139 
 
 Baltic to tlie sources of ihe Nile, the comparison of the phe- 
 nomena of various zones taught them the rotundity of the 
 ^arth, and gave birth to a new theory. Having remarked that 
 all the operations of nature, during the annual period, were re 
 ducible to two principal ones, thfit of producing, and that of de- 
 stroying ; that on the greater part of the globe these two opera- 
 tions were performed in the intervals of the two equinoxes, that 
 is to say, during the six months of summer everything was pro- 
 creating and multiplying, and that during winter everything 
 languished and almost died; they supposed in Nature two 
 contrary powers, which were in a continual state of contention 
 and exertion ; and considering the celestial sphere in this view, 
 they divided the images which they figured upon it into two 
 halves, or hemispheres, so that the constellations which were 
 on the summer heaven formed a direct and superior empire, and 
 those which were on the winter heaven composed an antipode 
 and inferior empire. Therefore, as the constellations of sum- 
 mer accompanied the season of long, warm, and unclouded days, 
 and that of fruits and harvests, they were considered as the pow- 
 ers of light, fecundity, and creation, and, by a transition from a 
 physical to a moral sense, they became genii, angels of science, 
 of beneficence, of purity and virtue : and as the constellations 
 of winter were connected with long nights and polar fogs, they 
 were the genii of darkness, of destruction, of death, and, by 
 transition, angels of wickedness, of ignorance, of sin and vice. 
 By this arrangement the heaven was divided into two domains, 
 two factions : and the analogy of human ideas already opened 
 a vast field to the errors of imagination ; but the mistake and the 
 illusion were determined, if not occasioned by a particular cir- 
 cumstance.* 
 
 •* In the projection of the celestial sphere as traced by the as- 
 tronomical priests,f the zodiac and the constellations, disposed 
 
 • Vale's globe and transparent celestial sphere would greatly assist in 
 comprehending the references to the earth and the heavens. 
 
 t The ancient priests had three kinds of spheres, wMch it may be us«. 
 ful to make known to the reader. 
 
 « We read in EubuJus," says Porphyry, "that Zoroaster was the first 
 who, having fixed upon a cavern pleasantly situated in the mountains ad- 
 Jacent to Persia, formed the idea of consecrating it to Mithra (the sun), 
 creator and father of aU things ; that is to say, having made in this cav. 
 
140 THE RUINS. 
 
 in circular order, presented their halves in diametrical opposi- 
 tion : the hemisphere of winter, antipode of that of summer 
 was adverse, contrary, opposed to it. By a continual metaphor^ 
 
 em several geometrical divisions, representing the seasons and the ele* 
 ments, he innitated on a small scale the order and disposition of the uni- 
 verse by Mithra. After Zoroaster, it became a custom to consecrate 
 caverns for the celebration of mysteries ! so that, in like manner as tem- 
 ples were dedicated to celestial gods, rural altars to heroes and terrestrial 
 deities, subterranean abodes to infernal (inferior) deities, so caverns and 
 grottoes were consecrated to the world, the universe, and the nymphs ; 
 and hence Pythagoras and Plato borrowed the idea of calling the world 
 a cavern, a cave. (Porph., antro Nympharum.) 
 
 " Such was the first projection of a sphere in relief j and though the 
 Persians give the honor of the invention to Zoroaster, it is doubtless due 
 to the Egyptians ; for we may suppose, from this projection being the 
 most simple, that it was the most ancient : the caverns of Thebes, full 
 of similar pictures, tend to strengthen this opinion." 
 
 The following was the second projection : " The prophets or hiero* 
 phants of the Egyptians,'' says Bishop Synnesius, who had been initiated 
 in the mysteries, '' do not permit the common workmen to form idols or 
 images of the gods ; but they descend themselves into the sacred caves, 
 where they have concealed coffers containing certain spheres, upon 
 which they construct those images secretly, and without the knoAvledge 
 of the people, who desi'ise simple and natural things, and wish for 
 prodigies and fables." (Synn., in Calvit.) That is, the ancient priests 
 had armilary spheres, like ours ; and this passage, which so well 
 agrees with that of Choereinon, gives us the key to all their theological 
 astrology. 
 
 Lastly, they had flat models of a very complicated nature, having ev- 
 ery fictitious division of decan and subdecan, with the hieroglyphic indi- 
 cations of their influence. Kirker has given us a copy of one of them in 
 his Egyptian j^dipus, and Gebelin, a figured fragment in his book of the 
 calendar (under the name of Egyptian Zodiac). " The ancient Egyp- 
 tians," says the astrologer Julius Firmicus (Astron., lib. ii., c. iv., and 
 lib. iv., c. xvi.), '* divide each sign of the zodiac into three sections ; and 
 each section was under the direction of an imaginary being, whom they 
 called decan, or chief of ten : so that there were three decans in a 
 month, and thirty-six in a year. Now, these decans, who were also called 
 gods (theoi), regulated the destinies of mankind ; and they were placed 
 particularly in certain stars. They afterward imagined in every ten three 
 other gods, whom they called Arbiters ,• so that there were nine for ev- 
 ery month ; and these were farther divided into an infinite number of 
 powers." (The Persians and Indians made their spheres on a similar 
 plan ; and if a picture thereof were to be drawn from a description given 
 by Scaliger at the end of Manilius, we should find in it a precise defini. 
 lion of their hieroglyphics, for every article forms one.) 
 
THE RUINS. 141 
 
 these words acquired a moral sense ; and the adverse genii, or 
 angels, became revolted enemies. From that moment all the 
 astronomical history of the constellations was changed into a 
 political history ; the heavens became a human state, where 
 hings happened as on the earth. Now, as the earthly states, 
 the greater part despotic, had already their monarchs, and as 
 the sun was apparently the monarch of the skies, the summer 
 hemisphere,* empire of light, and its constellations, a people 
 of white angels, had for king an enlightened god, a creator in- 
 telligent and good. And as every rebel faction must have its 
 chief, the heaven of winter, the subterranean empire of darkness 
 and wo, and its stars, a people of black angels, giants, or demons, 
 had for their chief a malignant genius, whose character was ap- 
 plied by different people to the constellation which to them was 
 the most remarkable. Jn Egypt, it was primitively the scor- 
 pion, first zodiacal sign after libra, and for a long time chief of 
 the winter signs ; then it was the bear, or polar ass, called ty- 
 phon,f that is to say, deluge, on account of the rains which 
 deluge the earth during the dominion of that constellation. At 
 a later period in Persia, J it was the serpent who, under the 
 
 * It was for this reason the Persians always wrote the name of Ahrim- 
 anes inverted, thus : "sauBUJuqv 
 
 t Typhon, pronounced touphon by the Greeks, is precisely the touphan 
 of the Arabs, which signifies deluge : and all these deluges in mythology 
 are nothing more than winter and the rains, or the overflowing of the 
 Nile ; as the pretended conflagrations that are to destroy the world are 
 simply the summer season. And it is for this reason that Aristotle (D&- 
 Meteoris, lib. i., c. xiv.) says that the winter of the great cyclic year is 
 a deluge, and its summer a conflagration. " The Egyptians," says Por- 
 phyry, " employ every year a talisman in remembrance of the world ; at 
 the summer solstice they mark their houses, flocks, and trees, with red, 
 supposing that on that day the whole world had been set on fire. It was 
 also at the same period that they celebrated the Pyrrhic or fire dance." 
 (And this illustrates the origin of purification by fire and water; for hav- 
 ing denominated the tropic of Cancer, " Gate of heaven and of heat or 
 celestial fire," and that of Capricorn, " Gate of deluge or of water," it was 
 imagined that the spirits or souls who passed through these gates, in their 
 way to and from heaven, were scorched or bathed ; hence the baptism 
 of Mithra, and the passage through the flames, observed throughout the 
 East long before Moses.) 
 
 t That is, when the ram became the equinoctial sign, or rather when 
 the alteration of the skies showed that it was no longer the bull. 
 
142 THE RUINS. 
 
 name of Ahrimanes, formed the basis of the system of Zoroaster: 
 and it is the same, O, Christians and Jews! that has become 
 your serpent of Eve (the celestial virgin), and that of the cross, 
 in both cases, emblem of Satan, the enemy and great adversary 
 of the ancient of days, sung by Daniel. 
 
 ** In Syria, it was the hog or wild boar enemy of Adonis, be- 
 cause, in that country, the functions of the northern bear were 
 performed by the animal whose inclination for mire and dirt 
 was emblematic of winter ; and this is the reason, followers of 
 Moses and of Mahomet ! that you hold him in horror, in imi- 
 tation of the priests of Memphis and Baalkek, who detested him 
 as the murderer of their God, the sun. This likewise, O In- 
 dians ! is ihe type of your Chib-en, who was formerly the Pluto 
 of your brethren the Romans and Greeks: in like manner, your 
 Brahma, God the creator, is only the Persian Ormuzd and the 
 Egyptian Osiris, whose very name expresses creative power, 
 producer of forms. And. these gods received a worship analo- 
 gous to their attributes, real or imaginary, which worship was 
 divided into two branches, according to their characters. The 
 good god receives a worship of love and joy, from which are 
 derived all religious acts of gayety,* such as festivals, dances, 
 banquets, offerings of flowers, milk, honey, perfumes, in a 
 word, everything grateful to the senses and to the soul. The 
 evil god, on the contraiy, received a. worship of fear and pain, 
 whence originated all religious acts of the gloomy sort,f tears, 
 desolation, mourning, abstinence, bloody offerings, and cruel 
 sacrifices. 
 
 • All the ancient festivals respecting the return and exaltation of the 
 sun were of this description ; hence the hilaria of the Roman calendar at 
 the passage (pascha) of the vernal equinox. The dances were imitations 
 of the march of the planets. Those of the Dervises still represent it tc 
 this day. 
 
 t " Sacrifices of blood," says Porphyry, " were only offered to demons 
 and evil genii, to avert their wrath. Demons are fond of blood, humidity, 
 stench." (Apud Euseb., Proep. Evang., p. 1, 73.) 
 
 " The Egyptians," says Plutarch, " only offer bloody victims to Ty- 
 phon. They sacrifice to him a red ox ; and the victim is held in abhor- 
 rence, and loaded with all the sins of the people (the goat of Moses)." 
 See De I side et Osiride. 
 
 Strabo says, speaking of Moses and the Jews, " Circumcision and the 
 prohibition of certain kinds of meat sprung from superstition." And I 
 
THE RUINS. 143 
 
 ♦* Hence arose that distinction of terrestrial beings into pure 
 »nd impure, sacred and abominable, according as their species 
 were of the number of the constellations of one of these two 
 gods, and made part of his domain ; and this produced on the 
 one hand the superstitions concerning pollutions and purifica- 
 tions, and on the other the pretended efficacious virtues of amu- 
 lets and talismans. 
 
 "You conceive now," continued the orator, addressing himself 
 to the Indians, Persians. Jews, Christians, and Mussuhnans — 
 " you conceive the origin of those ideas of battles and rebellions, 
 which equally abound in all your mythologies. You see what 
 is meant by white and black angels ; your cherubim and sera- 
 phim, with heads of eagles, of lions, and of bulls ; your deus, 
 devils, or demons, with horns of goats and tails of serpents ; 
 your thrones and dominions, ranged in seven orders or grada- 
 tions, like the seven spheres of the planets ; all beings acting 
 the same parti, and endowed with the same attributes, in the 
 vedas, bibles, or zend-avestas, whether they have for chiefs Or- 
 muzd or Brahma, Typhon orChiven, Michael or Satan; whether 
 they appear under the forms of giants with a hundred arms and 
 feet of serpents, or that of gods metamorphosed into lions, storks, 
 bulls, or cats, as in the sacred fables of the Greeks and Egyp- 
 tians. You perceive the successive filiation of these ideas, and 
 how, in proportion to their remoteness from their source, and 
 as the minds of men became refined, their gross forms have been 
 polished, and rendered less disgusting. 
 
 " But, in the same manner as you have seen the system of 
 two opposite principles or gods arise from that of symbols and 
 interwoven into its texture, your attention shall now be called 
 to a new system which has grown out of this, and to which this 
 has served in its turn as a basis and support. 
 
 V. Moral and Mystical Worship, or System of a Future State. 
 
 " Indeed, when the vulgar heard speak of a new heaven and 
 another world, they sdon gave a body to these fictions : they 
 
 observe, respecting the ceremony of circumcision, that its object was to 
 take from the symbol of Osiris (Phallus) the pretended obstacle to fecun- 
 dity; an obstacle which bore the seal of Typhon, '-whose nature," says 
 Plutarch, " is made up of all that hinders, opposes, or obstructs." 
 
144 THE RUINS. 
 
 erected therein a real theatre of action, and their notions of as- 
 tronomy and geography served to strengthen, if not to originate 
 this illusion. 
 
 " On the one hand, the Phenician navigators who passed the 
 pillars of Hercules to fetch the tin of Thule, and the amber of 
 the Baltic, related that at the extremity of the world, the end 
 of the ocean (the Mediterranean), where the sun sets for the 
 countries of Asia, were the fortunate islands, the abode of eter- 
 nal spring, and beyond were the Hyperborean regions, placed 
 under the earth (relatively to the tropics), where reigned an 
 eternal night.* From these stories misunderstood, and no 
 doubt confusedly related, the imagination of the people com- 
 posed the Elysian fields, f regions of delight, placed in a world 
 below, having their heaven, their sun, and their stars, and Tar- 
 tarus, a place of darkness, humidity, mire, and frost. Now, as 
 man, inquisitive of that which he knows not, and desirous of 
 protracting his existence, had already interrogated himself con- 
 cerning what was to become of him after his death, as he had 
 early reasoned on the principle of life which animates his body, 
 and which leaves it without deforming it, and as he had im- 
 agined airy substances, phantoms, and shades, he fondly be- 
 lieved that he should continue, in the subterranean world, that 
 life which it was too painful for him to lose ; and these lower 
 regions seemed commodious for the reception of the beloved 
 objects which he could not willingly resign. 
 
 " On the other hand, the astrological and geological priests 
 told such stories and made such descriptions of their heaven, as. 
 accorded perfectly well with these fictions. Having, in their 
 metaphorical language, called the equinoxes and solstices the 
 gates of heaven, the entrance of the seasons, they explained the 
 terrestrial phenomena by saying, that ' through the gate of horn 
 (first the bull, afterward the ram) and through the gate of can- 
 cer descended the vivifying fires which give life to vegetation in 
 the spring, and the aqueous spirits which bring, at the solstice, 
 the inundation of the Nile : that through the gate of ivory 
 (libra, formerly Sagittarius or the bow) and by that of Capricorn 
 or the urn, the emanations or influences of the heavens returned 
 
 • Nights of six months. 
 
 t Aliz, in the Phenician or Hebrew language, signifies dancing and re 
 jolcing. 
 
THE RUINS. ^^^ 
 
 to their source, and reascended to their origin; and the milky- 
 way, which passed through these gates of the solstices, seemed 
 to be placed there to serve them as a road or vehicle : besides, 
 in their atlas, the celestial scene presented a river (the Nile, 
 designated by the windings of the hydra), a boat (the ship Ar- 
 go), and the dog Syrius, both relative to this river, whose inun- 
 dation they foretold. These circumstances, added to the pre- 
 ceding, and still further explaining them, increased their proba- 
 bility, and to arrive at Tartarus or Elysium, souls were obliged 
 to cross the rivers Styx and Acheron in the boat of the ferry- 
 man Caron, and to pass through the gates of horn or ivory, 
 guarded by the dog Cerberus. Finally, these inventions were 
 applied to a civil use, and thence received a further consist- 
 ency. 
 
 *' Having remarked that, in their burning climate, the putre- 
 faction of dead bodies was a cause of pestilential diseases, the 
 Egyptians, in many of their towns, had adopted the practice of 
 burying their dead beyond the limits of the inhabited countiy, 
 in the desert of the West. To go there, it was necessary to 
 pass the channels of the river, and consequently to be received 
 into a boat, and pay something to the ferryman, without which 
 the body, deprived of sepulture, must have been the prey of 
 wild beasts. This custom suggested to the civil and religious 
 legislators the means of a powerful influence on manners ; and, 
 addressing uncultivated and ferocious men with the motives of 
 filial piety and a reverence for the dead, they established, as a 
 necessary condition, tlieir undergoing a previous trial, which 
 should decide whether the deceased merited to be admitted to 
 the rank of the family in the black city. Such an idea accorded 
 too well with all the others not to be incorporated with them : 
 the peojjle soon adopted it, and hell had its Minos and its Rhad- 
 amanthus, with the wand, the bench, the ushers, and the urn, 
 as in the earthly and civil state. It was then that God became 
 a moral and political being, a social legislator, so much the 
 more formidable, as this supreme legislator, this final judge, 
 was inaccessible and invisible : then it was that this fabulous 
 and mythological world, composed of such odd materials and 
 disjointed members, became a place of punishments and re- 
 wards, where divine justice was supposed to correct what was 
 vicious and erroneous in the judgment of men ; and this spirit- 
 
 13 
 
146 THE RUINS. 
 
 ual and mystical system acquired the more credit, as i^ took 
 possession of man by all his natural inclinations : the oppressed 
 found in it the hope of indemnity, and the consolation of future 
 vengeance ; the oppressor, expecting by rich offerings to pur- 
 chase his impunity, formed out of the errors of the vulgar an 
 additional weapon of oppression ; the chiefs of nations, the kings 
 and priests, found in this a new^ instrument of domination by the 
 privilege which they reserved to themselves of distributing the 
 favors and punishments of the great judge, according to the 
 merit or demerit of actions, which they took care to character- 
 ize as best suited their system. 
 
 " This, then, is the manner in which an invisible and imagin- 
 ary world has been introduced into the real and visible one ; 
 this is the origin of those regions of pleasure and pain, of which 
 you Persians have made your regenerated earth, your city of 
 resurrection placed under the equator, with this singular attri- 
 bute, that in it the blessed cast no shade.* Of these materials, 
 
 * There is on this subject a passage in Plutarch so interesting and ex- 
 planatory of the whole of this system, that we shall cite it entire. Hav- 
 ing observed that the theory of good and evil had at all times occupied 
 the attention of naturalists and theologians, he adds : " Many suppose 
 there are two gods of opposite inclinations — one delighting in good, the 
 other in evil. The first of these is called particularly by the name of 
 God, the second by that of Genius or Demon. Zoroaster has denomin- 
 ated them Oromaze and Ahrimanes, and has said that of whatever falls 
 under the cognizance of our senses, light is the best representative of the 
 one, and darkness and ignorance of the other. He adds, that Mithra is 
 an intermediate being, and it is for this reason that the Persians call 
 Mithra the mediator or intercessor. Each of these gods has distinct 
 plants and animals consecrated to him ; for instance, dogs, birds, and 
 hedgehogs, belong to the good genius, and all aquatic animals to the 
 evil one. 
 
 " The Persians also say that Oromaze was born or formed out of the 
 purest light ; Ahrimanes, on the contrary, out of the thickest darkness ; 
 that Oromaze made six gods as good as himself, and Ahrimanes opposed 
 to them six wicked ones ; that afterward Oromaze trebled himself (Her- 
 mes tris-megistus), and removed to a distance as remote from the earth ; 
 that he there formed stars, and, among others, Syrius, which he placed 
 in the heavens as a guard and sentinel. He made also twenty-four other 
 gods, whom he enclosed in an egg ; but Ahrimanes created an equal 
 number who cracked the egg, and from that moment good and evil were 
 mixed (in the universe) . But Ahrimanes is one day to be conquered, and 
 the earth to be made equal and smooth, that all men may live happy. 
 
 " Theopompus adds, from the books of the magi, that one of these 
 
THE RUINS. 14T 
 
 Jews and Christians, disciples of the Persians, have you formed 
 youi Jerusalem of the apocalypse, your paradise, your heaven, 
 cop'ea in aii iis parts from the astrological heaven of Hermes : 
 and your hell, ye Mussulmans ! your bottomless pit, surmount- 
 ed by a bridge, your balance for weighing souls and their works, 
 your last judgment by the angels Monkir and Nekir, are like- 
 wise modelled from the mysterious ceremonies of the cave of 
 Mythra •* and your heaven differs not in the least from that of 
 Osiris, of Ormuzd, and of Brahma. 
 
 gods reigns in turn every three thousand years, during which the other 
 is kept in subjection ; that they afterward contend with equal weapons 
 during the same space of time, but that in the end the evil Genius will 
 fall (never to rise again). Then men will become happy, and shall have 
 no shadow. But the god who meditates all these things reclines at pres- 
 ent in repose, waiting to meet them. (De Iside et Osiride.)" 
 
 The allegory is evident through the whole of this passage. The vgg 
 is the sphere of fixed stars, the world ; the six gods of Oromaze are the 
 six signs of summer ; those of Ahrimanes the six signs of winter. The 
 forty-eight other gods are the forty-eight constellations of the ancient 
 sphere, divided equally between Ahrimanes and Oromaze. The otiice 
 of Syrius, as guard and sentinel, tells us that the origin of these ideas 
 was Egyptian. Finally, the expression that the earth is to become equal 
 and smooth, and that the bodies of the happy shall cast no shadow, 
 proves that the equator was considered as their true paradise. 
 • * In the factitious caves which priests everywhere constructed, they 
 celebrated mysteries which consisted, says Origen against Celsus, in im- 
 itating the motion of the stars, the planets, and the heavens. The ini- 
 tiated took the name of constellations, and assumed the figure of animals. 
 One was a lion, another a raven, and a third a ram. Hence the use o( 
 masks in the first representation of the drama. (See Antiq. devoUee, 
 vol. II., p. 244.) In the mysteries of Ceres, the chief in the procession 
 called himself the creator ; the torch-bearcr was denominateu tne sun ; 
 the person nearest to the altar, the moon ; the herald, or deacon, Mer- 
 cury. In Egypt, there was a festival in which men and women repre- 
 sented the year, the century, the seasons, the divisions of the day, and 
 they followed the procession of Bacchus. (Athen. lib. v., c. 7.) In the 
 cave ol Mithra was a ladder with seven steps, representing the seven 
 spheres of the planets, by means of which souls ascended and descended 
 This is precisely the ladder in Jacob's vision ; which shows that at 
 that epoch the whole system was formed. There is in the royal library 
 a superb volume of pictures of ih* Indian gods, in which the ladder is 
 represented with the souls of men iscending it. 
 
 See Baill)^'s Ancient Astronomy, where our assertions 'especting the 
 knowledge of the priests are fully proved. 
 
148 THE RUIXS. 
 
 VI. Sixth System. — The Animated World, or Worship of the 
 Universe under divers Emblems. 
 
 •♦ While the nations were wandering in the dark labyrinth of 
 mythology and fables, the physical priests, pursuing their stud- 
 ies and inquiries into the order and disposition of the universe, 
 came to new conclusions and formed new systems concerning 
 powers and first causes. 
 
 " Long confined to simple appearances, they saw nothing in 
 the movement of the stars but an unknown play of luminous 
 bodies rolling round the earth, which they believed the central 
 point of all the spheres ; but as soon as they discovered the ro- 
 tundity of our planet, the consequences of this first fact led them 
 to new considerations, and, from induction to induction, they 
 rose to the highest conceptions in astronomy and physics. 
 
 " " Indeed, after having conceived this luminous idea, that the 
 terrestrial globe is a little circle inscribed in the greater circle 
 of the heavens, the theory of concentric circles served naturally 
 in their hypothesis to determine the unknown circle of the ter- 
 restrial globe by certain known points of the celestial circle ; 
 and the measurement of one or more degrees of the meridian 
 gave with precision the whole circumference. Then, taking 
 for a compass the known diameter of the earth, some fortunate 
 genius applied it with a bold hand to the boundless orbits of the 
 heavens ; and man, the inhabitant of a grain of sand, embracing 
 the infinite distances of the stars, launched into the immensity 
 of space and the eternity of lime : there he is presented with a 
 new order of the universe, of which the atom-globe which he 
 inhabited appeared no longer to be the centre : this important 
 post was reserved to the enormous mass of the sun, and that 
 body became the flaming pivot of eight surrounding spheres, 
 whose movements were henceforth subjected to precise calcu- 
 lation. 
 
 " It was already a great eflfort of the human mind to have 
 undertaken to determine the disposition and order of the great 
 engines of nature ; but not stopping there, it still endeavored to 
 develop the mechanism, and discover the origin and the in- 
 stinctive principle. Hence, engaged in the abstract and meta- 
 physical nature of motion and its first cause, of the inherent or 
 
THE RUINS. 149 
 
 incidental properties of matter, its successive forms and its ex- 
 tension — that is to say, of time and space unbounded — the phys- 
 ical theologians lost themselves m a chaos of subtile reasoning 
 and scholastic controversy. 
 
 " In the first place, the action of the sun on terrestrial bodies 
 teaching them to regard his substance as a pure and elementary 
 fire, they made it the focus and reservoir of an ocean of igneous 
 and luminous fluid, which, under the name of ether, filled the 
 universe and nourished all beings. Afterward, having discov- 
 ered, by a physical and attentive analysis, this same fire, or an- 
 other perfectly resembling it, in the composition of all bodies, 
 and having perceived it to be the essential agent of that sponta- 
 neous movement which is called life in animals and vegetation 
 in plants, they conceived the mechanism and harmony of the 
 universe as of a homogeneous whole, of one identical body, 
 whose parts, though distant, had nevertheless an intimate rela- 
 tion ; and the world was a living being, animated by the organic 
 circulation of an igneous and even electrical fluid,* which, by a 
 term of comparison borrowed first from men and animals, had 
 the sun for a heart or focus. f 
 
 " From this time, the physical theologians seem to have di- 
 vided into several classes ; one class, grounding itself on these 
 principles resulting from observation, 'that nothing can be an- 
 nihilated in the world ; that the elements are indestructible ; 
 that they change their combinations, but not their nature ; that 
 the life and death of beings are but the different modifications 
 
 * The more I consider what the ancients understood by ether and 
 spirit, and what the Indians call akache, the stronger do I find the anal- 
 ogy between it and the electrical fluid. A luminous fluid, principle of 
 warmth and motion, pervading the universe, forming the matter of the 
 stars, having small round particles, which, insinuating themselves into 
 bodies, fiU them by dilating itself, be their extent what it may : what 
 can more strongly resemble electricity ? 
 
 t Natural philosophers, says Macrobius, call the sun the heart of the 
 world (c. 20, Som. Scip.) The Egyptians, says Plutarch, caU the east 
 the face, the north the right side, and the south the left of the world 
 (because there the heart is placed). They continually compare the 
 universe to a man, and hence the celebrated Microcosm of the alchym- 
 ists. We observe, by the by, that the alchymists, cabalists, freema- 
 sons, magnetizers, martinists, and all other such visionaries, are but the 
 erring disciples of this ancient school. Consult, likewise, the Pythago- 
 rean Ocellus Lucanus.and the ^dipus ^Egj^tiacus of Kirker, t. II., p. 205. 
 
 13* 
 
150 THE RUINS. 
 
 of the same atoms ; that matter itself possesses properties which 
 give rise to all its modes of existence ; that the world is eternal, 
 or unlimited in space and duration ;' said ' that the whole uni- 
 verse was God ;' and, according to them, God was a being, 
 eflect and cause, agent and patient, moving principle and thing 
 moved, having for laws the invariable properties that constitute 
 fatality : and this class conveyed their idea by the emblem of 
 Pan (the Great Whole), or of Jupiter, with a forehead of stars, 
 body of planets, and feet of animals, or of the orphic egg, whose 
 yolk, suspended in the centre of a liquid surrounded by a vault, 
 represented the globe of the sun swimming in ether in the midst 
 of the vault of heaven :* sometimes by a great round serpent, 
 representing the heavens where they placed the moving princi- 
 ple, and, for that reason, of an azure color, studded with golden 
 spots (the stars) devouring his tail — that is, folding and unfold- 
 ing himself eternally like the revolutions of the spheres : some- 
 times by that of a man, having his feet joined together and tied, 
 to signify immutable existence ; wrapped in a cloak of all col- 
 ors, like the face of nature, and bearing on his head a golden 
 sphere, emblem of the sphere of stars : or by that of another 
 man, sometimes seate^ on the flower of the lotos borne on the 
 abyss of waters, sometimes lying on a pile of twelve cushions, 
 denoting the twelve celestial signs. And here, Indians, Jap- 
 anese, Siamese, Tibetans, and Chinese, is the theology which, 
 founded by the Egyptians and transmitted to you, is preserved 
 in the pictures which you compose of Brahma, of Beddou, of 
 Sommonacodom, of Omito. This, ye Hebrews and Christians, 
 is likewise the opinion of which you have preserved a part in 
 
 * This comparison with the yolk of an egg refers, 1st, to its round and 
 j-^ellow figure ; 2d, to iLs central situation ; 3d, to the germ or principle 
 of life contained in the yolk. May not the oval form allude to the el- 
 lipsis of the orbits ? I am inclined to this opinion. The word orphic 
 offers a further observation. Macrobius says (Som. Scip., c. 14, and 
 c. 20) that the sun is the brain of the universe, and that it is from anal- 
 ogy that the human skull is round, like the planet, the seat of intelli- 
 gence : now, the word arph (by ain) signifies, in Hebrew, the brain and 
 its seat (cervix). Orpheus, then, is the same as Bedou or Baites ; and 
 the Bonzes are those very Orphics represented by Plutarch as quacks, 
 who ate no meat, sold talismans, stones, etc., and deceived not only in- 
 dividuals but the governments. (See a learned Memoir of Freret, sur 
 Ics Orphiques, Acad, des Inscrip., tom. xxiii., 4to.) 
 
THE RUINS. 151 
 
 vour God moving on the face of the waters, by an allusion to 
 the wind, which, at the beginning of the world — that is, the de- 
 parture of the spheres from the sign of cancer — announced the 
 inundation of the Nile, and seemed to prepare the creation. 
 
 VII. Seventh System. Worship of the Soul of the World, that 
 is to say, the Element of Fire, vital Principle of the Universe. 
 
 *' But others, disgusted at the idea of a being at once effect 
 and cause, agent and patient, and uniting contrary natures in 
 the same nature, distinguished the moving principle from the 
 thing moved ;• and premising that matter in itself was inert, they 
 pretended that its properties were communicated to it by a dis- 
 tinct agent, of which it was itself only the cover or the case. 
 This agent was called by some the igneous principle, known to 
 be the author of all motion ; by others it was supposed to be 
 the fluid called ether, which was thought more active and sub- 
 tile ; and, as in animals the vital and moving principle was called 
 a soul, a spirit, and as they reasoned constantly by comparisons, 
 especially those drawn from human beings, they gave to the 
 moving principle of the universe the name of soul, intelligence, 
 spirit ; and God was the vital spirit which extended through all 
 beings and animated the vast body of the world. And this class 
 conveyed their idea sometimes by You-piter, essence of motion 
 and animation, principle of existence, or rather existence itself; 
 sometimes by Vulcan or Phtha,. elementary principle of fire, or 
 by the altar of Vesta, placed in the centre of her temple, like 
 the sun amid the spheres ; sometimes by Kneph, a human fig- 
 ure, dressed in dark blue, having in one hand a sceptre and a 
 girdle (the zodiac), with a cap of feathers, to express the fuga- 
 city of thought, and producing from his mouth the great egg. 
 
 " Now, as a consequence of this system, every being con- 
 taining in itself a portion of the igneous and ethereal fluid, com- 
 mon and universal mover, and this fluid soul of the world being 
 the Divinity, it followed that the souls of all beings were a por- 
 tion of God himself, partaking of all his attributes, that is, being 
 a substance indivisible, simple, and immortal ; and hence the 
 whole system of the immortality* of the soul, which at first was 
 
 • In the system of the first spiritualists, the soul was not created with 
 or at the same time as the body, in order to be inserted in it : it existed 
 
162 THE RUINS. 
 
 eternity. Hence also its transmigrations, known by the name 
 of metempsychosis, that is, the passage of the vital principle 
 from one body to another ; an idea which arose from the real 
 transmigration of the material elements. And behold, ye In- 
 
 anteriorly and from all eternity. Such, in a few words, is the doctrine of 
 Macrobius on this head. Om. Scip. Spassim. 
 
 *' There exists a luminous, igneous, subtile fluid, which, under the 
 name of ether and spiritus, fills the universe ; it is the essential principle 
 and agent of motion and life ; it is the deity. When an earthly body is 
 to be animated, a small round particle of this fluid gravitates through the 
 milky way toward the lunar sphere, where, when it arrives, it unites with 
 a grosser air, and becomes fit to associate with matter ; it then enters 
 and entirely fills the body, animates it, sufiers, grows, increases, and di- 
 minishes, with it ; lastly, when the body dies, and its gross elements dis- 
 solve, this incorruptible particle quits it, and returns to the grand ocean 
 of ether, if not retained by its union with lunar air ; it is this air (or gaz) 
 which, retaining the shape of the body, becomes ar phantom or shade, the 
 perfect image of the deceased. The Greeks called this shade the image 
 or idol of the soul ; the Pythagoreans, its chariot, its mould ; and the 
 rabbinical school, its vehicle, or boat. When a man had conducted him- 
 self well in this world, this entire soul, that is, its chariot and ether, as- 
 cended to the moon, where a separation took place ; the chariot lived in 
 the lunar elysium, and the ether returned to the fixed stars, that is, to 
 God ; for (says Macrobius) the heaven of the fixed stars was by many 
 called God. (c. 14.) 
 
 " If a man had not lived virtuously, the soul remained on earth to be 
 purified, and wandered to and fro, like the shades of Homer, to whom 
 this doctrine must have been known in Asia, three centuries before 
 Pherecides and Pythagoras had revived it in Greece. Herodotus upon 
 this occasion says, that ' the whole romance of the soul and its transmi- 
 grations was invented by the Egyptians, and propagated in Greece by 
 men who pretended to be its authors. I know their names,' adds he, 
 ' but shall not mention them. (Lib. ii.) Cicero, however, has positively 
 informed us that it was Pherecides, master of Pythagoras. (Tuscul., 
 lib. i., $ 16.) In Syria and in Judea we find a palpable proof of its exist- 
 ence, five centuries before Pythagoras, in this phrase of Solomon, where 
 he says: ' Who knoweth the spirit of a man, that it goeth upward? I 
 said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might 
 manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 
 For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts; even one 
 thing befalleth them : as the one dieth, so dieth the other ; yea, they 
 have all one breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast ; 
 for all is vanity.' Eccl., c. iii., v. 11." 
 
 And such had been the opinion of Moses, as has been justly observed 
 by the translator of Herodotus (Larcher. in his first edition, note 3S9 of 
 
THE RUINS. ' 153 
 
 dians, Boudhists, Christians, and Mussulmans ! whence are 
 derived all your opinions on the spirituality of the soul ; be- 
 hold what was the source of the dreanns of Pythagoras and 
 Plato, your masters, who were themselves but the echoes of 
 another, the last sect of visionary philosophers, which we will 
 proceed to examine. 
 
 VIII. Eighth System. T?ze World-Machine : Worshijy of the 
 Demi-Ourgos, or Grand Artijicer. 
 
 ♦' Hitherto the theologians, employing themselves in examin- 
 ing the fine and subtile substances of ether or the generating 
 fire, had not, however, ceased to treat of beings palpable and 
 perceptible to the senses, and theology continued t'" be the the- 
 ory of physical powers, placed sometimes exclusively in the 
 stars, and sometimes disseminated through the universe ; but 
 at this period certain superficial minds, losing the chain of ideas 
 which had directed them in their profound studies, or ignorant 
 of the facts on which they were founded, distorted all the con- 
 clusions that flowed from them by the introduction of a strange 
 and novel chimera. They pretended that this universe, these 
 heavens, these stars, this sun, were only a machine of an ordi- 
 nary kind ; and, applying to this first hypothesis a comparison 
 drawn from the works of tirt, they raised an edifice of the most 
 whimsical sophisms. ' A machine,' said they, ♦ does not 
 make itself; it has had an anterior workman, its very existence 
 proves it. The world is a machine : therefore it had an arti- 
 ficer.' 
 
 " Here, then, is the demi-ourgos, or grand artificer, consti- 
 tuted god autocratical and supreme. In vain the ancient phi- 
 losophy objected to this, by saying the artificer himself must 
 have had parents and progenitors, and that they only added an- 
 other link to the chain by taking eternity from the world and 
 giving it to its supposed author. The innovators, not content 
 with this first paradox, passed on to a second ; and, applying to 
 their artificer the theory of the human understanding, they pre- 
 
 book ii.), where he says, also, that the immortality of the soul was not 
 introduced among the Hebrews till their intercourse with the Assyrians. 
 In other respects, the whole Pythagorean system, properly analyzed, ap 
 pears to be merely a system of physics misunderstood. 
 
J 54 THE RUINS. 
 
 tended that the demi-ourgos had framed his machine on a plan 
 pre-existing in his understanding. Now, as their masters, the 
 naturalists, had placed in the regions of the fixed stars the great 
 primum mobile, under the name of intelligence and reason, so 
 their mimics, the spiritualists, seizing this idea, applied it to 
 their demi-ourgos, and, making it a substance distinct and self- 
 existent, they called it mens, or logos (reason, or word). And 
 as they likewise admitted the existence of the soul of the world, 
 or solar principle, they found themselves obliged to compose 
 three ranks or gradations of divine beings, which were, first, the 
 demi-ourgos, or working- god ; secondly, the logos, word, or 
 reason ; thirdly, the spirit or soul (of the world). And here, 
 Christians! is the romance on which you have founded your 
 Trinity ; here is the system which, born a heretic in the tem- 
 ples of Egypt, transported a pagan into the schools of Italy and 
 Greece, is now found to be catholic and orthodox by the con- 
 version of its partisans, the disciples of Pythagoras and Plato, to 
 Christianity. 
 
 " It is thus that the Divinity, after having been, first, the visi- 
 ble and various action of the meteors and elements ; 
 
 •' Afterward, the combined powers of the stars considered in 
 their relations to terrestrial beings ; 
 
 " After, these terrestrial beings themselves, by confounding 
 the symbols with their archetypes ; 
 
 " Next, the double power of nature in its two principal opera- 
 tions of producing and destroying: 
 
 " Again, the animated world, without distinction of agent and 
 patient, of effect and cause ; 
 
 " Finally, the solar principle or the element of fire considered 
 as the only mover ; 
 
 *' It is thus that the Divinity is become, in the last resort, a 
 chimerical and abstract being ; a scholastic subtilfy of substance 
 without form, a body without a figure ; a very delirium of the 
 mind, beyond the power of reason to comprehend. But vainly 
 does it seek in this last transformation to elude the senses ; the 
 seal of its origin is too deeply imprinted on it to be effaced ; and 
 its attributes, all borrowed from the physical attributes of the 
 universe, such as immensity, eternity, indivisibility, incompre- 
 hensibility ; or on the moral affections of man, such as good- 
 ness, justice, majesty, etc. ; its names even, all derived from the 
 
THE RUINS. 15S 
 
 physical beings* which were its types, and especially from the 
 sun, the planets, and the world, constantly bring to mind, in 
 spite of its corruptors, indelible marks of its real nature. 
 
 *' Such is the chain of ideas which the human mind had al- 
 ready run through at an epoch previous to the records of his- 
 tory : and since their continuity proves that they were the pro- 
 duce of the same series of studies and labors, we have every 
 
 • When analyzed, all the names of the Deity seem to be derived from 
 some material object, in which it was supposed to reside. We have given 
 many instances ; let us add one more relative to our word god. This is 
 the dcus of the Latins, which is but the theos of the Greeks. Now, by 
 the confession of Plato (in Cratylo), of Macrobius (Saturn., lib. i., chap, 
 xxiv.), and of Plutarch (Isis et Osiris), its root is thein, which signifies 
 to wander, like planein ; that is to say, it is synonymous Avith planets, 
 because (add our authors) both the ancient Greeks and barbarians par- 
 ticularly worshipped the planets. I know that such inquiries into ety- 
 mologies have been much decried ; but if, as is the case, words are the 
 representative signs of ideas, the genealogy of the one becomes that of 
 the other, and a good etymological dictionary would be the most perfect 
 history of the human understanding. It would only be necessary to ob- 
 serve certain precautions in this inquiry, which have hitherto been neg- 
 lected, and particularly to make an exact comparison of the value of the 
 letters of the different alphabets. But, to continue our subject, we shall 
 add that, in the Phoenician language, the word thah (with ain) signifies 
 also to wander, and from it thein seems to be derived : if we suppose 
 deus to be derived from the Greek Zeus, a proper name of Youpi-ter, 
 having zaw, I live, for its root, its sense will be precisely that of you, 
 and will mean soul of the world, igneous principle. Div-us, which only 
 signifies genius, god of the second order, appears to me to come from 
 the oriental word div for dib, wolf and jackal, one of the emblems of the 
 sun. At Thebes (says Macrobius) the sun was painted under the form 
 of a wolf, or jackal (for there are no wolves in Egypt). The reason of 
 this emblem, doubtless, is, that the jackal, like the cock, announces by 
 its cries the rising of the sun ; and this reason is confirmed by the 
 analogy of the words lykos, wolf, and lyke, light of the morning, whence 
 comes lux. ' 
 
 Dius, which is to be understood also of the sun, must be derived from 
 dih, a hawk. " The Egyptians," says Porphyry (Euseb., Prcep. Evang., 
 page 92), "represent the sun under the emblem of a hawk, because 
 this bird soars to the highest regions of air where light abounds." And 
 in reality we continually see at Cairo thousands of these birds, hovering 
 m the air, whence they descend only to stun us with their shrieks, 
 which are like the monosyllable dih ; and here, as in the preceding ex 
 ample, we find atn analogy between the word dies, day, light, and dius 
 god, sun 
 
166 THE RUINS. 
 
 reason to place their origin in Egypt, the cradle of their first 
 elements ; and their progress there may have been rapid, be- 
 cause the idle curiosity of the physical priests had no other 
 food, in the retirement of the temples, but the enigma of the 
 universe always present to their minds; and because, in the po- 
 litical districts into which that country was for a long time divi- 
 ded, every state had its college of priests, who, being by turns 
 auxiliaries or rivals, hastened by their disputes* the progress of 
 science and discovery. 
 
 * A most plausible proof that all these systems were invented in 
 Egypt is, that this is the only country where we see a compJele body of 
 doctrine formed from the remotest antiquity. 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus has transmitted to us (Stromat., lib. vi.) a curi- 
 ous detail of the forty-two volumes which were borne in the procession 
 of Isis. " The leader," said he, *' or chanter, carries one of the sym- 
 bolic instruments of music, and two of the books of Mercury, one con- 
 taining hymns of the gods, the other the list of kings. Next to him the 
 horoscope (calculator of time) carries a palm and a dial, symbols of as- 
 trology j he must know by heart the four books of Mercury which treat 
 of astrology, the first on the order of the planets, the second on the 
 risings of the sun and moon, and the last two on the rising and aspect of 
 the stars. Then comes the sacred writer, with feathers on his head (like 
 Kneph) and a book in his hand, together with ink and a reed to write 
 with (as is still the practice among the Arabs). He must be versed in 
 hieroglyphics, must understand the description of the universe, the" course 
 of the sun, moon, and planets ; be acquainted with the division of Egypt 
 (into thirty-six names), with the course of the Nile, with instruments, 
 measures, sacred ornaments, and holy places, etc. Next comes the stole- 
 bearer, carrying the cubit of justice or measure of the Nile, and a chalice 
 for the libations : ten volumes treat of the sacrifices, hymns, prayers, of- 
 ferings, ceremonies, festivals. Lastly arrives the prophet, bearing in his 
 bosom, and exposed to view, a pitcher : he is followed by persons carry- 
 ing loaves of bread (as at the marriage of Cana). This prophet, as pres- 
 ident of the mysteries, learns ten (other) sacred volumes concerning the 
 laws, the gods, and the discipline of the priests, etc. Now there are in 
 all forty-two volumes, thirty-six of which are learned by these persona, 
 ges, and the remaining six are reserved for the pastophores ; they treat 
 of medicine, the construction of the human body (anatomy), diseases, 
 remedies, instruments, etc." 
 
 We leave the reader to deduce all the consequences of such an ency- 
 clopedia. It was ascribed to Mercury ; but Jamblicus teUs us that all 
 books composed by the priests were dedicated to that god. who, being a 
 genius or decan opening the zodiac, presided over enterprise ; he is the 
 Janus of the Romans, the Guianese of the Indians; and it is remarkable 
 that Yanus and Guianese are synonymous. In short, it appears that thes« 
 
THE RUINS. 157 
 
 *' There happened already on the borders of the Nile, what 
 has since been repeated in every country ; as soon as a new 
 system was formed, its novelty excited quarrels and schisms ; 
 then, gaining credit by persecution itself, sometimes it effaced 
 antecedent ideas, sometimes it modified and incorporated them; 
 then, by the intervention of political revolutions, the aggregation 
 of states and the mixture of nations confused all opinions; and 
 the filiation of ideas being lost, theology fell into a chaos, and 
 became a mere logogryph of old traditions no longer under- 
 stood. Religion, having strayed from its object, was now noth- 
 ing more than a political engine to conduct the credulous vul- 
 gar, and it was used for this purpose, sometimes, by men 
 credulous themselves and dupes of their own visions, and some- 
 times by bold and energetic spirits in pursuit of great objects of 
 ambition. 
 
 IX. Religion of Moses, or Worship of the Soul of the World 
 
 ( Youpiter). 
 
 ♦♦ Such was the legislator of the Hebrews, who, wishing to 
 separate his nation from all others, and to form a distinct and 
 solitary empire, conceived the design of establishing its basis on 
 religious prejudices, and of raising around it a sacred rampart 
 of opinions and of rites. But in vain did he proscribe the wor- 
 ship of the symbols which prevailed in lower Egypt and Phoe- 
 nicia ; his god was, nevertheless, an Egyptian god,* invented 
 by those priests of whom Moses had been the disciple; and 
 Yahouh,f betrayed by its very name, essence (of beings), and 
 
 books are the source of all that has been transmitted to us by the Greeks 
 and Latins in every science, even in alchymy, necromancy, etc. What 
 is most to be regretted in their loss is that part which related to the prin- 
 ciples of medicine and diet, in which the Egyptians appear to have m:ide 
 a considerable progress and useful observations. 
 
 • " At a certain period," says Plutarch (De Iside), " all the Eg^^jtians 
 have their animal gods painted. The Thebans are the only people who 
 do not employ painters, because they worship a god whose form comes 
 not under the senses, and can not be represented." And this is the god 
 whom Moses, educated at Heliopolis, adopted ; but the idea was not of 
 his invention. 
 
 t Such is the true pronunciation of the Jehovah of the moderns, who 
 Violate, in this respect, every rule of criticism, since it is evident that tbi 
 
 14 
 
158 THE RUINS. 
 
 by its symbol, the burning-bush, is only the soul of the world, 
 the moving principle which the Greeks soon after adopted under 
 the same denomination in their Youpiter, generating being ; 
 
 ancients, particularly the eastern Syrians and Phoenicians, were acquainted 
 neither with the j nor the r, borrowed from the Tartars. The subsisting 
 usage of the Arabs, which we have re-established here, is confirmed by 
 Diodorus,who calls the God of Moses law (lib. i.) ; and law and lahouh 
 are manifestly the same word : the identity continues in that of loupiter , 
 but, in order to render it more complete, we shall demonstrate the signi- 
 fication to be the same. 
 
 In HebrcAv, that is to say, in one of the dialects of the common lan- 
 guage of lower Asia, the word Yahouh is equivalent to our periphrasis, 
 He who is, the being that exists ; in other words, The principle of life, 
 the mover, or even motion (the universal soul of beings). Now what is 
 Jupiter ? Let us hear the Greeks and Latins explain their theology : 
 '* The EgjT^tians (says Diodorus), after Manetho, priest of Memphis, 
 the Egyptians, assigning names to the five elements, called spirit (or 
 ether) Youpiter, on account of the true meaning of that word ; for spirit 
 is the source of life, author of the vital principle in animals ; and for this 
 reason they considered him as the father, the generator of beings. For 
 the same reason Homer says, ' Father and king of men and gods.' '* 
 (Diod., lib. i., sect, i.) 
 
 " Theologians," says Macrobius, " consider Youpiter as the soul of 
 the world ; hence the words of Virgil : ' Muses, let us begin with Youpi- 
 ter : the world is full of Youpiter (Somn. Scip., c. xvii.) ;' and in the 
 Saturnalia he says, * Jupiter is the sun himself.' It was this also which 
 made Virgil say, ' The spirit nourishes the life (of beings), and the soul, 
 difTused through the vast members (of the universe), agitates the whole 
 mass and forms but one immense body.' " 
 
 " loupiter," say the very ancient verses of the Orphic sect, which origi- 
 nated in f2gypt, verses collected by Onomacritus in the days of Pisistra- 
 tus — " loupiter, represented with the thunder in his hand, is the begin- 
 n ng, origin, end, and middle of all things : a single and universal power, 
 he governs all, heaven, earth, fire, water, the elements, day, and night. 
 These are what constitute his immense body : his eyes are the sun and 
 moon ; he is space and eternity : in fine (adds Porphyry), Jupiter is the 
 world, the universe, that which constitutes the existence and the life of 
 all beings. Now (continues the same author), as philosophens'difiered 
 in opinion respecting the nature and constitu<^nt parts of this god, and as 
 they could invent no figure that could represent all his attributes, they 
 painted him in the form of a man. He is in a sitting posture, in allusion 
 to his immutable essence ; the upper part of his body is uncovered, be- 
 cause it is in the upper regions of the universe (the stars) that he is most 
 conspicuous. He is covered from the waist downward, because respect- 
 ing terrestrial things he is more mysterious. He holds a sceptre in his 
 left hand, because it is the side of the heart, and the heart is the seat of 
 
THE RXJINS. 159 
 
 and under that of Ei, existence, which the Thebans consecrated 
 by the name of Kneph ; which Sais worshipped under the em- 
 blem of Isis veiled, with this inscription : ' I am all that has 
 been, that is, and that shall be, and no mortal has raised my 
 veil ;' which Pythagoras honored under the name of Vesta, and 
 which the stoic philosophy defined precisely by calling it the 
 principle of fire. In vain did Moses wish to blot from his reli- 
 gion everything which had relation to the stars; many traits 
 call them to mind in spite of all he has done : the seven lumi- 
 naries or planets of the great candlestick, the twelve stones or 
 signs in the urim of the high priest, the feast of the two equi- 
 noxes, entrances and gates of the two hemispheres, the ceremo- 
 ny of the lamb or celestial ram; lastly, the name even of Osiris* 
 
 the understanding, which (in human beings) regulates every action.'* 
 (Euseb., PrcEpar. Evang., p. 100.) 
 
 The following passage of the geographer and philosopher, Strabo, re- 
 moves every doubt as to the identity of the ideas of Moses and those of 
 the heathen theologians : — 
 
 " Moses, who was one of the Egyptian priests, taught that it was a 
 monstrous error to represent the Deity under the form of animals, as the 
 Egyptians did, or in the shape of men, as was the practice of the Greeks 
 and Africans ; that alone is the Deity (said he) which constitutes heaven, 
 earth, and being ; that which we call the world, the sum of all things, 
 nature ; and no reasonable person will think of representing such a being 
 by the image of any one of the objects around us : it is for this reason 
 that, rejecting every species of images (idols), Moses wished the Deity 
 to be worshipped without emblems, and according to his proper nature ; 
 and he accordingly ordered a temple worthy of him to be erected, etc." 
 Geograph., lib. xvi., p. 1104, ed. of 1707. 
 
 The theology of Moses has, therefore, differed in no respect from that 
 of the worshippers of the soul of the world, that is, from the Stoics and 
 Epicureans. 
 
 As to the history of Moses, Diodorus properly represents it, when he 
 says (lib. xxxiv. and xl.) that " the Jews were driven out of Egjpt du- 
 ring a famine when the country was full of foreigners, and that Moses, a 
 man of extraordinary prudence and courage, seized this opportunity nf 
 establishing his nations in the mountains of Judea." As to 600,000 men, 
 whom Exodus gives him, it is an erro-r of the transcribers, the proof of 
 which, taken from the books themselves, is to he found in the first vol- 
 ume of New Researches on Ancient Historj', p. 162, and following. 
 
 * It is expressly mentioned in Deuteronomy, c. xxxii. : '•' The works 
 of Tsour are perfect." Now Tsour has been translated by the word 
 Creator ; its proper signification is to give forms : and this is one of the 
 definitions of Osiris in Plutarch. 
 
160 THE RUINS. 
 
 preserved in his canticle, and the ark or coffer, an imitation o 
 the tomb in which that god was laid, all remain as so many wit- 
 nesses of the filiation of his ideas, and of their derivation from 
 the common source. 
 
 X. Religion of Zoroaster. 
 
 " Such also was Zoroaster, who, two centuries after Moses, 
 revived and moralised among the Medes and Bactrians the whole 
 Egyptian system of Osiris and Typhon, under the names of 
 Ormuzd and Ahrimanes ; who, to explain the system of nature, 
 supposed two great gods or powers, one occupied in creating 
 and producing in an empire of light and genial heat (represent- 
 ed by summer), and therefore god of science, beneficence, and 
 virtue ; the other occupied in destroying in an empire of dark- 
 nsss and cold (represented by the pole of winter), and there- 
 fore god of ignorance, malevolence, and sin : who, by figurative 
 expressions, afterward misunderstood, called creation of the 
 world the renewal of nature in spring ; called resurrection the 
 renewal of the periods of the stars in their conjunctions ; fu- 
 ture life, hell, and paradise, what was only the Tartarus and 
 Elysium of the astrologers and geographers; in a word, he did 
 nothing but consecrate the pre-existing dreams of the mystical 
 system. 
 
 XI. Brahmism, or Indian System. 
 
 " And such, too, was the Indian legislator, who, under the 
 name of Menou, preceded Zoroaster and Moses, and consecra- 
 ted, on the banks of the Ganges, the doctrine of the three prin- 
 ciples, or gods known to the Greeks, one of whom, named 
 Brahma, or Joupiter, was author of all production or creation 
 (the sun in spring) ; the second, named Chiven, or Pluto, was 
 the god of all destruction (the sun in winter) ; and the third, 
 named Vichenou, or Neptune, was god the preserver of the 
 stationary state (the sun in the solstices, stator) : all three dis- 
 tinct, and yet forming all three only one god or power, who, 
 sung in the vedas, as in the orphic hj'^mns, is no other than the 
 three-eyed Joupiter,* or sun with three modes of action, in the 
 
 • Eye and sun are expressed by the same word in most of the anciea 
 languages of Asia. 
 
THE RUINS. 161 
 
 three ritous or seasons. This is the origin of all the trioiiary 
 system subtilized by Pythagoras and Plato, and totally disfig- 
 ured by their interpreters. 
 
 XII. Boudhism, or Mystical Systein. 
 
 " Such, in fine, were the moralist reformers revered after 
 Menou, under the names of Boudah, Gaspa, Chekia, Goutama, 
 etc., who, from the principles of the metempsychosis, variously 
 modified, deduced mystical doctrines, useful at first, because 
 they inspired their sectaries with a horror of muider, compas- 
 sion for every feeling being, fear of the punishments and hope 
 of the rewards reserved for virtue and vice, in another life and 
 under a new form ; but which afterward became pernicious, by 
 the abuse of a visionary system of metaphysics, that endeavored 
 to oppose the natural order, and pretended that the palpable and 
 material world was a fantastical illusion ; that the existence of 
 man was a dream from which he awoke only at his death ; that 
 his body was an impure prison which he ought to quit as soon 
 as possible, or else a coarse covering, which, to be pervaded by 
 the internal light, should be attenuated and rendered diaphanous 
 by fasting, macerations, contemplations, and a number of an- 
 choritic practices so strange that the astonished vulgar could 
 only explain the character of iheir authors by considering them 
 as supernatural beings, and were only embarrassed to know if 
 they were God humanized or man deified. 
 
 *' These are the materials which existed in a scattered state 
 for many centuries in Asia, when a fortuitous concourse of 
 events and circumstances, on the borders of the Euphrates and 
 the Mediterranean, served to form them into new combinations. 
 
 XIII. Christianity, or the Allegorical Worship of the Sun. un- 
 der the cahalistical names of Chris-en, or Christ, and Yesus^ 
 or Jesus. 
 
 *' In constituting a separate nation, Moses strove in vain to 
 defend it against the invasion of foreign ideas. An invincible 
 inclination, founded on the aflfinity of their origin, had constantly 
 brought back the Hebrews toward the worship of the neighbor 
 
162 THE RUINS. 
 
 ing nations ; and the commercial and political relations which 
 necessarily existed between them, strengthened this propensity 
 from day to day. As long as the constitution of the state re- 
 mained entire, the coercive force of the government and laws 
 opposed these innovations and retarded their progress ; never- 
 theless, the high places were full of idols, and the god Sun had 
 his chariot and horses painted in the palaces of the kings, and 
 even in the temples of Yahouh. But when the conquests of 
 the saltans of Nineveh and Babylon had dissolved the bands of 
 civil power, the people, left to themselves, and solicited by their 
 conquerors, restrained no longer their inclination for profane 
 opinions, and they were publicly professed in Judea. First, the 
 Assyrian colonies, which came and occupied the lands of the 
 tribes, filled the kingdom of Samaria with dogmas of the magi, 
 which very soon penetrated into the kingdom of Judah. After- 
 ward, Jerusalem being subjugated, the Egyptians, Syrians, and 
 Arabs, entering this defenceless country, introduced their opin- 
 ions, and the religion of Moses was doubly mutilated. Besides, 
 the priests and great men, being transported to Babylon and 
 educated in the sciences of the Kaldeans, imbibed, during a res- 
 idence of fifty years, the whole of their theology ; and from that 
 moment the dogmas of the hostile genius (Satan),* the arch- 
 angel Michael, the ancient of days (Ormuzd), the rebel angels, 
 the battles in heaven, the immortality of the soul, and the res- 
 urrection, all unknown to Moses, or rejected by his total si- 
 lence respecting them, were introduced and naturalized among 
 the Jews. 
 
 " The emigrants returned to their country with these ideas ; 
 and their innovation at first excited disputes between their par- 
 tisans the Pharisees, and their opponents the Sadducees, who 
 maintained the ancient national worship. But the former, aided 
 by the propensities of the people, and their habits already con- 
 tracted, and supported by the Persians, their deliverers and mas- 
 
 • " The names of the angels and of the months, such as Gabriel, Mi- 
 chael, Yar, Nisan," etc., came from Babylon with the Jews, says ex- 
 pressly the Talmud of Jerusalem. See Beausobre, Histoire du Manich, 
 vol. 11, p. 624, where he proves that the saints of the calendar are an 
 imitation of the 365 angels of the Persians ; and Jamblicus, in his Egyp- 
 tian Mysteries, sec. 2, c. 3, speaks of angels, archangels, seraphims, etc., 
 Like a true Christian 
 
THE RUINS. 163 
 
 ters, gained the ascendant over the latter ; and the sons of Mo- 
 ses consecrated the theology of Zoroaster.* 
 
 "A fortuitous analogy between two leading ideas was highly 
 favorable to this coalition, and became the basis of a last system, 
 not less surprising in the fortune it has had in the world, than 
 in the causes of its formation. 
 
 "After the Assyrians had destroyed the kingdom of Samaria, 
 some judicious men foresaw the same destiny for Jerusalem, 
 which they did not fail to predict and puWish ; and their pre- 
 dictions had the particular turn of being terminated by prayers 
 for a re-establishment and regeneration, uttered in the form of 
 prophecies. The hierophants, in their enthusiasm, had painted 
 a king as a deliverer, who was to re-establish the nation in its 
 ancient glory : the Hebrews were to become once more a pow- 
 erful, a conquering nation, and Jerusalem the capital of an em- 
 pire extended over the whole earth. 
 
 " Events having realized the first part of these predictions, 
 the ruin of Jerusalem, the people adhered to the second with a 
 firmness of belief in proportion to their misfortunes ; and the 
 afifiicted Jews expected, with the impatience of want and desire, 
 this victorious king and deliverer who was to come and save the 
 nation of Moses, and restore the empire of David. 
 
 '* On the other hand, the sacred and mythological traditions 
 of preceding times had spread through all Asia a dogma per- 
 fectly analogous. The cry there was a great mediator, a final 
 judge, a future savior, a king, god, conqueror, and legislator, 
 who was to restore the golden age upon earth,f to deliver it 
 from the dominion of evil, and bring men back to the empire 
 of good, peace, and happiness. The people seized and cher- 
 ished these ideas with so much the more avidity, as they found 
 in them a consolation under that deplorable state of suffering 
 
 • " The whole philosophy of the gymnosophists (says Diogenes Laer- 
 tius), on the authority of an ancient writer, is derived from that of the 
 Magi ; and many assert that of the Jews to have the same origin." (Lib. 
 1, c. 9.) Megasthenes, an historian of repute in the days of Seleucus 
 Nicanor, and who wrote particularly upon India, speaking of the philos- 
 ophy of the ancients respecting natural things, puts the Brahmins and 
 the Jews precisely on the same footing. 
 
 t This is the reason of the application of the many pagan oracles to 
 Jesus, and particularly the fourth eclogue of Virgil and the sybLUine 
 Terses so celebrated among the ancients. 
 
164 THE RUINS. 
 
 into which they had been phinged by the devastations of suc» 
 cessive conquests, and the barbarous despotism of their govern- 
 ments. This conformity between the oracles of nations and 
 those of the prophets, excited the attention of the Jews ; and 
 doubtless the prophets had the art to compose their descrip- 
 tions after the style and genius of the sacred books employed in 
 the pagan mysteries. There was, therefore, a general expecta- 
 tion in Judea of a great ambassador, a final savior, when a sin- 
 gular circumstance determined the epoch of his coming. 
 
 ♦' It is found in the sacred books of the Persians and Kalde- 
 ans, that the world, composed of a total revolution of twelve 
 thousand, was divided into two partial revolutions, one of which, 
 the age and reign of good, terminated in six thousand, and the 
 other, the age and reign of evil, was to terminate in six thou- 
 sand more. 
 
 *' By these records, the first authors had understood the an- 
 nual revolution of the great celestial orb, called the world (a 
 revolution composed of twelve months or signs, divided each 
 into a thousand parts) ; and the two systematic periods of win- 
 ter and summer, composed each of six thousand. These ex- 
 pressions, wholly equivocal and badly explained, having received 
 an absolute and moral, instead of a physical and astrological 
 sense, it happened that the annual world was taken for the sec- 
 ular world, the thousand of the zodiacal divisions for a thousand 
 of years ; and supposing, from the state of things, that they 
 lived in the age of evil, they inferred that it would end with the 
 six thousand pretended years.* 
 
 " Now, according to calculations admitted by the Jews, they 
 began to reckon near six thousand years since the (supposed) 
 creation of the world. This coincidence caused a fermentation 
 in the public mind. Nothing was thought of but the approach- 
 
 * Read upon this subject the 17th chapter of the 1st volume of New 
 Researches on Ancient History, where the mythology of the creation is 
 explained. The septuagint reckoned five thousand and nearly six hun- 
 dred years ; and this calculation was generally adopted. It is well 
 known how much, in the first ages of the church, this opinion of the end 
 of the world agitated the minds of men. In the sequel, the general 
 councils, taking courage, pronounced the expectation that prevailed 
 heretical, and its believers were called millenarians : a circumstance 
 curious enough, since it is evident from the history of the gospels that 
 Jesus was a millenarian, and consequently a heretic. 
 
THE RUINS. 
 
 165 
 
 ing end ; they consulted the hierophants and the mystical hooks, 
 which differed as to the term. The great restorer was expected 
 and desired ; he was so much spoken of, that some person finally 
 was said to have seen him, or some one of a heated imagination 
 fancied himself such and acquired proselytes, who, deprived of 
 their leader by an incident true no doubt, but obscurely record- 
 ed, gave rise by their reports to a rumor which was gradually 
 converted into an historical fact. Upon this first basis, all the 
 circumstances of mythological traditions took their stand, and 
 produce.d an authentic and entire system, which it was no longer 
 permitted to call in question. 
 
 "These mythological traditions recounted that, ' in the be- 
 ginning, a woman and a man had, by their fall, introduced into 
 the world sin and misery.' 
 
 " By this was denoted the astronomical fact that the celestial 
 virgin and the herdsman (Bootes), by setting hehacally at the 
 autumnal equinox, delivered the world to the wintry constella- 
 tions, and seemed, on falling below the horizon, to* introduce 
 into the world the genius of evil (Ahrimanes), represented by 
 the constellation of the serpent.* 
 
 " These traditions related, that the woman had decoyed and 
 seduced the man. 
 
 " And, in fact, the virgin setting first seems to draw the herds- 
 man after her. 
 
 " That the woman tempted him by offering him fruit fair to 
 the sight, and good to eat, which gave the knowledge of good 
 and evil. 
 
 "And, in fact, the virgin holds in her hand a branch of fruit 
 which she seems to offer to the herdsman ; and the branch, 
 emblem of autumn, placed in the picture of Mithra between 
 
 * " The Persians (says Chardin) call the constellation of the serpent 
 Ophiucus, serpent of Eve ; and this serpent Ophiucus, or Ophioneus, 
 plays a similar part in the theology of the Phenicians ; for Pherecydes, 
 their disciple and the master of Pythagoras, said : ' that Ophioneus Ser- 
 pentinus had been chief of the rebels against Jupiter.' " (See Mars. 
 Ficin. Apol. Socrat., p. m. 797, col. 2.) I shall add, that sephah [with 
 ain] signifies in Hebrew viper, serpent. 
 
 In a physical sense, to seduce, seducere, means only to attract, to draw 
 after one. 
 
 See this picture of Mithra in Hyde, p. Ill, edit, of 1760, de Religione 
 Veterum Persarum. 
 
166 
 
 THE RUINS. 
 
 winter and summer, seems to open the door and give knowledge, 
 ine key ot gooil aud ev'n. 
 
 ♦• That this couple had been driven from the ceiestiai garden, 
 and that a cherub with a flaming sword had been placed at the 
 gate to guard it. 
 
 "And, in fact, when the virgin and the herdsman fall beneath 
 the western horizon, Perseus rises on the other side;* and this 
 genius, with a sword in his hand, seems to drive them from 
 the summer heaven, the garden and dominion of fruits and 
 flowers. 
 
 " That of this virgin should be born, spring up, an off'spring, 
 a child, who should bruise the head of the serpent, and deliver 
 the world from sin. 
 
 " This denotes the sun, which, at the moment of the winter 
 solstice, precisely when the Persian magi drew the horoscope 
 of the new year, was placed on the bosom of the virgin, rising 
 heliacally in the eastern horizon. On this account he was fig- 
 ured in their astrological pictures under the form of a child 
 suckled by a chaste virgin, f and became afterward, at the vernal 
 
 * Rather the head of Medusa, that head of a woman once so beautiful, 
 which Perseus cut oiT, and which he holds in his hand, is only that of 
 the Virgin, whose head sinks below the horizon at the very moment that 
 Perseus rises ; and the serpents which surround it are Ophiucus and the 
 polar dragon, who then occupy the zenith. This shows us in what man- 
 ner the ancient astrologers composed all their figures and fables. They 
 took such constellations as they found at the same time on the circle of 
 the horizon, and, collecting the different parts, they formed groups which 
 served them as an almanac in hieroglyphic characters. Such is the se- 
 cret of all their pictures, and the solution of all their mythological mon- 
 sters. The Virgin is also Andromeda, delivered by Perseus from the 
 whale that pursues her [pro-sequitur], 
 
 t Such was the picture of the Persian 'sphere cited by Aben-Ezra, in 
 the Ccelum Poeticum of Blaeu, p. 71. " The division of the first decan 
 of the Virgin," says that writer, ''represents a beautiful virgin with flow- 
 ing hair, sitting in a chair, with two ears of corn in her hand, and suck- 
 ling an infant called lesus by some nations, and Christ in Greek." 
 
 There is to be found in the French king's library an Arabian manu- 
 script (No. 1,165), in which is a picture of the twelve signs ; and that 
 of the Virgin represents a young girl with an infant by her side. The 
 whole scene, indeed, of the birth of Jesus is to be found in the adjacent 
 part of the heavens. The stable is the constellation of the charioteer 
 and th3 goat, formerly Capricorn— a constellation called pra-sepe Jovis 
 Heniochi, stable of lou : aud the word lou is found in the name of lou. 
 
THE RUINS. 167 
 
 equinox, the ram, or lamb, triumphant over the constellation of 
 the serpent, which disappeared from the skies. 
 
 " That, in his infancy, this restorer of divine and celestial na- 
 ture would live abased, humble,* obscure and indigent. 
 
 ♦' And this, because the winter sun is abased below the hori- 
 zon, and that this first period of his four ages or seasons is a 
 time of obscurity, scarcity, fasting, and want. 
 
 " That, being put to death by the wicked, he had risen glo- 
 riously ; that he had reascended from hell to heaven, where he 
 would reign for ever.' 
 
 " This is a sketch of the life of the sun, who, finishing his ca- 
 reer at the winter solstice, when Typhon and the rebel angels 
 gain the dominion, seem to be put to death by them ; but who 
 soon after is born again, and rises into the vault of heaven, where 
 he reigns. f 
 
 •' Finally, these traditions went so far as to mention even his 
 astrological and mysterious names, and inform us that he was 
 
 seph [Joseph] . At no great distance is the ass of Typhon [the great 
 bear], and the ox or bull, the ancient attendants of the mangei*. Peter, 
 the porter, is Janus, with his keys and bald forehead ; the twelve apos- 
 tles are the genii of the twelve months, etc. This virgin has acted 
 very different parts in the various systems of mythology. She has been 
 the Isis of the Egyptians, who said of her in one of their inscriptions 
 cited by Julian, " The fruit I brought forth is the sun.'' Most of the 
 traits mentioned by Plutarch apply to her, in the same manner as those 
 of Osiris apply to Bootes. Also, the seven principal stars of the bear, 
 called David's chariot, were called the chariot of Osiris (see Kirker) ; 
 and the crown that is situated behind, formed of ivy, was called Chen- 
 Osiris — Osiris's tree. The Virgin has likewise been Ceres, whose mys- 
 teries were the same with those of Isis and Mithra. She has been the 
 Diana of Ephesus, the great goddess of Syria ; Cybele, drawn by hons : 
 Minerva, the mother of Bacchus ; Astrea, a chaste virgin taken up into 
 heaven at the end of the goiden age ; Themis, at whose feet is the bal* 
 since that was put in her hands ; the Sybil of Virgil, who descends into 
 hell, or sinks below the hemisphere, with a branch in her hand, etc. 
 
 * This word humble comes from the Latin humilSy humi-jacens — lying 
 on or inclined toward the ground ; and the physical signification is al- 
 ways found to be the root of the abstract and moral sense. 
 
 t Resiirgere, to rise a second time, can not signify to return to life, but 
 in a bold, metaphorical sense ; and we see continuaUy mistakes of this 
 kind result from the ambiguous meaning of the words made use of in an* 
 eient tradition. 
 
1®8 THE RUINS. 
 
 called sometimes Chris,* that is to say, preserver; and from 
 that ye Indians have made your god Chris- in or Chris-na; and 
 ye Greek and Western Christians, your Chris-los, son of Mary, 
 is the same : sometimes he is called Yes, by the union of three 
 letters, which by their numerical value form the number 608, 
 one of the solar periods :f and this, Europeans, is the name 
 which, with the Latin termination, is become your lesus, or 
 Jesus, the ancient and cabalistic name attributed to young Bac- 
 chus, the clandestine (nocturnaU son of the virgin Minerva, 
 
 * The Greeks used to express by x, or the Spanish jota, the aspirated ha 
 of the Orientals, who said haris : in Hebrew, heres signifies the sun ; but 
 in ArabiC; the radical word means to guard, to preserve, and ^a?-/s, guardi- 
 an, preserver. It is the proper epithet of Vichenou, which demonstrates 
 at once the identity of the Indian and Christian trinities, and their com- 
 mon origin. It is manifestly but one system, which, divided into two 
 branches, one in the east, and the other in the west, assumed two differ- 
 ent forms J its principal trunk is the Pythagorean system of the soul of 
 the world, or loupiter. The epithet piter or father having been applied 
 to the demi-ourgos of the Platonicians, gave rise to an ambiguity which 
 caused an inquiry to be made after the son. In the opinion of the philoso- 
 phers, it was the understanding, nous and logos, from which the Latins 
 made their verbum, ; and thus we clearly perceive the origin of the eter- 
 nal father and of the verb, his son, proceeding from him (mens ex Deo 
 nata, says Macrobius) : the anima or spiritus mundi was the Holy Ghost j 
 and it is for this reason that Manes, Basilides, Valentinius, and other pre- 
 tended heretics of the first ages, who traced things to their source, said 
 that God the father was the supreme, inaccessible light of heaven (the 
 first circle, or the aplanes) ; the Son, the secondary light, resident in the 
 sun ; and the Holy Ghost, the atmosphere of the earth. (See Beausob., 
 vol. ii., p. 586 ) Hence among the Syrians his emblem of a dove, the 
 bird of Venus Urania, that is, of the air. " The Syrians (says Nigidius, 
 in Germanico) assert that a dove sat several days in the Euphrates on 
 the egg of a fish, whence Venus was born." Sextus Empiricus also ob- 
 serves (Inst. Pyrrh., lib. iii., c. xxiii.) that the Syrians abstain from eat- 
 ing doves ; this intimates to us a period commencing in the sign of Pisces 
 (in the winter solstice). We may further observe that, if Chris comes 
 from Harisch by a chin, it will signify artificer, an epithet belonging to 
 the sun. These variations, which must have embarrassed the ancient* 
 prove it to be the real type of Jesus, as had been already remarked la 
 the time of Tertullian. " Many (says this \vriter) suppose, with greater 
 probability, that the sun is our God, and they refer us to the rehgion of 
 the Persians." (Apologet., c. xvi.) 
 
 t See a curious ode to the sun by Martianus Capella, translated by Ge- 
 belin (volume of the Calendar, pp. 647, 648). 
 
THE RUINS. 1€9 
 
 frho, in the history of his whole life, and even of his death, 
 brings to mind the history of the God of the Christians, that is, 
 of the star of day, of which they are each of them the em- 
 blems." 
 
 Here a great murmur having arisen among all the Christian 
 groups, the Mussulmans, the Lamas, the Indians, called them 
 to order, and the orator went on to finish his discourse : — 
 
 " You know, at present," said he, " how the rest of this sys- 
 tem was composed in the chaos and anarchy of the first three 
 centuries ; what a multitude of singular opinions divided the 
 minds of men, and armed them with an enthusiasm and a recip- 
 rocal obstinacy, because, being equally founded on ancient tra- 
 dition, they were equally sacred. You know how the govern- 
 ment, after three centuries, having embraced one of these sects, 
 made it the orthodox, that is to say, the predominant religion, 
 to the exclusian of the rest, which, being inferior in number, be- 
 came heretical ; you know how and by what means of violence 
 and seduction this religion was propagated, extended, divided, 
 and enfeebled ; how, six hundred years after the Christian in- 
 novation, another system was formed from it, and from that of 
 the Jews ; and how Mahomet found the means of composing a 
 political and theological empire at the expense of those of Moses 
 and the vicars of Jesus. 
 
 " Now, if you take a review of the whole history of the spirit 
 ©f religion, you will see that in its origin it has had no other 
 author than the sensations and wants of man ; that the idea of 
 God has had no other type and model than those of physical 
 powers, material beings producing either good or evil by im- 
 pressions of pleasure or pain on sensitive beings ; that, in the 
 formation of all these systems, the spirit of religion has always 
 followed the same course, and been uniform in its proceedings; 
 that in all of them the dogma has never failed to represent, un- 
 der the name of gods, the operations of nature, the passions and 
 prejudices of men ;^That the moral of them all has had for its 
 object the desire of happiness, and aversion to pain : but that 
 the people, and the greater part of legislators, not knowing the 
 route to be pursued, have formed false, and therefore discordant, 
 ideas of virtue and vice," of good and evil, that is to say, of what 
 renders man happy or miserable ; that in every instance, ths 
 means and the causes of propagating and establishing systems 
 
 13 
 
170 . THE RUINS. 
 
 have exhibited the same scenes of passion and the same events 
 everj-^where disputes about words, pretexts for zeal, revolutions 
 and wars excited by the ambition of princes, the knavery of 
 apostles, the credulity of proselytes, the ignorance of the vul- 
 gar, the exclusive cupidity and intolerant arrogance of all : in 
 fine, 3-0U will see that the whole history of the spirit of religion 
 is only the history of the errors of the human mind, which, 
 placed in a world that it does not comprehend, endeavors never- 
 theless to solve the enigma ; and which, beholding with aston- 
 ishment this mysterious and visible prodigy, imagines causes, 
 supposes reasons, builds systems ; then, finding one defective, 
 destroys it for another not less so ; hates the error that it quits, 
 misconceives the one it embraces, rejects the truth it is seeking, 
 composes chimeras of discordant beings, and always dreaming 
 of wisdom and happiness, wanders in the labyrinth of illusion 
 and of pain." 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 1. 
 
 THE DEJECT OF ALL RELIGIONS IDENTICAL. 
 
 Thus spoke the orator, in the name of those men who had 
 studied the origin and succession of religious ideas. 
 
 The theologians of various systems reasoning on this dis- 
 course; " It is an impious representation," said some, " whose 
 tendency is nothing less than to overturn all belief, to destroy 
 subordination in the minds of men, and annihilate our ministry 
 and power." — " It is a romance," said others, •' a tissue of con- 
 jectures, composed with art, but without foundation." 
 
 The moderate and the prudent men added : ♦' Supposing all 
 this to be true, why reveal these mysteries ? Doubtless our 
 opinions are full of errors ; but these errors are a necessary re- 
 straint on the multitude. The world has gone thus for two 
 thousand years ; why change it now V^ 
 
 A murmur of disapprobation, which never fails to rise at every 
 innovation, now began to increase, when a numerous group of 
 
THE RTTINS. 171 
 
 the common class of people, and of untanghi men of all coun- 
 tries and of eveiy nation, without prophets, without doctors, 
 and without doctrine, advancing in the circle, drew the attention 
 of the whole assembly ; and one of them, in the name of all, 
 thus addressed the legislator : — 
 
 "Mediator and arbiter of nations! the strange relations which 
 have occupied the present debate were unknown to us until this 
 day ; our understanding, confounded and amazed at so many 
 things, some of them learned, others absurd, and all incompre- 
 hensible, remains in uncertainty and doubt. One only reflec- 
 tion has struck us : on reviewing so many prodigious facts, so 
 many contradictory assertions, we ask ourselves what are all 
 these discussions to us ? What need have we to know what 
 happened five or six thousand years ago, in countries we never 
 heard of, and among men who will ever be unknown to us? 
 True or false, what interest have we in knowing whether the 
 world has existed six thousand, or twenty thousand years ? 
 whether it was made of nothing, or of something ? by itself oi 
 by a maker, who in his turn would require another maker ? 
 What ! we are not sure of what happens near us, and we shall 
 answer for what happens in the sun, in the moon, or in imagi- 
 naiy regions of space ? We have forgotten our own infancy,' 
 and shall we know the infancy of the world ? and who will at- 
 test what no one has seen? who will certify what no man com- 
 prehends ? 
 
 " Besides, what addition or diminution will it make to our 
 existence to say yes or no to all these chimeras ? Hitherto nei- 
 ther we nor our forefathers have had the least notion of them, 
 and we do not perceive that we have had on this account either 
 more or less of the sun, more or less subsistence, more or less 
 of good or of evil. 
 
 " If the knowledge of these things is so necessary, vrhy have 
 we lived as well without it as those who have taken so much 
 trouble about it ? If this knowledge is superfluous, why should 
 we burden ourselves with it to-day ?" 
 
 Then addressing himself to the doctors and theologians, 
 " What !" said he, «« is it necessary that we, poor and ignorant 
 men, whose every moment is scarcely sufficient for the cares ot 
 life and the labors of which you take the profit— is it necessary 
 for us to learn the numberless histories that you have related, 
 
172 THE RUINS. 
 
 o read the quantity of books that you have cited, and to study 
 he various languages in which they are composed ? A thou- 
 sand years of hfe would not suffice " 
 
 " It is n©t necessary," replied the doctors, *' that you should 
 acquire all this science : we have it for you " 
 
 " But even you," replied the simple men, " with all your 
 science, you can not agree ; of what advantage, then, is your 
 Bcience ? 
 
 " Besides, how can you answer for us ? If the faith of one 
 man is applicable to many, what need have even you to believe? 
 Your fathers may have believed for you, and this would be rea- 
 sonable, since they have seen for you. 
 
 ♦' Farther, what is believing, if belief influences no action ? 
 And what action is influenced by believing, for instance, that the 
 world is or is not eternal ?" 
 
 •' The latter would be offensive to God," said the doctors. 
 
 " How prove you that ?" replied the simple men. 
 
 " In our books," answered the doctors. 
 
 " We do not understand them," returned the simple men. 
 
 " We understand them for you," said the doctors. 
 
 •' That is the difficulty," replied the simple men. "By what 
 right do you constitute yourselves mediators between God and 
 
 us 
 
 7" 
 
 " By his orders," said the doctors. 
 
 *' Where is the proof of these orders ?" said the simple 
 men. 
 
 " In our books," said the doctors. 
 
 " We understand them not," said the simple men; "and how 
 came this just God to give you this privilege over us? Why 
 should this common Father oblige us to believe on a less degree 
 of evidence than you ? He has spoken to you, be it so ; he is 
 infallible, and deceives you not: but it is you who speak to us. 
 And who shall assure us that you are not in error yourselves, 
 or that you will not lead us into error? And if we should be 
 deceived, how will that just God save us contrary to law, or 
 condemn us on a law which we have not known ?" 
 
 " He has given you the natural law," said the doctors. 
 
 *• And what is the natural law ?" replied the simple men. " If 
 .hat law suffices, why has he given any other? If it is not suf- 
 ficient, why did he make it imperfect ?' 
 
THE RUINS. 173 
 
 " His judgments are mysteries," said the doctors, " and his 
 justice is not like that of men." 
 
 • " If his justice," replied the simple men, "is not like ours, by 
 what rule are we to judge of it ? and moreover, why all these 
 laws, and what is the object proposed by them ?" 
 
 " To render you more happy," replied a doctor, " by render- 
 ing you better and more virtuous : it is to teach man to enjoy 
 his benefits, and not injure each other, that God has manifested 
 himself by so many oracles and prodigies." 
 
 " In that case," said the simple men, *' there is no necessity 
 for so many studies, nor of such a variety of arguments, only tell 
 us which is the religion that best answers the end which they 
 all propose." 
 
 Immediately, on this, every group extolling its own morality 
 above that of all others, there arose among the different sects a 
 new and most violent dispute. 
 
 ** It is we," said the Mussulmans, "who possess the most ex- 
 cellent morals, who teach all the virtues useful to men and 
 agreeable to God. We profess justice, disinterestedness, resig- 
 nation to providence, charity to our brethren, alms-giving, and 
 devotion ; we torment not the soul with superstitious fears; we 
 live without alarm, and die without remorse." 
 
 " How dare you speak of morals," answered the Christian 
 priests, " you, whose chief lived in licentiousness and preached 
 impurity? you, whose first precept is homicide and war ? For 
 this we appeal to experience : since twelve hundred years your 
 fanatical zeal has not ceased to spread commotion and carnage 
 among the nations; and if Asia, once so flourishing, is now lan- 
 guishing in barbarism and depopulation, it is in your doctrine 
 that we find the cause — in that doctrine, the enemy of all in- 
 struction, which sanctifies ignorance, which consecrates the 
 most absolute despotism in the governors, exacts the most blind 
 and passive obedience from the people, has stupefied the faculties 
 of man, and brutalized the nations. 
 
 " It is not so with our sublime and celestial morals. It was 
 they which raised the world from its primitive barbarity, from 
 the senseless and cruel superstitions of idolatry, from human 
 sacrifices,* from the shameful orgies of pagan mysteries. It 
 
 • See the frigid declamation of Eusebius (Procp. Evang., lib. 1, p.ll)i 
 Who pretends that, since the coming of Christ, there have neither been 
 
 15* 
 
174 THE RUIXS.. 
 
 was they that purified manners, i)roscribed incest and adultery, 
 polished savage nations, banished slaveiy, and introduced new 
 and unknown virtues, charity for men, their equality before God, 
 forgiveness and forgetfulness of injuries, the restraint of all the 
 passions, the contempt of worldly greatness, a life completely 
 spiritual and completely holy." 
 
 " We admire," said the Mussulmans, " the ease with which 
 you reconcile that evangelical meekness, of which you are so 
 ostentatious, with the injuries and outrages with which you are 
 constantly galling your neighbors. Whert you criminate so 
 severely the great man whom we revere, we might fairly retort 
 on the conduct of him whom you adore ; but we scorn such 
 advantages, and confining ourselves to the real object in ques- 
 tion, we maintain that the morals of your gospel have by no 
 means that perfection which you ascribe to them. It is not 
 true that they have introduced into the world new and unknown 
 virtues : for example, the equality of men before God, that fra- 
 ternity and that benevolence which follow from it, were formal 
 doctrines of the sect of the Hermetics or Samaneans, from whom 
 you descend. As to the forgiveness of injuries, the pagans 
 themselves had taught it ; but in the extent you give it, far from 
 being a virtue, it becomes an immorality, a vice. Your so 
 much boasted precept of holding out one cheek after the other, 
 is not only contraiy to every sentiment of man, but is opposed 
 to all ideas of justice ; it emboldens the wicked by impunity, 
 debases the virtuous by servility, delivers up the world to des- 
 potism and tyranny, and dissolves all society : such is the true 
 spirit of your doctrines. Your gospels, in their precepts and 
 
 wars, nor tyrants, nor cannibals, nor sodomites, nor persons committing 
 incest, nor savages devouring their parents, etc. When we read these 
 early doctors of the church, we are astonished at their insincerity or in- 
 fatuation, A curious work would be a small volume of their most re- 
 markable passages, to expose their folly. The truth is, that C?iristianity 
 has invented nothing new in morals, and all its merit consists in putting 
 into practice principles which owed their success to circumstances of the 
 times ; that is to say, the arrogant and cruel despotism of the Romans 
 >n the various branches, military, judiciary, and administrative — having 
 exhausted the patience of nations — produced, among the inferior or pop- 
 «ilar classes, a movement of reaction absolutely similar to that which, 
 since twenty-five years, exists in Europe among the people against the 
 oppression of the sacerdotal and feudal castes. 
 
THE RUINS. 175 
 
 their parables, never represent God but as a despot without any 
 rules of equity ; a partial father treating a debauched and prod- 
 igal son with more favor than his other respectful and virtuous 
 children ; a capricious master, who gives the same wages to 
 workmen who had wrought but one hour, as to those who had 
 labored through the whole day ; one who prefers the last-comers 
 to the first. The moral is everywhere misanthropic and anti- 
 social ; it disgusts men with life and with society, and tends only 
 to encourage hermitism and celibacy. 
 
 *' As to the manner in which you have practised these morals, 
 we appeal in our turn to the testimony of facts. We ask wheth- 
 er it is this evangelical meekness which has excited your inter- 
 minable wars of sects, your atrocious persecutions of pretended 
 heretics, your crusades against Arianism, Manicheism, Protest- 
 antism — without speaking of your crusades against us, and of 
 those sacrilegious associations, still subsisting, of men who take 
 an oath to continue them ?* We ask you whether it be gos- 
 pel charity which has made you exterminate whole nations in 
 Amerid^, and annihilate the empires of Mexico and Peru ? — 
 which makes you continue to dispeople Africa, and sell its in- 
 habitants like cattle, notwithstanding your abolition of slaveiy ? 
 — which makes you ravage India and usurp its dominions ? — 
 and whether it be the same charity which, for three centuries 
 past, has led you to havoc the habitations of the people of three 
 continents, of whom the most prudent, the Chinese and Japan- 
 ese, were constrained to drive you off, that they might escape 
 your chains and recover their internal peace ?" 
 
 Here the brahmins, the rabbins, the bonzes, the chamans, the 
 priests of the Molucca islands and of the coast of Guinea, load- 
 ing the Christian doctors with reproaches — " Yes !" cried they, 
 ♦'these men are robbers and hypocrites, who preach simplicity 
 to surprise confidence ; humility, to enslave with more ease ; 
 poverty, to appropriate all riches to themselves. They promise 
 another world, the better to usurp the present ; and while they 
 speak to you of tolerance and charity, they burn, in the name 
 of God, the men who do not worship him in their manner." 
 
 *' Lying priests !" retorted the missionaries, " it is you who 
 abuse the credulity of ignorant nations to subjugate them. It 
 
 * The oath taken by the knights of Malta was, to kill or make pris- 
 oners the Mahometans, for the glory of God. 
 
176 THE RUINS. 
 
 is you who have made of your ministry an art of cheating and 
 imposture ; you have converted religion into a traffic of cupidity 
 and avarice. You pretend to hold communication with spirits, 
 and they give for oracles nothing but your wills. You feign to 
 read the stars, and destiny decrees only your desires. You 
 cause idols to speak, and the gods are but the instruments of 
 your passions. You have invented sacrifices and libations, to 
 collect for your own profit the milk of flocks and the flesh and 
 fat of victims ; and under the cloak of piety you devour the 
 offerings of the gods, who can not eat, and the substance of the 
 people who labor." 
 
 *'And you," replied the brahmins, the bonzes, the chamans, 
 "sell to the credulous living your vain prayers for the souls of 
 the dead. With your indulgences and absolutions, you have 
 usurped the power of God himself; and making a traffic of his 
 favors and pardons, you have' put heaven at auction, and, by 
 your system of expiations, you have formed a tariff" of crimes* 
 which has perverted all consciences." 
 
 "Add to this," said the Imams, "that these men have invent- 
 ed the most insidious of all systems of wickedness — the absurd 
 and impious obligation of recounting to them the most intimate 
 secrets of actions and of thoughts (confession) ; so that their 
 insolent curiosity has carried their inquisition even into the 
 sanctuary of the marriage-bed, f and the inviolable recesses of 
 the heart." 
 
 * As long as it shall be possible to obtain purification from crimes and 
 exemption from punishment by means of money, or other frivolous prac- 
 tices J as long as kings and lords shall suppose that building temples or 
 instituting foundations, will absolve them from the guilt of oppression 
 and homicide ; as long as individuals shall imagine that they may rob 
 and cheat, provided they fast during Lent, go to confession, and receive 
 extreme unction, — it is impossible there should exist either a public or 
 private morality, or salutary practical legislation. But to see the effects 
 of these doctrines, it is only necessary to peruse the History of the Tem- 
 poral Power of the Popes, 4th edition. 
 
 t Confession is a very ancient invention of the .priests, who did not fail 
 to avail themselves of that means of governing. It was practised in the 
 Eg5T3tian, Greek, Phrygian, Persian mysteries, etc. Plutarch has trans- 
 mitted us the remarkable answer of a Spartan whom a priest wanted to 
 confess. " Is it to you, or to God, I am to confess ?" — " To God," an- 
 swered the priest. — " In that case," replied the Spartan, " man, begone !" 
 (Remarkable sayings of the Lacedemonians.) The first Christians con- 
 
THE RUINS. 177 
 
 Thus by mutual reproaches the doctors of the different sects 
 begtm to reveal all the crimes of their ministry — all the vices of 
 their craft ; and it was found that, among all nations, the spirit 
 of the priesthood, their system of conduct, their actions, their 
 morals, were absolutely the same : — 
 
 That they had eveiywhere formed secret associations and 
 corporations at enmity with the rest of society ;* 
 
 fessed their faults publicly, like the Essenians ; afterward, priests began 
 to be established, with power of absolution from the sin of idolatry. In 
 the time of Theodosius, a woman having publicly confessed an intrigue 
 with a deacon, Bishop Necterius, and his successor Chrysostom, granted 
 communion without confession. It was not until the seventh century, 
 that the abbots of convents exacted from monks and nuns confession 
 twice a year ; and it was at a still later period that bishops of Rome 
 generalized it. As to the Mussulmans, who abhor this practice 'nd 
 who do not allow women a moral character, and scarcely a soul, they 
 can not conceive how an honest man can listen to the recital of the most 
 secret actions and thoughts of a girl or a woman. May not we French, 
 among whom our education and sentiments render many women superior 
 to the men, ask, with astonishment, how can an honest woman consent 
 to reveal them to the impertinent curiosity of a monk or a priest ? 
 
 * That we may understand the general feelings of priests respecting 
 the rest of mankind, whom they always call by the name of the people, 
 let us hear one of the doctors of the church, " The people," says bishop 
 Synnesius (in Calvit., p, 515), " are desirous to be deceived ; there is no 
 acting otherwise with them." Such were always the principles of the 
 ancient priests of Egypt ', and for this reason they shut themselves up 
 in their temples, and there composed their mysterico, out of the reach 
 of the eye of the people. — And, forgetting what he had just said, he 
 adds : " For, had the people been in the secret, they might have been 
 oifended at the deception. In the meantime, how is it possible to con- 
 duct one's self otherwise with the people, so long as they are the peo- 
 ple ? Fvor my own part, to myself I shall always be a philosopher, but 
 in dealing with the mass of mankind, I shall be a priest." 
 
 " A little jargon," says Gregory of Nazianzus to St. Jerome (Hieron 
 ad Nep.), "is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less 
 they comprehend, the more they admire. Our forefathers and doctors 
 have often said, not what they thought, but what circumstances and ne- 
 cessity dictated." 
 
 '' We endeavor," says Sanconiathon, " to excite admiration by means 
 of the marvellous.'- (Proep. Ev., lib. iii.) Such was the conduct of ah 
 the priests of antiquity, and is still that of the brahmins and lamas, who 
 are the exact counterpart of the Eg}'ptian priests. To justify this sys- 
 tem of imposition and falsehood, we are told that it would be dangerous 
 to enlighten the people, because they would abuse their information ^ Is 
 
173 THE RUINS. 
 
 That they had everywhere attributed to themselves preroga- 
 tives and immunities, by means of which they Hved exempt from 
 the burdens of other classes ; 
 
 That they everywhere avoided the toils of the laborer, the 
 dangers of the soldier, and the disappointments of the mer- 
 chant ; 
 
 That they lived everywhere in celibacy, to shun even the 
 cares of a family ; 
 
 That, under the cloak of poverty, they possessed everywhere 
 the secret of acquiring wealth and all sorts of enjoyments ; 
 
 That, under the name of mendicity, they raised taxes to a 
 greater amount than princes ; 
 
 That, in the form of gifts and offerings, they had established 
 fixed and certain revenues exempt from charges ; 
 
 That, under pretence of retirement and devotion, they lived 
 in idleness and licentiousness ; 
 
 That they had made a virtue of alms-giving, to live quietly on 
 the labors of others ; 
 
 That they had invented the ceremonies of worship, as a means 
 of attracting the reverence of the people, while they were play- 
 ing the parts of gods of whom they styled themselves the inter- 
 preters and mediators, to assume all their powers ; that, with 
 this design, they had, according to the degree of ignorance or 
 information of their people, assumed by turns the character of 
 astrologers, drawers of horoscopes, fortune-tellers, magicians, 
 necromancers,* quacks, physicians, courtiers, confessors of 
 
 it meant that instruction and deceit are synonymous ? No ; but as the 
 people are unfortunate by the stupidity, ignorance, and avarice, of those 
 who lead and instruct ihem, the latter want them to be hoodwinked. 
 Doubtless it would be dangerous to make a direct attack on the errone- 
 ous belief of a nation ; but there is a philanthropic and medical art of 
 preparing men's eyes for the light, as well as their arms for liberty. If 
 ever a corporation is instituted in this sense, it will astonish the world 
 by its success. 
 
 * What is a magician, in the sense in which people understand the 
 word ? A man who by words and gestures pretends to act on supernat- 
 ural beings, and compel them to descend at his call and obey his orders. 
 Such was the conduct of the ancient priests, and such is still that of all 
 priests in idolatrous nations, for which reason we have given them the 
 denommation*bf magicians. Now, when a Christian priest pretends to 
 make God descend from heaven, to fix him to a morsel of leaven, and to 
 render, by means of this talisrian, souls pure and in a state of grace 
 
THE RUINS. 173 
 
 princes— always aiming at tiie great object to govern for their 
 own advantage ; 
 
 That sometimes they had exalted the power of kings and 
 consecrated their persons, to monopohze their favors or partici- 
 pate in the authority ; 
 
 That sometimes they had preached up the murder of tyrants 
 (reserving it to themselves to define tyranny), to avenge them- 
 selves of their contempt or their disobedience ; 
 
 And, that they always stigmatized with impiety whatever 
 crossed their interests ; that they hindered all public instruction, 
 to exercise the monopoly of science ; that, finally, in all times 
 and in all places, they had found the secret of living in peace in 
 the midst of the anarchy they created ; in safety, under the des- 
 potism that they favored ; in indolence, amid the industry they 
 preached ! and in abundance, while surrounded with scarcity I 
 —and all this by carrying on the singular trade of selling words 
 and gestures to credulous people, who purchase them as com- 
 modities of the greatest value.* 
 
 Then the different nations, in a transport of fury, were going 
 to tear in pieces the men who had thus abused them ; but the 
 
 what is all this but a trick of magic ? And where is the difference be- 
 tween him and a chaman of Tartary, who invokes the genii, or an Indian 
 brahmin, who makes his Vichenou descend in a vessel of Avater to drive 
 away evil spirits ? But such is the magic of custom and education, that 
 we look upon as simple and reasonable in ourselves, what appears ex- 
 travagant and absurd in others. 
 
 * A curious work would be the comparative history of the pope's ag 
 nuses and the pastils of the grand lama ! It would be worth while to 
 extend this idea to religious ceremonies in general, and to confront, col- 
 umn by column, the analogous or contrasting points of faith and super- 
 stitious practices in all nations. There is one more species of supersti- 
 tion which it would be equally salutary to cure : blind veneration for the 
 great ; and for this purpose it would be only necessary to write a minute 
 detau'of the private life of those who govern the world, princes, cour- 
 tiers and ministers. No work would be more philosophical than this ; 
 and accordingly we have seen what a general outcry was excited, when 
 the Anecdotes of the Court of Berlin first appeared. What would be the 
 alarm, were the public acquainted with the private history of other 
 courts ? Did the people know all the crimes and all the baseness of this 
 species of idol, they would no longer covet their specious pleasures, of 
 which the plausible and hollow appearance disturbs their peace, and hin- 
 ders them from enjoying the much more solid happiness of their own 
 condition. 
 
180 THE RUINS. 
 
 legislator, arresting this movement of violence, addressed the 
 chiefs and doctors : "What!" said he "instructors of nations, 
 is it thus you have deceived them ?" 
 
 And the terrified priests replied : " O legislator ! we are men. 
 The people are so superstitious ! they have themselves encour- 
 aged these errors." 
 
 And the kings said : " O legislator ! the people are so servile 
 and so ignorant ! they prostrated themselves before the yoke, 
 which we scarcely dared to show them." 
 
 Then the legislator, turning to the people — " People !" said 
 he, "remember what you have just heard : they are two indel- 
 ible truths. Yes, you are yourselves the authors of the evils 
 you lament ; it is you that encourage tyrants by a base adula- 
 tion of their power, by an imprudent admiration of their false 
 beneficence, by servility in obedience, by licentiousness in lib- 
 erty, and by a credulous reception of every imposition. On 
 whom shall you wreak vengeance for the faults committed by 
 your own ignorance and cupidity ?" 
 
 And the people, struck with confusion, remained in mournful 
 silence. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF CONTRADICTIONS. 
 
 The legislator then resumed his discourse : " O nations !'* 
 said he, "we have heard the discussion of your opinions ; and 
 the different sentiments which divide you have given rise to 
 many reflections, and furnished several questions which we shall 
 propose to you to solve. 
 
 " First, considering the diversity and opposition of the creeds 
 to which you are attached, we ask on what motives you found 
 your persuasion ? Is it from a deliberate choice that you follow 
 the standard of one prophet rather than another ? Before adopt- 
 ing this doctrine rather than that, did you first compare ? did 
 you maturely examine them ? or have you received them only 
 from the chance of birth — from the empire of education and 
 habit ? Are you not born Christians on the banks of the Tiber 
 
THE RUINS. 181 
 
 Mussulmans on those of the Euphrates, Idolaters on the Indus, 
 just as you are born fair in cold climates, and sable under the 
 scorching sun of Africa ? And if your opinions are the effect 
 of your fortuitous position on the earth, of consanguinity, of 
 imitation, how is it that such a hazard should be a ground of 
 conviction, an argument of truth ? 
 
 *' Secondly, when we reflect on the mutual proscriptions and 
 arbitrary intolerance of your pretensions, we are frightened % 
 the consequences that flow from your own principles. Nations ! 
 who reciprocally d^ote each other to the bolts of heavenly 
 wrath, suppose that the universal Being whom you revere 
 should this moment descend -from heaven on this multitude, 
 and, clothed with all his power, should sit on this throne to 
 judge you; suppose he should say to you: 'Mortals! it is 
 your own justice that I am going to exercise upon you. Yes, 
 of all the religious systems that divide you, one alone shall this 
 day be preferred ; all the others, all this multitude of standards, 
 of nations, of prophets, shall be condemned to eternal destruc- 
 tion. This is not enough : among the particular sects of the 
 chosen system, one only can be favored, and all the others must 
 be condemned. Neither is this enough : from this little rem- 
 nant of a group, I must exclude all those who have not fulfilled 
 the conditions enjoined by its precepts. O men ! to what a 
 small number of elect have you limited your race ! To what a 
 penury of beneficence do you reduce the immensity of my 
 goodness I To what a solitude of admirers do you condemn my 
 greatness and my glory !' 
 
 " But," said the legislator, rising, '* no matter ; you have 
 willed it so. Nations ! here is an urn in which all your names 
 are placed. One only is a prize : approach and draw this tre- 
 mendous lottery." And the nations, seized with terror, cried : 
 " No, no ; we are all brothers, all equal : we can not condemn 
 each other." 
 
 Then said the legislator, resuming his seat : "O men ! who 
 dispute on so many subjects, lend an attentive ear to one prob- 
 lem which you exhibit, and which you ought to decide your- 
 selves." And the people, giving great attention, he lifted an 
 arm toward heaven, and, pointing to the sun, said : " Nations, 
 does that sun which enlightens you appear square or triangu- 
 lar ?" — " No," answered they with one voice ; " it is round." 
 
 16 
 
182 THE RUINS. 
 
 Then taking the golden balance that was on the altar : " This 
 gold that you handle every day, is it heavier than the same vol- 
 ume of copper ?" — "Yes," answ^ered all the people ; " gold is 
 heavier than copper." 
 
 Then taking the sword : " Is this iron," said the legislator, 
 "softer than lead ?" — "No," said the people. 
 
 " Is sugar sweet, and gall bitter ?" — "Yes." 
 
 " Do you love pleasure, and hate pain ?" — "Yes." 
 
 " Thus, then, you are agreed in these points and many others 
 of the same nature. 
 
 " Now, tell us, is there a cavern in the centre of the earth, or 
 inhabitants in the moon ?" 
 
 This question occasioned a universal murmur. Every one 
 answered differently — some yes, others no : one said it was 
 probable; another said it was an idle, ridiculous question ; some, 
 that it was worth knowing : and the discord was universal. 
 . After some time the legislator, having obtained silence, said : 
 "Explain to us, O nations, this problem. We have put to you 
 several questions which you have answered with one voice, 
 without distinction of race or sect — white men, black men, fol- 
 lowers of Mahomet and of Moses, worshippers of Boudha and 
 of Jesus : all have returned the same answer. We then pro- 
 posed another question, and you are all at variance ! Wlty this 
 unanimity in one case, and this discordance in the other ?" 
 
 And the group of simple men and savages answered and said : 
 " The reason of this is evident. In the first case, we see and 
 feel the objects, and we speak from sensation ; in the second, 
 they are beyond the reach of our senses — we speak of them only 
 from conjecture." 
 
 " You have resolved the problem," said the legislator ; "and 
 your own consent has established this first truth : — 
 
 " That whenever objects can be examined and judged of by 
 your senses, you are agreed in opinion ; 
 
 "And, that you only differ when the objects are absent and 
 beyond your reach. 
 
 " From this first truth flows another equally dlear and worthy 
 of notice. Since you agree on things which you know with 
 certainty, it follows that you disagree only on those which you 
 know not with certainty, and about which you are not sure — • 
 that is to say, you dispute, you quarrel, you fight, for that 
 
THE RUINS. 183 
 
 which is uncertain, that of which you doubt. O men ! is not 
 this folly ? 
 
 ** Is it not, then, demonstrated, that truth is not the object of 
 your contests ? that it is not her cause which you defend, but 
 that of your affections and of your prejudices ? that it is not 
 the object, as it really is in itself, that you would verify, but the 
 object as you would have it — that is to say, it is not the evidence 
 of the thing that you would enforce, but your own personal 
 opinion, your particular manner of seeing and judging ? It is 
 a power that you wish to exercise, an interest that you wish to 
 satisfy, a prerogative that you arrogate to yourselves : it is a 
 contest of vanity. Now, as each of you, on comparing himself 
 to every other, finds himself his equal and his fellow, he resists 
 by a feeling of the same right ; and your disputes, your com- 
 bats, your intolerance, are the effect of this right which you 
 deny each other, and of the intimate conviction of your equality. 
 *' Now, the only means of establishing harmony is to return 
 to nature, and take for a guide and regulator the order of things 
 which she has founded ; and then your accord will prove this 
 other truth : — 
 
 " That real beings have in themselves an identical, constant, 
 and uniform mode of existence ; and, that there is in your or- 
 gans a like mode of being affected by them. 
 
 " But, at the same time, by reason of the mobility of these 
 organs as subject to your will, you may conceive different affec-' 
 tions, and find yourselves in different relations with the same 
 objects ; so that you are to them like a mirror, capable of reflect- 
 ing them truly as they are, or of distorting and disfiguring them. 
 " Hence it follows that, whenever you perceive objects as 
 they are, you agree among yourselves and with the objects ; 
 and the similitude between your sensations, and their manner of 
 existence, is what constitutes their truth with respect to you ; 
 
 " And, on the contrary, whenever you differ in your opinion, 
 your disagreement is a proof that you do not represent them 
 such as they are, that you change them. 
 
 " Hence, also, it follows, that the causes of your disagree- 
 ment exist not in the objects themselves, but in your minds, in 
 your manner of perceivmg or judging. 
 
 " To establish, therefore, a uniformity of opinion, it is neces- 
 sary first to establish the certainty, completely verified, that tha 
 
184 THE RUINS. 
 
 portraits which the mind forms are perfectly like the originals 
 that it reflects the objects correctly as they exist. Now, this 
 result can not be obtained but in those cases where the objects 
 can be brought to the test, and submitted to the examination of 
 the senses. Everything which can not be brought to this trial 
 is, for that reason alone, impossible to be determined ; there ex- 
 ists no rule, no term of comparison, no means of certainty, re« 
 Bpecting it. 
 
 " From this we conclude, that, to live in harmony and peace, 
 we must agree never to decide on such subjects, and to attach 
 to them no importance ; in a word, we must trace a line of 
 distinction between those that are capable of verification, and 
 those that are not, and separate, by an inviolable barrier, the 
 world of fantastical beings from the world of realities — that is 
 to say, all civil efl'ect nrust be taken away from theological and 
 religious opinions. 
 
 " This, O people ! is the object proposed by a great nation 
 freed from her fetters and her prejudices. This is the work 
 which, under her eye, and by her orders, we had undertaken 
 when your kings and your priests came to interrupt it. — O kings 
 and priests ! you may suspend, yet for a while, the solemn pub 
 lication of the laws of nature ; but it is no longer in your power 
 to annihilate or to subvert them." 
 
 A general shout then arose from every part of the assembly; 
 and the nations universally, and with one voice, testified their 
 assent to the proposals of the legislator. " Resume," said they, 
 "your holy and sublime labors, and bring them to perfection ! 
 Investigate the laws which nature, for our guidance, has im- 
 planted in our breasts, and collect from them an authentic and 
 immutable code ; nor let this code be any longer for one family 
 only, but for us all without exception ! Be the legislator of the 
 whole human race, as you shall be the interpreter of nature 
 herself. Show us the line of partition between the world of 
 chimeras and that of realities ; and teach us, after so many reli- 
 gions of error and delusion, the religion of evidence and truth !" 
 
 Then, the legislator having resumed his inquiry into the 
 physical and constituent attributes of man, and examined the 
 motives and affections which govern him in his individual and 
 social state, unfolded in these words the laws or which nature 
 herself has founded his happiness. 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 Question. What is the law of nature ? 
 
 Answer. It is the constant and regular order of facts, by which 
 God governs the universe ; an order which his wisdom presents 
 to the senses and to the reason of men, as an ^ual and common 
 rule for their actions, to guide them, without distinction of 
 country or of sect, toward perfection and happiness. 
 
 Q. Give a clear definition of the word law. 
 
 A. The word law, taken literally, signifies lecture,* because 
 originally ordinances and regulations were the lectures, prefera- 
 bly to all others, made to the people, in order that they might 
 observe them, and not incur the penalties attached to the infrac- 
 tion of them ; whence follows the original custom explaining the 
 true idea. 
 
 The definition of law is, "An order or prohibition to act, with 
 the express clause of a penalty attached to the infraction, or of 
 a recompense attached to the observance of that order." 
 
 Q. Do such orders exist in nature ? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. What does the word nature signify ? 
 
 A. The word nature bears three different senses: — 
 
 1st. It signifies the universe, the material world : in this first 
 sense we say the beauty of nature, the richness of nature, that 
 
 * From the Latin word lex, letiio. Alcoran likewise signifies lecture, 
 and is only a literal translation of the word law. 
 
 16* 
 
iSQ THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 is to say, the objects in the heavens and on the earth exposed 
 to our siglit; 
 
 2d]y. It signifies the power that animates, that moves the uni- 
 verse, considering it as a distinct being, such as the soul is to 
 the body : in this second sense we say, " The intentions of na- 
 ture, the incomprehensible secrets of nature ;" 
 
 3dly. It signifies the partial operations of that power on each 
 being, or on each class of beings ; and in this third sense we 
 say, " The nature of man is an enigma ; every being acts ac- 
 cording to its nature." 
 
 Wherefore, as the actions of each being, or each species of 
 beings, are subjected to constant and general rules, which can 
 not be infringed without interrupting and troubling the general 
 or particular order, those rules of action and of motion are called 
 natural laws, or laws of nature. 
 
 Q. Give me examples of those laws. 
 
 A. It is a law of nature that the sun illuminates successively 
 the surface of the terrestrial globe ; that its presence causes both 
 light and heat ; that heat, acting upon water, produces vapors ; 
 that those vapors, rising in clouds into the regions of the air, 
 dissolve into rain or snow, and renew incessantly the waters of 
 fountains and of rivers. 
 
 It is a law of nature that w^ater flows downward ; that it en- 
 deavors to find its level ; that it is heavier than air ; that all 
 bodies tend toward the earth ; that flame ascends toward the 
 heavens; that it disorganizes vegetables and animals; that air 
 is necessary to the life of certain animals ; that, in certain cir- 
 cumstances, water suffbcates and kills them ; that certain juices 
 of plants, certain minerals, attack their organs, and destroy their 
 life, and so on in a multitude of other instances. 
 
 Wherefore, as all those and similar facts are immutable, con- 
 stant, and regular, so many real orders result from them for man 
 to conform himself to, with the express clause of punishment 
 attending the infraction of them, or of welfare attending their 
 observance. So that, if man pretends to see clear in darkness — 
 if he goes in contradiction to the course of the seasons, or the 
 action of the elements — if he pretends to remain under water 
 without being drowned, to touch fire without burning himself, 
 to deprive himself of air without being suffocated, to swallow 
 poison without destroying himself — he receives from each of 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 187 
 
 those infractions of the laws of nature a corporeal punishment 
 proportionate to his fault ; but if, on the contrary, he observes 
 and practises each of those laws according to the regular and 
 exact relations they have to him, he preserves his existence, and 
 renders it as happy as it can be : and as the only and common 
 end of all those laws, considered relatively to mankind, is to pre- 
 serve and render them happy, it has been agreed upon to reduce 
 the idea to one simple expression, and to call them collectively 
 the law of nature. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHARACTERS OF THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 Q. What are the characters of the law of nature ? 
 
 A. There can be assigned ten principal ones. 
 
 Q. Which is the first ? 
 
 A. To be inherent to the existence of things, and ccnse- 
 quently primitive and anterior to every other law ; so that all 
 those which man has received are only imitations of it, and their 
 perfection is ascertained by the resemblance they bear to this 
 primordial model. 
 
 Q. Which is the second ? 
 
 A. To be derived immediately from God, and presented by 
 him to each man; whereas all other laws are presented to us by 
 men, who may be either deceived or deceivers. 
 
 Q. Which is the third ? 
 
 A. To be common to all times, and to all countries, that is to 
 say, one and universal. 
 
 Q. Is no other law universal ? 
 
 A. No ; for no other is agreeable or applicable to all the peo- 
 ple of the earth : they are all local and accidental, originating 
 ffom circumstaeces of places and of persons ; so that, if such a 
 man had not existed, or such an event happened, such a laM 
 would never have been enacted. 
 
 Q. Which is the fourth character ? 
 
 A. To be uniform and invariable. 
 
188 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 Q. Ts no other law uniform and invariable ? 
 
 A. No ; for what is good and virtue according to one, is evil 
 and vice according to another; and w^hat one and the same law 
 approves of at one time, it often condemns at another. 
 
 Q. Which is the fifth character ? 
 
 A. To be evident and palpable, because it consists entirely of 
 facts incessantly present to the senses, and to demonstration. 
 
 Q. Are not other laws evident ? 
 
 A. No ; for they are founded on past and doubtful facts, on 
 equivocal and suspicious testimonies, and on proofs inaccessible 
 to the senses. 
 
 Q. Which is the sixth character ? 
 
 A. To be reasonable, because its precepts and entire doc- 
 trine are conformable to reason, and to the human under- 
 standing. 
 
 Q. Is no other law reasonable? 
 
 A. No ; for all are in contradiction to the reason and the un- 
 derstanding of men, and tyrannically impose on him a blind and 
 impracticable belief. 
 
 Q. Which is the seventh character? 
 
 A. To be just, because in that lavr, the penalties are propor- 
 tionate to the infractions. 
 
 Q. Are not other laws just ? 
 
 A. No ; for they often exceed bounds, either in rewarding 
 deserts, or in punishing delinquencies, and consider as merito- 
 rious or criminal, null or indifferent actions. 
 
 Q. Which is the eighth character ? 
 
 A. To be pacific and tolerant, because in the law of nature, 
 all men being brothers and equal in rights, it recommends to 
 them only peace and toleration, even for errors. 
 
 Q. Are not other laws pacific ? 
 
 A. No ; for all preach dissension, discord, and war, and 
 divide mankind by exclusive pretensions of truth and domina- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. Which is the ninth character ? 
 
 A. To be equally beneficent to all men, in teaching them the 
 true means of becoming better and happier. 
 
 Q. Are not other laws beneficent likewise ? 
 
 A. No; for none of them teach the real means of attaining 
 happiness; all are confined to pernicious or futile practices; and 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 189 
 
 this is evident from facts, since after so many laws, so many re- 
 igions, so many legislators and prophets, men are still as un- 
 happy and as ignorant, as they were six thousand years ago. 
 
 Q. Which is the last character of the law of nature ? 
 
 A. That it is alone sufficient to render men happier and bet- 
 ter, because it comprises all that is good and useful in other 
 laws, either civil or religious, that is to say, it constitutes essen- 
 tially the moral part of them ; so that, if other laws were di- 
 vested of it, they would be reduced to chimerical and imaginary 
 opinions, devoid of any practical utility. 
 
 Q. Recapitulate all those characters. 
 
 A. We have said that the law of nature is : — 
 
 1. Primitive; 6. Reasonable; 
 
 2. Immediate ; 7. Just ; 
 
 3. Universal ; 8. Pacific ; 
 
 4. Invariable; 9. Beneficent; and 
 
 5. Evident; 10. Alone sufficient. 
 
 And such is the power of all these attributes of perfection and 
 truth that, when in their disputes the theologians can agree upon 
 no article of belief, they recur to the law of nature, the neglect 
 of which (say they) forced God to send from time to time prophets 
 to proclaim new laws ; as if God enacted laws for particular 
 circumstances, as men do, especially when the first subsists in 
 such force, that we may assert it to have been at all times and 
 in all countries the rule of conscience for every man of sense or 
 understanding. 
 
 Q. If, as you say, it emanates immediately from God, does it 
 teach his existence? 
 
 A. Yes, most positively; for, to any man whatever, who ob- 
 serves with reflection the astonishing spectacle of the universe, 
 the more he meditates on the properties and attributes of each 
 being, on the admirable order and harmony of their motions, 
 the more it is demonstrated that there exists a supreme agent, 
 a universal and identic mover, designated by the appellation of 
 God ; and so true it is that the law of nature suffices to elevate 
 him to the knowledge of God, that all which men have pretend- 
 ed to know by supernatural means has constantly turned out 
 ridiculous and absurd, and that they have ever been obliged to 
 recur to the immutable conceptions of natural reason. 
 
190 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 Q. Then it is not true that the followers of the law of nalar-^ 
 are atheists ? 
 
 A» No, it is not true ; on the contrary, they entertain stronger 
 and nobler ideas of the Divinity than most other men ; for they 
 do not sully him with the foul ingredients of all the weaknesses 
 and passions entailed on humanity. 
 
 Q. What worship do they pay to him ? 
 
 A. Worship wholly of action : the practice and observance 
 of all the rules which the supreme wisdom has imposed on the 
 motion of each being; eternal and unalterable rules, by which 
 it maintains the order and harmony of the universe, and which, 
 in their relations to man, constitute the law of nature. 
 
 Q. Was the law of nature known before this period ? 
 
 A. It has been at all times spoken of: most legislators pretend 
 to adopt it as the basis of their laws ; but they only quote some 
 of its precepts, and have had only vague ideas of its totality. 
 
 Q. Why? 
 
 A. Because, though simple in its basis, it forms in its devel- 
 opments and consequences a complicated whole, which requires 
 an extensive knowledge of facts, joined to all the sagacity of 
 reasoning. 
 
 Q. Does not instinct alone teach the law of nature ? 
 
 A. No ; for by instinct is meant nothing more than that blind 
 sentiment by which we are actuated indiscriminately toward ev- 
 erything that flatters the senses. 
 
 Q. Why, then, is it said that the law of nature is engraved in 
 the hearts of all men ? 
 
 A. It is said for two reasons : first, because it has been re- 
 marked that there are acts and sentiments common to all 
 meji, and this proceeds from their common organization ; sec- 
 ondly, because the first philosophers believed that men were 
 born with ideas already formed, which is now demonstrated to 
 be erroneous. 
 
 Q. Philosophers, then, are fallible ? 
 
 A. Yes, sometimes. 
 
 Q. Why so ? 
 
 A. First, because they are men; secondly, because the igno- 
 rant call all those who reason right or wrong philosophers ; 
 Thirdly, because those who reason on many subjects, and who 
 are the first to reason on them, are liable to be deceived. 
 
THE LAW OP NATURE. 191 
 
 Q. If the law of nature be not written, must it not become 
 arbitrary and ideal ? 
 
 A. No ; because it consists entirely in facts, the demonstra- 
 tion of which can be incessantly renewed to the senses, and 
 constitues a science as accurate and as precise as geometry and 
 mathematics; and it is because the law of nature forms an exact 
 science, that men, born ignorant, and living inattentive and heed- 
 less, have had hitherto only a superficial knowledge of it. 
 
 CHAPTER ITI. 
 
 PRINCIPLES or THE LAW OF NATURE WITH RELATION TO MAN. 
 
 Q. Explain the principles of the law of nature with relation 
 to man. 
 
 A. They are simple; all of them are comprised in one funda- 
 mental and single precept. 
 
 Q. What is that precept? 
 
 A. It is self-preservation. 
 
 Q. Is not happiness also a precept of the law of nature ? 
 
 A. Yes; but as happiness is an accidental state, resulting 
 only from the development of man's faculties and his social sys- 
 tem, it is not the immediate and direct object of nature ; it is, in 
 some measure, a superfluity annexed to the necessary and fun- 
 damental object of preservation. 
 
 Q. How does nature order man to preserve himself? 
 
 A. By two powerful and involuntary sensations, which it has 
 attached, as two guides, two guardian geniuses, to all his ac- 
 tions : the one a sensation of pain, by which it admonishes him 
 of, and deters him from, everything that tends to destroy him ; 
 the other a sensation of pleasure, by which it attracts and car- 
 ries him toward everything that tends to his preservation and the 
 development of his existence. 
 
 Q. Pleasure, therefore, is not an evil, a sin, as casuists pre- 
 tend ? 
 
 A. No, only inasmuch as it tends to destroy life and health 
 
192 THE LAAV OF NATURE. 
 
 which, by the avowal of those same casuists, we derive from Goa 
 himself. 
 
 Q. Is pleasure the principal object of our existence, as some 
 philosophers have asserted? 
 
 A. No, not more than pain ; pleasure is an incitement to live, 
 as pain is a repulsion from death. 
 
 Q. How do you prove this assertion ? 
 
 A. By two palpable facts : one, that pleasure, when taken 
 immoderately, leads to destruction ; for instance, a man who 
 abuses the pleasure of eating or drinking, attacks his health, 
 and injures his life. The other, that pain sometimes leads 
 to self-preservation ; for instance, a man who suffers a morti- 
 fied member to be cut off, endures pain in order not to perish 
 totally. 
 
 Q. But does not even this prove that our sensations can de- 
 ceive us respecting the end of our preservation ? 
 
 A. Yes ; they can momentarily. 
 
 Q. How do our sensations deceive us? 
 
 A. In two ways : by ignorance, and by passion. 
 
 Q. AVhen do they deceive us by ignorance ? 
 
 A. When we act without knowing the action and effect of 
 objects on our senses ; for example, when a man touches nettles 
 without knowing their stinging quality, or when he swallows 
 opium without knowing its soporiferous effects. 
 
 Q. When do they deceive us by passion ? 
 
 A. When, conscious of the pernicious action of objects, we 
 abandon ourselves, nevertheless, to the impetuosity of our desires 
 and appetites ; for example, when a man who knows that wine 
 intoxicates, does nevertheless drink it to excess. 
 
 Q. What is the result ? 
 
 A. It results that the ignorance in which we are born, and 
 the unbridled appetites to which we abandon ourselves, are con- 
 trary to our preservation , that consequently the instruction of 
 our minds and the moderation of our passions are two obliga- 
 tions, two laws, which derive immediately from the first law of 
 preservation. 
 
 Q. But if we are born ignorant, is not ignorance a law of na- 
 ture? 
 
 A. No more than to remain in the naked and feeble state 
 of infancy. Far from being a law of nature, ignorance is an 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 193 
 
 obstacle to the practice of all its laws. It is the real origi- 
 nal sin. 
 
 Q. Why, then, have there been moralists who have looked 
 upon it as a virtue and a perfection ? 
 
 A. Because, from a whimsical or misanthropical disposition, 
 they have confounded the abuse of knowledge with knowledge 
 itself; as if, because men abuse the power of speech, their 
 tongues should be cut out ; as if perfection and virtue consisted 
 in the nullity, and not in the development and proper employ 
 of our faculties. 
 
 Q. Instruction is, therefore, indispensably necessary to man's 
 existence ? 
 
 A. Yes, so indispensable, that without it he is every instant 
 assailed and wounded by all that surrounds him ; for, if he does 
 not know the effects of fire, he burns himself; those of water, 
 he drowns himself ; those of opium, he poisons himself : if, 
 in the savage state, he does not know the wiles of animals, 
 and the art of seizing game, he perishes through hunger ; if, 
 in the social state, he does not know the course of the seasons, 
 he can neither cultivate the ground, nor procure nourishment ; 
 and so on of all his actions, respecting all the wants of his pres- 
 ervation. 
 
 Q. But can man separately by himself acquire all this knowl- 
 edge necessary to his existence, and to the development of his 
 faculties ? 
 
 A. No, not without the assistance of his fellow-men, and by 
 living in society. 
 
 Q. But is not society to man a state against nature? 
 
 A. No ; it is, on the contrary, a necessity, a law, that nature 
 uuposed on him by the very act of his organization ; for, first, 
 nature has so constituted man, that he can not see his species 
 of another sex without feeling emotions and an attraction, the 
 consequences of which induce him to live in a family, which is 
 already a state of society ; secondly, by endowing him with 
 sensibility, she organized him so that the sensations of others 
 reflect within him, and excite reciprocal sentiments of pleasure 
 and of grief, whicn are attractions, and indissoluble ties of soci- 
 ety ; thirdly and finally, the state of society, founded on the 
 wants of man, is only a further means of fulfilling the law of 
 preservation : and to pretend that this state is out of nature, 
 
 17 
 
194 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 because it is more perfect, is the same as to say, that a bitter 
 and wild fruit of the forest is no longer the production of 
 nature, when rendered sweet and delicious by cultivation in our 
 gardens. 
 
 Q. Why, then, have philosophers called the savage state the 
 state of perfection ? 
 
 A. Because, as I have told you, the vulgar have often given 
 the name of philosophers to whimsical geniuses, who, from mo- 
 roseness, from wounded vanity, or from a disgust to the vices 
 of society, have conceived chimerical ideas of the savage state, 
 in contradiction with their own system of a perfect man. 
 
 Q. What is the true meaning of the word philosopher ? 
 
 A. The word philosopher signifies a lover of wisdom : 
 wherefore, as wisdom consists in the practice of the laws of na- 
 ture, the true philosopher is he who knows those laws exten- 
 sively and accurately, and who conforms the whole tenor of his 
 conduct to them. 
 
 Q. What is man in the savage state ? 
 
 A. A brutal, ignorant animal, a wicked and ferocious beast, 
 like bears and orang-outangs. 
 
 Q. Is he happy in that state ? 
 
 A. No ; for he only feels momentary sensations ; and those 
 sensations are habitually of violent wants which he can not satis- 
 fy, since he is ignorant by nature, and weak by being insulated 
 from his species. 
 
 Q. Is he free ? 
 
 A. No ; he is the most abject slave that exists ; for his life 
 depends on everything that surrounds him: he is not free to eat 
 when hungry, to rest when tired, to warm himself when cold ; 
 he is every instant in danger of perishing ; wherefore nature 
 offers but fortuitous examples of such beings ; and we see that 
 all the efforts of the human species, since its origin, solely tend 
 to emerge from that violent state by the pressing necessity of 
 self-preservation. 
 
 Q. But does not this necessity of preservation engender in 
 individuals egotism, that is to say, self-love ? and is not egotism 
 contrary to the social state ? 
 
 A. No ; for, if by egotism you understand a propensity to 
 Hurt our neighbor, it is no longer self-love, but the hatred 
 of others. Self-love, taken in its true sense, not only is not 
 
 O'tO'C^^'t'ea^ 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 195 
 
 contrary to society, but is its firmest support, by the necessity 
 we lie under of not injuring others, lest in return they should 
 injure us. 
 
 Thus man's preservation, and the unfolding of his faculties, di- 
 rected toward this end, are the true law of nature in the produc- 
 tion of the human being : and it is from this simple and fruitful 
 principle that are derived, are referred, and in its scale ara 
 weighed, all ideas of good and evil, of vice and virtue, of just 
 and unjust, of truth or error, of lawful or forbidden, on which 
 is founded the morality of individual, or of social man. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BASIS OF MORALITY ; OF GOOD, OF EVIL, OF SIN, OF CRIME, OF 
 VICE, AND OF VIRTUE. 
 
 Q. "What is good according to the law of nature ? 
 
 A. It is everything that tends to preserve and perfect man. 
 
 Q. What is evil ? 
 
 A. It is everything that tends to man's destruction or deteri- 
 oration. 
 
 Q. What is meant by physical good and evil, and by moral 
 good and evil ? 
 
 A' By the word physical is understood whatever acts imme- 
 diately on the body. Health is a physical good, and sickness a 
 physical evil. By moral is meant what acts by consequences, 
 more or less remote. Calumny is a moral evil ; a fair reputa- 
 tion is a moral good; because both one and the other occnsion 
 toward us, on the part of other men, dispositions and habitudes,* 
 which are useful or hurtful to our preservation, and which at- 
 tack or favor our means of existence. 
 
 Q. Everything that tends to preserve, or to produce is there- 
 fore a good. 
 
 A. Yes ; and it is for that reason that certain legislators have 
 
 • It is from this word habitudes (reiterated actions), in Latin mores, 
 that the word moral, and all its family, are derived. 
 
196 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 classed among the works agreeable to the divinity, the cultiva- 
 tion of a field and the fecunditj'- of a woman. 
 
 Q. Whatever tends to give death is, therefore, an evil ? 
 
 A. Yes ; and it is for that reason some legislators have ex- 
 tended the idea of evil and of sin even to the murdering of ani- 
 mals. 
 
 Q. The murdering of a man is, therefore, a crime in the law 
 of nature ? 
 
 A. Yes, and the greatest that can be committed ; for every 
 other evil can be repaired, but murder alone is irreparable. 
 
 Q. What is a sin in the law of nature ? 
 
 A. It is whatever tends to trouble the order established 
 by nature for the preservation and perfection of man and of so 
 ciety. 
 
 Q. Can intention be a merit or a crime ? 
 
 A. No ; for it is only an idea void of reality : but it is a com- 
 mencement of sin and evil, by the tendency it gives toward ac- 
 tion. 
 
 Q. What is virtue according to the law of nature ? 
 
 A. It is the practice of actions useful to the individual and to 
 society. 
 
 Q. What is meant by the word individual ? 
 
 A. It means a man considered separately from every other. 
 
 Q, What is vice according to the law of nature ? 
 
 A. It is the practice of actions prejudicial to the individual 
 and to society. 
 
 Q. Have not virtue and vice an object purely spiritual and 
 abstracted from the senses ? 
 
 A. No ; it is always to a physical end that they finally relate, 
 and that end is always to destroy or preserve the body. 
 
 Q. Have vice and virtue degrees of strength and intense- 
 ness ? 
 
 A. Yes ; according to the importance of the faculties which 
 they attack, or which they favor ; and according to the num- 
 ber of individuals in whom those faculties are favored or in- 
 jured. 
 
 Q. Give me some examples. 
 
 A. The action of saving a man's life is more virtuous than 
 that of saving his property; the action of saving the lives often 
 men, than that of saving only the life of one ; and an action use- 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. I97 
 
 *ul to the whole human race is more virtuous than an action 
 that is only useful to one single nation. 
 
 Q. How does the law of nature prescribe the practice of good 
 and virtue, and forbid that of evil and vice ? 
 
 A. By the very advantages resulting from the practice of 
 good and virtue for the preservation of our body, and by the 
 losses which result to our existence from the practice of evil 
 and vice. 
 
 Q. Its precepts are, then, in action ? 
 
 A. Yes, they are action itself, considered in its present effec* 
 and in its future consequences. 
 
 Q. How do you divide the virtues ? 
 
 A. We divide them into three classes : — 
 
 1. Individual virtues, as relative to man alone; 
 
 2. Domestic virtues, as relative to a family ; 
 
 3. Social virtues, as relative to society. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON INDIVIDUAL VIRTUES. 
 
 Q. "Which are the individual virtues ? 
 
 A. They are five principal ones, to wit : — 
 
 1. Science, which comprises prudence and wisdom , 
 
 2. Temperance, comprising sobriety and chastity ; 
 
 3. Courage, or strength of body and mind ; 
 
 4. Activity, that is to say, love of labor and employment ol 
 time ; 
 
 5. And finally, cleanliness, or purity of body, as well in dress 
 as in habitation. 
 
 Q. How does the law of nature prescribe science ? 
 
 A. Because the man acquainted with the causes and effects 
 of things attends in an extensive and sure manner to his preser- 
 vation, and to the development of his faculties. Science is to 
 him the eye and the light, which enable him to discern clearly 
 and accurately all the objects with which he is conversant, and 
 nence by an enlightened man is meant a learned and well-in- 
 
 17* 
 
198 • THE LAW OF NATL'RE. 
 
 formed man. With science and instruction a nfian never wants 
 for resources and means of subsistence ; and upon this ])rinciple 
 a philosopher, who had been sliipwrecked, said to his compan- 
 ions, that were inconsolable for the loss of their wealth : " For 
 my part, I carry all my wealth within me." 
 
 Q. Which is the vice contrary to science ? 
 
 A. It is ignorance. 
 
 Q- How does the law of nature forbid ignorance ? 
 
 A. By the grievous detriments resulting from it to our exist- 
 ence ; for the ignorant man, who knows neither causes nor ef- 
 fects, commits every instant errors most pernicious to himself 
 and to others ; he resembles a blind man groping his way at 
 random, and who, at every step, jostles or is jostled by every one 
 he meets. 
 
 Q. What difference is there between an ignorant and a silly 
 man ? 
 
 A. The same difference as between him who frankly avows 
 his blindness and the blind man who pretends to sight ; silliness 
 is the reality of ignorance, to which is superadded the vanity of 
 knowledge. 
 
 Q. Are ignorance and silliness common? 
 
 A. Yes, very common ; they are the usual and general dis 
 tempers of mankind : more than three thousand years ago the 
 wisest of men said, ♦' The number of fools is infinite ;" and the 
 world has not changed. 
 
 Q. What is the reason of it ? 
 
 A. Because much labor and time are necessary to acquire in- 
 struction, and because men, born ignorant, and averse to trouble, 
 find it more convenient to remain blind, and pretend to see 
 clear. 
 
 Q. What difference is there between a learned and a wise 
 man ? 
 
 A. The learned knows, and the wise man practises 
 
 Q. What is prudence ? 
 
 A. It is the anticipated perception, the foresight of the effects 
 and consequences of every action ; by means of which foresight 
 man avoids the dangers which threaten him, while he seizes on 
 and creates opportunities favorable to him : he thereby provides 
 for his present and future safety in a certain and extensive man- 
 ner, whereas the imprudent man, who calculates neither his 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. I99 
 
 Steps nor his conduct, nor efforts, nor resistance, falls every in- 
 stant into a thousand difficulties and dangers, which sooner or 
 later impair his faculties and destroy his existence. 
 
 Q. When the Gospel says, " Happy are the poor of spirit," 
 does it mean the ignorant and imprudent ? 
 
 A. No ; for, at the same time that it recommends the sim- 
 plicity of doves, it adds the prudent cunning of serpents. By 
 simplicity of mind is meant uprightness, and the precept of the 
 Gospel is that of nature. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Q. What is temperance ? 
 
 A. It is a regular use of our faculties, which makes us never 
 exceed in our sensations the end of nature, to preserve us ; it is 
 the moderation of the passions. 
 
 Q. Which is the vice contrary to temperance ? 
 
 A. The disorder of the passions, the avidity of all kind of en- 
 joyments, in a word, cupidity. 
 
 Q. Which are the principal branches of temperance ? 
 
 A. Sobriety, and continence or chastity. 
 
 Q. How does the law of nature prescribe sobriety? 
 
 A. By its powerful influence over our health. The sobe 
 man digests with comfort ; he is not overpowered by the weigh 
 of aliments ; his ideas are clear and easy ; he fulfils all hir 
 functions properly; he conducts his business with intelligence; 
 his old age is exempt from infirmity ; he does not spend his 
 money in remedies, and he enjoys, in mirth and gladness, the 
 wealth which chance and his own prudence have procured him. 
 Thus, from one virtue alone, generous nature derives innumera- 
 ble recompenses. 
 
 Q. How does it prohibit gluttony? 
 
 A. By the numerous evils that are attached to it. The glut- 
 ton, oppressed with aliments, digests with anxiety ; his head^ 
 
gOO THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 troubled by the fumes of indigestion, is incapable of conceiving 
 clear and distinct ideas; he abandons himself with violence to 
 the disorderly impulse of lust and anger, which impair his 
 health; his body becomes bloated, heavy, and unfit for la- 
 bor ; he endures painful and expensive distempers ; he sel- 
 dom lives to be old ; and his age is replete with infirmities and 
 sorrow. 
 
 Q. Should abstinence and fasting be considered as virtuous 
 actions ? 
 
 *A. Yes, when one has eaten too much ; for then abstinence 
 and fasting are simple and efficacious remedies ; but when the 
 body is in want of aliment, to refuse it any, and let it suffer from 
 hunger or thirst, is delirium, and a real sin against the law of 
 nature. 
 
 Q. How is drunkenness considered in the law of nature? 
 
 A. As a most vile and pernicious vice. The drunkard, de- 
 prived of the sense and reason given us by God, profanes the 
 donations of the Divinity ; he debases himself to the condition 
 of brutes; unable even to guide his steps, he staggers and falls, 
 as if he were epileptic ; he hurts and even risks killing him- 
 self; his debility in this state exposes him to the ridicule and 
 contempt of every person that sees him; he makes, in his 
 drunkenness, prejudicial and ruinous bargains, and injures his 
 fortune ; he makes use of opprobrious language, which creates 
 him enemies and repentance ; he fills his house with trouble 
 and sorrow, and ends by a premature death, or by a cacochymi- 
 cal old age. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature interdict absolutely the use of 
 wine ? 
 
 A. No ; it only forbids the abuse ; but as the transition from 
 the use to the abuse is easy and prompt among the generality 
 of men, perhaps the legislators, who have proscribed the use of 
 wine, have rendered a service to humanity. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature forbid the use of certain kinds of 
 meat, or of certain vegetables, on particular days, during certain 
 Reasons ? 
 
 A. No; it absolutely forbids only whatever is injurious to 
 health; its precepts, in this respect, vary according to persons, 
 and even constitute a very delicate and important science; for 
 Uie quality, the quantity, and the combination of aliments, hav» 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 201 
 
 the greatest influence, not only over the momentary affections 
 of the soul, but even over its habitual disposition. A man is 
 not the same fasting as after a meal, even if he were sober. A 
 glass of spirituous liquor, or a dish of coffee, gives degrees of vi- 
 vacity, of mobility, of disposition to anger, sadness, or gayety ; 
 such a meat, because it lies heavy on the stomach, engenders 
 moroseness and melancholy; such another, because it facilitates 
 digestion, creates sprightliness, and an inclination to oblige and 
 to love. The use of vegetables, because they have little nour- 
 ishment, enfeebles the body, and gives a disposition to repose, 
 indolence, and ease; the use of meat, because it is full of nour- 
 ishment, and of spirituous liquors, because they stimulate the 
 nerves, creates vivacity, uneasiness, and audacity. Now from 
 those habitudes of aliment result habits of constitution and of 
 the organs, which form afterward different kinds of tempera- 
 ments, each of which is distinguished by a peculiar character- 
 istic. And it is for this reason that, in hot countries especially, 
 legislators have made laws respecting regimen or food. The 
 ancients were taught by long experience that the dietetic sci- 
 ence constituted a considerable part of morality ; among the 
 Egyptians, the ancient Persians, and even among the Greeks, 
 at the Areopagus, important affairs were examined fasting ; and 
 it has been remarked that, among those people, where public 
 affairs were discussed during the heat of meals, and the fumes 
 of digestion, deliberations were hasty and violent, and the results 
 of them frequently unreasonable, and productive of turbulence 
 and confusion. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON CONTINENCE. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature prescribe continence ? 
 
 A. Yes ; because a moderate use of the most lively of pleas- 
 ures is not only useful, but indispensable to the support of strength 
 and health ; and because a simple calculation proves that, for 
 
j.4^2 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 some minutes of privation, you increase the number of youf 
 days, both in vigor of body and of mind. 
 
 Q. How does it forbid hbertinisra ? 
 
 A. By the numerous evils which result from it to the physi- 
 cal and the moral existence. He who carries it to an excess 
 enervates and pines away ; he can no longer attend to study or 
 labor ; he contracts idle and expensive habits, which destroy 
 his means of existence, his public consideration, and his credit * 
 his intrigues occasion continual embarrassment, cares, quar- 
 rels, and lawsuits, without mentioning the grievous deep- 
 rooted distempers, and the loss of his strength by an inward and 
 slow poison : the stupid dulness of his mind, by the exhaust- 
 ion of the nervous system ; and, in fine, a premature and infirm 
 old age. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature look on that absolute chastity so 
 recommended in monastical institutions as a virtue? 
 
 A. No ; for that chastity is of no use either to the society 
 that witnesses, or the individual who practises it ; it is even 
 prejudicial to both. 
 
 First, it injures society by depriving it of population, which 
 is one of its principal sources of wealth and power; and as 
 bachelors confine all their views and affections to the term of 
 their lives, they have, in general, an egotism unfavorable to the 
 interests of society. 
 
 In the second place, it injures the individuals who practise 
 it, because it deprives them of a number of affections and 
 relations which are the springs of most domestic and social 
 virtues ; and besides, it often happens, from circumstances of 
 age, regimen, or temperament, that absolute continence injures 
 the constitution, and causes severe diseases, because it is con- 
 trary to the physical laws on which nature has founded the 
 system of the reproduction of beings ; and they who recom- 
 mend so strongly chastity, even supposing them to be sincere, 
 are in contradiction with their own doctrine, which consecrates 
 the law of nature by the well-known commandment, " Increase 
 and multiply." 
 
 Q. Why is chastity considered a greater virtue in women 
 than in men ? 
 
 A. Because a want of chastity in women is attended with in- 
 conven'ences much more serious and dangerous for them and 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 203 
 
 for society ; for, without taking into account the pains and 
 diseases they have in common with the men, they are further 
 exposed to all the disadvantages and perils that precede, at- 
 tend, and follow child-birth. When pregnant contrary to law, 
 they become an object of public scandal and contempt, and 
 spend the remainder of their lives in bitterness and misery. 
 Moreover, the expense of maintaining ar.d educating their 
 fatherless children falls on them ; which expense impover- 
 ishes them, and is every way prejudicial to their physical and 
 moral existence. In this situation, deprived of the freshness 
 and health that constitute their charms, carrying wiih them an 
 extraneous and expensive burden, they are less prized by men, 
 they find no solid establishment, they fall into poverty, misery, 
 Hnd wretchedness, and thus drag on in sorrow their unhappy 
 existence. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature extend so far as the scruples of 
 desires and thoughts ? 
 
 A. Yes; because, in the physical laws of the human body, 
 thoughts and desires inflame the senses, and soon provoke to 
 action : now, by another law of nature in the organization of our 
 body those actions become mechanical wants, which recur at 
 certain periods of days or of weeks, so that at such a time the 
 want is renewed of such an action and such a secretion ; if this 
 action and this secretion be injurious to health, the habitude of 
 them becomes destructive of life itself. Thus thoughts and 
 desires have a true and natural importance. 
 
 Q. Should modesty be considered as a virtue ? 
 
 A. Yes ; because modesty, inasmuch as it is a shame of cer- 
 tain actions, maintains the soul and body in all those habits use- 
 ful to good order, and to self-preservation. The modest woman 
 is esteemed, courted, and established, with advantages of for- 
 tune which insure her existence, and render it agreeable to her, 
 while the immodest and prostitute are despised, repulsed, and 
 abandoned to misery and infamy. 
 
5JI« THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ON COURAGE AND ACTIVITY. 
 
 Q. Are courage and strength of body and mind virtues in the 
 aw of nature ? 
 
 A. Yes, and most important virtues ; for they are the effica- 
 cious and indispensable means of attending to our preserviition 
 and welfare. The courageous and strong man repulses oppres- 
 sion, defends his life, his liberty, and his property ; by his labor 
 he procures himself an abundant subsistence, which he enjoys 
 in tranquillity and peace of mind. If he falls into misfortunes, 
 from which his prudence could not protect him, he supports 
 them with fortitude and resignation ; and it is for this reason 
 that the ancient moralists have reckoned strength and courage 
 among the four principal virtues. 
 
 Q. Should weakness and cowardice be considered as vices ? 
 
 A. Yes, since it is certain that they produce innumerable ca- 
 lamities. The weak or cowardly man lives in perpetual cares 
 and agonies ; he undermines his health by the dread, oftentimes 
 ill founded, of attacks and dangers ; and this dread, which is an 
 evil, is not a remedy ; it renders him, on the contrary, the slave 
 of him who wishes to oppress him ; and by the servitude and 
 debasement of all his faculties, it degrades and diminishes his 
 means of existence, so far as the seeing his life depend on the 
 w^ill and caprice of another man. 
 
 Q. But, after what you have said on the influence of ali- 
 ments, are not courage and force, as well as many other virtues, 
 in a great measure the effect of our physical constitution and 
 temperament ? 
 
 A. Yes, it is true ; and so far, that those qualities are trans- 
 mitted by generation and blood, with the elements on which 
 they depend : the most reiterated and constant facts prove that, 
 in the breed of animals of every kind, we see certain physical 
 tnd moral qualities, attached to the individuals of those species. 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 205 
 
 increase and decay, according to the combinations and mixtures 
 they make with other breeds. 
 
 Q. But, then, as our will is not suffi-zient to procure us those 
 qualities, is it a crime to be destitute of them ? 
 
 A. No, it is not a crime, but a misfortune ; it is what the an- 
 cients call an unlucky fatality ; but even then we have it yet in 
 our power to acquire them ; for, as soon as we know on what 
 physical elemente such or such a quality is founded, we can 
 promote its growth, and accelerate its developments, by a skil- 
 ful management of those elements ; and in this consists the sci- 
 ence of education, which, according as it is directed, meliorates 
 or degrades individuals, or the whole race, to such a pitch, as 
 totally to change their nature and inclinations ; for which rea- 
 son it is of the greatest importance to be acquainted with the 
 laws of nature by which those operations and changes are cer- 
 tainly and necessarily effected. 
 
 Q. Why do you say that activity is a virtue according to the 
 law of nature ? 
 
 A. Because the man who works and employs his time use- 
 fully, derives from it a thousand precious advantages to his ex- 
 istence. If he is born poor, his labor furnishes him with sub- 
 sistence ; and still more so, if he is sober, continent, and pru- 
 dent, for he soon acquires a competency, and enjoys the sweets 
 of life : his very labor gives him virtues; for, while he occupies 
 his body and mind, he is not affected with unruly desires, time 
 does not li<e heavy on him, he contracts mild habits, he aug- 
 ments his strength and health, and attains a peaceful and happy 
 old age. 
 
 Q. Are idleness and sloth vices in the law of nature ? 
 
 A. Yes, and the most pernicious of all vices, for they lead to 
 all the others. By idleness and sloth man remains ignorant, he 
 forgets even the science he had acquired, and falls into all the 
 misfortunes which accompany ignorance and folly ; by idleness 
 and sloth man, devoured with disquietude, in order to dissipate 
 it, abandons himself to all the desires of his senses, which, be- 
 coming every day move inordinate, render him intemperate, 
 gluttonous, lascivious, enervated, cowardly, vile, and contempti- 
 ble. By the certain effect of all those vices, he ruins his fortune, 
 consumes his health, and terminates his life in all the agonies 
 
 of sickness and of poverty. 
 
 18 
 
206 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 Q. From what you say, one would think that poverty was a 
 vice ? 
 
 A. No, it is not a vice ; but it is still less a virtue, for it is by 
 far more ready to injure than to be useful ; it is even commonly 
 the result, or the beginning of vice, for the effect of all individ- 
 nal vices is to lead to indigence, and to the privation of the ne- 
 cessaries of life ; and when a man is in want of necessaries, he 
 is tempted to procure them by vicious means, that is to say, by 
 means injurious to society. All the individual virtues tend, on 
 the contrary, to procure to a man an abundant subsistence ; 
 and when he has more than he can consume, it is much easier 
 for him to give to others, and to practise the actions useful to 
 society. 
 
 Q. Do you look upon opulence as a virtue ? 
 
 A. No ; but still less as a vice : it is the use alone of wealth 
 that can be called virtuous or vicious, according as it is service- 
 able or prejudicial to man and to society. Wealth is an instru- 
 ment the use and employment alone of which determine its 
 virtue or vice. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ON CLEANLINESS. 
 
 Q. "Why is cleanliness included among the virtues ? 
 
 A. Because it is, in reality, one ot the most important among 
 them, on account of its powerful influence over the health and 
 preservation of the body. Cleanliness, as well in dress as in 
 residence, obviates the pernicious effects of the humidity, bane- 
 ful odors, and contagious exhalations, proceeding from all things 
 abandoned to putrefaction: cleanliness maintains free transpira- 
 tion ; it renews the air, refreshes the blood, and disposes even 
 the mind to cheerfulness. 
 
 From this, it appears that persons attentive to the cleanliness 
 of their bodies and habitations are, in general, more healthy, 
 and less subject to disease, than those who live in filth and nasti- 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 207 
 
 ness ; and it is further remarked, that cleanliness carries with 
 it, throughout all the branches of domestic administration, hab- 
 its of order and arrangement, which are the chief means and 
 first elements of happiness. 
 
 Q. Uncleanliness or filthiness is, therefore, a real vice ? 
 
 A. Yee, as real a one as drunkenness, or as idleness, from 
 which in a great measure it is derived. Uncleanliness is the 
 second, and often the first, cause of many inconveniences, and 
 even of grievous disorders ; it is a fact, in medicine, that it brings 
 on the itch, the scurf, tetters, and leprosies, as much as the use 
 of tainted or sour aliments; that it favors the contagious influ- 
 ence of the plague and malignant fevers, that it even produces 
 them in hospitals and prisons; that it occasions rheumatisms, 
 by incrusting the skin with dirt, and thereby preventing trans- 
 piration ; without reckoning the shameful inconvenience of be- 
 ing devoured by vermin, the foul appendage of misery and de- 
 pravity. 
 
 Most ancieot legislators, therefore, considered cleanliness, 
 which they called purity, as one of the essential dogmas of their 
 religions: it was for this reason that they expelled from society, 
 and even punished corporeally those who were infected with 
 distempers produced by uncleanliness ; that they instituted and 
 consecrated ceremonies of ablutions, baths, baptisms, and of 
 purifications, even by fire and the aromatic fumes of incense, 
 myrrh, benjamin, etc.; so that the entire system of pollutions, 
 all those rites of clean and unclean things, degenerated since 
 into abuses and prejudices, were only founded originally on the 
 judicious observation, which wise and learned men had made, 
 of the extreme influence that cleanliness in dress and abode ex- 
 ercises over the health of the body, and by an immediate con- 
 sequence over that of the mind and moral faculties. 
 
 Thus all the individual virtues have for their object, more or 
 less direct, more or less near, the preservation of the man who 
 practises them ; and by the preservation of each man, they leaa 
 to that of families and society, which are composed of the uni- 
 ted sum of individuals. 
 
208 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ON DOMESTIC VIRTUES. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by domestic virtues ? 
 
 A. I mean the practice of actions useful to a family, supposei! 
 to live in the same house.* 
 
 Q. What are those virtues ? 
 
 A. They are economy, paternal love, conjugal love, filial love, 
 fraternal love, and the accomplishment of the duties of master 
 and servant. 
 
 Q. What is economy ? 
 
 A. It is, according to the most extensive meaning of the word, 
 the proper administration of everything that concerns the exist- 
 ence of the family or house ; and as subsistence holds the first 
 rank, the word economy is confined to the employment of money 
 for the first wants of life. 
 
 Q. Why is economy a virtue ? 
 
 A. Because the man who makes no useless expenses acquires 
 a superabundancy, which is true wealth, and by means of which 
 he procures for himself and his family everything that is really 
 convenient and useful ; without mentioning his securing thereby 
 resources against accidental and unforeseen losses, so that he 
 and his family enjoy an agreeable and undisturbed competency, 
 which is the basis of human felicity. 
 
 Q. Dissipation and prodigality, therefore, are vices ? 
 
 A. Yes ; for by them man, in the end, is deprived of the ne- 
 cessaries of life ; he falls into poverty and wretchedness ; and 
 his very friends, fearing to be obliged to restore to him what he 
 has spent with or for them, avoid him as a debtor does his cred- 
 itor, and he remains abandoned by the whole world. 
 
 Q. What is paternal love ? 
 
 A. It is the assiduous care taken by parents to make theii 
 
 ♦ Domestic is derived from the Latin word domus, a house 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 20S 
 
 children contract the habit of every action useful to themselves 
 and to society. 
 
 Q. Why is paternal tenderness a virtue in parents ? 
 A. Because parents, who rear their children in those habits, 
 procure for themselves, during the course of their lives, enjoy- 
 ments and helps that give a sensible satisfaction at every instant, 
 and which assure to them, when advanced in years, supports 
 and consolations against the wants and calamities of all kinds 
 with which old age is beset 
 
 Q. Is paternal love a common virtue ? 
 
 A. No: notwithstanding the ostentation made of it by pa- 
 rents, it is a rare virtue ; they do not love their children, they 
 caress and spoil them ; in them they love only the agents of 
 their will, the instruments of their power, the trophies of their 
 vanity, the pastime of their idleness: it is not so much the wel- 
 fare of their children that they propose to themselves, as their 
 submission and obedience ; and if among children so many are 
 seen ungrateful for benefits received, it is because there are among 
 parents as many despotic and ignorant benefactors. 
 Q. Why do you say that conjugal love is a virtue ? 
 A. Because the concord and union resulting from the love of 
 the married, establish in the heart of the family a multitude of 
 habits useful to its prosperity and preservation. The united 
 pair are attached to, and seldom quit their home ; they super- 
 intend each particular direction of it; they attend to the educa- 
 tion of their children ; they maintain the respect and fidelity of 
 domestics; they prevent all disorder and dissipation; and from 
 the whole of their good conduct, they live in ease and consid- 
 etation ; while married persons, who do not love one another, 
 fill their house with quarrels and troubles, create dissension be- 
 tween their children and the servants, leaving both indiscrimi- 
 nately to all kinds of vicious habits ; every one in turn spoils, 
 robs, and plunders the house : the revenues are absorbed with- 
 out profit; debts accumulate; the married pair avoid each other, 
 or contend in lawsuits; and the whole family falls into disorder, 
 ruin, disgrace, and want. 
 
 Q. Is adultery an offence in the law of nature? 
 ^ A. Yes ; for it is attended with a number of habits inju* 
 rious to the married, and to their families. The wife or hus- 
 
 18* 
 
210 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 band, whose affections are estranged, neglect their house, avoid 
 it, and deprive it, as much as they can, of its revenues, or in- 
 come, to expend them with the object of their affections; hence 
 arise quarrels, scandal, lawsuits, the neglect of their children 
 and servants, and at last the plundering and ruin of the whole 
 family; without reckoning that the adulterous woman com- 
 mits a most grievous theft, in giving to her husband heirs of 
 foreign blood, who deprive his real children of their legitimate 
 portion. 
 
 Q. What is filial love ? 
 
 A. It is, on the side of children, the practice of those actions 
 useful to themselves and to their parents. 
 
 Q. How does the law of nature prescribe filial love? 
 
 A. By three principal motives : — 
 
 1. By sentiment; for the affectionate care of parents inspires, 
 from the most tender age, mild habits of attachment ; 
 
 2. By justice ; for children owe to their parents a return and 
 indemnity for the cares, and even for the. expenses, they have 
 caused them. 
 
 3. By personal interest ; for, if they use them ill, they give 
 to their own children examples of revolt and ingratitude, which 
 authorize them, at a future day, to behave to themselves in a 
 similar manner. 
 
 Q. Are we to understand by filial love a passive and blind sub- 
 mission? 
 
 A. No ; but a reasonable submission, founded on the knowl- 
 edge of the mutual rights and duties of parents and children ; 
 rights and duties, without the observance of which their mutual 
 conduct is nothing but disorder. 
 
 Q. Why is fraternal love a virtue ? 
 
 A. Because the concord and union, which result from the 
 love of brothers, establish the strength, security, and conserva- 
 tion of the family : brothers united defend themselves against 
 all oppression, they aid one another in their wants, they help 
 one another in their misfortunes, and thus secure their com- 
 mon existence ; while brothers disunited, abandoned each to 
 his own personal strength, fall into all the inconveniences 
 attendant on an insulated state and individual weakness. This 
 « what a certain Scythian king ingeniously expressed when, 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 211 
 
 on his death-bed, caHing his children to him, he ordered 
 them to break a bundle of arrows ; the young men, though 
 strong, being unable to effect it, he took them in his turn, and 
 untying them, broke each of the arrows separately with his 
 fingers. "Behold," said he, " the effects of union; united to- 
 gether, you will be invincible; taken separately, you will be 
 broken like reeds. 
 
 Q. What are the reciprocal duties of masters and of ser- 
 ▼ants ? 
 
 A. They consist in the practice of the actions which are 
 respectively and justly useful to them; and here begin the 
 relations of society; for the rule and measure of those re- 
 spective actions is the equilibrium or equality between the 
 service and the recompense, between what the one returns 
 and the other gives ; which is the fundamental basis of all so . 
 ciety. 
 
 Thus all the domestic and individual virtues refer, more or 
 less mediately, but always with certitude, to the physical object 
 of the amelioration and preservation of man, and are thereby 
 precepts resulting from the fundamental law of nature in his 
 formation. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SOCIAL VIRTUES ; JUSTICE. 
 
 Q. What is society ? 
 
 A. It is every reunion of men living together under the clauses 
 of an expressed or tacit contract, which has for its end their com- 
 mon preservation. 
 
 Q. Are the social virtues numerous ? 
 
 A. Yes ; they are in as great number as the kinds of ac- 
 tions useful to society ; but all may be reduced to one only 
 principle. 
 
212 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 Q. What is that fundamental principle ? 
 
 A. It is justice, which alone comprises all the virtues of 
 society. 
 
 Q. Why do you say that justice is the fundamental and al- 
 most only virtue of society 1 
 
 A. Because it alone embraces the practice of all the actions 
 useful to it ; and because all the other virtues, under the denom- 
 inations of charity, humanity, probity, love of one's country, 
 sincerity, generosity, simplicity of manners, and modesty, are 
 only varied forms and diversified applications of the axiom, "Do 
 not to another what you would not wish to be done to your- 
 self," which is the definition of justice. 
 
 Q. How does the law of nature prescribe justice? 
 
 A. By three physical attributes, inherent in the organization 
 of man. 
 
 Q. What are those attributes ? 
 
 A. They are equality, liberty, and property. 
 
 Q. How is equality a physical attribute of man ? 
 
 A. Because all men, having equally eyes, hands, moutns 
 ears, and the necessity of making use of them, in order to 
 live, have, by this reason alone, an equal right to life, and to 
 the use of the aliments which maintain it ; they are all equal 
 before God. 
 
 Q. Do you suppose that all men hear equally, see equally, 
 feel equally, have equal wants, and equal passions ? 
 
 A. No ; for it is evident, and daily demonstrated, that one 
 is short, and another long-sighted ; that one eats much, an- 
 other little ; that one has mild, another violent passions ; in a 
 word, that one is weak in body and mind, while another is 
 strong in both. 
 
 Q. They are, therefore, really unequal ? 
 
 A. Yes, in the development of their means, but not in the 
 nature and essence of those means ; they are made of the same 
 stuff, but not in the same dimensions; nor are the weight and 
 value equal. Our language possesses no one word capable of 
 expressing the identity of nature, and the diversity of its form 
 and employment. It is a proportional equality ; and it is fol 
 this reason I have said, equal before God, and in the order of 
 Duture. 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 213 
 
 Q. How is liberty a physical attribute of man? 
 
 A. Because all men having senses sufficient for their preser- 
 vation — no one wanting the eye of another to see, his ear to 
 hear, his mouth to eat, his feet to walk — they are all, by this 
 very reason, constituted naturally independent and free; no man 
 is necessarily subjected to another, nor has he a right to domi- 
 neer over him. 
 
 Q, But if a man is born strong, has he not a natural right to 
 master the weak man ? 
 
 A. No ; for it is neither a necessity for him, nor a convention 
 between them ; it is an abusive extension of his strength ; and 
 here an abuse is made of the word right, which in its true mean- 
 ing implies justice, or reciprocal faculty. 
 
 Q. How is property a physical attribute of man? 
 
 A. Inasmuch as all men being constituted equal or similar to 
 one another, and consequently independent and free, each is the 
 absolute master, the full proprietor of his body, and of the prod- 
 uce of his labor. 
 
 Q. How is justice derived from these three attributes ? 
 
 A. In this, that men being equal and free, owing nothing to 
 each other, have no right to require anything from one another, 
 only inasmuch as they return an equal value for it, or inasmuch 
 as the balance of what is given is in equilibrium with what is 
 returned ; and it is this equality, this equilibrium, which is called 
 justice, equity;* that is to say, that equality and justice are but 
 one and the same word, the same law of nature, of which the 
 social virtues are only applications and derivatives. 
 
 • ^quitas, cEquilihriunif aqualitaSf are all of the same family. 
 
gl4 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL VIRTUES. 
 
 Q. Explain how the social virtues are derived from the law 
 of nature. How is charity or the love of one's neighbor a pre- 
 cept and application of it ? 
 
 A. By reason of equality and reciprocity; for, when we in- 
 jure another, we give him a right to injure us in return : thus, 
 by attacking the existence of our neighbor, v^^e endanger our 
 own, from the effect of reciprocity ; on the other hand, by doing 
 good to others, we have room and right to expect an equivalen 
 exchange ; and such is the character of all the social virtues, 
 that they are useful to the man who practises them, by the right 
 of reciprocity which they give him over those who have benefited 
 by them. 
 
 Q. Charity is then nothing but justice ? 
 
 A. No, it is only justice; with this slight difference, that 
 strict justice confines itself to saying, Do not to another the 
 harm you would not wish he should do to you ; and that chari- 
 ty, or the love of one's neighbor, extends so far as to say, Do to 
 another the good which you would wish to receive from him. 
 Thus, when the Gospel said that this precept contained the 
 whole of the law and the prophets, it announced nothing more 
 than the precept of the law of nature. 
 
 Q. Does it enjoin forgiveness of injuries ? 
 
 A. Yes, inasmuch as that forgiveness is consistent with self- 
 preservation. 
 
 Q. Does it prescribe to us, after having received a blow on 
 one cheek, to hold out the other ? 
 
 A. No ; for it is, in the first place, contrary to the precept of 
 loving our neighbors as ourselves, since thereby we should 
 love, more than ourselves, him who makes an attack on our 
 preservation. Secondly, such a precept, in its literal sense, en- 
 courages the wicked to oppression and injustice : the law of 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 215 
 
 nature has been more wise in prescribing a calculated propor- 
 tion of courage and moderation, which induces us to forget a 
 first or unpremeditated injury, but which punishes every act 
 tending to oppression. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature prescribe to do good to others be- 
 yond the bounds of reason and measure ? 
 
 A. No ; for it is a sure way of leading them to ingratitude. 
 Such is the force of sentiment and injustice implanted in the 
 heart of man, that he is not even grateful for benefits conferred 
 without discretion. There is one only measure with them, and 
 that is to be just. 
 
 Q. Is almsgiving a virtuous action ? 
 
 A. Yes, when it is practised according to the rule first men- 
 tioned; without which it degenerates into imprudence and vice, 
 inasmuch as it encourages laziness, which is hurtful to the beg- 
 gar and to society; no one has a right to partake of the property 
 and fruits of another's labor, without rendering an equivalent 
 of his own industry. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature consider as virtues faith and hope, 
 which are often joined with charity? 
 
 A. No; for they are ideas without reality ; and if any effects 
 result from them, they turn rather to the profit of those who 
 have not those ideas, than of those who have them ; so that faith 
 and hope may be called the virtues of dupes for the benefit of 
 knaves. » 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature prescribe probity? 
 
 A. Yes ; for probity is nothing more than respect for one's 
 own rights in those of another ; a respect founded on a prudent 
 and well-combined calculation of our interests compared to those 
 of others. 
 
 Q. But does not this calculation, which embraces the com- 
 phcated interests and rights of the social state, require an en- 
 lightened understanding and knowledge, which make it a diffi- 
 cult science? 
 
 A. Yes, and a science so much the more delicate as the hon- 
 est man prono mces in his own cause. 
 
 Q. Probity, therefore, is a sign of extension and justice in 
 he mind ? 
 
 A. Yes ; for an honest man almost always neglects a present 
 
216 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 interest, in order not to destroy a future one ; whereas the knave 
 joes the contrary, and loses a great future interest for a present 
 smaller one. 
 
 Q. Improbity, therefore, is a sign of false judgment and a nar- 
 row mind ? 
 
 A. Yes ; and rogues may be defined ignorant and silly calcu- 
 lators; for they do not understand their true interest, and they 
 pretend to cunning : nevertheless, their cunning only ends in 
 making known what they are — in losing all confidence and es- 
 teem, and the good services resulting from them for their phys- 
 ical and social existence. They neither live in peace with oth- 
 ers, nor with themselves; and incessantly menaced by their 
 conscience and their enemies, they enjoy no other real happi- 
 ness but that of not being hanged. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature forbid robbery ? 
 
 A. Yes; for the man who robs another gives him a right to 
 rob him; from that moment there is no security in his property, 
 nor in his means of preservation: thus, in injuring others, he, 
 by a counterblow, injures himself. 
 
 Q. Does it interdict even an inclination to rob? 
 
 A. Yes; for that inclination leads naturally to action; and it 
 is for this reason that envy is considered a sin. 
 
 Q. How does it forbid murder ? 
 
 A. By the most powerful motives of self-preservation f for, 
 first, the man who attacks exposes himself to the risk of being 
 killed, by the right of defence ; secondly, if he kills, he gives to 
 the relations and friends of the deceased, and to society at large. 
 an equal right of killing him ; so that his life is no longer in 
 safety. 
 
 Q. How can we, by the law of nature, repair the evil we have 
 done? 
 
 A. By rendering a proportionate good to those whom we 
 have injured? 
 
 Q. Does it allow us to repair it by prayers, vows, offerings to 
 God, fasting, and mortifications ? 
 
 A. No ; for all those things are foreign to the action we wish 
 to repair ; they neither restore the ox to him from whom it has 
 been stolen, honor to him whom we have deprived of it, nor life 
 to him from whom it has been taken away ; consequently they 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 217 
 
 miss the end of justice; tliey are only perverse contracts, by 
 which a man sells to another goods which do not belong to 
 him ; they are a real depravation of morality, inasmuch as they 
 embolden to commit crimes, through the hope of expiating 
 them ; wherefore they have been the real cause of all the evils 
 by which the people, among whom those expiatory practices 
 were used, have been continually tormented. 
 
 Q. Does the law of nature order sincerity ? 
 
 A. Yes ; for lying, perfidy, and perjuiy, create distrust, quar- 
 rels, hatred, revenge, and a crowd of evils among men, which 
 tend to their common destruction ; while sincerity and fidelity 
 establish con^aence, concord, and peace, besides the infin'te 
 good resulting !>nm such a state of things to society. 
 
 Q. Does it prescribe mildness and modesty ? 
 
 A. Yes ; for harshness and obduracy, by alienating from us 
 the hearts of other men, give them an inclination to hurt us ; 
 ostentation and vanity, by wounding their self-love and jealousy 
 occasion us to miss the end of a real utility. 
 
 Q. Does it prescribe humility as a virtue ? 
 
 A. No; for it is a propensity in the human heart to despise 
 secretly everything that presents to it the idea of weakness; and 
 self debasement encourages pride and oppression in others; the 
 balance must be kept in equipoise. 
 
 Q. You have reckoned simplicity of manners among the so- 
 cial virtues ; what do you understand by that word ? 
 
 A. I mean the restricting our wants and desires to what is 
 truly useful to the existence of the citizen and his family ; that 
 is to say, the man of simple manners has but few wants, and 
 lives content with a little. 
 
 Q. How is this virtue prescribed to us ? 
 
 A. By the numerous advantages which the practice of it pro 
 cures to the individual and to society; for the man whose vr^nts 
 are few, is free at once from a crowd of cares, perplexities, and 
 labors; he avoids many quarrels and contests arising from avid- 
 ity and a desire of gain ; he spares himself the anxiety of ambi- 
 tion, the inquietudes of possession, and the uneasiness of losses; 
 findmg superfluity everywhere, he is the real rich man; always 
 content with what he has, he is happy at little expense ; and 
 other men, not fearing any competition from him, leave him in 
 
 19 
 
218 THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 quiet, and are disposed to render him the services he should 
 stand in need of. 
 
 And if this virtue of simphcity extends to a whole people, 
 they insure to themselves abundance ; rich in everything they 
 do not consume, they acquire immense means of exchange and 
 commerce ; they work, fabricate, and sell at a lower price than 
 others, and attain to all kinds of prosperity, both at home and 
 abroad. 
 
 Q. What is the vice contrary to this virtue ? 
 
 -4. It is cupidity and luxury. 
 
 Q. Is luxury a vice in the individual and in society ? 
 
 A. Yes ; and to that degree that it may be said to include all 
 the others ; for the man who stands in need of many things, 
 imposes thereby on himself all the anxiety, and submits to all 
 the means, just or unjust, of acquiring them. Does he possess 
 an-enjoyment, he covets another; and in the bosom of super- 
 fluity, he is never rich; a commodious dwelling is not sufficient 
 for him, he must have a beautiful hotel; not content with a 
 plenteous table, he must have rare and costly viands; he must 
 have splendid furniture, expensive clothes, a train of attendants, 
 horses, carriages, women, theatrical representations, and games. 
 Now, to supply so many expenses, much money must be had ; 
 and he looks on every method of procuring it as good and even 
 necessary : at first he borrows, afterward he steals, robs, plun- 
 ders, turns bankrupt, is at war with every one, ruins, and is ruined. 
 
 Should a nation be involved in luxury, it occasions on a larger 
 scale the same devastations ; by reason that it consumes its en- 
 tire produce, it finds itself poor even with abundance ; it has 
 nothing to sell to foreigners ; its manufactures are carried on at 
 a great expense, and are sold too dear ; it becomes tributary for 
 eveiything it imports ; it attacks externally its consideration, 
 power, strength, and means of defence and preservation ; while 
 internally it undermines and falls into the dissolution of its mem- 
 bers. All its citizens being covetous of enjoyments, are en- 
 gaged in a perpetual struggle to obtain them ; all injure, or are 
 near injuring themselves : and hence arise those habits and ac- 
 tions of usurparion, which constitute what is denominated 
 moral corruption, intestine war between citizen and citizen. 
 From luxury ariscv'; avidity, from avidity, invasion by violence 
 
THE LAW OF NATURE. 219 
 
 and perfidy ; from luxury arises the iniquity of the judge, the 
 venality of the witness, the improbity of the husband, the pros 
 titution of the wife, the obduracy of parents, the ingratitude of 
 children, the avarice of the master, the dishonesty of the ser 
 vant, the dilapidation of the administrator, the perversity of the 
 legislator, lying, perfidy, perjuiy, assassination, and all the dis- 
 orders of the social state ; so that it was with a profound sense 
 of truth, that ancient moralists have laid the basis of the social 
 virtues on simplicity of manners, restriction of wants, and con 
 tentment with a little ; and a sure way of knowing the extent 
 of a man's virtues and vices is, to find out if his expenses are 
 proportionate to his fortune, and calculate, from his want of 
 money, his probity, his integrity in fulfilling his engagements, 
 his devotion to the public weal, and his sincere or pretended love 
 of his country. 
 
 Q. What do you mean by the word country? 
 
 A. I mean the community of citizens who, united by frater- 
 nal sentiments, and reciprocal wants, make of their respective 
 strength one common force, the reaction of which on each of 
 them assumes the preservative and beneficent character of pa- 
 ternity. In society, citizens form a bank of interest ; in our 
 country we form a family of endearing attachments ; it is char- 
 ity, the love of one's neighbor extended to a whole nation. Now, 
 as charity can not be separated fro.m justice, no member of the 
 family can pretend to the enjoyment of its advantages, except 
 in proportion to his labor; if he consumes more than it produ- 
 ces, he necessarily encroaches on his fellow-citizens ; and it is 
 only by consuming less than what he produces or possesses, 
 that he can acquire the means of making sacrifices and being 
 generous. 
 
 Q. What do you conclude from all this? 
 
 A. I conclude from it, that all the social virtues are only the 
 habitude of actions useful to society and to the individual who 
 practises them ; 
 
 That they all refer to the physical object of man's preserva- 
 tion ; 
 
 That nature having implanted in us the want of that preser- 
 vation, has made a law to us of all its consequences, and a crime 
 of everything that deviates from it ; 
 
o^O THE LAW OF NATURE. 
 
 That we carry in us the seed of every virtue, and of every 
 perfection ; 
 
 That It only requires to be developed ; 
 
 Tl)at we are only happy inasmuch as we observe the rules 
 established by nature for the end of our preservation ; 
 
 And that all wisdom, all perfection, all law, all virtue, all phi- 
 losophy, consist in the practice of these axioms founded on our 
 own organization : — 
 
 Preserve thyself; 
 Instruct thyself; 
 Moderate thyself; 
 Live for thy fellow-citizens, that they may live for thee 
 
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