With our ideas and customs, we do not know how to confine ourselves to considering society in this way. Individuals among us are attached to the social body, forming a part of it, but without losing their own sphere—that of the family; and they preserve around them a vast career, where they are allowed to exert themselves, without coming into collision with the colossus of society. Nevertheless, patriotism exists; but it is no longer a blind instinctive passion, urging man on to the sacrifice, like a victim, with bandaged eyes, but it is no reasonable, noble, and exalted feeling, which forms heroes like those of Lepanto and Baylen; which converts peaceful citizens, like those of Gyronna and Saragossa, into lions; which, as by an electric spark, makes a whole people rise on a sudden without arms, and brave death from the artillery of a numerous and disciplined army: such was Madrid, following the sublime Mourons of Daoiz and of Velarda.

I have already hinted, in the text, that society among the ancients claimed the right of interfering in all that regards individuals. I will add, that the thing went to a ridiculous extent. Who would imagine that the law ought to interfere in the food of a woman who was enceinte, or in the exercise which she should take every day? This is what Aristotle gravely says: "It is necessary that women who are enceinte should take particular care of their bodies; that they should avoid indulgence in luxury, and using food which is too light and weak. The legislator easily attains his end by prescribing and ordering them a daily walk, in order to go to honor and venerate the gods, to whom it has been confided by fate to watch over the formation of beings. Atque hoc facile assequitur scriptor legum, si eis iter aliquod quotidianum ad cultum venerationemque deorum eorum, quibus sorte obtigit, ut præsint gignendis animantibus, injunxerit ac mandaverit." (Polit. l. vii. c. 16.)

The action of laws extended to every thing; it seems that, in certain cases, even the tears of children could not escape this severity. "Those," says Aristotle, "who, by means of laws, forbid children to cry and weep, are wrong; cries and tears serve as exercise for children, and assist them in growing; they are an effort of nature, which relieves and invigorates those who are in pain." (Polit. l. vii. c. 17.)

These doctrines of the ancients—this manner of considering the relations of individuals with society—very well explain how castes and slavery could be regarded as natural among them. Who can be astonished at seeing whole races deprived of liberty, or regarded as incapable of partaking of the rights of other superior classes, when we see generations of innocent beings condemned to death, and these conscientious philosophers not having the slightest scruple with respect to the legitimacy of so inhuman an act? It was not that these philosophers had not happiness in view as the object of society; but they had monstrous ideas with respect to the means of obtaining that happiness.

Note 17, p. 146.

There is nothing more fatal to woman, nothing more apt to degrade her, than that which is injurious to modesty; and yet we see that the unlimited power granted to man over woman contributed to this degradation, and reduced her, among certain nations, to be nothing but a slave. Losing sight of the manners of other nations, let us consider those of the Romans for a moment. Among them the formula, ubi tu Cayus ego Caya, seemed to indicate a subjection so slight, that it might almost be called an equality; but in order to appreciate this equality, it is enough to recollect that, at Rome, a husband could put his wife to death by his own authority, and that not only in the case of adultery, but for offences infinitely less serious. In the time of Romulus, Egnacius Menecius was acquitted of a similar crime, although his wife had done nothing more than drink wine from a cask. These traits describe a nation, whatever importance you may besides think proper to attach to the solicitude of the Romans to prevent their matrons from becoming addicted to wine. When Cato directed an embrace, as a proof of affection, among relations, for the purpose, as Pliny relates, of ascertaining whether the women smelt of wine, an temetum olerent, it is true he showed his strictness; but it was an unworthy outrage offered to the honor of the women themselves whose virtue it pretended to preserve. There are some remedies worse than the disease.

Note 18, p. 157.

The antichristian philosophy must have had considerable influence on the desire to find among the barbarians the origin of the elevation of the female character in Europe, and of some other principles of our civilization. Indeed as soon as you discover the source of these admirable qualities in the forests of Germany, Christianity is stripped of a portion of its honors; and what was its own and peculiar glory is divided among many. I will not deny that the Germans of Tacitus are sufficiently poetical; but it is difficult to believe that the real Germans were so to any extent. Some passages inserted in the text add great force to our conjecture; but what appears to me eminently calculated to dissipate all these illusions is, the history of the invasion by the barbarians, above all that which has been written by eye-witnesses. The picture, far from continuing poetical, then becomes disgusting in the extreme. This interminable succession of nations passes before the eyes of the reader, like an alarming vision in an evil dream; and certainly the first idea which occurs to us at the sight of this picture is, not to seek for any of the qualities of modern civilization in these invading hordes; but the great difficulty is, to know how this chaos has been reduced to order, and how it has been possible to produce from such barbarism the noblest and most brilliant civilization that has ever been seen on earth. Tacitus appears to be an enthusiast; but Sidonius, who wrote at no great distance from the barbarians, who saw them, and suffered from meeting them, does not partake of this enthusiasm. "I find myself," he said, "among long-haired nations, compelled to hear the German language, and to applaud, at whatever cost, the song of the drunken Burgundian, with hair plastered with rancid grease. Happy your eyes who do not see them; happy your ears who do not hear them?" If space permitted, it would be easy for me to accumulate a thousand passages which would evidently show what the barbarians were, and what could be expected from them in all respects. It is as clear as the light of day, that it was the design of Providence to employ these nations to destroy the Roman empire, and change the face of the world. The invaders seem to have had a feeling of their terrible mission. They march, they advance, they know not whither they go; but they know well that they go to destroy. Attila called himself the scourge of God. The same barbarian himself defined his formidable duty in these words: "The star falls, the sea is moved; I am the hammer of the earth. Where my horse passes, the grass never grows." Alaric, marching towards the capital of the world, said: "I cannot stop; there is some one urges me, who excites me to sack Rome." Genseric prepares a naval expedition; his troops are on board, he himself embarks: no one knows the point towards which he will direct his sails. The pilot approaches the barbarian, and asks him; "My lord, against what nations will you wage war?" "Against those who have provoked the anger of God," replies Genseric.

If Christianity, in the midst of this catastrophe, had not existed in Europe, civilization would have been lost and annihilated, perhaps forever. But a religion of light and love was sure to triumph over ignorance and violence. Even during the times of the calamities of the invasion, that religion prevented many disasters, owing to the ascendency which it began to exercise over the barbarians; the most critical moment being past, the conquerors having become in some degree settled, she immediately employed a system so vast, so efficacious, so decisive, that the conquerors found themselves conquered, not by arms, but by charity. It was not in the power of the Church to prevent the invasion; God had decreed it, and His decree must be accomplished. Thus the pious monk who went to meet Alaric approaching Rome, could not stop him on his march, because the barbarian answered him, that he could not stop,—that there was some one who urged him on, and that he advanced against his own will. But the Church awaited the barbarians after the conquest, knowing that Providence would not abandon His own work, that the hope of the future lot of nations was left in the hands of the spouse of Jesus Christ; on this account does Alaric advance on Rome, sack, and destroy it; but on a sudden, finding himself in presence of religion, he stops, becomes mollified, and appoints the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul as places of refuge. A remarkable fact, and an admirable symbol of the Christian religion preserving the universe from total ruin.

Note 19, p. 165.

The great benefit conferred on modern society by the formation of a pure and correct public conscience, would acquire extraordinary value in our eyes, if we compared our moral ideas with those of all other nations, ancient and modern; the result of such an examination would be, to show in how lamentable a manner good principles become corrupted, when they are confided to the reason of man. I will content myself, however, with a few words on the ancients, in order to show how correct I was in saying that our manners, however corrupt they may be, would have appeared a model of morality and dignity to the heathens.

The temples consecrated to Venus in Babylon and Corinth are connected with abominations such as to be even incomprehensible. Deified passion required sacrifices worthy of it; a divinity without modesty required the sacrifice of modesty; and the sacred name of Temple was applied to asylums of the most unbridled licentiousness. There was not a veil even for the greatest crimes. It is known how the daughters of Chypre gained a dowry for their marriage; all have heard of the mysteries of Adonis, Priapus, and other impure divinities. There are vices which, as it were, want a name among the moderns; or if they have one, it is accompanied by the recollection of a terrible chastisement inflicted on some criminal cities. In reading the histories of antiquity descriptive of the manners of their times, the book falls from our hands. On this subject we must be content with these few hints, calculated to awaken in the minds of our readers the recollection of what has a thousand times excited their indignation in reading the history and studying the literature of pagan antiquity. The author is compelled to be satisfied with a recollection: he abstains from a description.

Note 20, p. 171.

I am very far, as I have clearly stated in the text, from denying or calling in question what is called the power of ideas: I only mean to show that, alone and by themselves, ideas have little power; and that science, properly so called, as far as the organization of society is concerned, is a much less important thing than is generally supposed. This doctrine has an intimate connection with the system followed by the Catholic Church, which, while constantly endeavoring to develop the human mind by means of the propagation of the sciences, has nevertheless assigned to them a secondary part in the regulation of society. While religion has never been opposed to true science, never, on the other hand, has she ceased to show a certain degree of mistrust with respect to all that was the exclusive production of human thought; and observe that this is one of the chief differences between religion and the philosophy of the last age; or, we should rather say, it was the cause of their violent antipathy. Religion did not condemn science; on the contrary, she loved, protected, and encouraged it; but at the same time she marked out its limits, warned it that it was blind on some points, announced to it that it would be powerless in some of its labors, and that in others its action would be destructive and fatal. Philosophy, on the contrary, loudly proclaimed the sovereignty of science, declared it to be all-powerful, and deified it; it attributed to it strength and courage to change the face of the world, and wisdom and foresight enough to work this change for the good of humanity. This pride of knowledge, this deification of thought, is, if you observe closely, the foundation of Protestant doctrine. All authority being taken away, reason is the only competent judge, the intellect receives directly and immediately from God all the light which is necessary. This is the fundamental doctrine of Protestantism, that is to say, the pride of the mind.

If we closely observe, even the triumph of revolutions has in no degree nullified the wise anticipations of religion; and knowledge, properly so called, instead of gaining any credit from this triumph, has entirely lost what it had: there remains nothing of the revolutionary knowledge; what remains is the effects of the revolution, the interests created by it, the institutions which have arisen from those interests, and which, since that time, have sought in the department of science itself our principles to support them,—principles altogether different from those which had been proclaimed in the beginning.

I have said that every idea has need of being realized in an institution; this is so true, that revolutions themselves, warned by the instinct which leads them to preserve, with more or less integrity, the principles whence they have arisen, tend from the first to create those institutions in which the revolutionary doctrines may be perpetuated, or to constitute successors to represent them when they shall have disappeared from the schools. This may lead to many reflections on the origin and present condition of several forms of governments in different countries of Europe.

When speaking of the rapidity with which scientific theories succeed each other, when pointing out the immense development which the press has given to the field of discussion, I have shown that this was not an infallible sign of scientific progress, still less a guarantee for the fertility of human thought in realizing great things in the material and social order. I have said that grand conceptions proceed rather from intuition than from discourses; and on this subject I have recalled to mind historical events and personages which place this matter beyond a doubt. In support of this assertion, ideology might have furnished us with abundant proofs, if it were necessary to have recourse to science itself to prove its own sterility. But mere good sense, taught by the lessons of experience daily, is enough to convince us that the men who are the most able in theory are, often enough, not only mediocre, but even weak in the exercise of authority. With regard to the hints which I have thrown out with respect to "intuition" and "discourses," I leave them to the judgment of any one who has applied to the study of the human mind. I am confident that the opinion of those who have reflected will not differ from my own.

Note 21, p. 175.

As philosophy has taken care to change the ancient names consecrated by religion, and authorized by the usage of a succession of ages, it happens that some ideas, although the produce of Christianity, are scarcely acknowledged as such, only because they are disguised under a worldly dress. Who does not know that mutual love among men and fraternal charity are ideas entirely due to Christianity? Who does not know that pagan antiquity did not acknowledge them, that it even despised them? And nevertheless, this affection, which was formerly called charity, because charity was the virtue from which it took its legitimate origin, has constantly taken care to assume other names, as if it were ashamed to be seen in public with any appearance of religion. The mania for attacking the Christian religion being passed, it is openly confessed that the principle of universal charity is owing to her; but language remains infected with Voltairian philosophy even since the discredit into which that philosophy has fallen. Whence it follows, that we very often do not appreciate as we ought the influence of Christianity on the society which surrounds us, and that we attribute to other ideas and other causes the phenomena which are evidently owing to religion. Society at present, in spite of all its indifference, is more indebted to religion than is commonly supposed; it resembles those men, who, born of an illustrious family, in which good principles and a careful education are transmitted as an inheritance from generation to generation, preserve in their manners and behavior, even in the midst of their disorders, their crimes, and I will even venture to say, their degradation, some traits which denote their noble origin.

Note 22, p. 183.

Those who have attempted to find the germ of the precious qualities of European civilization among the barbarians of the north, should undoubtedly have attributed the gentleness of our manners to the same barbarians; they would have had in support of this paradox a fact certainly more specious than that which they have relied on to give the honor of elevating European women to the Germans. I allude to the well-known custom of avoiding the infliction of corporal punishments, and of chastising the gravest offences by fines only. Nothing is more likely to make us believe that these nations were happily inclined to gentleness of manners, since, in the midst of their barbarism, they used the right of punishment with a moderation which is not found even among the most civilized and refined nations. If we regard the thing in this point of view, it seems as if the influence of Christianity on the barbarians had the effect of rendering their manners more harsh instead of more gentle; indeed, after Christianity was introduced, the infliction of corporal punishments became general, and even that of death was not excluded.

But when we attentively consider this peculiarity of the criminal code of the barbarians, we shall see that, far from showing the advancement of their civilization and the gentleness of their manners, it is, on the contrary, the most evident proof that they were behindhand; it is the strongest index of the harshness and barbarism which reigned among them. In the first place, inasmuch as crimes among them were punished by means of fines, or, as it was called, by composition, it is clear that the law paid much more attention to repairing an injury than to punishing a crime; a circumstance which clearly shows us how little they thought about the morality of the action, as they attended not so much to the action itself, as to the wrong which it inflicted. Therefore this was not an element of civilization but of barbarism; this tended to nothing less than the banishment of morality from the world. The Church combated this principle, as fatal in public as in private affairs; she introduced into criminal legislation a new set of ideas, which completely changed its spirit. On this point M. Guizot has done full justice to the Catholic Church. I am delighted to acknowledge and to insert this homage here by transcribing his own words. After having pointed out the difference which existed between the laws of the Visigoths, derived in great part from the Councils of Toledo, and the other barbarian laws, M. Guizot signalizes the immense superiority of the ideas of the Church in matters of legislation, of justice, and in all that concerns the search after truth and the lot of men; he adds: "In criminal matters, the relation of crimes to punishments is fixed (in the laws of the Visigoths) according to sufficiently just, philosophical, and moral notions. We there perceive the efforts of an enlightened legislator, who contends against the violence and rashness of barbarian manners. The chapter De cæde et morte hominum, compared with the corresponding laws of other nations, is a very remarkable example of this. Elsewhere, it is almost exclusively the injury which seems to constitute the crime, and the punishment is sought in that material reparation which is the result of composition. Here, the crime is referred to its real and moral element, the intention. The different shades of criminality, absolutely voluntary homicide, homicide by inadvertence, provoked homicide, homicide with or without premeditation, are distinguished and defined almost as well as in our own codes, and the punishments vary in a proportion equally just. The justice of the legislator has gone still further. He has attempted, if not to abolish, at least to diminish the diversity of legal value established among men by the other barbarian laws. The only distinction which it preserves is that of freeman and slave. With respect to freeman, the punishment varies neither with the origin nor the rank of the deceased, but only according to the different degrees of the culpability of the murderer. With regard to slaves, not venturing completely to withdraw from the masters the right of life and death, it has been attempted at least to restrain it by subjecting it to a public and regular procedure. The text of the law deserves to be cited.

"'If no one guilty of, or an accomplice in, a crime ought to remain unpunished, with how much more reason ought he to be condemned who has wickedly and rashly committed a homicide! Thus, as masters, in their pride, often put their slaves to death without any fault of the latter, it is proper altogether to extirpate this license, and to ordain that the present law shall be forever observed by all. No master or mistress shall put to death, without public trial, any of their slaves, male or female, or any person dependent on them. If a slave or any other servant shall commit a crime which may subject him to capital punishment, his master or his accuser shall immediately inform the judge or the count or duke of the place where the deed has been committed. After the affair has been inquired into, if the crime be proved, let the criminal undergo, either by the judge or his own master, the sentence of death which he has deserved; so that, nevertheless, if the judge be unwilling to put the accused to death, he shall draw up in writing a capital sentence, and then it shall be in the power of the master to put him to death or not. Indeed, if the slave, with a fatal audacity, resisting his master, has struck, or attempted to strike, him with a weapon, with a stone, or with any other kind of blow, and if the master, in defending himself, has killed the slave in his passion, the master shall be in no way subject to the punishment of homicide. But it shall be necessary to prove that the event took place thus, and that by the testimony or oath of the slaves, male or female, who shall have been present, and by the oath of the author of the deed himself. Whoever from mere malice, either by his own hand or that of another, shall have killed his slave without public trial, shall be marked with infamy, declared incapable of appearing as a witness, shall be obliged to pass the rest of his life in exile and penance, and his goods shall go to the nearest relations to whom they are given by the law.'—For. Jud. liv. vi. tit. xv. l. 12." (Hist. Génér. de la Civilisation en Europe, leçon 6.)

I have copied this passage from M. Guizot with pleasure, because I find there a confirmation of what I have just said on the subject of the influence of the Church in softening manners, and of what I have before stated with respect to the great amelioration which the Church made in the condition of slaves, by limiting the excessive power of their masters. This truth is proved in its place by so many documents, that it seems useless to revert to it here; it is enough now for my purpose, to point out that M. Guizot fully allows that the Church gave morality to the legislation of the barbarians, by making them consider the wickedness of the crime, whereas they had previously attended only to the injury of which it was the cause; she has thus transferred the action from the physical to the moral order, giving to punishments their real character, and not allowing them to remain reduced to the level of a mere material reparation. Hence we see that the criminal system of the barbarians, which, at the first view, seemed to indicate progress in civilization, was, in reality, owing to the little ascendency which moral principles exercised over these nations, and to the fact, that the views of the legislator were very slightly raised above the purely material order.

There is another observation to be made on this point, viz. that the mildness with which crimes were punished is the best proof of the frequency with which they were committed. When in a country assassinations, mutilations, and other similar attempts are very rare, they are regarded with horror; those who are guilty of them are chastised with severity. But when crimes are very frequently committed, they insensibly lose their enormity; not only those who commit them, but all the world become accustomed to their hideous aspect, and the legislator is then naturally induced to treat them with indulgence. This is shown us by the experience of every day; and the reader will have no difficulty in finding in society at the present time more than one crime to which the remark which I have just made is applicable. Among the barbarians, it was common to appeal to force, not only with respect to property, but also to persons; wherefore it was natural that crimes of this kind should not be regarded by them with the same aversion, it may be said with the same horror, as among a people where the triumph of the ideas of reason, justice, right, and law, render it impossible to conceive even the existence of a society where each individual should believe himself self-entitled to do justice to himself. Thus the laws against these crimes naturally became milder, the legislator contenting himself with repairing the injury, without paying much attention to the culpability of the delinquent. And this is intimately connected with what I have said above with respect to public conscience; for the legislator is always more or less the organ of this public conscience. Where an action, in any society whatever, is regarded as a heinous offence, the legislator cannot decree a mild punishment for it; on the other hand, it is not possible for him to chastise with great severity what the society absolves or excuses. It will sometimes happen that this proportion will be altered, that this harmony will be destroyed; but things soon quitting the path into which violence forced them, will not be long in returning to their ordinary course. Manners being chaste and pure, offences against them will be covered with abhorrence and infamy; but if morals be corrupted, the same acts will be regarded with indifference; at the most they will be denominated slight weaknesses. Among a people where religious ideas exercise great influence, the violation of all that is consecrated to God is regarded as a horrible outrage, worthy of the greatest chastisements; among another people, where infidelity has made its ravages, the same violation is not even placed on the list of ordinary offences; instead of drawing on the guilty the justice of the law, scarcely does it draw on them the slight correction of the police. The reader will understand the appropriateness of this digression on the criminal legislation of the barbarians, when he reflects that, in order to examine the influence of Catholicity on the civilization of Europe, it is indispensable to take into consideration the other elements which have concurred in forming that civilization. Without this, it would be impossible properly to appreciate the respective action of each of these elements, either for good or evil; impossible to bring to light the share which the Church can exclusively claim in the great work of our civilization; impossible to resolve the high question which has been raised by the partisans of Protestantism on the subject of the assumed advantages which the religious revolution of the sixteenth century has conferred on modern society. It is because the barbarian nations are one of these elements, that it is so often necessary to attend to them.

Note 23, p. 189.

This is not the place to relate the vicissitudes which this discipline underwent, nor the different causes which produced the successive changes; it is enough to observe, that the fundamental principle, that is, the interference of the ecclesiastical authority in establishments of beneficence, always remained unimpaired, and that the Church never allowed herself to be entirely deprived of so noble a privilege. Never did she think that it was allowable for her to regard with indifference the abuses which were introduced on this point to the prejudice of the unfortunate; wherefore she has reserved at least the right to remedy the evils which might result from the wickedness or the indolence of the administrators. The Council of Vienne ordains, that if the administrators of a hospital, lay or clerical, become relaxed in the exercise of their charge, proceedings shall be taken against them by the Bishops, who shall reform and restore the hospital of their own authority, if it has no privilege of exemption, and by delegation, if it has one. The Council of Trent also granted to Bishops the power of visiting the hospitals, even with the power of delegates of the Apostolic See in the cases fixed by law; it ordains, moreover, that the administrators, lay or clerical, shall be obliged every year to render their accounts to the ordinary of the place, unless the contrary has been provided in the foundation; and that if, by virtue of a particular privilege, custom, or statute, the accounts must be presented to any other than the ordinary, at least he shall be added to those who are appointed to receive them.

Without paying attention to the different modifications which the laws and customs of various countries may have introduced in this matter, we will say that one thing remains manifest, viz. the vigilance of the Church in all that regards beneficence; it is her constant tendency, by virtue of her spirit and maxims, to take part in affairs of this kind, sometimes to direct them exclusively, sometimes to remedy the evils which may have crept in. The civil power acknowledged the motives of this holy and charitable ambition; we see that the Emperor Justinian does not hesitate to give public authority over the hospitals to the Bishops, thereby conforming to the discipline of the Church and the general good.

On this point there is a remarkable fact, which it is necessary to mention here, in order to signalize its beneficent influence; I mean, the regulation by which the property of hospitals was looked upon as Church property,—a regulation which was very far from being a matter of indifference, although at first sight it might appear so. Their property, thereby invested with the same privileges as that of the Church, was protected by an inviolability so much the more necessary as the times were the more difficult, and the more abounding in outrages and usurpations. The Church which, notwithstanding all the public troubles, preserved great authority and a powerful ascendency over governments and nations, had thus a simple and powerful claim to extend her protection over the property of hospitals, and to withdraw them as much as possible from the cupidity and the rapacity of the powerful. And it must not be supposed that this doctrine was introduced with any indirect design, nor that this kind of community, this assimilation between the Church and the poor, was an unheard-of novelty; on the contrary, this assimilation was so well suited to the common order of things, it was so entirely founded on the relations between the Church and the poor, that if the property of the hospitals had the privilege of being considered as the property of the Church, that of the Church, on the other hand, was called the property of the poor. It is in these terms that the holy Fathers express themselves on this point: these doctrines had so much affected the ordinary language, that when, at a later period, the canonical question with respect to the ownership of the goods of the Church had to be solved, there were found by the side of those who directly attributed this property to God, to the Pope, to the clergy, some who pointed out the poor as being the real proprietors. It is true that this opinion was not the most conformable to the principles of law; but the mere fact of its appearing on the field of controversy is a matter for grave consideration.

Note 24, p. 196.

Note 25, p. 203.

This distinction, which, from its clearness and simplicity, is within the reach of the most ordinary minds, has nevertheless been mistaken by Rousseau, who affirms that it is a vain fiction, a chimera, which cannot be realized, and that the two kinds of intolerance cannot be separated from each other. Rousseau might have been content with observing, that religious intolerance, that is to say, as I have explained above, the firm conviction that a religion is true, if it is general in a country, must produce, in the ordinary intercourse of life as well as in legislation, a certain tendency not to tolerate any one who thinks differently, principally when those who dissent are very limited in number; his observation would then have been well founded, and would have agreed with the opinion which I have expressed on this point, when I attempted to represent the natural course of ideas and events in this matter. But Rousseau does not consider things under this aspect: desiring to attack Catholicity, he affirms that the two kinds of intolerance are inseparable; "for," says he, "it is impossible to live in peace with those whom one believes to be damned; to love them would be to hate God, who punishes them." It is impossible to carry misrepresentation further: who told Rousseau that the Catholics believe in the damnation of any man, whoever he may be, as long as he lives; and that they think that to love a man who is in error would be to hate God? On the contrary, could he be ignorant that it is a duty, an indispensable precept, a dogma, for Catholics to love all men? Could he be ignorant that even children, in the first rudiments of Christian doctrine, learn that we are obliged to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that by this word neighbor is meant whoever has gained heaven, or may gain it; so that no man, so long as he lives, is excluded from this number? But Rousseau will say, you are at least convinced that those who die in that fatal state are condemned. Rousseau does not observe that we think exactly the same with respect to sinners, although their sin be not that of heresy; now, it has not come into the head of any body that good Catholics cannot tolerate sinners, and that they consider themselves under the obligation of hating them. What religion shows more eagerness to convert the wicked? The Catholic Church is so far from teaching that we ought to hate them, that she causes to be repeated a thousand times, in pulpits, in books, and in conversations, those words whereby God shows that it is His will that sinners shall not perish, that He wills that they shall be converted and live, that there is more joy in heaven when one of them has done penance, than upon the ninety-nine just who need not penance. And let it not be imagined that the man who thus expresses himself against the intolerance of Catholics was the partizan of complete toleration; on the contrary, in society, such as he imagined it, he did not desire toleration for those who did not belong to the religion which the civil power thought proper to establish. It is true that he is not at all anxious that the citizens should belong to the true religion. "Laying aside," he says, "political considerations, let us return to the right, and let us lay down principles on this important point. The right which the social pact gives to the sovereign over his subject does not exceed, as I have said, the bounds of public utility. Subjects, therefore, are accountable to their sovereign for their opinions, inasmuch as those opinions are of importance to the community. Now, it is of great importance to the state, that every citizen should have a religion which shall make him love his duties; but the dogmas of that religion interest the state and its members only inasmuch as those dogmas affect morality and the duties which those who profess it are bound to perform towards others. As for the rest, each one may have what opinions he pleases, without being subject to the cognizance of the sovereign, for he has no power in the other world; it is not his affair what may be the lot of his subjects in the life to come, provided they be good citizens in this. There is, therefore, a profession of faith purely civil, the articles whereof it belongs to the sovereign to fix, not exactly as dogmas of religion, but as social sentiments, without which it is impossible to be a good citizen or a faithful subject. Without being able to compel any one to believe them, it can banish from the state him who does not believe them; it can banish him, not as wicked, but as anti-social, as incapable of sincerely loving the laws and justice, and of sacrificing his life to his duty. If any one, after having publicly acknowledged these dogmas, conducts himself as if he did not believe them, let him be punished with death; he has committed the greatest of crimes, he has lied against the laws." (Du Contrat Social, l. iv. c. 8.)

Such, then, is the final result of the toleration of Rousseau, viz. to give to the sovereign the power of fixing articles of faith, to grant to him the right of punishing with banishment, or even death, those who will not conform to the decisions of this new Pope, or who shall violate after having embraced them. However strange the doctrine of Rousseau may appear, it is not excluded from the general system of those who do not acknowledge the supremacy of authority in religious matters. When this supremacy is to be attributed to the Catholic Church, or its head, it is rejected; and, by the most striking contradiction, it is granted to the civil power. It is very singular that Rousseau, when banishing or putting to death the man who quits the religion fashioned by the sovereign, does not wish him to be punished as impious, but as anti-social. Rousseau, following an impulse very natural in him, did not wish that impiety should be at all taken into account when punishments were to be inflicted; but of what consequence is the name given to his crime to the man who is banished or put to death? In the same chapter, he allows an expression to escape him, which reveals at once the object which he had in view in all this show of philosophy: "Whoever dares to affirm that out of the Church there is no salvation, ought to be driven from the state." Which means, in other words, that toleration ought to be given to all except Catholics. It has been said, that the Contrat Social was the code of the French revolution; and, indeed, the latter did not forget what the tolerant legislator has prescribed with respect to Catholics. Few persons now venture to declare themselves the disciples of the philosopher of Geneva, although some of his timid partisans still lavish on him unmeasured eulogies. Let us have sufficient confidence in the good sense of the human race, to hope that all posterity, with a unanimous voice, will confirm the stamp of ignominy with which all men of sense have already marked that turbulent sophist, the impudent author of the Confessions.

When comparing Protestantism with Catholicity, I was obliged to treat of intolerance, as it is one of the reproaches which are most frequently made against the Catholic religion; but my respect for truth compels me to state, that all Protestants have not preached universal toleration; and that many of them have acknowledged the right of checking and punishing certain errors. Grotius, Puffendorf, and some more of the wisest men that Protestantism can boast of, are agreed on this point; therein they have followed the example of all antiquity, which, in theory as well as in practice, has constantly conformed to these principles. A cry has been raised against the intolerance of Catholics, as if they had been the first to teach it to the world; as if intolerance was a cursed monster, which was engendered only where the Catholic Church prevailed. In default of any other reason, good faith at least required that it should not be forgotten that the principle of universal toleration was never acknowledged in any part of the world; the books of philosophers, and the codes of legislators, contain the principle of intolerance with more or less rigor. Whether it were desired to condemn this principle as false, or to limit it, or to leave it without application, it is clear that an accusation ought not to have been made against the Catholic Church in particular, on account of a doctrine and conduct, wherein she only conformed to the example of the whole human race. Refined as well as barbarous nations would be culpable therein, if there were any crime; and the stigma, far from deserving to fall upon governments directed by Catholicity, or on Catholic writers, ought to be inflicted on all the governments of antiquity, including those of Greece and Rome; on all the ancient sages, including Plato, Cicero, and Seneca; on modern governments and sages, including Protestants. If men had had this present to their minds, the doctrine would not have appeared so erroneous, nor the facts so black; they would have seen that intolerance, as old as the world, was not the invention of Catholics, and that the whole world, ought to bear the responsibility of it.

Assuredly the toleration which, in our days, has become so general, from causes previously pointed out, will not be affected by the doctrines, more or less severe, more or less indulgent, which shall be proclaimed in this matter; but for the very reason, that intolerance, such as it was practised in other times, has at last become a mere historical fact, whereof no one can fear the reappearance, it is proper to enter into an attentive examination of questions of this kind, in order to remove the reproach which her enemies have attempted to cast upon the Catholic Church.

The recollection of the encyclical letter of the Pope against the doctrines of M. de Lamennais, and the profound wisdom contained therein appropriately presents itself here. That writer maintained that universal toleration, the absolute liberty of worship, is the normal and legitimate state of society,—a state which cannot be changed without injury to the rights of the man and the citizen. M. de Lamennais, combating the encyclical letter, attempted to show that it established new doctrines, and attacked the liberty of nations. No; the Pope, in his encyclical letter, does not maintain any other doctrines than those which have been professed up to this time by the Church—we may say by all governments—with respect to toleration. No government can sustain itself if it is refused the right of repressing doctrines dangerous to social order, whether those doctrines are covered with the mantle of philosophy, or disguised under the veil of religion. The liberty of man is not thereby assailed; for the only liberty which is worthy of the name, is liberty in conformity with reason. The Pope did not say that governments cannot, in certain cases, tolerate different religions; but he did not allow it to be established as a principle, that absolute toleration is an obligation on all governments. This proposition is contrary to sound religious doctrines, to reason, to the practice of all governments, in all times and countries, and the good sense of mankind. The talent and eloquence of the unfortunate author have not availed against this, and the Pope has obtained the most solemn assent of all sensible men of all creeds; while the man of genius, covering his brow with the shades of obstinacy, has not feared to seize upon the ignoble arms of sophistry. Unhappy genius! who scarcely preserves a shadow of himself, who has folded up the splendid wings on which he sailed through the azure sky, and now, like a bird of evil omen, broods over the impure waters of a solitary lake.

Note 26, p. 219.

When speaking of the Spanish Inquisition, I do not undertake to defend all its acts either in point of justice, or of the public advantage. Without denying the peculiar circumstances in which this institution was placed, I think that it would have done much better, after the example of the Inquisition of Rome, to avoid as much as possible the effusion of blood. It might have perfectly watched over the preservation of the faith, prevented the evils wherewith religion was threatened by the Moors and the Jews, and preserved Spain from Protestantism, without employing that excessive rigor, which drew upon it the severe and deserved reprimands and admonitions of the Sovereign Pontiffs, provoked the complaints of the people, made so many accused and condemned persons appeal to Rome, and furnished the adversaries of Catholicity with a pretext for charging that religion with being sanguinary which has a horror of the effusion of blood. I repeat, that the Catholic religion is not responsible for any of the excesses which have been committed in her name; and when men speak of the Inquisition, they ought not to fix their eyes principally on that of Spain, but on that of Rome. There, where the Sovereign Pontiff resides, and where they best understand how the principle of intolerance should be understood, and what use ought to be made of it, the Inquisition has been mild and indulgent in the extreme. Rome is the part of the world where humanity has suffered the least for the sake of religion; and that, without the exception of any countries, either of those where the Inquisition has existed, or of those where it has been unknown; of those where Catholicity has been predominant, or where Protestantism has triumphed. This fact, which cannot be denied, should suffice to convince every sincere man what is the spirit of Catholicity in this matter.

I make these remarks in order to show my impartiality, to prove that I am not ignorant of evils, and that I do not hesitate to admit them wherever I find them. Notwithstanding this, I am desirous that the facts and the observations contained in the text, as well with respect to the Inquisition itself, and to the different epochs of its duration, as to the policy of the kings who founded and established it, shall not be forgotten. The same desire makes me transcribe here a few documents likely to throw a stronger light upon this important subject. In the first place, I will quote the preamble of the Pragmatic Sanction of the Catholic princes Ferdinand and Isabella, for the expulsion of the Jews; we there find stated in a few words, the outrages which the Jews inflicted on religion, and the dangers with which they threatened the state.

"Book viii. chap. 2, second law of the new Recopilacion. Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, at Granada, 30th March, 1492. Pragmatic Sanction.

"Having been informed that there existed in these kingdoms bad Christians, who judaized and apostatized from our holy Catholic faith, whereof the communication between the Jews and Christians was in great part the cause, we ordained, in the Cortes held by us in Toledo, in 1480, that the Jews in all the cities, towns, and other places of our kingdoms and lordships, should be confined in the Juiferies and places appointed for them to live and dwell in, hoping that this separation would serve as a remedy; we also provided and gave orders that an Inquisition should be appointed in our said kingdoms; which Inquisition, as you know, is and has been practised for more than twelve years, and has discovered a great number of delinquents, as is notorious. As we have been informed by the Inquisitors, and many other religious persons, lay and ecclesiastical, it is certain that great injury to the Christians had been and is the result of the participation, intercourse, and communication which they have had, and still have, with the Jews; it has been proved that the latter, by all the means in their power, constantly labor to subvert the faith of Christians, to withdraw them from our holy Catholic faith, to lead them away from it, to attract them, and to pervert them to their own noxious creed and opinions; instructing them in the ceremonies and observances of their own law; holding meetings to teach them what they ought to believe and observe according to that law; taking care to circumcise them and their children, giving them books in order to recite their prayers, teaching them the fasts which they ought to observe, assembling to read with them, teaching them the histories of their laws; notifying to them the Paschal times before they arrive, admonishing them as to what they ought to do and observe during those times; giving them, bringing for them, from their own homes, the bread of azimes, meats killed according to their ceremonies; instructing them as to the things from which they ought to abstain, in order to obey the law, as well in eating as in other things; persuading them, as far as they can, to adopt and keep the Law of Moses, and making them understand that no other law than that is true. All these things are certain from numerous testimonies, from the acknowledgments of the Jews themselves, and of those who have been perverted and deceived by them, which has inflicted great injury, detriment, and dishonor on our holy Catholic faith. Although we were already informed of these things from many quarters, and although we were aware that the real remedy for all these evils and inconveniences was to place an insurmountable barrier to the communication of the Jews with the Christians, and to banish the Jews from our kingdoms, we wished to be satisfied with enjoining them to quit all the cities, towns, and places of Andalusia, where it seemed that they had done the most mischief, believing that that would be enough to hinder those of the other cities, towns, and places of our kingdoms and lordships from doing and committing what has been mentioned. But being informed that this measure, as well as the acts of justice exercised on some of the Jews who were found guilty of these offences and crimes against our holy Catholic faith, do not suffice to remedy the evil thoroughly; for the purpose of obviating and abolishing so great an opprobrium, such an offence against the faith and the Christian religion, since it appears that the same Jews, with a fatal ardor, redouble their perverse attempts wherever they live and associate; wishing to suppress the occasion of offending more against our holy Catholic faith, as well on account of those persons whom it has pleased God up to this time to preserve, as of those who, after having fallen, have repented and returned to our holy mother the Church; wishing to prevent the offences which, on account of the weakness of our human nature, and the suggestions of the devil, which continually make war on us, might easily occur, if the principal cause of the evil were not removed by the expulsion of the Jews from our kingdoms; considering, besides, that when a great and detestable crime has been committed by some members of a college or university, it is reasonable that that college or that university should be dissolved and destroyed, that some may be punished on account of the others, and the lesser number on account of the greater; that those who pervert the good and virtuous mode of life of cities and towns, by a contagion which may injure others, may be banished from those towns; and that if it be allowed to act thus for other slight causes prejudicial to the state, there is still more reason to allow it for the greatest, the most dangerous, the most contagious of crimes, that which is in question: for all these reasons we, having consulted our Council, and taken the advice of some prelates," &c.

We are not now examining whether or not there is any exaggeration in these imputations against the Jews, although, according to all appearances, there must have been a great deal of foundation for them, in consequence of the situation in which the two rival nations were placed. Observe, besides, that if the preamble of the Pragmatic Sanction is silent with respect to a hundred accusations brought against the Jews by the generality of the people, the report of these crimes had not the less weight with the public; consequently, the situation of the Jews was aggravated in an extraordinary degree, and the princes were so much the more inclined to treat them with severity.

With respect to the mistrust with which the Moors and their descendants must have been regarded, besides the facts pointed out above, others might be related which show the disposition of men's minds to see in the presence of these men a permanent conspiracy against the Christians. Almost a century had elapsed since the conquest of Granada, and it was still feared that this kingdom might be the centre of plots contrived by the Moors against the Christians, the source of perfidious projects, and the place whence came the means of maltreating in all ways the defenceless persons upon our coasts.

Thus spoke Philip II. in 1567:

"Book viii. chap. 2, of the new Recopilacion.

"Law xx., which decrees severe punishments against the inhabitants of the kingdom of Granada who shall have hidden, received, or favored the Turks, Moors, or Jews, or given them intelligence, or corresponded with them.

"D. Philip II., Madrid, 10 December, 1567.

"Having been informed that, notwithstanding what has been ordained by us, as well by sea as by land, particularly for the kingdom of Granada, for the purpose of insuring the defence and security of our kingdoms, the Turks, Moors, and corsairs have already committed, and still commit, in the ports of this kingdom, on the coasts, in maritime places, and those bordering on the sea, robberies, misdeeds, injuries, and seizures of Christians; evils which are notorious, and which, it is said, have been, and are, committed with ease and security, by favor of the intercourse and understanding which the ravishers have had, and still have, with some of the inhabitants of the country, who give them intelligence, guide them, receive them, hide them, and lend them favor and assistance; some of them even going away with the Moors and Turks, leading away and carrying with them their wives, their children, their goods, Christian captives, and the things which they were able to ravish from the Christians; while other inhabitants of the same kingdom, who have participated in these projects, or have been acquainted with them, remain in the country, without having been or being punished; for it appears that measures are not executed with due severity, nor as completely, or with as much care as they ought to be: as, moreover, it seems very difficult to get accurate information, as it appears that even the justices and the judges, to whom it belongs to make inquiries and to punish, have displayed remissness and negligence in their employment;—this having been agitated and discussed in our Council, with the view of providing, as is proper in a thing of such great importance, for the service of God our Master, for our own and the public good; the thing having been consulted upon by us, it has been agreed that we ought to publish this present letter," &c.

Years passed away; the hatred between the two nations still endured; in spite of the numerous checks which the Mahometan race had received, the Christians were not satisfied. It was very probable that a nation who had suffered, and might still suffer, such great humiliations, would attempt to avenge them. It is also by no means difficult to believe in the reality of the conspiracies which were charged against the Moors. However this may be, the report of these conspiracies was general, and the government was seriously alarmed by them. Those who desire a proof of this, may read what Philip III. said, in 1609, in the law which expelled the Moriscoes.

"Book viii. chap. 2, of the new Recopilacion.

"Law xxv. By virtue of which the Moriscoes were banished from the kingdom: causes of this expulsion—means which were adopted for the execution of the measure.

"D. Philip III., Madrid, 9 December, 1609.

"For a long time it has been endeavored to save the Moriscoes in these kingdoms: the holy office of the Inquisition has inflicted divers punishments; numerous edicts of mercy have been granted; neither means nor diligence have been spared to instruct them in our holy faith, without being able to obtain the desired result, for none of them have been converted. On the contrary, their obstinacy has increased; the peril which threatens our kingdoms, if we keep the Moriscoes, has been represented to us by persons very well informed and full of the fear of God, who, thinking it proper that a prompt remedy should be applied to this evil, have represented to us that the delay might be charged upon our royal conscience, considering the grave offences which our Lord receives from that people. We have been assured that we might, without scruple, punish them in their lives and properties, since they were convicted by their continued offences of being heretics, apostates, and traitors of lèse-majesté divine and human. Although it would have been allowable to proceed against them with the rigor which their offences deserve, nevertheless, desiring to bring them back by means of mildness and mercy, I ordained, in the city and kingdom of Valencia, an assembly of the patriarchs, and other prelates and wise men, in order to ascertain what could be resolved upon and settled; but having learned that, at the very time they were engaged in remedying the evil, the Moriscoes of the said kingdom of Valencia, and of our other domains, continued to urge forward their pernicious projects; knowing, moreover, from correct and certain intelligence, that they had sent to treat at Constantinople with the Turks, and at Morocco with the king, Muley Fidon, in order that there might be sent into the kingdom of Spain the greatest number of forces possible to aid and assist them; being sure that there would be found in our kingdom more than 150,000 men, as good Moors as those from the coasts of Barbary, all ready to assist them with their lives and fortunes, whereby they were persuaded of the facility of the enterprise; knowing that the same treaties have been attempted with heretics and other princes our enemies: considering all that we have just said, and to fulfill the obligation which we are under of preserving and maintaining the holy Roman Catholic faith in our kingdoms, as well as the security, peace, and repose of the said kingdoms, with the counsel and advice of learned men, and others, very zealous for the service of God and for our own, we ordain that all the Moriscoes, inhabitants of these kingdoms, men, women, and children, of all conditions," &c.

I have said that the Popes labored, from the commencement, to soften the rigors of the Spanish Inquisition, sometimes by admonishing the kings and inquisitors, sometimes by giving the accused and condemned a right of appeal. The kings feared that the religious innovations would produce a public disturbance; I add, that their policy embarrassed the Popes, and prevented them from carrying as far as they would have wished their measures of mildness and indulgence. Among the other documents which support this assertion, I will cite one which proves the irritation of the Spanish kings at the assistance which the accused found at Rome.

"Book viii. chap. 3, law 2, of the new Recopilacion, enjoining persons condemned by the Inquisition, and absent from these kingdoms, not to return there under pain of death and losing their goods.

"D. Ferdinand and D. Isabella, at Saragossa, 2d August, 1498. Pragmatic Sanction.

"Some persons condemned as heretics by the Inquisition have absented themselves from our kingdoms, and have gone to other countries, where, by means of false reports and undue formalities, they have surreptitiously obtained exemptions, absolutions, mandates, securities, and other privileges, in order to be exempt from the condemnations and punishments which they had incurred, and to remain in their errors, which, nevertheless, does not prevent their attempting to return to these kingdoms, wherefore, wishing to extirpate so great an evil, we command these condemned persons not to be so bold as to return. Let them not return into our kingdoms and lordships, by any way, in any manner, for any cause or reason whatsoever, under pain of death and the loss of their goods; which punishment we will and ordain to be incurred by the act itself. One-third of the property shall be for the persons who shall have denounced, another for the courts, and the third for our exchequer. Whenever the said justices, in their own places and jurisdiction, shall know that any of the said persons are in any part of their jurisdiction, we order all and each of them, without exception, to go to the place where such persons are, without being otherwise called upon, to apprehend them forcibly and immediately, and without delay to execute, and cause to be executed, on them and their properties the punishments which we have appointed; and this notwithstanding all exemption, reconciliation, securities, and other privileges which they may have, these privileges, in the present case, and with respect to the said penalties, not availing them. We order them to do and accomplish this under pain of the loss and confiscation of all their property. The same penalty shall be incurred by all other persons who shall have hidden or received the said condemned persons, and who knowing that they were so, shall not have given information to our courts. We order all great men and councillors, and other persons of our kingdoms, to give favor and assistance to our courts, whenever it shall be demanded and required from them, to accomplish and execute what has been said above, under the penalties which the courts themselves shall appoint on this subject."

We see from this document, that, after the year 1498, things had reached such a point, that the kings attempted to maintain against every one all the rigor of the Inquisition, and that they were offended that the Popes interfered to soften it. It will be understood thereby whence proceeded the harshness with which the guilty were treated; and this shows us one of the causes which made the Inquisition sometimes use its power with excessive severity. Although it was not a mere instrument of the policy of kings, as some have said, the Inquisition felt more or less the influence of that policy; and we know that policy, when about to defeat an adversary, does not commonly display an excess of compassion. If the Spanish Inquisition had been at that time under the exclusive authority and direction of the Popes, it would have been infinitely milder and more moderate in its method of acting.

At that time the object ardently desired by the kings of Spain was, to obtain that the judgments of the Inquisition should be definitive in Spain, without appeal to Rome; Queen Isabella had expressly demanded this of the Pope. The Sovereign Pontiffs would not accede to these solicitations, no doubt fearing the abuse which might be made of so fearful an arm when the restraint of the moderating power should become wanting.

It will be understood from the facts which I have just quoted, how much reason I had to say that, if you excuse the conduct of Ferdinand and Isabella with respect to the Inquisition, you must not condemn that of Philip II., since the Catholic sovereigns showed themselves still more harsh and severe than the latter monarch. I have already pointed out the reason why the conduct of Philip II. has been so rigorously condemned; but it is also necessary to show why there has been a sort of obstinacy in excusing that of Ferdinand and Isabella.

When it is wished to falsify an historical fact by calumniating a person or an institution, it is necessary to begin with an affectation of impartiality and good faith; great success is obtained in this by manifesting indulgence for the same thing which it is desired to condemn, but taking care that this indulgence has strongly the appearance of being a concession gratuitously made to our adversaries, or of a sacrifice of our opinions, of our feelings, on the altars of reason and justice, which are our guide and our idol. We thus predispose our hearers or readers to regard the condemnation which we are about to pronounce as a judgment dictated by the strictest justice; a judgment in which neither passion, nor partiality, nor perverse views, have any part. How can we doubt the good faith, the love of truth, the impartiality of the man who begins by excusing what, according to all appearances, and considering his opinions, ought to be the object of his anathemas? Such is the situation of the men of whom we speak. They intended to attack the Inquisition; now it happened that the protectress, and, in some sort, the foundress of that tribunal was Queen Isabella,—that distinguished name which Spaniards have always pronounced with respect, that immortal queen, one of the noblest ornaments of our history. What was to be done in this difficulty? The means were simple. Although the Jews and heretics had been treated with the greatest severity in the time of the Catholic sovereigns, and although they had carried severity further than all those who have succeeded them, it was necessary to close the eye to these facts, to excuse the conduct of these sovereigns, and to point out the important matters which urged them to employ the rigors of justice. They thus avoided the difficulty,—for it was one to cast a stigma on the memory of a great queen cherished and respected by all Spaniards,—and they thus prepared the way for merciless accusations against Philip II. That monarch had the unanimous cry of all Protestants against him, for the simple reason that he had been their most powerful adversary; it would therefore cost nothing to make all the weight of execration fall upon him. The enigma is thus explained. Such is the cause of a partiality so unjust,—such is the hypocrisy of that opinion which, while excusing the Catholic sovereigns, condemns Philip II. without appeal.