WebSadhu

Here I cannot forbear observing a fact, which may be worth the
attention of such as make human nature the object of their enquiry.
It is certain, that, in every religion, however sublime the verbal
definition which it gives of its divinity, many of the votaries,
perhaps the greatest number, will still seek the divine favour, not
by virtue and good morals, which alone can be acceptable to a
perfect being, but either by frivolous observances, by intemperate
zeal, by rapturous extasies, or by the belief of mysterious and
absurd opinions. The least part of the , as well as of the
, consists in precepts of morality; and we may also be
assured, that that part was always the least observed and regarded.
When the old ROMANS were attacked with a pestilence, they never
ascribed their sufferings to their vices, or dreamed of repentance
and amendment. They never thought, that they were the general
robbers of the world, whose ambition and avarice made desolate the
earth, and reduced opulent nations to want and beggary. They only
created a dictator, in order to drive a nail into a door; and by
that means, they thought that they had sufficiently appeased their
incensed deity.

In AE/GINA\, one faction forming a conspiracy, barbarously and
treacherously assassinated seven hundred of their fellow- citizens;
and carried their fury so far, that, one miserable fugitive having
fled to the temple, they cut off his hands, by which he clung to the
gates, and carrying him out of holy ground, immediately murdered
him. , says H/ERODOTUS\,[94] (not by the other many
cruel assassinations)
inexpiable guilt>.

Nay, if we should suppose, what never happens, that a popular
religion were found, in which it was expressly declared, that
nothing but morality could gain the divine favour; if an order of
priests were instituted to inculcate this opinion, in daily sermons,
and with all the arts of persuasion; yet so inveterate are the
people's prejudices, that, for want of some other superstition, they
would make the very attendance on these sermons the essentials of
religion, rather than place them in virtue and good morals. The
sublime prologue of Z/ALEUCUS'S\ laws[95] inspired not the
L/OCRIANS\, so far as we can learn, with any sounder notions of the
measures of acceptance with the deity, than were familiar to the
other G/REEKS\.

This observation, then, holds universally: But still one may be
at some loss to account for it. It is sufficient to observe, that
the people, every where, degrade their deities into a similitude
with themselves, and consider them merely as a species of human
creatures, somewhat more potent and intelligent. This will not
remove the difficulty. For there is no man so stupid, as that,
judging by his natural reason, he would not esteem virtue and
honesty the most valuable qualities, which any person could possess.
Why not ascribe the same sentiment to his deity? Why not make all
religion, or the chief part of it, to consist in these attainments?

Nor is it satisfactory to say, that the practice of morality is
more difficult than that of superstition; and is therefore rejected.
For, not to mention the excessive pennances of the and
; it is certain, that the of the T/URKS\,
during which the poor wretches, for many days, often in the hottest
months of the year, and in some of the hottest climates of the
world, remain without eating or drinking from the rising to the
setting sun; this , I say, must be more severe than the
practice of any moral duty, even to the most vicious and depraved of
mankind. The four lents of the M/USCOVITES\, and the austerities of
some , appear more disagreeable than meekness and
benevolence. In short, all virtue, when men are reconciled to it by
ever so little practice, is agreeable: All superstition is for ever
odious and burthensome.

Perhaps, the following account may be received as a true
solution of the difficulty. The duties, which a man performs as a
friend or parent, seem merely owing to his benefactor or children;
nor can he be wanting to these duties, without breaking through all
the ties of nature and morality. A strong inclination may prompt him
to the performance: A sentiment of order and moral obligation joins
its force to these natural ties: And the whole man, if truly
virtuous, is drawn to his duty, without any effort or endeavour.
Even with regard to the virtues, which are more austere, and more
founded on reflection, such as public spirit, filial duty,
temperance, or integrity; the moral obligation, in our apprehension,
removes all pretension to religious merit; and the virtuous conduct
is deemed no more than what we owe to society and to ourselves. In
all this, a superstitious man finds nothing, which he has properly
performed for the sake of this deity, or which can peculiarly
recommend him to the divine favour and protection. He considers not,
that the most genuine method of serving the divinity is by promoting
the happiness of his creatures. He still looks out for some more
immediate service of the supreme Being, in order to allay those
terrors, with which he is haunted. And any practice, recommended to
him, which either serves to no purpose in life, or offers the
strongest violence to his natural inclinations; that practice he
will the more readily embrace, on account of those very
circumstances, which should make him absolutely reject it. It seems
the more purely religious, because it proceeds from no mixture of
any other motive or consideration. And if, for its sake, he
sacrifices much of his ease and quiet, his claim of merit appear
still to rise upon him, in proportion to the zeal and devotion which
he discovers. In restoring a loan, or paying a debt, his divinity is
nowise beholden to him; because these acts of justice are what he
was bound to perform, and what many would have performed, were there
no god in the universe. But if he fast a day, or give himself a
sound whipping; this has a direct reference, in his opinion, to the
service of God. No other motive could engage him to such
austerities. By these distinguished marks of devotion, he has now
acquired the divine favour; and may expect, in recompence,
protection and safety in this world, and eternal happiness in the
next.

Hence the greatest crimes have been found, in many instances,
compatible with a superstitious piety and devotion: Hence, it is
justly regarded as unsafe to draw any certain inference in favour of
a man's morals from the fervour or strictness of his religious
exercises, even though he himself believe them sincere. Nay, it has
been observed, that enormities of the blackest dye have been rather
apt to produce superstitious terrors, and encrease the religious
passion. B/OMILCAR\, having formed a conspiracy for assassinating at
once the whole senate of C/ARTHAGE\, and invading the liberties of
his country, lost the opportunity, from a continual regard to omens
and prophecies. dangerous enterprizes are commonly the most superstitious>; as an
ancient historian[96] remarks on this occasion. Their devotion and
spiritual faith rise with their fears. C/ATILINE\ was not contented
with the established deities, and received rites of the national
religion: His anxious terrors made him seek new inventions of this
kind;[97] which he never probably had dreamed of, had he remained a
good citizen, and obedient to the laws of his country.

To which we may add, that, after the commission of crimes,
there arise remorses and secret horrors, which give no rest to the
mind, but make it have recourse to religious rites and ceremonies,
as expiations of its offences. Whatever weakens or disorders the
internal frame promotes the interests of superstition: And nothing
is more destructive to them than a manly, steady virtue, which
either preserves us from disastrous, melancholy accidents, or
teaches us to bear them. During such calm sunshine of the mind,
these spectres of false divinity never make their appearance. On the
other hand, while we abandon ourselves to the natural undisciplined
suggestions of our timid and anxious hearts, every kind of barbarity
is ascribed to the supreme Being, from the terrors with which we are
agitated; and every kind of caprice, from the methods which we
embrace in order to appease him. ; these
qualities, however nominally disguised, we may universally observe,
form the ruling character of the deity in popular religions. Even
priests, instead of correcting these depraved ideas of mankind, have
often been found ready to foster and encourage them. The more
tremendous the divinity is represented, the more tame and submissive
do men become to his ministers: And the more unaccountable the
measures of acceptance required by him, the more necessary does it
become to abandon our natural reason, and yield to their ghostly
guidance and direction. Thus it may be allowed, that the artifices
of men aggravate our natural infirmities and follies of this kind,
but never originally beget them. Their root strikes deeper into the
mind, and springs from the essential and universal properties of
human nature.