Secret
associations
teach
us what is the power of number and of
union, while insulated citizens are, if we
may use the expression, abstract beings with
relation to each other.
us what is the power of number and of
union, while insulated citizens are, if we
may use the expression, abstract beings with
relation to each other.
Madame de Stael - Germany
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl.
handle.
net/2027/hvd.
32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? or PAIN.
349
"be condemned upon this earth to drink
"that empoisoned cup, the treachery of a
"friend. If it is so, I lament your fate:
"the Divinity himself laments it, while he
"punishes you. But do not revolt against
"his blows; still love, although love has
"distracted your heart. In the most pro-
"found solitude, in the cruellest isolation,
"we must not suffer the source of the de-
44 voted affections to be dried up within us.
"For a long while it was not believed that
"God could be loved as we love those who
"resemble ourselves. A voice which answers
"us, looks which are interchanged with our
"own, appear full of life, while the immense
"Heaven is silent, but by degrees the soul
"exalts itself even to feel its God near it as
"a friend.
"My son, we ought to pray as we
"love, by mingling prayer with all our
"thoughts; we ought to pray, for then we
"are no more alone; and when resignation
"shall descend softly into your heart, turn
"your eyes upon nature; it might be said,
"that every one there finds again his past
"life, when no traces of it exist among
"men. I think of your regrets as well as
"your pleasures, when you contemplate
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 350 RELIGION AXD ENTHUSIASM.
"those clouds, sometimes dark and some-
"times brilliant, which the wind scatters;
"and whether death has snatched your
"friends from you, or life, still more cruel,
"has broken asunder your bonds of union
"with them, you will perceive in the stars
"their deified images; they will appear to
"you such as you will see them again here-
"after. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THEOSOPHIST PHILOSOPHERS. S51
CHAPTER VII.
Of the religious Philosophers called
Theosophists.
When I gave an account of the modern
philosophy of the Germans, I endeavoured to
trace the line of demarcation between that
philosophy which attempts to penetrate the
secrets of the universe, and that which is
confined to an inquiry into the nature of our
own souls. The same distinction may be
remarked among religious writers; those of
whom I have already spoken in the pre-
ceding chapters have kept to the influence of
religion upon our hearts; others, such as
Jacob Boehmen in Germany, St. Martin in
France, and very many more, have believed,
that they found in the relation of Chris-
tianity mysterious words, which might serve
to develope the laws of creation. We
must confess, when Ave begin to think, it is
difficult to stop; and whether reflection
leads to scepticism or to the most universal
faith, we are sometimes tempted to pass
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 352 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM*
whole hours, like the Faquirs, in asking
ourselves what is life? Far from despising
those who are thus devoured by contempla-
tion, we cannot help considering them as
the true lords of the human species, in
whose presence those who exist without re-
flection, are only vassals attached to the soil.
But how can we flatter ourselves with the
hope of giving any consistency to these
thoughts, which, like flashes of lightning,
plunge themselves again into darkness, after
having for a moment thrown an uncertain
brilliance upon surrounding objects?
It may, however, be interesting to point
out the principal direction of the systems of
the Theosophists; that is to say, of those
religious philosophers who have always ex-
isted in Germany from the establishment of
Christianity, and particularly since the re-
vival of letters. The greater part of the
Greek philosophers have built the system of
the world upon the action of the elements;
and if we except Pythagoras and Plato, who
derived from the East their tendency to
idealism, the thinking men of antiquity ex-
plain all the organization of the universe by
physical laws. Christianity, by lighting up
the internal life in the breast of man, na-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THEOSOPHIST PHILOSOPHERS. 353
turally excited the mind to exaggerate its
power over the body. The abuses to which
the most pure doctrines are subject, have in-
troduced visions and white magic (that is to
say, the magic which attributes to the will of
man the power of acting upon the elements
without the intervention of infernal spirits),
all the whimsical reveries, in short, which
spring from the conviction that the soul is
more powerful than nature. The sects of
Alchymists, of Magnetizers, and of the Illu-
minated, are almost all supported upon this
ascendancy of the will, which they carry
much too far, but which, nevertheless, in
some manner, belongs to the moral gran-
deur of man.
Not only has Christianity, by affirming the
spiritual nature of the soul, led them to be-
lieve the unlimited power of religious or phi-
losophical faith, but revelation has seemed,
to some men, a continual miracle, which is
capable of being renewed for every one of
them; and some have sincerely believed,
that a supernatural power of divination was
granted them, and that truths were mani-
fested in them, to which they testified more
clearly than the inventors.
The most famous of these religious philo-
VOL. III. A A
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 354 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
sophers was Jacob Boehmen, who lived at
the beginning of the seventeenth century:
he made so much noise in his time, that
Charles the First sent a person express to
Gorlitz, the place of his abode, to study hia
work, and bring it back to England. Some
of his writings have been translated into
French by Monsieur de St. Martin; they are
very difficult to comprehend; nevertheless,
we cannot but be astonished that a man
without cultivation of mind should have
gone so far in the study of nature. He con-
siders it in general as an emblem of the prin-
cipal doctrines of Christianity; he fancies he
sees every where, in the phenomena of the
world, traces of the fall of man, and of his
regeneration; the effects of the principle of
anger, and of that of pity; and while the
Greek philosophers attempted to explain the
world, by the mixture of the elements of
air, water, and fire, Jacob Boehmen only
admits the combination of moral forces, and
has recourse to passages of the Gospel to in-
terpret the universe.
In whatever manner we consider those
singular writings, which for two hundred
years have always found readers, or rather
adepts, we cannot avoid remarking the two
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THEOSOPHlST PHILOSOPHERS. 855
opposite roads which are followed, in order
to arrive at the truth, by the spiritual philo-
sophers, and by the philosophers of mate-
rialism. The former imagine, that it is by
divesting ourselves of all impressions from
without, and by plunging into the ecstacy
of thought, that we can interpret nature.
The latter pretend, that we cannot too much
guard against enthusiasm and imagination in
our inquiry into the phenomena of the uni-
verse. They would seem to say, that the
human understanding must be freed from
matter or from mind to comprehend nature,
while it is in the mysterious union of these
two that the secret of existence consists.
Some learned men in Germany assert, that
we find, in the works of Jacob Boehmen,
very profound views upon the physical world.
We may say, at least, that there is as much
originality in the theories of the religious
philosophers concerning creation, as in those
of Thales, of Xenophon, of Aristotle, of
Descartes, and Leibnitz. The Theosophists
declare, that what they think, has been re-
vealed to them, while philosophers, in ge-
neral, believe they are solely conducted by
their own reason. But, as both one and the
other aspire to know the mystery of mys-
AA %
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 356 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
teries, of what signification, at this high
point, are the words of reason and folly?
and why disgrace with the name of insensate
persons those who believe they find great
lights in their exaltation of mind? It is a
movement of the soul of a very remarkable
nature, and which assuredly has not been
conferred upon us only for the sake of op-
posing it.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? STIRIT OF SECTARISM. 357
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Spirit of Sectarism in Germany.
The habit of meditation leads us to reveries
of every kind upon human destiny; active
life alone can divert our interest from the
source of things; but all that is grand or
absurd in respect to ideas is the result of that
internal emotion which we cannot expend
upon external objects. Many people are
very angry with religious or philosophical
sects, and give them the name of follies,
and of dangerous follies. It appears to me
that the wanderings even of thought are
much less to be feared than the absence of
thought, in respect to the repose and mo-
rality of men. When we have not within
ourselves that power of reflection which sup-
plies material activity, we must be inces-
santly in action, and frequently at random.
The fanaticism of ideas has sometimes led,
it is true, to violent actions, but it has al-
most always been because the advantages
of this world have been sought for by the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 358 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
aid of abstract opinions. Metaphysical sys-
tems are very little to be feared in them-
selves; they do not become dangerous till
they are united to the interests of ambition,
and it is therefore upon these interests that
we must gain a hold, if we wish to modify
such systems; but men who are capable
of a lively attachment to an opinion, inde-
pendently of the results which it may have,
are always of a noble nature. The philoso-
phical and religious sects, which, under dif-
ferent names, have existed in Germany, have
hardly had any connexion with political
affairs; and the sort of talent necessary to
lead men to vigorous resolutions, has been
rarely manifested in this country. We may
dispute upon the philosophy of Kant, upon
theological questions, uporf idealism or em-
piricism, without producing any thing but
books. The spirit of sect and the spirit of
party differ in many points. The spirit of
party represents opinions by that which is
most prominent about them, in order to
make the vulgar understand them; and the
spirit of sect, particularly in Germany, al-
ways leads to what is most abstract. In the
spirit of party we must seize the points of
view taken by the multitude to place our*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARI8M. 359
selves among them; the Germans only think
of Theory, and if she was to lose herself in
the clouds, they would follow her there.
The spirit of party stirs up certain common
passions in men which unite them in a mass.
The Germans subdivide every thing by
means of distinction and comment. They
have a philosophical sincerity singularly
adapted to the inquiry after Truth, but not
at all to the art of putting her into action.
The spirit of sect aspires only to convince;
that of party wishes to rally men round it.
The former disputes about ideas, the latter
wishes for power over men. There is dis-
cipline in the party spirit, and anarchy in
the sectarian spirit. Authority, of whatever
kind it may be, has hardly any thing to fear
from the spirit of, sectarism; we satisfy it by
leaving a great latitude for thought at its dis-
posal. But the spirit of party is not so easily
contented, and does not confine itself to
these intellectual contests, in which every
individual may create an empire for himself
without expelling one present possessor.
In France, they are much more suscep-
tible of the party spirit than of the sectarian:
every one there too well understands the
reality of life, not to turn his wishes into
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 360 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
actions, and his thoughts into practice. But
perhaps they are too foreign from the secta-
rian spirit: they do not sufficiently hold to
abstract ideas, to have any warmth in de-
fending them; besides, they do not choose
to be bound by any sort of opinions, for the
purpose of advancing the more freely in the
face of all circumstances. There is more
good faith in the spirit of sect than in the
party spirit; the Germans, therefore, are
naturally more fitted for one than the other.
We must distinguish three sorts of reli-
gious and philosophical sects in Germany;
first, the different Christian communities
which have existed (particularly at the epoch
of the Reformation), when all writings have
been directed towards theological questions;
secondly, the secret associations; and lastly,
the adepts of some particular systems, of
which one man is the chief. We mubt range
the Anabaptists and the Moravians in the
first class; in the second, that most ancient
of secret associations, the Free Masons; and
in the third, the different sorts of the Illu-
minated. "'? .
The Anabaptists were rather a revolu-
tionary than a religious sect; and as they
owed their existence to political passions,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARISM. 361
and not to opinions, they passed away with
circumstances. The Moravians, entirely
strangers to the interests of this world, are,
as I have said, a Christian community of the
greatest purity. The Quakers carry into the
midst of society the principles of the Mora-
vians: the Moravians withdraw from the
world, to be the more sure of remaining
faithful to their principles.
Free-masonry is an institution much more
serious in Scotland and in Germany than in
France. It has existed in all countries; but
it nevertheless appears, that it was from
Germany especially that this association took
its origin; that it was afterwards transported
to England by the Anglo-Saxons, and re-
newed at the death of Charles the First by
the partisans of the Restoration, who assem-
bled somewhere near St. Paul's Church for
the purpose of recalling Charles the Second
to the throne. It is also believed that the Free
Masons, especially in Scotland, are, in some
manner,connected with theorderof Templars.
Lessing has written a dialogue upon Free-
masonry, in which his luminous genius is very
remarkable. He believes that this associa-
tion has for its object the union of men, in
spite of the barriers of society; for if, in
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 362 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
certain respects, the social state forms a bond
of connexion between men, by subjecting
them to the empire of the laws, it separates
them by the differences of rank and govern-
ment: this sort of brotherhood, the true
image of the golden age, has been mingled
with many other ideas equally good and
moral in Free-masonry. However, we cannot
dissemble that there is something in the na-
ture of secret associations which leads the
mind to independence; but these associations
are very favourable to the developement of
knowledge for every thing which men do by
themselves, and spontaneously gives their
judgment more strength and more compre-
hensiveness. It is also possible that the prin-
ciples of democratical equality ma}r be pro-
pagated by this species of institution, which
exhibits mankind according to their real
value, and not according to their several
ranks in the world.
Secret associations teach
us what is the power of number and of
union, while insulated citizens are, if we
may use the expression, abstract beings with
relation to each other. In this point of view
these associations may have a great influence
in the state; but it is, nevertheless, just to
acknowledge, that Free-masonry, in gene-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARI5M. 563
ral, is only occupied with religious and phi-
losophical interests: its members are di-
vided into two classes, the Philosophical
Free-masonry, and the Hermetic or Egyptian
Free-masonry. The first has for its object
the internal church, or the developement of
the spirituality of the soul; the second is con-
nected with the sciences--with those sci-
ences which are employed upon the secrets
of nature. The Rosicrucian brotherhood,
among others, is one of the degrees of
Free-masonry, and this brotherhood ori-
ginally consisted of Alchymists. At all times,
and in every country, secret association*
have existed, whose members have aimed at
mutually strengthening each other in their
belief of the soul's spirituality. The mys-
teries of Eleusis among the Pagans, the sect
of the Essenes among the Hebrews, were
founded upon this doctrine, which they did
not choose to profane by exposing it to the
ridicule of the vulgar. It is nearly thirty
years since there was an assembly of Free-
masons, presided over by the Duke of
Brunswick, at Wilhelms-Bad. This assembly
had for its object the reform of the Free
Masons in Germany; and it appears, that
tibe opinions of the Mystics in general, and
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 364 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
those of St. Martin in particular, had much
influence over this society. Political institu-
tions, social relations, and often even those
of our family, comprehend only the exterior
of life. It is then natural, that at all times
men should have sought some intimate man-
ner of knowing and understanding each
other, and also those whose characters have
any depth, believe they are adepts, and en-
deavour to distinguish themselves, by some
signs, from ihe rest of mankind. Secret as-
sociations degenerate with time, but their
principle is almost always an enthusiastic
feeling restrained by society.
There are three classes of the Illuminated,
the Mystical, the Visionary, and the Illumi-
nated: the first class, that of which Jacob
Boehmen, and in the last age Paschal and
St. Martin, might be considered as the
chiefs, is united by many ties to that internal
church which is the sanctuary of re-union
for all religious philosophers: these illumi-
nated are only occupied with religion and
with nature, interpreted by the doctrines of
religion. The Visionary Illuminated, at the
head of whom we must place the Swedish
Swedenborg, believe, that, by the power of
the will, they can make the dead appear, and
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARISM. 365
work other miracles. The late King of
Prussia, Frederick-William, has been led into
error by the credulity of these men, or by
their artifices, which had the appearance of
credulity. The Ideal Illuminated look down
upon these visionaries as empirics; they
despise their pretended prodigies, and think
that the wonderful sentiments of the soul
belong to them only in an especial manner:--
in a word, men who have had no other object
than that of securing the chief authority in
all states, and of getting places for them-
selves, have taken the name of the Illumi-
nated. Their chief was a Bavarian, Weiss-
haupt, a man of superior understanding,
and who had thoroughly felt the power that
we may acquire, by uniting the scattered
strength of individuals, and by directing
them all to the same object. The possession
of a secret, whatever it may be, flatters the
self-love of men; and when they are told
that they are something that their equals are
not, they always gain a command over them.
Self-love is hurt by resembling the multitude;
and, from the moment that we choose to
assume public or private marks of distinc-
tion, we are sure to set in motion the fancy
of vanity, which is the most active of all
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 366 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
fancies. The political Illuminated have only
borrowed from the others some signs of re-
cognition; but interests, and not opinions,
are their rallying points: their object, it is
true, was to reform the social order upon
new principles; but while they waited the
accomplishment of this great work, their first
aim was to seize upon public offices. Such
a sect has adepts enough in every country,
who initiate themselves into its secrets. In
Germany, however, perhaps this sect is the
only one which has been founded upon a po-
litical combination; all the others have taken
their rise from some sort of enthusiasm, and
have only had for their object the inquiry
after truth. Amongst these men who en-
deavour to penetrate the secrets of nature,
we must reckon the Magnetizers, the Alchy-
mists, &c. It is probable that there is much
folly in these pretended discoveries, but what
can we find alarming in them? If we come
to the detection of that which is called mar-
vellous in physical phenomena, we shall
have reason to think there are moments
when Nature appears a machine which is
constantly moved by the same springs, and
it is then that her inflexible regularity alarms
us; but when we fancy we occasionally see
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARISM. 367
in her something voluntary, like thought, a
confused hope seizes upon the soul, and
steals us away from the fixed regard of
necessity.
At the bottom of all these attempts, and
of all these scientific and philosophical sys-
tems, there is always a very marked bias
towards the spirituality of the soul. Those
who wish to divine the secrets of nature, are
entirely opposed to the materialists; for it is
always in thought that they seek the solu-
tion of the enigma of the physical world.
Doubtless, such a movement in the mind
may lead to great errors, but it is so with
every thing animated--as soon as there is
lift there is danger. Individual efforts would
end by being interdicted, if we were to sub-
ject ourselves to that method which aims at
regulating the movements of the mind, as
discipline commands those of the body. The
difficulty then consists in directing the fa-
culties without restraining them, and we
should wish that it was possible to adapt to
the imagination of men, the art yet unknown
of still rising on wings, and of directing our
flight in the air.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 368 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM,
CHAPTER IX.
Of the Contemplation of Nature.
In speaking of the influence of the new
philosophy upon the sciences, I have already
made mention of some of the new principles
adopted in Germany, relative to the study
of nature. But as religion and enthusiasm
have a great share in the contemplation of
the universe, I shall point out, in a general
manner, the political and religious views
that we may collect upon this point in the
writings of the Germans. Many naturalists,
guided by a pious feeling, have thought it
their duty to limit themselves to the exa-
mination of final causes. They have endea-
voured to prove that every thing in the
world tends to the support and the physical
well-being of individuals and of classes. It
appears to me that we may make very
strong objections to this system. Without
doubt it is easy to see, that, in the order of
things, the means are admirably adapted to
their ends. But in this universal concatena-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 369
tion, where are those causes bounded*
which are effects, and those effects which
are causes? If we choose to refer every
thing to the preservation of man, we shall
find it difficult to conceive what he has in
common with the majority of beings: be-
sides, it is to attach too much value to ma-
terial existence, to assign that as the ulti-
mate object of creation* Those who, not-
withstanding the great crowd of particular
misfortunes, attribute a certain sort of good-
ness to Nature, consider her as a merchant,
who, making speculations on a large scale,
balances small losses by greater advantages.
This system is not suitable even to the go-
vernments of men; and scrupulous writers
in political economy have opposed it. What
then will be the case, if we consider the in-
tentions of the Deity? A man, regarded in
a religious light, is as much as the human
race; and from the moment that we have
conceived the idea of an immortal soul, we
have no right to decide what is the degree
of importance which an individual holds in
his relation to the whole body. Every in-
telligent being is of an infinite value, be-
cause his soul is eternal. It is then in
the most elevated point of view that the
VOL. III. B B
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 370 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
German philosophers have considered the
universe. There are those who believe
they see in every thing two principles, that
of good and that of evil, continually op-
posing each other; and whether we attribute
this contest to an infernal power, or whe-
ther, according to a simpler thought, the
natural world may be the image of the good
and bad propensities of man, it is true that
the universe always offers to our observation
two faces, which are absolutely contrary to
each other. There is, we cannot deny it, a
terrible side in nature as well as in the
human heart, and we feel there a dreadful
power of anger. However good may be
the intention of the partisans of optimism,
more depth is apparent, I think, in those
who do not deny evil, but who acknow-
ledge the connexion of this evil with the
liberty of man, with the immortality which
he may deserve by the right use of that
liberty. The mystical writers, of whom I
have spoken in the preceding chapter, see
in man the abridgment of the world, and in
the world, the emblem of the doctrines of
Christianity. Nature seems to them the cor-
poreal image of the Deity, and they are
continually plunging further. into the pro-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 371
found signification of things and beings.
Amongst the German writers, who have been
employed upon the contemplation of nature
under a religious point of view, there are two
who merit particular attention : Novalis as a
poet, and Schubert as a naturalist. Novalis,
who was a man of noble birth, was initiated
from his youth in the studies of every kind,
which the new school has developed in
Germany; but his pious soul has given a
great character of simplicity to^his poems.
He died at the age of twenty-six; and, when
he was no more, the religious hymns, which
he bad composed, acquired a striking cele-
brity in Germany. This young man's father
is a Moravian; and, some time after the
death of his son, he went to visit a commu-
nity of that persuasion, and heard his son's
'hymns sung in their church; the Moravians
having chosen them for their own edification,
without knowing the author of them.
^Amongst the works of Novalis, some
Hymns to Night are distinguished, which
very forcibly depict the train of recollections
which it awakens in the mind. The blaze
of day may agree with the joyous doctrines
of Paganism; but the starry heaven seems
the real temple of the purest worship. It is
t j -1 b b 2
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 372 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
in the darkness of night, says a German
poet, that immortality is revealed to man;
the light of the sun dazzles the eyes, which
imagine they see. Some stanzas of No-
valis, on the life of Miners, contain some
spirited poetry, of very great effect. He
questions the earth which is found in the
deep caverns, because it has been the wit-
ness of the different revolutions which na-
ture has undergone; and he expresses a
vehement desire to penetrate still farther to-
wards the centre of the globe. The con-
trast of this boundless curiosity with the
frail life, which is to be exposed to gratify
it, causes a sublime emotion. Man is placed
on earth between infinity in the heavens
and infinity in the abysses; and his life,
spent under the influence of time, is likewise
between two eternities. Surrounded on all
sides by boundless ideas and objects, innu-
merable thoughts appear to him like millions
of lights, which throw their blaze together
to dazzle him. Novalis has written much
upon nature in general; he calls himself,
with reason, the disciple of Sais, because in
this city the temple of Isis was built, and
the traditions that remain of the Egyptian
mysteries lead us to believe that their priests
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 373
had a profound knowledge of the laws of
44 Man," says Novalis, "is united tb Na-
44 ture by relations almost as various, almost
"as inconceivable, as those which he main-
44 tains with his kind: as she brings herself
44 down to the comprehension of children,
44 and takes delight in their simple hearts, so
"does she appear sublime to exalted minds,
"and divine to divine beings. The love of
44 Nature assumes various forms, and while
"it excites in some persons nothing but joy
"and pleasure, it inspires the arts with the
"most pious religion, with that which gives
"a direction and a support to the whole of
44 life. Long since, among the ancient na-
"tions, there have been men of serious
"spirit, for whom the universe was the
44 image of the Deity; and others, who be-
"lieved they were only invited to the ban-
"quet of the world: the air, for these con-
"vivial guests of existence, was only a re-
44 freshing draught; the stars were only
44 torches which lit the dance during the
44 night; and plants and animals only the
44 magnificent preparations for a splendid
44 feast: Nature did not present herself to
44 their eyes as a majestic and tranquil temple,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 374 RELIGION AND ENTHIJSIA6M.
"but as the brilliant theatre of ever novel
"entertainments.
"At the same time, however, some more
"profound minds were employed, without
"relaxation, in rebuilding that ideal world,
"the traces of which had already disap~
"peared; they partook, like brothers, the
"most sacred labours ; some endeavoured to
"reproduce, in music, the voice of the woods
"and winds; others impressed the image
"and the presentiment of a more noble race
"upon stone and brass; changed the rocks
"into edifices; and brought to light the
"treasures hidden under the earth. Nature,
"civilized by man, seemed to answer his de-
sires: the imagination of the artist dared
"to question her, and the golden age seemed
"to reappear, by the help of thought.
"In order to understand Nature, we must
"be incorporated with her. A poetical and
'' reflective life, a holy and religious soul,
"all the strength and all the bloom of hu-
4i man existence, are necessary to attain
"this comprehension; and the true observer
"is he who can discover the analogy of that
nature with man, and that of man with
"Meaven. v . ?
Schubert has composed a book upon Na-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 375
ture, that never tires in the perusal; so
filled is it with ideas that excite meditation:
he presents the picture of new facts, the
concatenation of which is conceived under
new points of view. We derive two prin-
cipal ideas from his work. The Indians
believe in a descending metempsychosis,
that is, in the condemnation of the soul of
man to pass into animals and plants, as a
punishment for having misused this life. It
would be difficult for us to imagine a system
of more profound misery; and the writings
of the Indians bear the melancholy stamp of
their doctrine. They believe they see every
where, in animals as in plants, thought as
as a captive, and feeling enslaved, vainly
endeavouring to disengage themselves from
the gross and silent forms which imprison
them. The system of Schubert is more
consolatory. He represents Nature as an
ascending metempsychosis, in which, from
the stone to human life, there is a continual
promotion, which makes the vital principle
advance by degrees, even to the most com-
plete perfection.
Schubert also believes that there have
been epochs, where man had so lively and
so delicate a feeling of existing phenomena,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl.
? or PAIN.
349
"be condemned upon this earth to drink
"that empoisoned cup, the treachery of a
"friend. If it is so, I lament your fate:
"the Divinity himself laments it, while he
"punishes you. But do not revolt against
"his blows; still love, although love has
"distracted your heart. In the most pro-
"found solitude, in the cruellest isolation,
"we must not suffer the source of the de-
44 voted affections to be dried up within us.
"For a long while it was not believed that
"God could be loved as we love those who
"resemble ourselves. A voice which answers
"us, looks which are interchanged with our
"own, appear full of life, while the immense
"Heaven is silent, but by degrees the soul
"exalts itself even to feel its God near it as
"a friend.
"My son, we ought to pray as we
"love, by mingling prayer with all our
"thoughts; we ought to pray, for then we
"are no more alone; and when resignation
"shall descend softly into your heart, turn
"your eyes upon nature; it might be said,
"that every one there finds again his past
"life, when no traces of it exist among
"men. I think of your regrets as well as
"your pleasures, when you contemplate
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 350 RELIGION AXD ENTHUSIASM.
"those clouds, sometimes dark and some-
"times brilliant, which the wind scatters;
"and whether death has snatched your
"friends from you, or life, still more cruel,
"has broken asunder your bonds of union
"with them, you will perceive in the stars
"their deified images; they will appear to
"you such as you will see them again here-
"after. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THEOSOPHIST PHILOSOPHERS. S51
CHAPTER VII.
Of the religious Philosophers called
Theosophists.
When I gave an account of the modern
philosophy of the Germans, I endeavoured to
trace the line of demarcation between that
philosophy which attempts to penetrate the
secrets of the universe, and that which is
confined to an inquiry into the nature of our
own souls. The same distinction may be
remarked among religious writers; those of
whom I have already spoken in the pre-
ceding chapters have kept to the influence of
religion upon our hearts; others, such as
Jacob Boehmen in Germany, St. Martin in
France, and very many more, have believed,
that they found in the relation of Chris-
tianity mysterious words, which might serve
to develope the laws of creation. We
must confess, when Ave begin to think, it is
difficult to stop; and whether reflection
leads to scepticism or to the most universal
faith, we are sometimes tempted to pass
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 352 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM*
whole hours, like the Faquirs, in asking
ourselves what is life? Far from despising
those who are thus devoured by contempla-
tion, we cannot help considering them as
the true lords of the human species, in
whose presence those who exist without re-
flection, are only vassals attached to the soil.
But how can we flatter ourselves with the
hope of giving any consistency to these
thoughts, which, like flashes of lightning,
plunge themselves again into darkness, after
having for a moment thrown an uncertain
brilliance upon surrounding objects?
It may, however, be interesting to point
out the principal direction of the systems of
the Theosophists; that is to say, of those
religious philosophers who have always ex-
isted in Germany from the establishment of
Christianity, and particularly since the re-
vival of letters. The greater part of the
Greek philosophers have built the system of
the world upon the action of the elements;
and if we except Pythagoras and Plato, who
derived from the East their tendency to
idealism, the thinking men of antiquity ex-
plain all the organization of the universe by
physical laws. Christianity, by lighting up
the internal life in the breast of man, na-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THEOSOPHIST PHILOSOPHERS. 353
turally excited the mind to exaggerate its
power over the body. The abuses to which
the most pure doctrines are subject, have in-
troduced visions and white magic (that is to
say, the magic which attributes to the will of
man the power of acting upon the elements
without the intervention of infernal spirits),
all the whimsical reveries, in short, which
spring from the conviction that the soul is
more powerful than nature. The sects of
Alchymists, of Magnetizers, and of the Illu-
minated, are almost all supported upon this
ascendancy of the will, which they carry
much too far, but which, nevertheless, in
some manner, belongs to the moral gran-
deur of man.
Not only has Christianity, by affirming the
spiritual nature of the soul, led them to be-
lieve the unlimited power of religious or phi-
losophical faith, but revelation has seemed,
to some men, a continual miracle, which is
capable of being renewed for every one of
them; and some have sincerely believed,
that a supernatural power of divination was
granted them, and that truths were mani-
fested in them, to which they testified more
clearly than the inventors.
The most famous of these religious philo-
VOL. III. A A
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 354 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
sophers was Jacob Boehmen, who lived at
the beginning of the seventeenth century:
he made so much noise in his time, that
Charles the First sent a person express to
Gorlitz, the place of his abode, to study hia
work, and bring it back to England. Some
of his writings have been translated into
French by Monsieur de St. Martin; they are
very difficult to comprehend; nevertheless,
we cannot but be astonished that a man
without cultivation of mind should have
gone so far in the study of nature. He con-
siders it in general as an emblem of the prin-
cipal doctrines of Christianity; he fancies he
sees every where, in the phenomena of the
world, traces of the fall of man, and of his
regeneration; the effects of the principle of
anger, and of that of pity; and while the
Greek philosophers attempted to explain the
world, by the mixture of the elements of
air, water, and fire, Jacob Boehmen only
admits the combination of moral forces, and
has recourse to passages of the Gospel to in-
terpret the universe.
In whatever manner we consider those
singular writings, which for two hundred
years have always found readers, or rather
adepts, we cannot avoid remarking the two
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? THEOSOPHlST PHILOSOPHERS. 855
opposite roads which are followed, in order
to arrive at the truth, by the spiritual philo-
sophers, and by the philosophers of mate-
rialism. The former imagine, that it is by
divesting ourselves of all impressions from
without, and by plunging into the ecstacy
of thought, that we can interpret nature.
The latter pretend, that we cannot too much
guard against enthusiasm and imagination in
our inquiry into the phenomena of the uni-
verse. They would seem to say, that the
human understanding must be freed from
matter or from mind to comprehend nature,
while it is in the mysterious union of these
two that the secret of existence consists.
Some learned men in Germany assert, that
we find, in the works of Jacob Boehmen,
very profound views upon the physical world.
We may say, at least, that there is as much
originality in the theories of the religious
philosophers concerning creation, as in those
of Thales, of Xenophon, of Aristotle, of
Descartes, and Leibnitz. The Theosophists
declare, that what they think, has been re-
vealed to them, while philosophers, in ge-
neral, believe they are solely conducted by
their own reason. But, as both one and the
other aspire to know the mystery of mys-
AA %
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 356 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
teries, of what signification, at this high
point, are the words of reason and folly?
and why disgrace with the name of insensate
persons those who believe they find great
lights in their exaltation of mind? It is a
movement of the soul of a very remarkable
nature, and which assuredly has not been
conferred upon us only for the sake of op-
posing it.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? STIRIT OF SECTARISM. 357
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Spirit of Sectarism in Germany.
The habit of meditation leads us to reveries
of every kind upon human destiny; active
life alone can divert our interest from the
source of things; but all that is grand or
absurd in respect to ideas is the result of that
internal emotion which we cannot expend
upon external objects. Many people are
very angry with religious or philosophical
sects, and give them the name of follies,
and of dangerous follies. It appears to me
that the wanderings even of thought are
much less to be feared than the absence of
thought, in respect to the repose and mo-
rality of men. When we have not within
ourselves that power of reflection which sup-
plies material activity, we must be inces-
santly in action, and frequently at random.
The fanaticism of ideas has sometimes led,
it is true, to violent actions, but it has al-
most always been because the advantages
of this world have been sought for by the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 358 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
aid of abstract opinions. Metaphysical sys-
tems are very little to be feared in them-
selves; they do not become dangerous till
they are united to the interests of ambition,
and it is therefore upon these interests that
we must gain a hold, if we wish to modify
such systems; but men who are capable
of a lively attachment to an opinion, inde-
pendently of the results which it may have,
are always of a noble nature. The philoso-
phical and religious sects, which, under dif-
ferent names, have existed in Germany, have
hardly had any connexion with political
affairs; and the sort of talent necessary to
lead men to vigorous resolutions, has been
rarely manifested in this country. We may
dispute upon the philosophy of Kant, upon
theological questions, uporf idealism or em-
piricism, without producing any thing but
books. The spirit of sect and the spirit of
party differ in many points. The spirit of
party represents opinions by that which is
most prominent about them, in order to
make the vulgar understand them; and the
spirit of sect, particularly in Germany, al-
ways leads to what is most abstract. In the
spirit of party we must seize the points of
view taken by the multitude to place our*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARI8M. 359
selves among them; the Germans only think
of Theory, and if she was to lose herself in
the clouds, they would follow her there.
The spirit of party stirs up certain common
passions in men which unite them in a mass.
The Germans subdivide every thing by
means of distinction and comment. They
have a philosophical sincerity singularly
adapted to the inquiry after Truth, but not
at all to the art of putting her into action.
The spirit of sect aspires only to convince;
that of party wishes to rally men round it.
The former disputes about ideas, the latter
wishes for power over men. There is dis-
cipline in the party spirit, and anarchy in
the sectarian spirit. Authority, of whatever
kind it may be, has hardly any thing to fear
from the spirit of, sectarism; we satisfy it by
leaving a great latitude for thought at its dis-
posal. But the spirit of party is not so easily
contented, and does not confine itself to
these intellectual contests, in which every
individual may create an empire for himself
without expelling one present possessor.
In France, they are much more suscep-
tible of the party spirit than of the sectarian:
every one there too well understands the
reality of life, not to turn his wishes into
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 360 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
actions, and his thoughts into practice. But
perhaps they are too foreign from the secta-
rian spirit: they do not sufficiently hold to
abstract ideas, to have any warmth in de-
fending them; besides, they do not choose
to be bound by any sort of opinions, for the
purpose of advancing the more freely in the
face of all circumstances. There is more
good faith in the spirit of sect than in the
party spirit; the Germans, therefore, are
naturally more fitted for one than the other.
We must distinguish three sorts of reli-
gious and philosophical sects in Germany;
first, the different Christian communities
which have existed (particularly at the epoch
of the Reformation), when all writings have
been directed towards theological questions;
secondly, the secret associations; and lastly,
the adepts of some particular systems, of
which one man is the chief. We mubt range
the Anabaptists and the Moravians in the
first class; in the second, that most ancient
of secret associations, the Free Masons; and
in the third, the different sorts of the Illu-
minated. "'? .
The Anabaptists were rather a revolu-
tionary than a religious sect; and as they
owed their existence to political passions,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARISM. 361
and not to opinions, they passed away with
circumstances. The Moravians, entirely
strangers to the interests of this world, are,
as I have said, a Christian community of the
greatest purity. The Quakers carry into the
midst of society the principles of the Mora-
vians: the Moravians withdraw from the
world, to be the more sure of remaining
faithful to their principles.
Free-masonry is an institution much more
serious in Scotland and in Germany than in
France. It has existed in all countries; but
it nevertheless appears, that it was from
Germany especially that this association took
its origin; that it was afterwards transported
to England by the Anglo-Saxons, and re-
newed at the death of Charles the First by
the partisans of the Restoration, who assem-
bled somewhere near St. Paul's Church for
the purpose of recalling Charles the Second
to the throne. It is also believed that the Free
Masons, especially in Scotland, are, in some
manner,connected with theorderof Templars.
Lessing has written a dialogue upon Free-
masonry, in which his luminous genius is very
remarkable. He believes that this associa-
tion has for its object the union of men, in
spite of the barriers of society; for if, in
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 362 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
certain respects, the social state forms a bond
of connexion between men, by subjecting
them to the empire of the laws, it separates
them by the differences of rank and govern-
ment: this sort of brotherhood, the true
image of the golden age, has been mingled
with many other ideas equally good and
moral in Free-masonry. However, we cannot
dissemble that there is something in the na-
ture of secret associations which leads the
mind to independence; but these associations
are very favourable to the developement of
knowledge for every thing which men do by
themselves, and spontaneously gives their
judgment more strength and more compre-
hensiveness. It is also possible that the prin-
ciples of democratical equality ma}r be pro-
pagated by this species of institution, which
exhibits mankind according to their real
value, and not according to their several
ranks in the world.
Secret associations teach
us what is the power of number and of
union, while insulated citizens are, if we
may use the expression, abstract beings with
relation to each other. In this point of view
these associations may have a great influence
in the state; but it is, nevertheless, just to
acknowledge, that Free-masonry, in gene-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARI5M. 563
ral, is only occupied with religious and phi-
losophical interests: its members are di-
vided into two classes, the Philosophical
Free-masonry, and the Hermetic or Egyptian
Free-masonry. The first has for its object
the internal church, or the developement of
the spirituality of the soul; the second is con-
nected with the sciences--with those sci-
ences which are employed upon the secrets
of nature. The Rosicrucian brotherhood,
among others, is one of the degrees of
Free-masonry, and this brotherhood ori-
ginally consisted of Alchymists. At all times,
and in every country, secret association*
have existed, whose members have aimed at
mutually strengthening each other in their
belief of the soul's spirituality. The mys-
teries of Eleusis among the Pagans, the sect
of the Essenes among the Hebrews, were
founded upon this doctrine, which they did
not choose to profane by exposing it to the
ridicule of the vulgar. It is nearly thirty
years since there was an assembly of Free-
masons, presided over by the Duke of
Brunswick, at Wilhelms-Bad. This assembly
had for its object the reform of the Free
Masons in Germany; and it appears, that
tibe opinions of the Mystics in general, and
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 364 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
those of St. Martin in particular, had much
influence over this society. Political institu-
tions, social relations, and often even those
of our family, comprehend only the exterior
of life. It is then natural, that at all times
men should have sought some intimate man-
ner of knowing and understanding each
other, and also those whose characters have
any depth, believe they are adepts, and en-
deavour to distinguish themselves, by some
signs, from ihe rest of mankind. Secret as-
sociations degenerate with time, but their
principle is almost always an enthusiastic
feeling restrained by society.
There are three classes of the Illuminated,
the Mystical, the Visionary, and the Illumi-
nated: the first class, that of which Jacob
Boehmen, and in the last age Paschal and
St. Martin, might be considered as the
chiefs, is united by many ties to that internal
church which is the sanctuary of re-union
for all religious philosophers: these illumi-
nated are only occupied with religion and
with nature, interpreted by the doctrines of
religion. The Visionary Illuminated, at the
head of whom we must place the Swedish
Swedenborg, believe, that, by the power of
the will, they can make the dead appear, and
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARISM. 365
work other miracles. The late King of
Prussia, Frederick-William, has been led into
error by the credulity of these men, or by
their artifices, which had the appearance of
credulity. The Ideal Illuminated look down
upon these visionaries as empirics; they
despise their pretended prodigies, and think
that the wonderful sentiments of the soul
belong to them only in an especial manner:--
in a word, men who have had no other object
than that of securing the chief authority in
all states, and of getting places for them-
selves, have taken the name of the Illumi-
nated. Their chief was a Bavarian, Weiss-
haupt, a man of superior understanding,
and who had thoroughly felt the power that
we may acquire, by uniting the scattered
strength of individuals, and by directing
them all to the same object. The possession
of a secret, whatever it may be, flatters the
self-love of men; and when they are told
that they are something that their equals are
not, they always gain a command over them.
Self-love is hurt by resembling the multitude;
and, from the moment that we choose to
assume public or private marks of distinc-
tion, we are sure to set in motion the fancy
of vanity, which is the most active of all
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 366 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
fancies. The political Illuminated have only
borrowed from the others some signs of re-
cognition; but interests, and not opinions,
are their rallying points: their object, it is
true, was to reform the social order upon
new principles; but while they waited the
accomplishment of this great work, their first
aim was to seize upon public offices. Such
a sect has adepts enough in every country,
who initiate themselves into its secrets. In
Germany, however, perhaps this sect is the
only one which has been founded upon a po-
litical combination; all the others have taken
their rise from some sort of enthusiasm, and
have only had for their object the inquiry
after truth. Amongst these men who en-
deavour to penetrate the secrets of nature,
we must reckon the Magnetizers, the Alchy-
mists, &c. It is probable that there is much
folly in these pretended discoveries, but what
can we find alarming in them? If we come
to the detection of that which is called mar-
vellous in physical phenomena, we shall
have reason to think there are moments
when Nature appears a machine which is
constantly moved by the same springs, and
it is then that her inflexible regularity alarms
us; but when we fancy we occasionally see
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? SPIRIT OF SECTARISM. 367
in her something voluntary, like thought, a
confused hope seizes upon the soul, and
steals us away from the fixed regard of
necessity.
At the bottom of all these attempts, and
of all these scientific and philosophical sys-
tems, there is always a very marked bias
towards the spirituality of the soul. Those
who wish to divine the secrets of nature, are
entirely opposed to the materialists; for it is
always in thought that they seek the solu-
tion of the enigma of the physical world.
Doubtless, such a movement in the mind
may lead to great errors, but it is so with
every thing animated--as soon as there is
lift there is danger. Individual efforts would
end by being interdicted, if we were to sub-
ject ourselves to that method which aims at
regulating the movements of the mind, as
discipline commands those of the body. The
difficulty then consists in directing the fa-
culties without restraining them, and we
should wish that it was possible to adapt to
the imagination of men, the art yet unknown
of still rising on wings, and of directing our
flight in the air.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 368 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM,
CHAPTER IX.
Of the Contemplation of Nature.
In speaking of the influence of the new
philosophy upon the sciences, I have already
made mention of some of the new principles
adopted in Germany, relative to the study
of nature. But as religion and enthusiasm
have a great share in the contemplation of
the universe, I shall point out, in a general
manner, the political and religious views
that we may collect upon this point in the
writings of the Germans. Many naturalists,
guided by a pious feeling, have thought it
their duty to limit themselves to the exa-
mination of final causes. They have endea-
voured to prove that every thing in the
world tends to the support and the physical
well-being of individuals and of classes. It
appears to me that we may make very
strong objections to this system. Without
doubt it is easy to see, that, in the order of
things, the means are admirably adapted to
their ends. But in this universal concatena-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 369
tion, where are those causes bounded*
which are effects, and those effects which
are causes? If we choose to refer every
thing to the preservation of man, we shall
find it difficult to conceive what he has in
common with the majority of beings: be-
sides, it is to attach too much value to ma-
terial existence, to assign that as the ulti-
mate object of creation* Those who, not-
withstanding the great crowd of particular
misfortunes, attribute a certain sort of good-
ness to Nature, consider her as a merchant,
who, making speculations on a large scale,
balances small losses by greater advantages.
This system is not suitable even to the go-
vernments of men; and scrupulous writers
in political economy have opposed it. What
then will be the case, if we consider the in-
tentions of the Deity? A man, regarded in
a religious light, is as much as the human
race; and from the moment that we have
conceived the idea of an immortal soul, we
have no right to decide what is the degree
of importance which an individual holds in
his relation to the whole body. Every in-
telligent being is of an infinite value, be-
cause his soul is eternal. It is then in
the most elevated point of view that the
VOL. III. B B
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 370 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
German philosophers have considered the
universe. There are those who believe
they see in every thing two principles, that
of good and that of evil, continually op-
posing each other; and whether we attribute
this contest to an infernal power, or whe-
ther, according to a simpler thought, the
natural world may be the image of the good
and bad propensities of man, it is true that
the universe always offers to our observation
two faces, which are absolutely contrary to
each other. There is, we cannot deny it, a
terrible side in nature as well as in the
human heart, and we feel there a dreadful
power of anger. However good may be
the intention of the partisans of optimism,
more depth is apparent, I think, in those
who do not deny evil, but who acknow-
ledge the connexion of this evil with the
liberty of man, with the immortality which
he may deserve by the right use of that
liberty. The mystical writers, of whom I
have spoken in the preceding chapter, see
in man the abridgment of the world, and in
the world, the emblem of the doctrines of
Christianity. Nature seems to them the cor-
poreal image of the Deity, and they are
continually plunging further. into the pro-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 371
found signification of things and beings.
Amongst the German writers, who have been
employed upon the contemplation of nature
under a religious point of view, there are two
who merit particular attention : Novalis as a
poet, and Schubert as a naturalist. Novalis,
who was a man of noble birth, was initiated
from his youth in the studies of every kind,
which the new school has developed in
Germany; but his pious soul has given a
great character of simplicity to^his poems.
He died at the age of twenty-six; and, when
he was no more, the religious hymns, which
he bad composed, acquired a striking cele-
brity in Germany. This young man's father
is a Moravian; and, some time after the
death of his son, he went to visit a commu-
nity of that persuasion, and heard his son's
'hymns sung in their church; the Moravians
having chosen them for their own edification,
without knowing the author of them.
^Amongst the works of Novalis, some
Hymns to Night are distinguished, which
very forcibly depict the train of recollections
which it awakens in the mind. The blaze
of day may agree with the joyous doctrines
of Paganism; but the starry heaven seems
the real temple of the purest worship. It is
t j -1 b b 2
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 372 RELIGION AND ENTHUSIASM.
in the darkness of night, says a German
poet, that immortality is revealed to man;
the light of the sun dazzles the eyes, which
imagine they see. Some stanzas of No-
valis, on the life of Miners, contain some
spirited poetry, of very great effect. He
questions the earth which is found in the
deep caverns, because it has been the wit-
ness of the different revolutions which na-
ture has undergone; and he expresses a
vehement desire to penetrate still farther to-
wards the centre of the globe. The con-
trast of this boundless curiosity with the
frail life, which is to be exposed to gratify
it, causes a sublime emotion. Man is placed
on earth between infinity in the heavens
and infinity in the abysses; and his life,
spent under the influence of time, is likewise
between two eternities. Surrounded on all
sides by boundless ideas and objects, innu-
merable thoughts appear to him like millions
of lights, which throw their blaze together
to dazzle him. Novalis has written much
upon nature in general; he calls himself,
with reason, the disciple of Sais, because in
this city the temple of Isis was built, and
the traditions that remain of the Egyptian
mysteries lead us to believe that their priests
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 373
had a profound knowledge of the laws of
44 Man," says Novalis, "is united tb Na-
44 ture by relations almost as various, almost
"as inconceivable, as those which he main-
44 tains with his kind: as she brings herself
44 down to the comprehension of children,
44 and takes delight in their simple hearts, so
"does she appear sublime to exalted minds,
"and divine to divine beings. The love of
44 Nature assumes various forms, and while
"it excites in some persons nothing but joy
"and pleasure, it inspires the arts with the
"most pious religion, with that which gives
"a direction and a support to the whole of
44 life. Long since, among the ancient na-
"tions, there have been men of serious
"spirit, for whom the universe was the
44 image of the Deity; and others, who be-
"lieved they were only invited to the ban-
"quet of the world: the air, for these con-
"vivial guests of existence, was only a re-
44 freshing draught; the stars were only
44 torches which lit the dance during the
44 night; and plants and animals only the
44 magnificent preparations for a splendid
44 feast: Nature did not present herself to
44 their eyes as a majestic and tranquil temple,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 374 RELIGION AND ENTHIJSIA6M.
"but as the brilliant theatre of ever novel
"entertainments.
"At the same time, however, some more
"profound minds were employed, without
"relaxation, in rebuilding that ideal world,
"the traces of which had already disap~
"peared; they partook, like brothers, the
"most sacred labours ; some endeavoured to
"reproduce, in music, the voice of the woods
"and winds; others impressed the image
"and the presentiment of a more noble race
"upon stone and brass; changed the rocks
"into edifices; and brought to light the
"treasures hidden under the earth. Nature,
"civilized by man, seemed to answer his de-
sires: the imagination of the artist dared
"to question her, and the golden age seemed
"to reappear, by the help of thought.
"In order to understand Nature, we must
"be incorporated with her. A poetical and
'' reflective life, a holy and religious soul,
"all the strength and all the bloom of hu-
4i man existence, are necessary to attain
"this comprehension; and the true observer
"is he who can discover the analogy of that
nature with man, and that of man with
"Meaven. v . ?
Schubert has composed a book upon Na-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. 32044051734390 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE. 375
ture, that never tires in the perusal; so
filled is it with ideas that excite meditation:
he presents the picture of new facts, the
concatenation of which is conceived under
new points of view. We derive two prin-
cipal ideas from his work. The Indians
believe in a descending metempsychosis,
that is, in the condemnation of the soul of
man to pass into animals and plants, as a
punishment for having misused this life. It
would be difficult for us to imagine a system
of more profound misery; and the writings
of the Indians bear the melancholy stamp of
their doctrine. They believe they see every
where, in animals as in plants, thought as
as a captive, and feeling enslaved, vainly
endeavouring to disengage themselves from
the gross and silent forms which imprison
them. The system of Schubert is more
consolatory. He represents Nature as an
ascending metempsychosis, in which, from
the stone to human life, there is a continual
promotion, which makes the vital principle
advance by degrees, even to the most com-
plete perfection.
Schubert also believes that there have
been epochs, where man had so lively and
so delicate a feeling of existing phenomena,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-22 00:49 GMT / http://hdl.
