dains the study of Nature, except it be partially: he pursues phantoms that resemble an ignis-fatuus, which at once dazzle, bewilder, and affright like the benighted traveller led astray by these deceptive exhalations of a swampy soil, he frequently quits the plain, the simple road of truth, by pursuing of which, he can alone ever reasonably hope to reach the goal of happiness.

The most important of our duties, then, is to seek means by which we may destroy delusions that can never do more than mislead us. The remedies for these evils must be sought for in Nature herself; it is only in the abundance of her resources, that we can rationally expect to find antidotes to the mischiefs brought upon us by an ill-directed, by an overpowering enthusiasm. It is time these remedies were sought; it is time to look the evil boldly in the face, to examine its foundations, to scrutinize its superstructure: reason, with its faithful guide experience, must attack in their entrenchments those prejudices to which the human race has but too long been the victim. For this purpose reason must be restored to its proper rank,-it must be rescued from the evil company with which it is associated. It has been too long degraded-too long neglected-cowardice has rendered it subservient to delirium, the slave to falsehood. It must no longer be held down by the massive chains of ignorant prejudice.

Truth is invariable-it is requisite to man-it can never harm himhis very necessities, sooner or later, make him sensible of this; oblige him to acknowledge it. Let us then discover it to mortals-let us exhibit its charms-let us shed its effulgence over the darkened road; it is the only mode by which man can become disgusted with that disgraceful superstition which leads him into errour, and which but too often usurps his homage by treacherously covering itself with the mask of truth-its lustre can wound none but those enemies to the human race whose power is bottomed solely on the ignorance, on the darkness in which they have in almost every climate contrived to involve the mind of man.

Truth speaks not to these perverse beings :-her voice can only be heard by generous minds accustomed to reflection, whose sensibilities make them lament the numberless calamities showered on the earth by political and religious tyranny-whose enlightened minds contemplate with horrour the immensity, the ponderosity of that series of misfortunes with which errour has in all ages overwhelmed mankind.

Toerrour must be attributed those insupportable chains which tyrants, which priests have forged for all nations. To errour must be equally attributed that abject slavery into which the people of almost every country have fallen. Nature designed they should pursue their happiness by the most perfect freedom. To errour must be attributed those religious terrours which, in almost every climate, have either petrified man with fear, or caused him to destroy himself for coarse or fanciful beings. To errour must be attributed those inveterate hatreds, those barbarous persecutions, those numerous massacres, those dread

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ful tragedies, of which, under pretext of serving the interests of heaven, the earth has been but too frequently made the theatre. It is errour consecrated by religious enthusiasm, which produces that ignorance, that uncertainty in which man ever finds himself with regard to his most evident duties, his clearest rights, the most demonstrable truths. In short, man is almost every where a poor degraded captive, devoid either of greatness of soul, of reason, or of virtue, whom his inhuman gaolers have never permitted to see the light of day.

Let us then endeavour to disperse those clouds of ignorance, those mists of darkness which impede man on his journey, which obscure his progress, which prevent his marching through life with a firm, with a steady step. Let us try to inspire him with courage-with respect for his reason-with an inextinguishable love for truth-to the end that he may learn to know himself-to know his legitimate rights-that he may learn to consult his experience, and no longer be the dupe of an imagination led astray by authority— that he may renounce the prejudices of his childhood-that he may learn to found his morals on his nature, on his wants, on the real advantage of society-that he may dare to love himself that he may learn to pursue his true happiness by promoting that of others-in short, that he may no longer occupy himself with reveries either useless or dangerous-that he may become a virtuous, a rational being, in which case he cannot fail to become happy.

If he must have his chimeras, let him at least learn to permit others to form theirs after their own fashion; since nothing can be more immaterial than the manner of men's thinking on subjects not accessible to reason, provided those thoughts be not suffered to imbody themselves into actions injurious to others: above all, let him be fully persuaded that it is of the utmost importance to the inhabitants of this world to be JUST, KIND, and PEACEABLE.

Far from injuring the cause of virtue, an impartial examination of the principles of this work will show that its object is to restore truth to its proper temple, to build up an altar whose foundations shall be consolidated by morality, reason, and justice: from this sacred fane, virtue guarded by truth, clothed with experience, shall shed forth her radiance on delighted mortals; whose homage flowing consecutively shall open to the world a new era, by rendering general the belief that happiness, the true end of man's existence, can never be attained but

BY PROMOTING THAT OF HIS FELLOW CREATURE.

In conclusion :-Warned by old age and weak limbs that death is fast approaching, the author protests most solemnly that, in his labours, his sole object has been to promote the happiness of his fellow creatures; and his only ambition, to merit the approbation of the few partizans of Truth who honestly and sincerely seek her. He writes not for those who are deaf to the voice of reason, who judge of things only by their vile interest or fatal prejudices: his cold remains will fear neither their clamours nor their resentments, so terrible to those who, whilst living, dare proclaim the TRUTH.

THE SYSTEM OF NATURE.

OF NATURE AND HER LAWS-OF MAN-OF THE SOUL AND ITS FACULTIES OF THE DOCTRINE OF IMMORTALITY-ON HAPPINESS.

CHAPTER I.
Of Nature

MEN will always deceive themselves by abandoning experience to follow imaginary systems. Man is the work of Nature: he exists in Nature: he is submitted to her laws: he cannot deliver himself from them; nor can he step beyond them even in thought. It is in vain his mind would spring forward beyond the visible world, an imperious necessity always compels his return. For a being formed by Nature, and circumscribed by her laws, there exists nothing beyond the great whole of which he forms a part, of which he experiences the influence. The beings which he pictures to himself as above nature, or distinguished from her, are always chimeras formed after that which he has already seen, but of which it is impossible he should ever form any correct idea, either as to the place they occupy, or of their manner of acting. There is not, there can be nothing out of that Nature which includes all beings.

The distinction which has been so often made between the physical_and the moral man is evidently an abuse. of terms. Man is a being purely physical: the moral man is nothing more than this physical being considered under a certain point of view, that is to say, with relation to some of his modes of action, arising out of his particular organization. But is not this organization itself the work of Nature? The motion or impulse to action of which he is susceptible, is that not physical? His visible actions, as well as the invisible motion interiorly excited by his will or his thoughts, are equally the natural effects, the necessary consequences, of his peculiar mechanism, and the impulse he receives from those beings by whom he is surrounded. All that the human mind has successively invented with a view to change or perfect his being, and to render himself more happy, was only a necessary consequence of man's peculiar essence, and that of the beings who act upon him. The object of all his institutions, of all his reflections, of all his knowledge, is only to procure that happiness towards which he is incessantly impelled by the peculiarity of his nature. All that he does, all that he thinks, all that he is, all that he will be, is nothing more than what Universal Nature has made him. His ideas, his

Instead, therefore, of seeking out of the world he inhabits for beings who can procure him a happiness denied to him by Nature, let man study this Nature, let him learn her laws, contemplate her energies, observe the immutable rules by which she acts:-let him apply these discoveries to his own feli-will, his actions, are the necessary efcity and submit in silence to her mandates, which nothing can alter :-let him cheerfully consent to ignore causes hid from him by an impenetrable veil:let him without murmuring yield to the decrees of a universal necessity, which can never be brought within his comprehension, nor ever emancipate him from those laws imposed on him by his essence.

fects of those qualities infused into him by Nature, and of those circumstances in which she has placed him. In short, art is nothing but Nature acting with the tools she has made.

Nature sends man naked and destitute into this world which is to be his abode: he quickly learns to cover his nakedness, to shelter himself from the inclemency of the weather, first with

dergoes, never acts but according to
laws peculiar to his organization, and
to the matter of which he is composed.
The physical man, is he who acts
by causes our senses make us under-
stand.

The moral man, is he who acts by
physical causes, with which our preju-
dices preclude us from becoming ac-
quainted.

The wild man, is a child destitute of experience, who is incapable of pursuing his happiness, because he has not learnt how to oppose resistance to the impulses he receives from those beings

rude huts and the skins of the beasts of
the forest; by degrees he mends their
appearance, renders them more con-
venient he establishes manufactories
of cloth, of cotton, of silk; he digs clay,
gold, and other fossils from the bowels
of the earth, converts them into bricks
for his house, into vessels for his use,
gradually improves their shape, aug-
ments their beauty. To a being ele-
vated above our terrestrial globe, who
should contemplate the human species
through all the changes he undergoes
in his progress towards civilization,
man would not appear less subjected
to the laws of Nature when naked in by whom he is surrounded.
the forest painfully seeking his susten- The civilized man, is he whom ex-
ance, than when living in civilized so-perience and social life have enabled to
ciety surrounded with comforts; that is
to say, enriched with greater experi-
ence, plunged in luxury, where he
every day invents a thousand new wants
and discovers a thousand new modes
of satisfying them. All the steps taken
by man to regulate his existence, ought
only to be considered as a long succes-
sion of causes and effects, which are
nothing more than the development of
the first impulse given him by nature.

draw from nature the means of his own
happiness; because he has learned to
oppose resistance to those impulses he
receives from exterior beings, when ex-
perience has taught him they would be
injurious to his welfare.

The enlightened man, is man in his maturity, in his perfection; who is capable of pursuing his own happiness; because he has learned to examine, to think for himself, and not to take that The same animal by virtue of his for truth upon the authority of others, organization passes successively from which experience has taught him exthe most simple to the most complica-amination will frequently prove erroneted wants; it is nevertheless the con-ous. sequence of his nature. The butterfly The happy man, is he who knows whose beauty we admire, whose colours are so rich, whose appearance is so brilliant, commences as an inanimate unattractive egg; from this, heat produces a worm, this becomes a chrysalis, then changes into that winged insect decorated with the most vivid tints: arrived at this stage he reproduces, he propagates at last despoiled of his ornaments he is obliged to disappear, having fulfilled the task imposed on him by Nature, having described the circle of mutation marked out for beings

of his order.

how to enjoy the benefits of nature: in
other words, he who thinks for him-
self; who is thankful for the good he
possesses; who does not envy the wel-
fare of others; who does not sigh after
imaginary benefits always beyond his
grasp.

The unhappy man, is he who is in-
capacitated to enjoy the benefits of na-
ture; that is, he who suffers others to
think for him; who neglects the abso-
lute good he possesses, in a fruitless
search after imaginary benefits; who
vainly sighs after that which ever eludes
his pursuit.

The same progress, the same change takes place in vegetables. It is by It necessarily results, that man in his a succession of combinations originally researches ought always to fall back interwoven with the energies of the on experience, and natural philosophy: aloe, that this plant is insensibly regu- These are what he should consult in lated, gradually expanded, and at the his religion-in his morals-in his leend of a great number of years pro- gislation-in his political government duces those flowers which announce-in the arts-in the sciences-in his its dissolution. pleasures-in his misfortunes.

Ex

It is equally so with man, who in all perience teaches that Nature acts by his motion, all the changes he un-simple, uniform, and invariable laws.

It is by his senses man is bound to this universal Nature; it is by his senses he must penetrate her secrets; it is from his senses he must draw experience of her laws. Whenever, therefore, he either fails to acquire experience or quits its path, he stumbles into an abyss, his imagination leads him astray.

passed away the ancient mythology, with all the trumpery attributes attached to it by ignorance.*

to satisfy his wants; for remedies against his pains; for the means of rendering himself happy: he expected to derive these benefits from imaginary beings, whom he erroneously imagin

Man did not understand that Nature, equal in her distributions, entirely destitute of goodness or malice, follows only necessary and immutable laws, when she either produces beings or destroys them, when she causes All the errours of man are physical those to suffer, whose organization errours: he never deceives himself but creates sensibility; when she scatters when he neglects to return back to na-among them good and evil; when ture, to consult her laws, to call experi- she subjects them to incessant change ence to his aid. It is for want of experi--he did not perceive it was in the ence he forms such imperfect ideas of bosom of Nature herself, that it was matter, of its properties, of its combina- in her abundance he ought to seek tions, of its power, of its mode of action, or of the energies which spring from its essence. Wanting this experience, the whole universe to him is but one vast scene of illusion. The most ordinary results appear to him the most astonish-ed to be the authors of his pleasures, ing phenomena; he wonders at every thing, understands nothing, and yields the guidance of his actions to those interested in betraying his interests. He is ignorant of Nature, he has mistaken her laws; he has not contemplated the necessary routine which she has marked out for every thing she contains. Mistaken the laws of Nature, did I say? He has mistaken himself: the consequence is, that all his systems, all his conjectures, all his reasonings, from which he has banished experience, are nothing more than a tissue of errours, a long chain of ab-natural desires of his heart, and to sacrisurdities.

the cause of his misfortunes. From hence it is clear that to his ignorance of Nature, man owes the creation of those illusive powers under which he has so long trembled with fear; that superstitious worship, which has been the source of all his misery.

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For want of clearly understanding his own peculiar nature, his proper dency, his wants, and his rights, man has fallen in society, from FREEDOM into SLAVERY. He had forgotten the design of his existence, or else he believed himself obliged to smother the

fice his welfare to the caprice of chiefs, either elected by himself, or submitted to without examination. He was ignorant of the true policy of association of the true object of government; disdained to listen to the voice of Nature, which loudly proclaimed that the price of all submission is protection and

he

All errour is prejudicial: it is by deceiving himself that man is plunged in misery. He neglected Nature; he understood not her laws; he formed gods of the most preposterous kinds : these became the sole objects of his hope, the creatures of his fear, and he trembled under these visionary deities; under the supposed influence of im*It is impossible to peruse the ancient and aginary beings created by himself; gusted at the contemptible invention of those modern theological works without feeling disunder the terrour inspired by blocks of gods which have been made objects of terrour stone; by logs of wood; by flying fish; or love to mankind. To begin with the inor else under the frowns of men, habitants of India and Egypt, of Greece and mortal as himself, whom his distemper- Rome, what littleness and foolery in their ed fancy had elevated above that Nature priests! Are our own any better? No! worship-what rascality and infamy in their of which alone he is capable of form-Cicero said, that two Augurs could not look ing any idea. His very posterity at each other without laughing; but he little laughs to scorn his folly, because ex- thought that a time would come when a set perience has convinced them of the of mean wretches,t assuming the title of Revabsurdity of his groundless fears, of fellow men that they represented the Divinity erend, would endeavour to persuade their his misplaced worship. Thus has on earth! + Des misérables.