We are
more offended with the Germans, when we
see them deficient in energy, than with the
Italians, whose political situation has en-
feebled their character for several centuries.
more offended with the Germans, when we
see them deficient in energy, than with the
Italians, whose political situation has en-
feebled their character for several centuries.
Madame de Stael - Germany
For the thought of man
consists in the faculty of turning back upon
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? INFLUENCE OP THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 159
itself; and the intelligence of nature advances
straight forward, like the instinct of animals.
Thought has self-possession, for it can judge
itself;--intelligence without reflection is a
power always attracted to things without.
When Nature performs the work of crystal-
lization according to the most regular forms,
it does not follow that she understands the
mathematics; or, at all events, she is igno-
rant of her own knowledge, and wants self-
consciousness. The German men of science
attribute a certain individual originality to.
physical forces ; and, on the other side, they
appear to admit (from their manner of
exhibiting some phenomena of animal mag-
netism), that the will of man, without any
external act, exerts a very great influence
over matter, and especially over metals.
Pascal says, "that astrologers and alche-
"mists have some principles, but that they
"abuse them. " There were, perhaps, of
old, more intimate relations between man
and nature than now exist. The mysteries
of Eleusis; the religion of the Egyptians;
the system of emanations among the Indians;
the Persian adoration of the elements and the
sun; the harmony of numbers, which was
the basis of the Pythagorean doctrine--. are
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? 160 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
vestiges of some curious attraction which
united man with the universe.
The doctrines of spirituality, by fortifying
the power of reflection, have separated man
more from physical influences; and the Re-
formation, by carrying still farther his tend-
ency towards analysis, has put reason on its
guard against the primary impressions of the
imagination. The Germans promote the
true perfection of the human mind, when
they endeavour to awaken the inspirations
of nature by the light of thought.
Experience every day leads the learned to
recognise phenomena, which men had ceased
to believe, because they were mingled with
superstitions, and had been the subjects of
presages. The ancients have related that
stones fell from heaven; and in our days the
accuracy of this fact, the existence of which
had been denied, is established. The an-
cients have spoken of showers red as blood,
and of earth-lightnings--we have lately been
convinced of the truth of their assertions in
these respects.
Astronomy and music are the science and
art which men have known from all anti-
quity: why should not sounds and the stars
be connected by relations which the ancients
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. l6l
perceived, and which we may find out again?
Pythagoras maintained that the planets were
proportionably at the same distance as the
seven chords of the lyre; and it is affirmed,
that he predicted the new planet which has
been discovered between Mars and Jupiter*.
It appears that he was not ignorant of the
true system of the heavens, the fixedness of
the sun; since Copernicus supports himself
in this instance upon the opinion of Pytha-
goras, as recorded by Cicero. From whence
then arose these astonishing discoveries,
without the aid of experience, and of the
new machines of which the moderns are in
possession? The reason is this--the ancients y.
advanced boldly, lit by the sun of genius.
They made use of reason, the resting-place
of human intellect; but they also consulted
Imagination, the priestess of nature.
Those which we call errors and super-
stitions may, perhaps, depend upon laws
of the universe, yet unknown to man. The
relations between the planets and metals, the
influence of these relations, even oracles and
* M. Prevost, Professor of Philosophy at Geneva, has
published a very interesting pamphlet on this subject. --This
philosophical writer is as well known in Europe as esteemed
in his country.
VOL. HI. M
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? 162 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALJL
presages--may they not be caused by occult
powers, of which we have no idea? And
who knows whether there is not a germ of
truth hidden under every apologue, under
every mode of belief, which has been stig-
matized with the name of madness? It
assuredly does not follow that we should re-
nounce the experimental method,so necessary
in the sciences. Butwhy not furnish asupreme
director for this method in a philosophy more
comprehensive, which would embrace the
universe in its collective character, and which
would not despise the nocturnal side of nature,
in the expectation of being able to throw
light upon it? It is the business' of poetry
(we may be answered) to consider the phy-
sical world in this manner; but we can arrive
at no certain knowledge except by expe-
rience; and all that is not susceptible of
proof may be an amusement to the mind,
but cannot forward our real progress.
Doubtless, the French are right in recom-
mending the Germans to have a respect for
experience; but they are wrong in turning
into ridicule the presages of reflection, which
perhaps will hereafter be confirmed by the
knowledge of facts. The greater part of grand
discoveries have at first appeared absurd; and
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 163
the man of genius will never do any thing
if. he dreads being exposed to ridicule. --
Ridicule is nerveless when despised, and
ascends in influence just as it is feared. We
see in fairy tales phantoms that oppose the
enterprises of knights, and harass them until
they have passed beyond the weird dominion.
Then all the witchcraft vanishes, and the
fruitful open country is spread before their
sight. Envy and mediocrity have also their I
sorceries; but we ought to march on towards
the truth, without caring for the seeming
obstacles that impede our progress.
When Keppler had discovered the har-
monic laws that regulate the motion of the
heavenly bodies, it was thus that he expressed
his joy:--" At length, after the lapse of
"eighteen months, the first dawn of light
"has shone upon me; and on this remark-
"able day I have perceived the pure irradia-
"tion of sublime truth. Nothing now re-
"presses me; I dare yield myself up to my
44 holy ardour; I dare insult mankind by
"acknowledging, that I have turned worldly
"science to advantage; that I have robbed
"the vessels of Egypt, to erect a temple to
"the living God. If I am pardoned, I shall
"rejoice; if blamed, I shall endure it. The
m2
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? 164 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
"die is cast; I have written this book ?
"whether it be read by posterity, or by. my
*' contemporaries, is of no consequence; it
"may well wait for a reader during one
"century, when God himself, during six
"thousand years, has waited for an observer
"like myself. " This bold ebullition of a
proud enthusiasm exhibits the internal force
of genius.
Goethe has made a remark upon the per-
fectibility of the human understanding, which
is full of sagacity--" It is always advancing,
"but in a spiral line. "--This comparison is
so much the more just, because the improve-
ment of man seems to be checked at many
seras, and then returns upon its own steps,
having gained some degrees in advance. --
There are seasons when scepticism is neces-
sary to the progress of the sciences; there
are others when, according to Hemsterhuis,
the marvellous spirit ought to supersede the
mathematical. When man is swallowed up,
or rather reduced into dust by infidelity, this
marvellous spirit can alone restore the power
of admiration to the soul, without which we
cannot understand nature.
The theory of the sciences in Germany
has given the men of genius an impulse like
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 165
that which metaphysics had excited in the
study of the mind; and life holds the same
rank in physical phaenomena, that the will
holds in moral order. If the relations be-
tween these two systems have caused certain
persons to interdict them both, there are
those who will discover in these relations the
double guarantee of the same truth. It is at
least certain, that the interest of the sciences
is singularly increased by this manner of re-
ferring them all to some leading ideas. Poets
might find in the sciences a crowd of useful
thoughts, if the sciences held communication
with each other in the philosophy of the
universe; and if this philosophy, instead of
being abstract, was animated by the inex-
haustible source of sentiment. The universe
resembles a poem more than a machine; and
if, in order to form a conception of the uni-
verse, we were compelled to avail ourselves
of imagination, or of a mathematical spirit,
imagination would lead us nearer to the
truth. But again let me repeat, we must
not make such a choice; since it is the
totality of our moral being which ought to
be employed in so important a kind of me-
ditation.
The new system of general physics, which
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? 166 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
in Germany serves for a guide to experi-
mental physics, can only be judged by its
results. We must see whether it will conduct
the human mind to new-established truths.
But it is impossible to deny the connexion
which it proves to exist between the different
branches of study. One student usually
revolts from the other when their occupations
are different, because they are a reciprocal
annoyance. The scholar has nothing to say to
the poet; the poet to the natural philosopher:
and even among the men of science, those
who are differently occupied avoid eachother;
taking no interest in what is out of their own
circle. This cannot be when a central phi-
losophy establishes connexions of a sublime
nature between all our thoughts. The scien-
tific penetrate nature by the aid of imagina-
tion. Poets find in the sciences the genuine
beauties of the universe. The learned enrich
poetry with the stores of recollection, and the
men of science with those of analogy.
The sciences, represented as insulated, and
as a land unknown to the soul, attract not
the exalted mind. The greater part of those
who have devoted themselves to the sciences
(with some honourable exceptions) have im-
printed upon our times that tendency towards
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 1<>7
calculation which so well teaches us, in all
changes, which is the strongest government.
The German philosophy introduces the phy-
sical sciences into that universal sphere of
ideas, which imparts so much interest to the
most minute observations, as well as to the
most important results.
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? 168 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
CHAPTER XI.
Influence of the new Philosophy upon the
'Character of the Germans.
It would appear that a system of philosophy,
which attributes an all-powerful action to
that which depends upon ourselves, namely,
to our will, ought to strengthen the character,
and to make it independent of external cir-
cumstances; but there is reason to believe,
that political and religious institutions alone
can create public spirit, and that no abstract
theory is efficacious enough to give a nation
energy: for, it must be confessed, the Ger-
mans of our days have not that which can
be called character. They are virtuous,
upright, as private men, as fathers of families,
as managers of affairs: but their gracious
and complaisant forwardness to support the
cause of power gives especial pain to those
who love them, and who believe them to be
the most enlightened speculative defenders
of the dignity of man.
The sagacity of the philosophical spirit
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOFHT. 169
alone has taught them in all circumstances
the cause and the effects of what happens;
and they fancy, when they have found a
theory for a fact, that it is all right. Mili-
tary spirit and patriotism have exalted many
nations to the highest possible degree of
energy; but these two sources of self-devo-
tion hardly exist among the Germans, taken
in a mass. They scarcely know any thing
of military spirit, but a pedantic sort of tac-
tics, which sanctions their being defeated
according to the rules; and as little of
liberty, beyond that subdivision into petty
kingdoms, which, by accustoming the inha-
bitants to consider themselves weak as a
nation, soon leads them to be weak as indi-
viduals. Respect for forms is very favour-
able to the support of law; but this respect,
such as it exists in Germany, induces the
habit of such punctual and precise proceed-
ings, that they hardly know how to open
a new path to reach an object though it be
straight before them.
Philosophical speculations are only suited
to a small number of thinking men; and far
from serving to combine the strength of a
nation, they only place the ignorant and the
enlightened at too great a distance from each
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? 17Q tfHILOSOfHY AND MOEALS.
^ other. There are too many new, and not
enough Common, ideas circulating in Ger-
many, for the knowledge of men and things.
Common ideas are necessary for the conduct
of life; business requires the spirit of execu-
tion rather than that of invention; whatever
is odd in the different modes of thinking in
Germany, tends to separate them from each
other; for the thoughts and interests which
unite men together must be of a simple
nature, and of striking truth. > i' .
Contempt of danger, of suffering, and of
death, is not sufficiently universal in all the
classes of the German nation. Doubtless,
life has more value for men capable of senti-
ments and ideas, than for those who leave be-
hind them neither trace nor remembrance;
but, at the same time that poetical enthu-
siasm gathers fresh vigour from the highest
degree of learning, rational courage ought to
fill the place of the instinct of ignorance. It
belongs alone to philosophy, founded upon
religion, to inspire an unalterable resolution
under all contingencies.
If, however, Philosophy has not appeared
to be all-powerful in this respect in Germany;
we must not therefore despise her:--she
supports, she enlightens every man, indi*
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? INFLUENCE Ol THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 171
vidually; but a government alone can excite
that moral electricity which makes the whole
nation feel the same sentiment.
We are
more offended with the Germans, when we
see them deficient in energy, than with the
Italians, whose political situation has en-
feebled their character for several centuries.
The Italians, through the whole of life, by
their grace and their imagination, preserve a
sort of prolonged right to childhood; but
the rude physiognomy and manners of the
Germans appear to promise a manly soul,
and we are disagreeablj* surprised not to find.
it. In a word, timidity of character is par-
doned when it is confessed; and in this way
the Italians have a peculiar frankness, which
excites a kind of interest in their favour;.
while the Germans, not daring to avow
that weakness which suits so ill with them,
are energetic flatterers and vigorous slaves.
They give a harsh accent to their words, to
hide the suppleness of their opinions; and
they make use of philosophical reasonings to
explain that which is the most unphilosophi-
cal thing in the world--respect for power,
and the effeminacy of fear, which turns that
respect into admiration.
To such contrasts as these we must attri-
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? 172 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
bute that German gracelessness^ which it is'
the fashion to mimic in the comedies of all
countries. It is allowable to be heavy and
stiff, while we remain severe and firm; but,
if this natural stiffness be clothed with the
false smile of servility, then all that remains
is to be exposed to merited ridicule. In short,
there is a certain want of address in the
German character, prejudicial even to those
who have the selfish intent of sacrificing
every thing to their interest; and we are so
much the more provoked with them, because
they lose the honours of virtue, without
attaining the profits of adroit management.
While we confess the German philosophy
to be inadequate to form a nation, we must
also acknowledge that the disciples of the new
school are much nearer than any of the others
to the attainment of strength of character:
they dream of it, they desire it, they conceive
it; but they often fail in the pursuit. There
are few Germans who can even write upon
politics. The greater portion of those who
meddle with this subject are systematic, and
frequently unintelligible. When we are
busied with the transcendental metaphysics
--when we attempt to plunge into the dark-
ness of nature, any view, however indefi-
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 173
nite it may be, is not to be despised; every
presentiment may guide us; every approach
to the mark is something. It is not thus
with the affairs of the world; it is possible
to know them; it is necessary, therefore, to
foresee them clearly. Obscurity of style,
when we treat of thoughts without bounds,
is sometimes the very indication of a com-
prehensive understanding; but obscurity, in
our analysis of the affairs of life, only proves
that we do not comprehend them.
When we introduce metaphysics into bu-
siness, they confound, for the sake of ex-
cusing every thing; and we thus provide a
dark fog for the asylum of conscience. --
This employment of metaphysics would re-
quire address, if every thing was not reduced
in our times to two very simple and clear
ideas, interest or duty. Men of energy,
whichever of these two directions they fol-
low, go right onward to the mark, without
embracing theories which no longer deceive
nor persuade any body.
"See then," it may be said, "you are re-
"duced to extol, like us, the names of expe-
*4 rience and observation. "--I have never
denied that both were necessary for those
who meddle with the interests of this world;
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? 174 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
but it is in the conscience of man that we
ought to find the ideal principle of a conduct
externally directed by sage calculations.
Divine sentiments are subject here below to
earthly things; it is the condition of our
v existence. The beautiful is within our souls,
and the struggle is without. We must fight
for the cause of eternity, but with the
weapons of time; no individual can attain
the whole dignity of the human character,
either by speculative philosophy, or by the
knowledge of affairs, exclusively; and free
institutions alone have the advantage of
building up a system of public morals in a
nation, and of giving exalted sentiments an
opportunity of displaying themselves in the
practical conduct of life. . . .
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 175
i
? i? ?
CHAPTER XII.
Of the moral System, founded upon personal
Interest.
The French writers have been perfectly right
in considering morality founded upon in-
terest, as the consequence of that metaphy-
sical system which attributed all our ideas
to our sensations. If there is nothing in the
soul but what sensation has introduced, the
agreeable, or the disagreeable, ought to be
the sole motive of our volitions. Helvetius,
Didelot, Saint-Lambert, have not deviated
from this direction; and they have explained
all actions (including the devotion of mar-
tyrs) by self-love. The English, who for
the most part profess the experimental phi-
losophy in metaphysics, have yet never
brought themselves to support a moral sys-
tem founded upon interest. Shaftesbury,
Hutcheson, Smith, &c. have declared the
moral sense and sympathy to be"the source
of all virtue. Hume himself, the most
sceptical of the English philosophers,' could
1
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? 176 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
not read without disgust this theory of self-
love, which deformed the beauty of the soul.
Nothing is more opposite than this system
to the whole of their opinions in Germany:
their philosophical and moral writers, in
consequence (at the head of whom we must
place Kant, Fichte, and Jacobi), have com-
bated it with success.
As the tendency of man towards happi-
ness is the most universal and active of all
his inclinations, some have believed that
they built morality on the most solid basis,
when they said it consisted in the right un-
derstanding of our personal interest. This
? idea has misled men of integrity, and others
have purposely abused it, and have only too
well succeeded in that abuse. Doubtless,
the general laws of nature and society make
happiness and virtue harmonize; but their
laws are subject to very numerous exceptions,
and which appear to be more numerous than
they really are.
. By making happiness consist in a quiet
conscience, we elude the arguments drawn
from the prosperity of vice and the misfor-
tunes of virtue; but this inward joy, which
is entirely of a religious kind, has no relation
to that which we designate upon earth by
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? OP THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 177
the name of happiness. To call self-devotion
or selfishness, guilt or innocence, our personal
interest, well or ill understood, is to aim at
filling . up that abyss which separates the cri-
minal from the virtuous; is to destroy re-
spect; is to weaken indignation:--for if
morality is nothing but right calculation, he
who wants it can only be accused of a flaw
in his understanding. It is impossible to feel
the noble sentiment of esteem for any one
because he is an accurate accountant; nor an
energetic contempt for him who errs in his
arithmetic. Men have arrived, therefore, by
means of this system, at the principal end of
all the profligate, who wish to put justice
and injustice upon a-le? el,or, at least, to con-
sider both as a game well or ill played:--
the philosophers of this school, accordingly,
more frequently use the word Fault than
Crime; for, in their mode of thinking, there
is nothing in the conduct of life but skilful
or unskilful combinations.
We can form no better conception how
remorse can be admitted into such a system:
-<-the criminal, when he is punished, ought
to feel that sort of regret which is occasioned
by the failure of a speculation; for if our
individual happiness is our principal object,
VOL. III. w
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? 178 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
if we are the only end of ourselves, peace
must soon be restored between these two
near allies--he who has done wrong, and he
who suffers from it. It is a proverb almost
universally admitted, that every one is free
in all that concerns himself alone: now, as
in the moral system, founded upon interest,
self is the only question, I know not what
answer could be returned to such a speech
as the following :--" You give me, as the
11 motive for my actions, my own individual
"benefit--I am much obliged: but the man-
"ner of conceiving what this benefit is,
"necessarily depends upon the variety of
"character. I am courageous; I can there-
"fore risk the dangers attached to an infrac-
"tion of the laws better than another:--I
"am ingenious; therefore I trust to more
"means of escaping punishment:--lastly, if
"it turns out ill, I have sufficient fortitude
"to endure the consequences of having de-
"ceived myself; and I prefer the pleasures
"and the chances of high play to the mo-
"notony of a regular existence. "
How many French works, in the last age,
have commented upon these arguments,
which cannot be completely refuted; for,in
a matter of chance, one out of a thousand is
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 179
sufficient to rouse the imagination to every
effort for obtaining it ; and, certainly, the
odds are not a thousand to one against the
success of vice. "But" (many of the ho-
nest partisans of the moral system founded
upon interest will say) " this morality does
"not exclude the influence of religion over
"the soul. " How weak and melancholy a
part is left for it! When all the acknow-
ledged philosophical and moral systems are *
contrary to religion--when metaphysics an-
nihilate the belief of what is invisible, and
morals the sacrifice of ourselves, religion re-
mains, in our ideas, as the King remained in
that constitution which was decreed by the
Constituent Assembly; it was a Republic,
with a King; and I say the same of all these
systems of metaphysical materialism and
selfish morality--they are Atheism, with a
God. It is easy, then, to foresee what will
be sacrificed in the construction of out
thoughts, when we only assign a super-
fluous place to the central idea of the world
and of ourselves. . ,
The conduct of man is not truly moral,
excepting when he esteems as nothing the
happy or unhappy consequences of. those
actions which his duty has enjoined him. --
n2
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? 180 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
In directing the affairs of the world, we
must always keep in our minds the con-
nexion of causes and effects, of the means
and the end; but this prudence is to virtue
what good sense is to genius :--all that is
truly beautiful is inspired: all that is dis-
interested is religious. Calculation is the
labourer of genius, the servant of the soul;
but if it becomes the master, there is no
longer any thing grand or noble in man.
Calculation, in the conduct of life, ought
always to be admitted a3 the guide, but
never as the motive of our actions. It is a
good instrument of execution ; but the source
of the will ought to be of a more elevated
nature, and to contain in itself an internal
sentiment which compels us to the sacrifice
of our personal interests.
When an attempt was made to prevent
St. Vincent de Paul from exposing himself
to too great danger, in order to succour the
unfortunate, he replied, "Do you think me
"so base as to prefer my life to myself? "--
If the advocates of the moral system founded
upon interest would retrench from this in-
terest all that concerns earthly existence,
they would then agree with the most reli-
gious men; but still we might reproach them
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 181
with the faulty expressions in which they
convey their meaning.
"In fact/' it may be said, " this is only
"a dispute about words ; we call useful what
"you call virtuous, but we also place the
"well-understood interest of men in the
"sacrifice of their passions to their duties. "
Disputes about words are always disputes
about things; for every man of honesty will
confess, that he only uses this or that word
from preference for this or that idea. How
should expressions,habitually employed upon
the most vulgar matters, be capable of in-
spiring generous sentiments? When we pro-
nounce the words Interest and Utility, shall
we excite the same thoughts in our hearts, as
when we adjure each other in the name of
Devotion, and of Virtue?
When Sir Thomas More preferred perish-
ing on the scaffold to re-ascending the sum-
mit of greatness, by the sacrifice of a scruple
of conscience; when, after a year's impri-
sonment, enfeebled by suffering, he refused
to return to the wife and children whom he
loved, and to give himself up again to those
mental occupations which confer so much
vivacity, and at the same time so much tran-
quillity upon existence; when honour alone,
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? 182 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
that worldly religion, made an aged King of
France return to an English prison, because
his son had not kept the promises by means
of which he obtained his liberty; when
Christians lived in catacombs, renounced the
light of day, and felt the heavens only in
their souls; if any one had said, " they had
"a right understanding of their interest,"
what an icy chill would have run through
the veins at hearing such a speech, and how
much better would a compassionate look
have revealed to us all that is sublime in
such characters!
No, assuredly, life is not such a withered
thing as selfishness has made it; all is not
prudence, all is not calculation; and when
a sublime action agitates all the powers of
our nature, we do not consider whether the
generous man, who sacrifices himself for a
manifest good purpose, judiciously calculated
his personal interest; we think that he sa-
crifices all the pleasures, all the advantages
of this world ; but that a celestial ray de-
scends into his heart, and excites a happiness
within him, which has no more resemblance
to what we usually adorn with that name,
than immortality has to life.
It was not, however, without a motive,
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 183
that so much importance has been attached
to this system of morals founded upon per-
sonal interest. Those who support it have
the air of supporting a theory only; and it
is, in fact, a very ingenious contrivance, for
the purpose of rivetting the yoke of every
species. No man, however depraved he may
be, will deny the necessity of morality; for
the very being who is most decidedly defi-
cient in it, would wish to be concerned with
those dupes who maintain it. But what
address was there in fixing upon prudence
as the basis of morality; what an opening it
makes for the ascendency of power over the
transactions of conscience, over all the springs
in the human mind by which events are
regulated!
If calculation ought to preside over every
thing, the actions of men will be judged
according to their success; the man whose
good feelings have been the cause of mis-
fortune, will be justly condemned; the cor-
rupt, but adroit manager, will be justfy
commended. In a word, individuals, only
considering each other as obstacles or instru-
ments, will hate those who impede them,
and will esteem those who serve them, only
as means of their success. Guilt itself has
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? 184 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
more grandeur when it arises from the dis-
order of inflamed passion, than when per-
sonal interest is its object; how then allege
that to be the principle of virtue which
would dishonour vice itself*!
* la Bentham's work on Legislation, published, or rather
illustrated, by M.
consists in the faculty of turning back upon
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? INFLUENCE OP THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 159
itself; and the intelligence of nature advances
straight forward, like the instinct of animals.
Thought has self-possession, for it can judge
itself;--intelligence without reflection is a
power always attracted to things without.
When Nature performs the work of crystal-
lization according to the most regular forms,
it does not follow that she understands the
mathematics; or, at all events, she is igno-
rant of her own knowledge, and wants self-
consciousness. The German men of science
attribute a certain individual originality to.
physical forces ; and, on the other side, they
appear to admit (from their manner of
exhibiting some phenomena of animal mag-
netism), that the will of man, without any
external act, exerts a very great influence
over matter, and especially over metals.
Pascal says, "that astrologers and alche-
"mists have some principles, but that they
"abuse them. " There were, perhaps, of
old, more intimate relations between man
and nature than now exist. The mysteries
of Eleusis; the religion of the Egyptians;
the system of emanations among the Indians;
the Persian adoration of the elements and the
sun; the harmony of numbers, which was
the basis of the Pythagorean doctrine--. are
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? 160 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
vestiges of some curious attraction which
united man with the universe.
The doctrines of spirituality, by fortifying
the power of reflection, have separated man
more from physical influences; and the Re-
formation, by carrying still farther his tend-
ency towards analysis, has put reason on its
guard against the primary impressions of the
imagination. The Germans promote the
true perfection of the human mind, when
they endeavour to awaken the inspirations
of nature by the light of thought.
Experience every day leads the learned to
recognise phenomena, which men had ceased
to believe, because they were mingled with
superstitions, and had been the subjects of
presages. The ancients have related that
stones fell from heaven; and in our days the
accuracy of this fact, the existence of which
had been denied, is established. The an-
cients have spoken of showers red as blood,
and of earth-lightnings--we have lately been
convinced of the truth of their assertions in
these respects.
Astronomy and music are the science and
art which men have known from all anti-
quity: why should not sounds and the stars
be connected by relations which the ancients
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. l6l
perceived, and which we may find out again?
Pythagoras maintained that the planets were
proportionably at the same distance as the
seven chords of the lyre; and it is affirmed,
that he predicted the new planet which has
been discovered between Mars and Jupiter*.
It appears that he was not ignorant of the
true system of the heavens, the fixedness of
the sun; since Copernicus supports himself
in this instance upon the opinion of Pytha-
goras, as recorded by Cicero. From whence
then arose these astonishing discoveries,
without the aid of experience, and of the
new machines of which the moderns are in
possession? The reason is this--the ancients y.
advanced boldly, lit by the sun of genius.
They made use of reason, the resting-place
of human intellect; but they also consulted
Imagination, the priestess of nature.
Those which we call errors and super-
stitions may, perhaps, depend upon laws
of the universe, yet unknown to man. The
relations between the planets and metals, the
influence of these relations, even oracles and
* M. Prevost, Professor of Philosophy at Geneva, has
published a very interesting pamphlet on this subject. --This
philosophical writer is as well known in Europe as esteemed
in his country.
VOL. HI. M
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? 162 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALJL
presages--may they not be caused by occult
powers, of which we have no idea? And
who knows whether there is not a germ of
truth hidden under every apologue, under
every mode of belief, which has been stig-
matized with the name of madness? It
assuredly does not follow that we should re-
nounce the experimental method,so necessary
in the sciences. Butwhy not furnish asupreme
director for this method in a philosophy more
comprehensive, which would embrace the
universe in its collective character, and which
would not despise the nocturnal side of nature,
in the expectation of being able to throw
light upon it? It is the business' of poetry
(we may be answered) to consider the phy-
sical world in this manner; but we can arrive
at no certain knowledge except by expe-
rience; and all that is not susceptible of
proof may be an amusement to the mind,
but cannot forward our real progress.
Doubtless, the French are right in recom-
mending the Germans to have a respect for
experience; but they are wrong in turning
into ridicule the presages of reflection, which
perhaps will hereafter be confirmed by the
knowledge of facts. The greater part of grand
discoveries have at first appeared absurd; and
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 163
the man of genius will never do any thing
if. he dreads being exposed to ridicule. --
Ridicule is nerveless when despised, and
ascends in influence just as it is feared. We
see in fairy tales phantoms that oppose the
enterprises of knights, and harass them until
they have passed beyond the weird dominion.
Then all the witchcraft vanishes, and the
fruitful open country is spread before their
sight. Envy and mediocrity have also their I
sorceries; but we ought to march on towards
the truth, without caring for the seeming
obstacles that impede our progress.
When Keppler had discovered the har-
monic laws that regulate the motion of the
heavenly bodies, it was thus that he expressed
his joy:--" At length, after the lapse of
"eighteen months, the first dawn of light
"has shone upon me; and on this remark-
"able day I have perceived the pure irradia-
"tion of sublime truth. Nothing now re-
"presses me; I dare yield myself up to my
44 holy ardour; I dare insult mankind by
"acknowledging, that I have turned worldly
"science to advantage; that I have robbed
"the vessels of Egypt, to erect a temple to
"the living God. If I am pardoned, I shall
"rejoice; if blamed, I shall endure it. The
m2
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? 164 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
"die is cast; I have written this book ?
"whether it be read by posterity, or by. my
*' contemporaries, is of no consequence; it
"may well wait for a reader during one
"century, when God himself, during six
"thousand years, has waited for an observer
"like myself. " This bold ebullition of a
proud enthusiasm exhibits the internal force
of genius.
Goethe has made a remark upon the per-
fectibility of the human understanding, which
is full of sagacity--" It is always advancing,
"but in a spiral line. "--This comparison is
so much the more just, because the improve-
ment of man seems to be checked at many
seras, and then returns upon its own steps,
having gained some degrees in advance. --
There are seasons when scepticism is neces-
sary to the progress of the sciences; there
are others when, according to Hemsterhuis,
the marvellous spirit ought to supersede the
mathematical. When man is swallowed up,
or rather reduced into dust by infidelity, this
marvellous spirit can alone restore the power
of admiration to the soul, without which we
cannot understand nature.
The theory of the sciences in Germany
has given the men of genius an impulse like
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 165
that which metaphysics had excited in the
study of the mind; and life holds the same
rank in physical phaenomena, that the will
holds in moral order. If the relations be-
tween these two systems have caused certain
persons to interdict them both, there are
those who will discover in these relations the
double guarantee of the same truth. It is at
least certain, that the interest of the sciences
is singularly increased by this manner of re-
ferring them all to some leading ideas. Poets
might find in the sciences a crowd of useful
thoughts, if the sciences held communication
with each other in the philosophy of the
universe; and if this philosophy, instead of
being abstract, was animated by the inex-
haustible source of sentiment. The universe
resembles a poem more than a machine; and
if, in order to form a conception of the uni-
verse, we were compelled to avail ourselves
of imagination, or of a mathematical spirit,
imagination would lead us nearer to the
truth. But again let me repeat, we must
not make such a choice; since it is the
totality of our moral being which ought to
be employed in so important a kind of me-
ditation.
The new system of general physics, which
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? 166 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
in Germany serves for a guide to experi-
mental physics, can only be judged by its
results. We must see whether it will conduct
the human mind to new-established truths.
But it is impossible to deny the connexion
which it proves to exist between the different
branches of study. One student usually
revolts from the other when their occupations
are different, because they are a reciprocal
annoyance. The scholar has nothing to say to
the poet; the poet to the natural philosopher:
and even among the men of science, those
who are differently occupied avoid eachother;
taking no interest in what is out of their own
circle. This cannot be when a central phi-
losophy establishes connexions of a sublime
nature between all our thoughts. The scien-
tific penetrate nature by the aid of imagina-
tion. Poets find in the sciences the genuine
beauties of the universe. The learned enrich
poetry with the stores of recollection, and the
men of science with those of analogy.
The sciences, represented as insulated, and
as a land unknown to the soul, attract not
the exalted mind. The greater part of those
who have devoted themselves to the sciences
(with some honourable exceptions) have im-
printed upon our times that tendency towards
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 1<>7
calculation which so well teaches us, in all
changes, which is the strongest government.
The German philosophy introduces the phy-
sical sciences into that universal sphere of
ideas, which imparts so much interest to the
most minute observations, as well as to the
most important results.
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? 168 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
CHAPTER XI.
Influence of the new Philosophy upon the
'Character of the Germans.
It would appear that a system of philosophy,
which attributes an all-powerful action to
that which depends upon ourselves, namely,
to our will, ought to strengthen the character,
and to make it independent of external cir-
cumstances; but there is reason to believe,
that political and religious institutions alone
can create public spirit, and that no abstract
theory is efficacious enough to give a nation
energy: for, it must be confessed, the Ger-
mans of our days have not that which can
be called character. They are virtuous,
upright, as private men, as fathers of families,
as managers of affairs: but their gracious
and complaisant forwardness to support the
cause of power gives especial pain to those
who love them, and who believe them to be
the most enlightened speculative defenders
of the dignity of man.
The sagacity of the philosophical spirit
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOFHT. 169
alone has taught them in all circumstances
the cause and the effects of what happens;
and they fancy, when they have found a
theory for a fact, that it is all right. Mili-
tary spirit and patriotism have exalted many
nations to the highest possible degree of
energy; but these two sources of self-devo-
tion hardly exist among the Germans, taken
in a mass. They scarcely know any thing
of military spirit, but a pedantic sort of tac-
tics, which sanctions their being defeated
according to the rules; and as little of
liberty, beyond that subdivision into petty
kingdoms, which, by accustoming the inha-
bitants to consider themselves weak as a
nation, soon leads them to be weak as indi-
viduals. Respect for forms is very favour-
able to the support of law; but this respect,
such as it exists in Germany, induces the
habit of such punctual and precise proceed-
ings, that they hardly know how to open
a new path to reach an object though it be
straight before them.
Philosophical speculations are only suited
to a small number of thinking men; and far
from serving to combine the strength of a
nation, they only place the ignorant and the
enlightened at too great a distance from each
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? 17Q tfHILOSOfHY AND MOEALS.
^ other. There are too many new, and not
enough Common, ideas circulating in Ger-
many, for the knowledge of men and things.
Common ideas are necessary for the conduct
of life; business requires the spirit of execu-
tion rather than that of invention; whatever
is odd in the different modes of thinking in
Germany, tends to separate them from each
other; for the thoughts and interests which
unite men together must be of a simple
nature, and of striking truth. > i' .
Contempt of danger, of suffering, and of
death, is not sufficiently universal in all the
classes of the German nation. Doubtless,
life has more value for men capable of senti-
ments and ideas, than for those who leave be-
hind them neither trace nor remembrance;
but, at the same time that poetical enthu-
siasm gathers fresh vigour from the highest
degree of learning, rational courage ought to
fill the place of the instinct of ignorance. It
belongs alone to philosophy, founded upon
religion, to inspire an unalterable resolution
under all contingencies.
If, however, Philosophy has not appeared
to be all-powerful in this respect in Germany;
we must not therefore despise her:--she
supports, she enlightens every man, indi*
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? INFLUENCE Ol THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 171
vidually; but a government alone can excite
that moral electricity which makes the whole
nation feel the same sentiment.
We are
more offended with the Germans, when we
see them deficient in energy, than with the
Italians, whose political situation has en-
feebled their character for several centuries.
The Italians, through the whole of life, by
their grace and their imagination, preserve a
sort of prolonged right to childhood; but
the rude physiognomy and manners of the
Germans appear to promise a manly soul,
and we are disagreeablj* surprised not to find.
it. In a word, timidity of character is par-
doned when it is confessed; and in this way
the Italians have a peculiar frankness, which
excites a kind of interest in their favour;.
while the Germans, not daring to avow
that weakness which suits so ill with them,
are energetic flatterers and vigorous slaves.
They give a harsh accent to their words, to
hide the suppleness of their opinions; and
they make use of philosophical reasonings to
explain that which is the most unphilosophi-
cal thing in the world--respect for power,
and the effeminacy of fear, which turns that
respect into admiration.
To such contrasts as these we must attri-
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? 172 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
bute that German gracelessness^ which it is'
the fashion to mimic in the comedies of all
countries. It is allowable to be heavy and
stiff, while we remain severe and firm; but,
if this natural stiffness be clothed with the
false smile of servility, then all that remains
is to be exposed to merited ridicule. In short,
there is a certain want of address in the
German character, prejudicial even to those
who have the selfish intent of sacrificing
every thing to their interest; and we are so
much the more provoked with them, because
they lose the honours of virtue, without
attaining the profits of adroit management.
While we confess the German philosophy
to be inadequate to form a nation, we must
also acknowledge that the disciples of the new
school are much nearer than any of the others
to the attainment of strength of character:
they dream of it, they desire it, they conceive
it; but they often fail in the pursuit. There
are few Germans who can even write upon
politics. The greater portion of those who
meddle with this subject are systematic, and
frequently unintelligible. When we are
busied with the transcendental metaphysics
--when we attempt to plunge into the dark-
ness of nature, any view, however indefi-
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? INFLUENCE OF THE NEW PHILOSOPHY. 173
nite it may be, is not to be despised; every
presentiment may guide us; every approach
to the mark is something. It is not thus
with the affairs of the world; it is possible
to know them; it is necessary, therefore, to
foresee them clearly. Obscurity of style,
when we treat of thoughts without bounds,
is sometimes the very indication of a com-
prehensive understanding; but obscurity, in
our analysis of the affairs of life, only proves
that we do not comprehend them.
When we introduce metaphysics into bu-
siness, they confound, for the sake of ex-
cusing every thing; and we thus provide a
dark fog for the asylum of conscience. --
This employment of metaphysics would re-
quire address, if every thing was not reduced
in our times to two very simple and clear
ideas, interest or duty. Men of energy,
whichever of these two directions they fol-
low, go right onward to the mark, without
embracing theories which no longer deceive
nor persuade any body.
"See then," it may be said, "you are re-
"duced to extol, like us, the names of expe-
*4 rience and observation. "--I have never
denied that both were necessary for those
who meddle with the interests of this world;
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? 174 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
but it is in the conscience of man that we
ought to find the ideal principle of a conduct
externally directed by sage calculations.
Divine sentiments are subject here below to
earthly things; it is the condition of our
v existence. The beautiful is within our souls,
and the struggle is without. We must fight
for the cause of eternity, but with the
weapons of time; no individual can attain
the whole dignity of the human character,
either by speculative philosophy, or by the
knowledge of affairs, exclusively; and free
institutions alone have the advantage of
building up a system of public morals in a
nation, and of giving exalted sentiments an
opportunity of displaying themselves in the
practical conduct of life. . . .
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 175
i
? i? ?
CHAPTER XII.
Of the moral System, founded upon personal
Interest.
The French writers have been perfectly right
in considering morality founded upon in-
terest, as the consequence of that metaphy-
sical system which attributed all our ideas
to our sensations. If there is nothing in the
soul but what sensation has introduced, the
agreeable, or the disagreeable, ought to be
the sole motive of our volitions. Helvetius,
Didelot, Saint-Lambert, have not deviated
from this direction; and they have explained
all actions (including the devotion of mar-
tyrs) by self-love. The English, who for
the most part profess the experimental phi-
losophy in metaphysics, have yet never
brought themselves to support a moral sys-
tem founded upon interest. Shaftesbury,
Hutcheson, Smith, &c. have declared the
moral sense and sympathy to be"the source
of all virtue. Hume himself, the most
sceptical of the English philosophers,' could
1
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? 176 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
not read without disgust this theory of self-
love, which deformed the beauty of the soul.
Nothing is more opposite than this system
to the whole of their opinions in Germany:
their philosophical and moral writers, in
consequence (at the head of whom we must
place Kant, Fichte, and Jacobi), have com-
bated it with success.
As the tendency of man towards happi-
ness is the most universal and active of all
his inclinations, some have believed that
they built morality on the most solid basis,
when they said it consisted in the right un-
derstanding of our personal interest. This
? idea has misled men of integrity, and others
have purposely abused it, and have only too
well succeeded in that abuse. Doubtless,
the general laws of nature and society make
happiness and virtue harmonize; but their
laws are subject to very numerous exceptions,
and which appear to be more numerous than
they really are.
. By making happiness consist in a quiet
conscience, we elude the arguments drawn
from the prosperity of vice and the misfor-
tunes of virtue; but this inward joy, which
is entirely of a religious kind, has no relation
to that which we designate upon earth by
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? OP THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 177
the name of happiness. To call self-devotion
or selfishness, guilt or innocence, our personal
interest, well or ill understood, is to aim at
filling . up that abyss which separates the cri-
minal from the virtuous; is to destroy re-
spect; is to weaken indignation:--for if
morality is nothing but right calculation, he
who wants it can only be accused of a flaw
in his understanding. It is impossible to feel
the noble sentiment of esteem for any one
because he is an accurate accountant; nor an
energetic contempt for him who errs in his
arithmetic. Men have arrived, therefore, by
means of this system, at the principal end of
all the profligate, who wish to put justice
and injustice upon a-le? el,or, at least, to con-
sider both as a game well or ill played:--
the philosophers of this school, accordingly,
more frequently use the word Fault than
Crime; for, in their mode of thinking, there
is nothing in the conduct of life but skilful
or unskilful combinations.
We can form no better conception how
remorse can be admitted into such a system:
-<-the criminal, when he is punished, ought
to feel that sort of regret which is occasioned
by the failure of a speculation; for if our
individual happiness is our principal object,
VOL. III. w
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? 178 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
if we are the only end of ourselves, peace
must soon be restored between these two
near allies--he who has done wrong, and he
who suffers from it. It is a proverb almost
universally admitted, that every one is free
in all that concerns himself alone: now, as
in the moral system, founded upon interest,
self is the only question, I know not what
answer could be returned to such a speech
as the following :--" You give me, as the
11 motive for my actions, my own individual
"benefit--I am much obliged: but the man-
"ner of conceiving what this benefit is,
"necessarily depends upon the variety of
"character. I am courageous; I can there-
"fore risk the dangers attached to an infrac-
"tion of the laws better than another:--I
"am ingenious; therefore I trust to more
"means of escaping punishment:--lastly, if
"it turns out ill, I have sufficient fortitude
"to endure the consequences of having de-
"ceived myself; and I prefer the pleasures
"and the chances of high play to the mo-
"notony of a regular existence. "
How many French works, in the last age,
have commented upon these arguments,
which cannot be completely refuted; for,in
a matter of chance, one out of a thousand is
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 179
sufficient to rouse the imagination to every
effort for obtaining it ; and, certainly, the
odds are not a thousand to one against the
success of vice. "But" (many of the ho-
nest partisans of the moral system founded
upon interest will say) " this morality does
"not exclude the influence of religion over
"the soul. " How weak and melancholy a
part is left for it! When all the acknow-
ledged philosophical and moral systems are *
contrary to religion--when metaphysics an-
nihilate the belief of what is invisible, and
morals the sacrifice of ourselves, religion re-
mains, in our ideas, as the King remained in
that constitution which was decreed by the
Constituent Assembly; it was a Republic,
with a King; and I say the same of all these
systems of metaphysical materialism and
selfish morality--they are Atheism, with a
God. It is easy, then, to foresee what will
be sacrificed in the construction of out
thoughts, when we only assign a super-
fluous place to the central idea of the world
and of ourselves. . ,
The conduct of man is not truly moral,
excepting when he esteems as nothing the
happy or unhappy consequences of. those
actions which his duty has enjoined him. --
n2
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? 180 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
In directing the affairs of the world, we
must always keep in our minds the con-
nexion of causes and effects, of the means
and the end; but this prudence is to virtue
what good sense is to genius :--all that is
truly beautiful is inspired: all that is dis-
interested is religious. Calculation is the
labourer of genius, the servant of the soul;
but if it becomes the master, there is no
longer any thing grand or noble in man.
Calculation, in the conduct of life, ought
always to be admitted a3 the guide, but
never as the motive of our actions. It is a
good instrument of execution ; but the source
of the will ought to be of a more elevated
nature, and to contain in itself an internal
sentiment which compels us to the sacrifice
of our personal interests.
When an attempt was made to prevent
St. Vincent de Paul from exposing himself
to too great danger, in order to succour the
unfortunate, he replied, "Do you think me
"so base as to prefer my life to myself? "--
If the advocates of the moral system founded
upon interest would retrench from this in-
terest all that concerns earthly existence,
they would then agree with the most reli-
gious men; but still we might reproach them
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 181
with the faulty expressions in which they
convey their meaning.
"In fact/' it may be said, " this is only
"a dispute about words ; we call useful what
"you call virtuous, but we also place the
"well-understood interest of men in the
"sacrifice of their passions to their duties. "
Disputes about words are always disputes
about things; for every man of honesty will
confess, that he only uses this or that word
from preference for this or that idea. How
should expressions,habitually employed upon
the most vulgar matters, be capable of in-
spiring generous sentiments? When we pro-
nounce the words Interest and Utility, shall
we excite the same thoughts in our hearts, as
when we adjure each other in the name of
Devotion, and of Virtue?
When Sir Thomas More preferred perish-
ing on the scaffold to re-ascending the sum-
mit of greatness, by the sacrifice of a scruple
of conscience; when, after a year's impri-
sonment, enfeebled by suffering, he refused
to return to the wife and children whom he
loved, and to give himself up again to those
mental occupations which confer so much
vivacity, and at the same time so much tran-
quillity upon existence; when honour alone,
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? 182 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
that worldly religion, made an aged King of
France return to an English prison, because
his son had not kept the promises by means
of which he obtained his liberty; when
Christians lived in catacombs, renounced the
light of day, and felt the heavens only in
their souls; if any one had said, " they had
"a right understanding of their interest,"
what an icy chill would have run through
the veins at hearing such a speech, and how
much better would a compassionate look
have revealed to us all that is sublime in
such characters!
No, assuredly, life is not such a withered
thing as selfishness has made it; all is not
prudence, all is not calculation; and when
a sublime action agitates all the powers of
our nature, we do not consider whether the
generous man, who sacrifices himself for a
manifest good purpose, judiciously calculated
his personal interest; we think that he sa-
crifices all the pleasures, all the advantages
of this world ; but that a celestial ray de-
scends into his heart, and excites a happiness
within him, which has no more resemblance
to what we usually adorn with that name,
than immortality has to life.
It was not, however, without a motive,
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? OF THE MORAL SYSTEM, &C. 183
that so much importance has been attached
to this system of morals founded upon per-
sonal interest. Those who support it have
the air of supporting a theory only; and it
is, in fact, a very ingenious contrivance, for
the purpose of rivetting the yoke of every
species. No man, however depraved he may
be, will deny the necessity of morality; for
the very being who is most decidedly defi-
cient in it, would wish to be concerned with
those dupes who maintain it. But what
address was there in fixing upon prudence
as the basis of morality; what an opening it
makes for the ascendency of power over the
transactions of conscience, over all the springs
in the human mind by which events are
regulated!
If calculation ought to preside over every
thing, the actions of men will be judged
according to their success; the man whose
good feelings have been the cause of mis-
fortune, will be justly condemned; the cor-
rupt, but adroit manager, will be justfy
commended. In a word, individuals, only
considering each other as obstacles or instru-
ments, will hate those who impede them,
and will esteem those who serve them, only
as means of their success. Guilt itself has
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? 184 PHILOSOPHY AND MORALS.
more grandeur when it arises from the dis-
order of inflamed passion, than when per-
sonal interest is its object; how then allege
that to be the principle of virtue which
would dishonour vice itself*!
* la Bentham's work on Legislation, published, or rather
illustrated, by M.
