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tames of Voltaire ' s works , and whose negative creed is therein contained . These are the upholders of the sensa * tion system of Coudillac , and of the intirtt bien entendu of Helvetius . They are not much given , however , to moral or philosophical discussion ; such matters , accordiug to them , having been irrevocably decided by the great nieu of
the eighteenth century , whom they worship . The grave and unwieldy weapons of serious argument they have almost resigned , and appear no longer but as light troops , flinging their javelins of wit upon their enemies . They deal in epigram , bon ~ mot , and repartee \ are fond of irony : and , as they have been long used to the rule of despotism , none
know better than they how to hide satire in an allegory , or to veil it in an allusion . They are old contrebandiers in adroitly introducing their illicit sarcasms and attacks , despite the douaniers of the censorship . In this consists their principal merit . In other respects they have become antiquated , and have lost all hold on the public mind , which has at
last begun to perceive the inconsistency of an attachment at once to liberty and to Bonaparte . This latter was , and still remains , their god . They are still full of the inflated style of the republic and the empire ; still love the grandeur aud the imposing , invoke la patrie and le peuple Frangais , on all solemn occasions : they think patriotism to consist in national self-flattery of the grossest kind , and in illiberality and contempt towards foreign
nations . At the very name of religion they smile , and scoff of course all idea of its resurrection . Their everlasting sneer , however , has growii stale , in the way of argument , and passes no longer current as before . While , with respect to their other great principle , the general ebb of sympathy and admiration from the memory of Napoleon has left them aground and cast away upon a desert shore .
** The second class is composed of the religionists ; those who seek to restore the people to their lost faith , and that , as it would appear , not so much with a view towards the safety of their souls , as to ensure the tranquillity of the state . I have read some of the most eloquent
works , written by this class to forward their project of restoring the culte , and , do you know , I have been surprised by the want of bigotry which marks them , and , at the same time , the want of true religious enthusiasm . Religion seems with them to be a nostrum , most bene-
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ficial to the moral and political health of the living species . It prevents crime , more especially that against the state ; it fills the mind with wholesome terrors of an invincible ' s vicegerent , a king by divine right . It renders a people mild , submissive , conteuted ; and being
of lighter specific gravity than any of the other opinions which are apt to agitate and mingle with folks' thoughts , it floats over all , and , like oil on the surface of the waters , it presses down their agitation , and stills all undue propensity to motion .
" These seem to be the advantages Which they promise and which they preach . Of immortality to be earned , of bliss iti after-life , or of future rewards and punishments , they make slight mention . Those , which with our
missionaries would be all in all , with them is but in second rank . Of course they suit their arguments to their super-rational age . And with such they may gain from some a condescending admission of the use of religion , but a true convert to its spirit they will never make .
** The conversion of the risen generation was a task hopeless to them . They have abandoned it , and confined their views to the monopoly of education , resolving that the next race at least should not escape them . The scheme might neither have been pernicious nor blameable , had it been fairly and openly conducted . But by making use of the
renovated sect of the Jesuits to effect this , aud by bringing the strong hand of the government to support them , the public were disgusted , irritated , and frighted into opposition ; and this scheme , like so many others , has of late fallen to the ground from the want of moderation , of honesty and prudence , in the means of promoting it .
" The remaiuitig class is that of the youth and young manhood of the day , uninfluenced by recollections either of the empire or of the ancient regime , and discoursing alike on religion and materialism . They are spirits full of enthusiasm , full of candour , full of eagerness after the truth , unbiassed , and as yet undecided . Placed betwixt two extreme and
conflicting parties , holding a kind of medium between them , they have at once felt the strength of this neutral position , aud perceived that by keeping aloof , they can be always ready and able to bring succour to that party which is most oppressed , or which promises better for liberty of thought , and the welfare of the species . As it is , however , impossible
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564 Critical Notices
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1828, page 564, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2563/page/52/
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