Turgot proposed to the King of France to omit a clause in the King's oath, which pledged him to “ exterminer les hérétiques "

Malesherbes supported Turgot. Louis wished to make the alteration; but Maurepas prevailed upon him not to do so. "Le Roi ceda. Il ne changea

pas la formule du serment, mais il ne prononça pas "les paroles, qui répugnaient à son humanité. Il y

66

'suppléa, d'une voix basse et en rougissant, quelques "mots inentelligibles. Le procés fut conforme à celui "du règne précédent" *

It has been asked by a great author-" What "does it signify, whether you deny a God or speak "ill of him?" A question well answered by another sage, when he declares, "I would rather men "should say, that there never was such a man as "Plutarch, than that Plutarch, was an ill-natured, "mischievous fellow"

A most affecting instance of a contrary way of thinking is found in the pious poet Cowper's belief that "somewhere in infinite space there is a world

* Vie de Turgot, p. 220.

"beyond the province of mercy" and that he himself had been selected as an example of the Almighty's sovereign power and indisputable right "to do what "he pleased with his creatures" in dooming him to everlasting misery, though not the very worst of human beings. Perhaps there is not another known case of so heart-rending an illusion.

Yet Bigotry is just as amiable and as respectable in her indulgences as in her severities, in her partialities as in her persecutions. She deified most of the Roman emperors, and she has graced the calendar of saints with the names of many disgusting fools and villains.

The Scythians reasoned well when pursued by the would-be son of Jupiter Ammon, that "he who "did so much harm to men could not be divine" Their inference, however, has been carried too far by the African people, who were of opinion that "God "is too good to require that his creatures should pray "to him for blessings " and therefore they worshipped only the evil spirits.

There can be no reasonable doubt that it is better

to believe too much than too little, since, as Boswell observes, (most probably in Johnson's words),

66 a

man may breathe in foul air, but he must die "in an exhausted receiver'

Much of the scepticism that we meet with is necessarily affectation or conceit, for it is as likely that the ignorant, weak, and indolent, should become mathematicians as reasoning unbelievers. Patient study and perfect impartiality must precede rational conviction, whether ending in faith or in doubt. Need it be asked how many are capable of such an examination? But whether men come honestly by their opinions or not, it is more advisable, though less easy, to refute than to burn, or even to scorch them.

Galileo would not have been persecuted, could he have been answered; and Sir William Jones tells us that, even now, the Bramins require a man to be punished who overpowers them in argument.

ON THE PASSIONS.

I HAVE heard that a gentleman, to whom an estate had been bequeathed, called up his servants and addressed them thus: "Ladies and gentlemen! "I hope you will have the goodness to remember "that I have got only one more estate, of one "thousand pounds per annum, and I beg that every one of you will not be spending at that rate”

66

Something like this should be said to our different appetites, for the consequence of freely indulging all, would be ruinous to body, mind, and fortune. Yet each must be moderately satisfied, since gratifying one alone would be like giving food to a single head of Cerberus, making the others only more

voracious.

Such, notwithstanding, is the complicated constitution of human nature, that a man, without a predominant inclination, is not likely to be either useful or happy.

"Chrysologue est tout et n'est rien"

He who

is every thing is nothing, is as true of our sensitive as of our intellectual nature. He is rather a bundle

of little likings than a compact and energetic individual. A strong desire soon subdues all the weaker, and rules us with the united force of all that it subjugates.

Vivid perceptions and intense feelings have, sometimes, a sort of fascination, compelling us to rush headlong into danger: as in the delirious giddiness caused by looking down a frightful precipice. Action so commonly follows lively sensation that the habit becomes inveterate and, now and then, irresistible, even when certainly fatal. Any desire, suffered to rule uncontrolled, quickly gains this terrible ascendancy and even madness itself is, sometimes, only outrageous selfishness.

Such being the force of human feelings, it must embitter our daily lives if our employments are unsuited to our talents and wishes; yet, how few, alas! are so fortunate as to be gaining either wealth or fame while gratifying an inclination.