Hence it follows that the laws of China are not destroyed by conquest. Their customs,
manners, laws, and religion being the same thing, they cannot change all
these at once; and as it will happen that either the conqueror or the
conquered must change, in China it has always been the conqueror. For
the manners of the conquering nation not being their customs, nor their
customs their laws, nor their laws their religion, it has been more easy
for them to conform by degrees to the vanquished people than the latter
to them.
There still follows hence a very unhappy consequence, which is that
it is almost impossible for Christianity ever to be established in
China.
[20]
The vows of virginity, the assembling of women in churches,
their necessary communication with the ministers of religion, their
participation in the sacraments, auricular confession, extreme unction,
the marriage of only one wife — all these overturn the manners and
customs of the country, and with the same blow strike at their religion
and laws.
The Christian religion, by the establishment of charity, by a public
worship, by a participation of the same sacraments, seems to demand that
all should be united; while the rites of China seem to ordain that all
should be separated.
And as we have seen that this separation
[21]
depends, in general, on
the spirit of despotism, this will show us the reason why monarchies,
and indeed all moderate governments, are more consistent with the
Christian religion.
[22]
