Book XXIV.
Of Laws in relation to Religion Considered in Itself, and
in its Doctrines.
24.1. 1. Of Religion in General.
As amidst several degrees of darkness we
may form a judgment of those which are the least thick, and among
precipices which are the least deep, so we may search among false
religions for those that are most conformable to the welfare of society;
for those which, though they have not the effect of leading men to the
felicity of another life, may contribute most to their happiness in
this.
I shall examine, therefore, the several religions of the world, in
relation only to the good they produce in civil society, whether I speak
of that which has its root in heaven, or of those which spring from the
earth.
As in this work I am not a divine but a political writer, I may here
advance things which are not otherwise true than as they correspond with
a worldly manner of thinking, not as considered in their relation to
truths of a more sublime nature.
With regard to the true religion, a person of the least degree of
impartiality must see that I have never pretended to make its interests
submit to those of a political nature, but rather to unite them; now, in
order to unite, it is necessary that we should know them.
The Christian religion, which ordains that men should love each
other, would, without doubt, have every nation blest with the best
civil, the best political laws; because these, next to this religion,
are the greatest good that men can give and receive.
24.2. 2. A Paradox of M. Bayle's.
M. Bayle has pretended to prove
[1]
that it is better to be an Atheist than an Idolater; that is, in other words,
that it is less dangerous to have no religion at all than a bad one. "I
had rather," said he, "it should be said of me that I had no existence
than that I am a villain." This is only a sophism founded on this, that
it is of no importance to the human race to believe that a certain man
exists, whereas it is extremely useful for them to believe the existence
of a God. From the idea of his non-existence immediately follows that of
our independence; or, if we cannot conceive this idea, that of
disobedience. To say that religion is not a restraining motive, because
it does not always restrain, is equally absurd as to say that the civil
laws are not a restraining motive. It is a false way of reasoning
against religion to collect, in a large work, a long detail of the evils
it has produced if we do not give at the same time an enumeration of the
advantages which have flowed from it. Were I to relate all the evils
that have arisen in the world from civil laws, from monarchy, and from
republican government, I might tell of frightful things. Were it of no
advantage for subjects to have religion, it would still be of some, if
princes had it, and if they whitened with foam the only rein which can
restrain those who fear not human laws.
A prince who loves and fears religion is a lion, who stoops to the
hand that strokes, or to the voice that appeases him. He who fears and
hates religion is like the savage beast that growls and bites the chain
which prevents his flying on the passenger. He who has no religion at
all is that terrible animal who perceives his liberty only when he tears
in pieces and when he devours.
The question is not to know whether it would be better that a
certain man or a certain people had no religion than to abuse what they
have, but to know what is the least evil, that religion be sometimes
abused, or that there be no such restraint as religion on mankind.
To diminish the horror of Atheism, they lay too much to the charge
of idolatry. It is far from being true that when the ancients raised
altars to a particular vice, they intended to show that they loved the
vice; this signified, on the contrary, that they hated it. When the
Lacedmonians erected a temple to Fear, it was not to show that this
warlike nation desired that he would in the midst of battle possess the
hearts of the Lacedmonians. They had deities to whom they prayed not to
inspire them with guilt; and others whom they besought to shield them
from it.
Footnotes
[1]
"Thoughts on the Comet, Continuation of Thoughts on the Comet," ii.
24.3. 3. That a moderate Government is most agreeable to the Christian
Religion, and a despotic Government to the Mahometan.
The Christian
religion is a stranger to mere despotic power. The mildness so
frequently recommended in the Gospel is incompatible with the despotic
rage with which a prince punishes his subjects, and exercises himself in
cruelty.
As this religion forbids the plurality of wives, its princes are
less confined, less concealed from their subjects, and consequently have
more humanity: they are more disposed to be directed by laws, and more
capable of perceiving that they cannot do whatever they please.
While the Mahometan princes incessantly give or receive death, the
religion of the Christians renders their princes less timid, and
consequently less cruel. The prince confides in his subjects, and the
subjects in the prince. How admirable the religion which, while it only
seems to have in view the felicity of the other life, continues the
happiness of this!
It is the Christian religion that, in spite of the extent of the
empire and the influence of the climate, has hindered despotic power
from being established in Ethiopia, and has carried into the heart of
Africa the manners and laws of Europe.
The heir to the empire of Ethiopia
[2]
enjoys a principality and
gives to other subjects an example of love and obedience. Not far thence
may we see the Mahometan shutting up the children of the King of Sennar,
at whose death the council sends to murder them, in favour of the prince
who mounts the throne.
Let us set before our eyes, on the one hand, the continual massacres
of the kings and generals of the Greeks and Romans, and, on the other,
the destruction of people and cities by those famous conquerors Timur
Beg and Jenghiz Khan, who ravaged Asia, and we shall see that we owe to
Christianity, in government, a certain political law; and in war, a
certain law of nations — benefits which human nature can never
sufficiently acknowledge.
It is owing to this law of nations that among us victory leaves
these great advantages to the conquered, life, liberty, laws, wealth,
and always religion, when the conqueror is not blind to his own
interest.
We may truly say that the people of Europe are not at present more
disunited than the people and the armies, or even the armies among
themselves were, under the Roman empire when it had become a despotic
and military government. On the one hand, the armies engaged in war
against each other, and, on the other, they pillaged the cities, and
divided or confiscated the lands.
Footnotes
[2]
"Description of Ethiopia," by M. Ponce, Physician. "Edifying
Letters," coll. iv, p. 290.
24.4. 4. Consequences from the Character of the Christian Religion, and
that of the Mahometan.
From the characters of the Christian and
Mahometan religions, we ought, without any further examination, to
embrace the one and reject the other: for it is much easier to prove
that religion ought to humanise the manners of men than that any
particular religion is true.
It is a misfortune to human nature when religion is given by a
conqueror. The Mahometan religion, which speaks only by the sword, acts
still upon men with that destructive spirit with which it was founded.
The history of Sabbaco,
[3]
one of the pastoral kings of Egypt, is
very extraordinary. The tutelar god of Thebes, appearing to him in a
dream, ordered him to put to death all the priests of Egypt. He judged
that the gods were displeased at his being on the throne, since they
commanded him to commit an action contrary to their ordinary pleasure;
and therefore he retired into Ethiopia.
Footnotes
[3]
See Diodorus, lib. i, 18.
24.5. 5. That the Catholic Religion is most agreeable to a Monarchy, and
the Protestant to a Republic.
When a religion is introduced and fixed in
a state, it is commonly such as is most suitable to the plan of
government there established; for those who receive it, and those who
are the cause of its being received, have scarcely any other idea of
policy than that of the state in which they were born.
When the Christian religion, two centuries ago, became unhappily
divided into Catholic and Protestant, the people of the north embraced
the Protestant, and those of the south adhered still to the Catholic.
The reason is plain: the people of the north have, and will for ever
have, a spirit of liberty and independence, which the people of the
south have not; and therefore a religion which has no visible head is
more agreeable to the independence of the climate than that which has
one.
In the countries themselves where the Protestant religion became
established, the revolutions were made pursuant to the several plans of
political government. Luther having great princes on his side would
never have been able to make them relish an ecclesiastical authority
that had no exterior pre-eminence; while Calvin, having to do with
people who lived under republican governments, or with obscure citizens
in monarchies, might very well avoid establishing dignities and
preferments.
Each of these two religions was believed to be perfect; the
Calvinist judging his most conformable to what Christ had said, and the
Lutheran to what the Apostles had practised.
24.6. 6. Another of M. Bayle's Paradoxes.
M. Bayle, after having abused
all religions, endeavours to sully Christianity: he boldly asserts that
true Christians cannot form a government of any duration. Why not?
Citizens of this profession being infinitely enlightened with respect to
the various duties of life, and having the warmest zeal to fulfil them,
must be perfectly sensible of the rights of natural defence. The more
they believe themselves indebted to religion, the more they would think
due to their country. The principles of Christianity, deeply engraved on
the heart, would be infinitely more powerful than the false honour of
monarchies, than the humane virtues of republics, or the servile fear of
despotic states.
It is astonishing that this great man should not be able to
distinguish between the orders for the establishment of Christianity and
Christianity itself; and that he should be liable to be charged with not
knowing the spirit of his own religion. When the legislator, instead of
laws, has given counsels, this is because he knew that if these counsels
were ordained as laws they would be contrary to the spirit of the laws
themselves.
24.7. 7. Of the Laws of Perfection in Religion.
Human laws, made to direct
the will, ought to give precepts, and not counsels; religion, made to
influence the heart, should give many counsels, and few precepts.
When, for instance, it gives rules, not for what is good, but for
what is better; not to direct to what is right, but to what is perfect,
it is expedient that these should be counsels, and not laws: for
perfection can have no relation to the universality of men or things.
Besides, if these were laws, there would be a necessity for an infinite
number of others, to make people observe the first. Celibacy was advised
by Christianity; when they made it a law in respect to a certain order
of men, it became necessary to make new ones every day, in order to
oblige those men to observe it.
[4]
The legislator wearied himself, and
he wearied society, to make men execute by precept what those who love
perfection would have executed as counsel.
Footnotes
[4]
Dupin, "Ecclesiastical Library of the Sixth Century," vol. v.
24.8. 8. Of the Connection between the moral Laws and those of Religion.
In a country so unfortunate as to have a religion that God has not
revealed, it is necessary for it to be agreeable to morality; because
even a false religion is the best security we can have of the probity of
men.
The principal points of religion of the inhabitants of Pegu
[5]
are,
not to commit murder, not to steal, to avoid uncleanliness, not to give
the least uneasiness to their neighbour, but to do him, on the contrary,
all the good in their power. With these rules they think they should be
saved in any religion whatsoever. Hence it proceeds that those people,
though poor and proud, behave with gentleness and compassion to the
unhappy.
Footnotes
[5]
"Collection of Voyages that Contributed to the Establishment of
the East India Company," vol. iii, part I, p. 63.
24.9. 9. Of the Essenes.
The Essenes
[6]
made a vow to observe justice to
mankind, to do no ill to any person, upon whatsoever account, to keep
faith with all the world, to hate injustice, to command with modesty,
always to side with truth, and to fly from all unlawful gain.
Footnotes
[6]
Prideaux, "History of the Jews."
24.10. 10. Of the Sect of Stoics.
The several sects of philosophy among the
ancients were a species of religion. Never were any principles more
worthy of human nature, and more proper to form the good man, than those
of the Stoics; and if I could for a moment cease to think that I am a
Christian, I should not be able to hinder myself from ranking the
destruction of the sect of Zeno among the misfortunes that have befallen
the human race.
It carried to excess only those things in which there is true
greatness — the contempt of pleasure and of pain.
It was this sect alone that made citizens; this alone that made
great men; this alone great emperors.
Laying aside for a moment revealed truths, let us search through all
nature, and we shall not find a nobler object than the Antoninuses; even
Julian himself — Julian (a commendation thus wrested from me will not
render me an accomplice of his apostasy) — no, there has not been a
prince since his reign more worthy to govern mankind.
While the Stoics looked upon riches, human grandeur, grief,
disquietudes, and pleasures as vanity, they were entirely employed in
labouring for the happiness of mankind, and in exercising the duties of
society. It seems as if they regarded that sacred spirit, which they
believed to dwell within them, as a kind of favourable providence
watchful over the human race.
Born for society, they all believed that it was their destiny to
labour for it; with so much the less fatigue, their rewards were all
within themselves. Happy by their philosophy alone, it seemed as if only
the happiness of others could increase theirs.
24.11. 11. Of Contemplation.
Men being made to preserve, to nourish, to
clothe themselves, and do all the actions of society, religion ought not
to give them too contemplative a life.
[7]
The Mahometans become speculative by habit; they pray five times a
day, and each time they are obliged to cast behind them everything which
has any concern with this world: this forms them for speculation. Add to
this that indifference for all things which is inspired by the doctrine
of unalterable fate.
If other causes besides these concur to disengage their affections;
for instance, if the severity of the government, if the laws concerning
the property of land, give them a precarious spirit — all is lost.
The religion of the Gaurs formerly rendered Persia a flourishing
kingdom; it corrected the bad effects of despotic power. The same empire
is now destroyed by the Mahometan religion.
Footnotes
[7]
This is the inconvenience of the doctrine of Foe and Laockium.
24.12. 12. Of Penances.
Penances ought to be joined with the idea of
labour, not with that of idleness; with the idea of good, not with that
of supereminence; with the idea of frugality, not with that of avarice.
24.13. 13. Of inexpiable Crimes.
It appears from a. passage of the books of
the pontiffs, quoted by Cicero,
[8]
that they had among the Romans
inexpiable crimes:
[9]
and it is on this that Zozymus founds the
narration so proper to blacken the motives of Constantine's conversion;
and Julian, that bitter raillery on this conversion in his Cæsars.
The Pagan religion indeed, which prohibited only some of the grosser
crimes, and which stopped the hand but meddled not with the heart, might
have crimes that were inexpiable; but a religion which bridles all the
passions; which is not more jealous of actions than of thoughts and
desires; which holds us not by a few chains but by an infinite number of
threads; which, leaving human justice aside, establishes another kind of
justice; which is so ordered as to lead us continually from repentance
to love, and from love to repentance; which puts between the judge and
the criminal a greater mediator, between the just and the mediator a
great judge — a religion like this ought not to have inexpiable crimes.
But while it gives fear and hope to all, it makes us sufficiently
sensible that though there is no crime in its own nature inexpiable, yet
a whole criminal life may be so; that it is extremely dangerous to
affront mercy by new crimes and new expiations; that an uneasiness on
account of ancient debts, from which we are never entirely free, ought
to make us afraid of contracting new ones, of filling up the measure,
and going even to that point where paternal goodness is limited.
Footnotes
[8]
"De Leg.," lib. ii, 22.
[9]
Sacrum commissum, quod neque expiari potent, impie commissum est; quod expiari potent publici sacerdotes expianto.
24.14. 14. In what Manner Religion has an Influence on Civil Laws.
As both religion and the civil laws ought to have a peculiar tendency to render
men good citizens, it is evident that when one of these deviates from
this end, the tendency of the other ought to be strengthened. The less
severity there is in religion, the more there ought to be in the civil
laws.
Thus the reigning religion of Japan having few doctrines, and
proposing neither future rewards nor punishments, the laws to supply
these defects have been made with the spirit of severity, and are
executed with an extraordinary punctuality.
When the doctrine of necessity is established by religion, the
penalties of the laws ought to be more severe, and the magistrate more
vigilant; to the end that men who would otherwise become abandoned might
be determined by these motives; but it is quite otherwise where religion
has established the doctrine of liberty.
From the inactivity of the soul springs the Mahometan doctrine of
predestination, and from this doctrine of predestination springs the
inactivity of the soul. This, they say, is in the decrees of God; they
must therefore indulge their repose. In a case like this, the magistrate
ought to waken by the laws those who are lulled asleep by religion.
When religion condemns things which the civil laws ought to permit,
there is danger lest the civil laws, on the other hand, should permit
what religion ought to condemn. Either of these is a constant proof of a
want of true ideas of that harmony and proportion which ought to subsist
between both.
Thus the Tartars under Jenghiz Khan,
[10]
among whom it was a sin and
even a capital crime to put a knife in the fire, to lean against a whip,
to strike a horse with his bridle, to break one bone with another, did
not believe it to be any sin to break their word, to seize upon another
man's goods, to do an injury to a person, or to commit murder. In a
word, laws which render that necessary which is only indifferent have
this inconvenience, that they make those things indifferent which are
absolutely necessary.
The people of Formosa believe
[11]
that there is a kind of hell, but
it is to punish those who at certain seasons have not gone naked, who
have dressed in calico and not in silk, who have presumed to look for
oysters, or who have undertaken any business without consulting the song
of birds; while drunkenness and debauchery are not regarded as crimes.
They believe even that the debauches of their children are agreeable to
their gods.
When religion absolves the mind by a thing merely accidental, it
loses its greatest influence on mankind. The people of India believe
that the waters of the Ganges have a sanctifying virtue.
[12]
Those who
die on its banks are imagined to be exempted from the torments of the
other life, and to be entitled to dwell in a region full of delights;
and for this reason the ashes of the dead are sent from the most distant
places to be thrown into this river. Little then does it signify whether
they had lived virtuously or not, so they be but thrown into the Ganges.
The idea of a place of rewards has a necessary connection with the
idea of the abodes of misery; and when they hope for the former without
fearing the latter, the civil laws have no longer any influence. Men who
think themselves sure of the rewards of the other life are above the
power of the legislator; they look upon death with too much contempt.
How shall the man be restrained by laws who believes that the greatest
pain the magistrate can inflict will end in a moment to begin his
happiness?
Footnotes
[10]
See the account of John Duplan Carpin, sent to Tartary by Pope
Innocent IV in the year 1246.
[11]
"Collection of Voyages that Contributed to the Establishment of
the East India Company," vol. v, part I, p. 192.
[12]
"Edifying Letters," coll. xv.
24.15. 15. How false Religions are sometimes corrected by the Civil Laws.
Simplicity, superstition, or a respect for antiquity have sometimes
established mysteries or ceremonies shocking to modesty: of this the
world has furnished numerous examples. Aristotle says
[13]
that in this
case the law permits the fathers of families to repair to the temple to
celebrate these mysteries for their wives and children. How admirable
the civil law which in spite of religion preserves the manners
untainted!
Augustus
[14]
excluded the youth of either sex from assisting at any
nocturnal ceremony, unless accompanied by a more aged relative; and when
he revived the Lupercalia,
[15]
he would not allow the young men to run
naked.
Footnotes
[13]
"Politics," lib. vii, chap. 17.
[14]
Suetonius, "Life of Augustus," chap. 31.
24.16. 16. How the Laws of Religion correct the Inconveniences of a
political Constitution.
On the other hand, religion may support a state
when the laws themselves are incapable of doing it.
Thus when a kingdom is frequently agitated by civil wars, religion
may do much by obliging one part of the state to remain always quiet.
Among the Greeks, the Eleans, as priests of Apollo, lived always in
peace. In Japan,
[16]
the city of Meaco enjoys a constant peace, as being
a holy city. Religion supports this regulation, and that empire, which
seems to be alone upon earth, and which neither has nor will have any
dependence on foreigners, has always in its own bosom a trade which war
cannot ruin.
In kingdoms where wars are not entered upon by a general consent,
and where the laws have not pointed out any means either of terminating
or preventing them, religion establishes times of peace, or cessation
from hostilities, that the people may be able to sow their corn and
perform those other labours which are absolutely necessary for the
subsistence of the state.
Every year all hostility ceases between the Arabian tribes for four
months: the least disturbance would then be an impiety.
[17]
In former
times, when every lord in France declared war or peace, religion granted
a truce, which was to take place at certain seasons.
Footnotes
[16]
"Collection of Voyages that Contributed to the Establishment of
the East India Company," vol. iv, part I, p. 127.
[17]
See Prideaux, "Life of Mahomet," p. 64.
24.17. 17. The same Subject continued.
When a state has many causes for
hatred, religion ought to produce many ways of reconciliation. The
Arabs, a people addicted to robbery, are frequently guilty of doing
injury and injustice. Mahomet enacted this law:
[18]
"If any one forgives
the blood of his brother,
[19]
he may pursue the malefactor for damages
and interest; but he who shall injure the wicked, after having received
satisfaction, shall, in the day of judgment, suffer the most grievous
torments."
The Germans inherited the hatred and enmity of their near relatives:
but these were not eternal. Homicide was expiated by giving a certain
number of cattle, and all the family received satisfaction: a thing
extremely useful, says Tacitus, because enmities are most dangerous
among a free people.
[20]
I believe, indeed, that their ministers of
religion, who were held by them in so much credit, were concerned in
these reconciliations.
Among the inhabitants of Malacca,
[21]
where no form of
reconciliation is established, he who has committed murder, certain of
being assassinated by the relatives or friends of the deceased, abandons
himself to fury, and wounds or kills all he meets.
Footnotes
[18]
Koran, Book i, chapter "Of the Cow."
[19]
On renouncing the law of retaliation.
[20]
"De Moribus Germanorum," 21.
[21]
"Collection of Voyages that Contributed to the Establishment of
the East India Company," vol. vii, p. 303. See also "Memoirs" of the Count de
Forbin, and what he says of the people of Macassar.
24.18. 18. How the Laws of Religion have the Effect of Civil Laws.
The first Greeks were small nations, frequently dispersed, pirates at sea,
unjust on land, without government and without laws. The mighty actions
of Hercules and Theseus let us see the state of that rising people. What
could religion do more to inspire them with horror against murder? It
declared that the man who had been murdered was enraged against the
assassin, that he would possess his mind with terror and trouble, and
oblige him to yield to him the places he had frequented when alive.
[22]
They could not touch the criminal, nor converse with him, without being
defiled:
[23]
the murderer was to be expelled from the city, and an
expiation made for the crime.
[24]
Footnotes
[22]
Plato, "Laws," lib. ix.
[23]
Tragedy of "Œdipus at Coloneus."
[24]
Plato, "Laws," lib. ix.
24.19. 19. That it is not so much the Truth or Falsity of a Doctrine which
renders it useful or pernicious to Men in civil Government, as the Use
or Abuse of it.
The most true and holy doctrines may be attended with
the very worst consequences when they are not connected with the
principles of society: and on the contrary, doctrines the most false may
be attended with excellent consequences when contrived so as to be
connected with these principles.
The religion of Confucius disowns the immortality of the soul: and
the sect of Zeno did not believe it. These two sects have drawn from
their bad principles consequences, not just indeed, but most admirable
as to their influence on society. Those of the religion of Tao, and of
Foe,
[25]
believe the immortality of the soul; but from this sacred
doctrine they draw the most frightful consequences.
The doctrine of the immortality of the soul falsely understood has,
almost in every part of the globe and in every age, engaged women,
slaves, subjects, friends, to murder themselves, that they might go and
serve in the other world the object of their respect or love in this.
Thus it was in the West Indies; thus it was among the Danes;
[26]
thus it
is at present in Japan,
[27]
in Macassar,
[28]
and many other places.
These customs do not so directly proceed from the doctrine of the
immortality of the soul as from that of the resurrection of the body,
whence they have drawn this consequence, that after death the same
individual will have the same wants, the same sentiments, the same
passions. In this point of view, the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul has a prodigious effect on mankind; because the idea of only a
simple change of habitation is more within the reach of the human
understanding, and more adapted to flatter the heart, than the idea of a
new modification.
It is not enough for religion to establish a doctrine; it must also
direct its influence. This the Christian religion performs in the most
admirable manner, particularly with regard to the doctrines of which we
have been speaking. It makes us hope for a state which is the object of
our belief; not for a state which we have already experienced or known:
thus every article, even the resurrection of the body, leads us to
spiritual ideas.
Footnotes
[25]
A Chinese philosopher reasons thus against the doctrine of Foe:
"It is said in a book of that sect, that the body is our dwelling-place
and the soul the immortal guest which lodges there; but if the bodies of
our relatives are only a lodging, it is natural to regard them with the
same contempt we should feel for a structure of earth and dirt. Is not
this endeavouring to tear from the heart the virtue of love to one's own
parents? This leads us even to neglect the care of the body, and to
refuse it the compassion and affection so necessary for its
preservation; hence the disciples of Foe kill themselves by thousands."
-- Work of an ancient Chinese philosopher, in the "Collection of Father
Du Halde," vol. iii, p. 52.
[26]
See Tho. Bartholin, "Antiquities of the Danes."
[27]
An Account of Japan, in the "Collection of Voyages that
Contributed to the Establishment of the East India Company."
24.20. 20. The same Subject continued.
The sacred books
[29]
of the ancient
Persians say, "If you would be holy instruct your children, because all
the good actions which they perform will be imputed to you." They advise
them to marry betimes, because children at the day of judgment will be
as a bridge, over which those who have none cannot pass. These doctrines
were false, but extremely useful.
Footnotes
[29]
Hyde, "Religion of the Persians."
24.21. 21. Of the Metempsychosis.
The doctrine of the immortality of the
soul is divided into three branches — that of pure immortality, that of
a simple change of habitation, and that of a metempsychosis, that is,
the system of the Christians, that of the Scythians, and that of the
Indians. We have just been speaking of the first two, and I shall say of
the last that as it has been well or ill explained, it has had good or
bad effects. As it inspires men with a certain horror against bloodshed,
very few murders are committed in the Indies; and though they seldom
punish with death, yet they enjoy a perfect tranquillity.
On the other hand, women burn themselves at the death of their
husbands; thus it is only the innocent who suffer a violent death.
24.22. 22. That it is dangerous for Religion to inspire an Aversion for
Things in themselves indifferent.
A kind of honour established in the
Indies by the prejudices of religion has made the several tribes
conceive an aversion against each other. This honour is founded entirely
on religion; these family distinctions form no civil distinctions; there
are Indians who would think themselves dishonoured by eating with their
king.
These sorts of distinctions are connected with a certain aversion
for other men, very different from those sentiments which naturally
arise from difference of rank; which among us comprehends a love for
inferiors.
The laws of religion should never inspire an aversion to anything
but vice, and above all they should never estrange man from a love and
tenderness for his own species.
The Mahometan and Indian religions embrace an infinite number of
people; the Indians hate the Mahometans, because they eat cows; the
Mahometans detest the Indians because they eat hogs.
24.23. 23. Of Festivals.
When religion appoints a cessation from labour it
ought to have a greater regard to the necessities of mankind than to the
grandeur of the being it designs to honour.
Athens was subject to great inconveniences from the excessive number
of its festivals.
[30]
These powerful people, to whose decision all the
cities of Greece came to submit their quarrels, could not have time to
despatch such a multiplicity of affairs.
When Constantine ordained that the people should rest on the
Sabbath, he made this decree for the cities,
[31]
and not for the
inhabitants of the open country; he was sensible that labour in the
cities was useful, but in the fields necessary.
For the same reason, in a country supported by commerce, the number
of festivals ought to be relative to this very commerce. Protestant and
Catholic countries are situated in such a manner that there is more need
of labour in the former than in the latter;
[32]
the suppression of
festivals is therefore more suitable to Protestant than to Catholic
countries.
Dampier observes that the diversions of different nations vary
greatly, according to the climate.
[33]
As hot climates produce a
quantity of delicate fruits, the barbarians easily find necessaries, and
therefore spend much time in diversions. The Indians of colder countries
have not so much leisure, being obliged to fish and hunt continually;
hence they have less music, dancing and festivals. If a new religion
should be established among these people, it ought to have regard to
this in the institution of festivals.
Footnotes
[30]
Xenophon, "On the Republic of Athens," 3, 8.
[31]
Leg. 3. Cod. de feriis. This law was doubtless made only for the Pagans.
[32]
The Catholics lie more toward the south, and the Protestants
towards the north.
[33]
Dampier, "Voyages," vol. ii.
24.24. 24. Of the local Laws of Religion.
There are many local laws in
various religions; and when Montezuma with so much obstinacy insisted
that the religion of the Spaniards was good for their country, and his
for Mexico, he did not assert an absurdity; because, in fact,
legislators could never help having a regard to what nature had
established before them.
The opinion of the metempsychosis is adapted to the climate of the
Indies. An excessive heat burns up all the country:
[34]
they can breed
but very few cattle; they are always in danger of wanting them for
tillage; their black cattle multiply but indifferently;
[35]
and they are
subject to many distempers. A law of religion which preserves them is
therefore more suitable to the policy of the country.
While the meadows are scorched, rice and pulse, by the assistance of
water, are brought to perfection; a law of religion which permits only
this kind of nourishment must therefore be extremely useful to men in
those climates.
The flesh of cattle in that country is insipid
[36]
but the milk and
butter which they receive from them serve for a part of their
subsistence; therefore the law which prohibits the eating and killing of
cows is in the Indies not unreasonable.
Athens contained a prodigious multitude of people, but its territory
was barren. It was therefore a religious maxim with this people that
those who offered some small presents to the gods honoured them more
than those who sacrificed an ox.
[37]
Footnotes
[34]
See Bernier, "Travels," vol. ii, p. 137.
[35]
"Edifying Letters," coll. xii, p. 95.
[36]
Bernier, "Travels," vol. ii, p. 137.
[37]
Euripides, in "Athenæus," lib. ii, p. 40.
24.25. 25. The Inconvenience of transplanting a Religion from one Country
to another.
It follows hence that there are frequently many
inconveniences attending the transplanting a religion from one country
to any other.
"The hog," says M. de Boulainvilliers,
[38]
"must be very scarce in
Arabia, where there are almost no woods, and hardly anything fit for the
nourishment of these animals; besides, the saltness of the water and
food renders the people most susceptible of cutaneous disorders." This
local law could not be good in other countries,
[39]
where the hog is almost a universal, and in some sort a necessary, nourishment.
I shall here make a reflection. Sanctorius has observed that pork
transpires but little,
[40]
and that this kind of meat greatly binders
the transpiration of other food; he has found that this diminution
amounts to a third.
[41]
Besides, it is known that the want of
transpiration forms or increases the disorders of the skin. The feeding
on pork ought rather to be prohibited in climates where the people are
subject to these disorders, as in Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, and Libya.
Footnotes
[40]
"Medicina Statica," sect. 3, aphor.
22.
24.26. 26. The same Subject continued.
Sir John Chardin says
[42]
that there
is not a navigable river in Persia, except the Kur, which is at the
extremity of the empire. The ancient law of the Gaurs which prohibited
sailing on rivers was not therefore attended with any inconvenience in
this country, though it would have ruined the trade of another.
Frequent bathings are extremely useful in hot climates. On this
account they are ordained in the Mahometan law and in the Indian
religion. In the Indies it is a most meritorious act to pray to God in
the running stream;
[43]
but how could these things be performed in other
climates?
When a religion adapted to the climate of one country clashes too
much with the climate of another it cannot be there established; and
whenever it has been introduced it has been afterwards discarded, it
seems to all human appearance as if the climate had prescribed the
bounds of the Christian and the Mahometan religions.
It follows hence, that it is almost always proper for a religion to
have particular doctrines, and a general worship. In laws concerning the
practice of religious worship there ought to be but few particulars; for
instance, they should command mortification in general and not a certain
kind of mortification. Christianity is full of good sense; abstinence is
of divine institution; but a particular kind of abstinence is ordained
by human authority and therefore may be changed.
Footnotes
[42]
"Travels into Persia," vol. ii.
[43]
Bernier, "Travels," vol. ii.
