But consider thought! say those who understand the whole secret. Thought, which distinguishes man from all animals besides!

Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altæ.

OVID'S Metamorph. book i. 76.

More holy man, of more exalted mind!

As holy as you like; it is on this subject, that of thought or mind, that Diafoirus is more triumphant than ever. All would reply in accordance with him,—

..

Quia est in, eo virtus pensativa quæ facit pensare." No one will ever develope the mysterious process by which he thinks.

The case we are considering, then, might be extended to everything in nature. I know not whether there may not be found in this profound and unfathomable gulf of mystery, an evidence of the existence of a supreme being. There is a secret in the originating or conservatory principles of all beings, from a pebble on the sea-shore to Saturn's Ring and the Milky Way. But how can there be a secret which no one knows? It would seem that some being must exist who can develope all.

Some learned men, with a view to enlighten our ignorance, tell us that we must form systems; that we shall thus at last find the secret out. But we have so long sought without obtaining any explanation, that disgust against farther search has very naturally succeeded. That, say they, is the mere indolence of philosophy: no; it is the rational repose of men who have exerted themselves and run an active race in vain. And after all it must be admitted, that indolent philosophy is far preferable to turbulent divinity and metaphysical delusion.

FAITH.

SECTION I.

WHAT is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme and intelligent being. This

is no matter of faith, but of reason. I have no merit in thinking that this eternal and infinite being, whom I consider as virtue, as goodness itself, is desirous that I should be good and virtuous. Faith consists in believing, not what seems true but what seems false to our understanding. The Asiatics can only by faith believe the journey of Mahomet to the seven planets, and the incarnations of the god Fo, of Vishnoo, Xaca, Brama, and Sommonocodom, &c. &c. They submit their understandings; they tremble to examine: wishing to avoid being either impaled or burnt, they say,→ "I believe."

We do not here intend the slightest allusion to the catholic faith. Not only do we revere it, but we possess it. We speak of the false lying faith of other nations of the world, of that faith which is not faith, and which consists only in words.

There is a faith for things that are merely astonishing and prodigious, and a faith for things contradictory and impossible.

Vishnoo became incarnate five hundred times; this is extremely astonishing, but it is not however physically impossible; for if Vishnoo possesses a soul, he may have transferred that soul into five hundred different bodies, with a view to his own felicity. The Indian, indeed, has not a very lively faith; he is not intimately and decidedly persuaded of these metamorphoses; but he will nevertheless say to his bonze, "I have faith; it is your will and pleasure that Vishnoo has undergone five hundred incarnations, which is worth to you an income of five hundred rupees: very well; you will inveigh against me, and denounce me, and ruin my trade if I have not faith; but I have faith, and here are ten rupees over and above for you." The Indian may swear to the bonze that, he believes, without taking a false oath; for, after all, there is no demonstration that Vishnoo has not actually made five hundred visits to India.

But if the bonze requires him to believe what is contradictory or impossible, as that two and two make

five, or that the same body may be in a thousand different places, or that to be and not to be are precisely one and the same thing; in that case, if the Indian says he has faith, he lies; and if he swears that he believes, he commits perjury. He says, therefore, to the bonze, "My reverend father, I cannot declare that I believe in these absurdities, even though they should be worth to you an income of ten thousand rupees instead of five hundred.”

66

My son," the bonze answers, "give me twenty rupees, and God will give you grace to believe all that you now do not believe."

I am

"But how can you expect or desire," rejoins the Indian, "that God should do that by me which he cannot do even by himself? It is impossible that God should either perform or believe contradictions. very willing to say, in order to give you satisfaction, that I believe what is obscure, but I cannot say that I believe what is impossible. It is the will of God that we should be virtuous, and not that we should be absurd. I have already given you ten rupees; here are twenty more; believe in thirty rupees; be an honest man if you can, and do not trouble me any more."

It is not thus with Christians. The faith which they have for things which they do not understand is founded upon that which they do understand; they have grounds of credibility. Jesus Christ performed miracles in Galilee; we ought therefore to believe all that he said. In order to know what he said, we must consult the church. The church has declared the books which announce Jesus Christ to us to be authentic. We ought therefore to believe those books. Those books inform us, that he who will not listen to the church shall be considered as a tax-gatherer or a pagan; we ought therefore to listen to the church, that we may not be disgraced and hated like the farmers-general. We ought to submit our reason to it, not with infantile and blind credulity, but with a docile faith, such as reason itself would authorise. Such is christian faith, particularly the Roman faith, which is "the faith" par

VOL. III.

P

excellence. The Lutheran, Calvinistic, or Anglican faith, is a wicked faith.*

SECTION II.

Divine faith, about which so much has been written, is evidently nothing more than incredulity brought under subjection; for we certainly have no other faculty than the understanding by which we can believe; and the objects of faith are not those of the understanding. We can believe only what appears to be true; and nothing can appear true but in one of the three following ways:-by intuition or feeling, as I exist, I see the sun; or by an accumulation of probability amounting to certainty, as there is a city called Constantinople; or by positive demonstration, as triangles of the same base and height are equal.

Faith, therefore, being nothing at all of this description, can no more be a belief, a persuasion, than it can be yellow or red. It can be nothing but the annihilation of reason, a silence of adoration at the contemplation of things absolutely incomprehensible. Thus, speaking philosophically, no person believes the Trinity; no person believes that the same body can be in a thousand places at once; and he who says, I believe these mysteries, will see, beyond the possibility of doubt, if he reflects for a moment on what passes in his mind, that these words mean no more than, I respect these mysteries; I submit myself to those who announce them. For they agree with me, that my reason, or their own reason, believe them not; but it is clear that if my reason is not persuaded, I am not persuaded. I and my reason cannot possibly be two different beings. It is an absolute contradiction that I should receive that as true which my understanding rejects as false. Faith, therefore, is nothing but submissive or deferential incredulity.

But why should this submission be exercised when

The humble docility of Voltaire was astonishing, and scarcely exceeded by that of Fenelon!-T.

my understanding invincibly recoils? The reason, we well know, is, that my understanding has been persuaded that the mysteries of my faith are laid down by God himself. All then that I can do, as a reasonable being, is to be silent and adore. This is what divines call external faith; and this faith neither is, nor can be, anything more than respect for things incomprehensible, in consequence of the reliance I place on those who teach them.

If God himself were to say to me, "Thought is of an olive colour;""the square of a certain number is bitter;" I should certainly understand nothing at all from these words. I could not adopt them either as true or false. But I will repeat them, if he commands me to do it; and I will make others repeat them at the risk of my life. This is faith: it is nothing more than obedience.

In order to obtain a foundation then for this obedience, it is merely necessary to examine the books which require it. Our understanding, therefore, should investigate the books of the Old and New Testament, just as it would Plutarch or Livy; and if it finds in them incontestible and decisive evidences,-evidences obvious to all minds, and such as would be admitted by men of all nations,-that God himself is their author, then it is our incumbent duty to subject our understanding to the yoke of faith.

SECTION III.

We have long hesitated whether or not to publish the following article, "Faith," which we met with in an old book. Our respect for the chair of St. Peter restrained us. But some pious men having satisfied us that Alexander VI. and St. Peter had nothing in common, we have at last determined to publish this curious little production, and do it without the slightest scruple.

Prince Pica de Mirandola once met Pope Alexander VI. at the house of the courtezan Emilia, while Lucretia, the holy father's daughter, was confined in childbirth, and the people of Rome were discussing whether