The Spirit Of Laws Part 22

Thus the reigning religion of j.a.pan having few doctrines, and proposing neither future rewards nor punishments, the laws to supply these defects have been made with the spirit of severity, and are executed with an extraordinary punctuality.

When the doctrine of necessity is established by religion, the penalties of the laws ought to be more severe, and the magistrate more vigilant; to the end that men who would otherwise become abandoned might be determined by these motives; but it is quite otherwise where religion has established the doctrine of liberty.

From the inactivity of the soul springs the Mahommedan doctrine of predestination, and from this doctrine of predestination springs the inactivity of the soul. This, they say, is in the decrees of G.o.d; they must, therefore, indulge their repose. In a case like this the magistrate ought to waken by the laws those who are lulled asleep by religion.

When religion condemns things which the civil laws ought to permit, there is danger lest the civil laws, on the other hand, should permit what religion ought to condemn. Either of these is a constant proof of a want of true ideas of that harmony and proportion which ought to subsist between both.

Thus the Tartars under Jenghiz Khan,10 among whom it was a sin and even a capital crime to put a knife in the fire, to lean against a whip, to strike a horse with the bridle, to break one bone with another, did not believe it to be any sin to break their word, to seize upon another man's goods, to do an injury to a person, or to commit murder. In a word, laws which render that necessary which is only indifferent have this inconvenience, that they make those things indifferent which are absolutely necessary.

The people of Formosa believe11 that there is a kind of h.e.l.l, but it is to punish those who at certain seasons have not gone naked, who have dressed in calico and not in silk, who have presumed to look for oysters, or who have undertaken any business without consulting the song of birds; whilst drunkenness and debauchery are not regarded as crimes. They believe even that the debauches of their children are agreeable to their G.o.ds.

When religion absolves the mind by a thing merely accidental, it loses its greatest influence on mankind. The people of India believe that the waters of the Ganges have a sanctifying virtue.12 Those who die on its banks are imagined to be exempted from the torments of the other life, and to be ent.i.tled to dwell in a region full of delights; and for this reason the ashes of the dead are sent from the most distant places to be thrown into this river. Little then does it signify whether they had lived virtuously or not, so they be but thrown into the Ganges.

The idea of a place of rewards has a necessary connection with the idea of the abodes of misery; and when they hope for the former without fearing the latter, the civil laws have no longer any influence. Men who think themselves sure of the rewards of the other life are above the power of the legislator; they look upon death with too much contempt. How shall the man be restrained by laws who believes that the greatest pain the magistrate can inflict will end in a moment to begin his happiness?

15.-How false Religions are sometimes corrected by the Civil Laws Simplicity, superst.i.tion, or a respect for antiquity have sometimes established mysteries or ceremonies shocking to modesty: of this the world has furnished numerous examples. Aristotle says13 that in this case the law permits the fathers of families to repair to the temple to celebrate these mysteries for their wives and children. How admirable the civil law which in spite of religion preserves the manners untainted!

Augustus14 excluded the youth of either s.e.x from a.s.sisting at any nocturnal ceremony, unless accompanied by a more aged relative; and when he revived the Lupercalia, he would not allow the young men to run naked.

16.-How the Laws of Religion correct the Inconveniences of a political Const.i.tution On the other hand, religion may support a state when the laws themselves are incapable of doing it.

Thus when a kingdom is frequently agitated by civil wars, religion may do much by obliging one part of the state to remain always quiet. Among the Greeks, the Eleans, as priests of Apollo, lived always in peace. In j.a.pan,15 the city of Meaco enjoys a constant peace, as being a holy city. Religion supports this regulation, and that empire, which seems to be alone upon earth, and which neither has nor will have any dependence on foreigners, has always in its own bosom a trade which war cannot ruin.

In kingdoms where wars are not entered upon by a general consent, and where the laws have not pointed out any means either of terminating or preventing them, religion establishes times of peace, or cessation from hostilities, that the people may be able to sow their corn and perform those other labors which are absolutely necessary for the subsistence of the state.

Every year all hostility ceases between the Arabian tribes for four months: the least disturbance would then be an impiety.16 In former times, when every lord in France declared war or peace, religion granted a truce, which was to take place at certain seasons.

17.-The same Subject continued When a state has many causes for hatred, religion ought to produce many ways of reconciliation. The Arabs, a people addicted to robbery, are frequently guilty of doing injury and injustice. Mahomet enacted this law:17 "If any one forgives the blood of his brother,18 he may pursue the malefactor for damages and interest; but he who shall injure the wicked, after having received satisfaction, shall, in the day of judgment, suffer the most grievous torments."

The Germans inherited the hatred and enmity of their near relatives: but these were not eternal. Homicide was expiated by giving a certain number of cattle, and all the family received satisfaction: a thing extremely useful, says Tacitus, because enmities are most dangerous among a free people.19 I believe, indeed, that their ministers of religion, who were held by them in so much credit, were concerned in these reconciliations.

Among the inhabitants of Malacca,20 where no form of reconciliation is established, he who has committed murder, certain of being a.s.sa.s.sinated by the relatives or friends of the deceased, abandons himself to fury, and wounds or kills all he meets.

18.-How the Laws of Religion have the Effect of Civil Laws The first Greeks were small nations, frequently dispersed, pirates at sea, unjust on land, without government and without laws. The mighty actions of Hercules and Theseus let us see the state of that rising people. What could religion do more to inspire them with horror against murder? It declared that the man who had been murdered was enraged against the a.s.sa.s.sin, that he would possess his mind with terror and trouble, and oblige him to yield to him the places he had frequented when alive.21 They could not touch the criminal, nor converse with him, without being defiled:22 the murderer was to be expelled the city, and an expiation made for the crime.23 19-That it is not so much the Truth or Falsity of a Doctrine which renders it useful or pernicious to Men in civil Government, as the Use or Abuse of it The most true and holy doctrines may be attended with the very worst consequences, when they are not connected with the principles of society; and on the contrary, doctrines the most false may be attended with excellent consequences, when contrived so as to be connected with these principles.

The religion of Confucius disowns the immortality of the soul: and the sect of Zeno did not believe it. These two sects have drawn from their bad principles consequences, not just indeed, but most admirable as to their influence on society. Those of the religion of Tao, and of Foe,24 believe the immortality of the soul; but from this sacred doctrine they draw the most frightful consequences.

The doctrine of the immortality of the soul falsely understood has, almost in every part of the globe and in every age, engaged women, slaves, subjects, friends, to murder themselves, that they might go and serve in the other world the object of their respect or love in this. Thus it was in the West Indies; thus it was among the Danes;25 thus it is at present in j.a.pan,26 in Maca.s.sar,27 and many other places.

These customs do not so directly proceed from the doctrine of the immortality of the soul as from that of the resurrection of the body, whence they have drawn this consequence, that after death the same individual will have the same wants, the same sentiments, the same pa.s.sions. In this point of view, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul has a prodigious effect on mankind; because the idea of only a simple change of habitation is more within the reach of the human understanding, and more adapted to flatter the heart, than the idea of a new modification.

It is not enough for religion to establish a doctrine; it must also direct its influence. This the Christian religion performs in the most admirable manner, particularly with regard to the doctrines of which we have been speaking. It makes us hope for a state, which is the object of our belief; not for a state which we have already experienced or known: thus every article, even the resurrection of the body, leads us to spiritual ideas.

20.-The same Subject continued The sacred books28 of the ancient Persians say, "If you would be holy instruct your children, because all the good actions which they perform will be imputed to you." They advise them to marry betimes, because children at the day of judgment will be as a bridge, over which those who have none cannot pa.s.s. These doctrines were false, but extremely useful.

21.-Of the Metempsychosis The doctrine of the immortality of the soul is divided into three branches-that of pure immortality, that of a simple change of habitation, and that of a metempsychosis, that is, the system of the Christians, that of the Scythians, and that of the Indians. We have just been speaking of the first two, and I shall say of the last, that as it has been well or ill explained, it has had good or bad effects. As it inspires men with a certain horror against bloodshed, very few murders are committed in the Indies; and though they seldom punish with death, yet they enjoy a perfect tranquillity.

On the other hand, women burn themselves at the death of their husbands; thus it is only the innocent who suffer a violent death.

22.-That it is dangerous for Religion to inspire an Aversion for Things in themselves indifferent A kind of honor established in the Indies by the prejudices of religion has made the several tribes conceive an aversion against each other. This honor is founded entirely on religion; these family distinctions form no civil distinctions; there are Indians who would think themselves dishonored by eating with their king.

These sorts of distinctions are connected with a certain aversion for other men, very different from those sentiments which naturally arise from difference of rank; which among us comprehends a love for inferiors.

The laws of religion should never inspire an aversion to anything but vice, and above all they should never estrange man from a love and tenderness for his own species.

The Mahommedan and Indian religions embrace an infinite number of people; the Indians hate the Mahommedans, because they eat cows; the Mahommedans detest the Indians because they eat hogs.

23.-Of Festivals When religion appoints a cessation from labor it ought to have greater regard to the necessities of mankind than to the grandeur of the being it designs to honor.

Athens was subject to great inconveniences from the excessive number of its festivals.29 These powerful people, to whose decision all the cities of Greece came to submit their quarrels, could not have time to despatch such a multiplicity of affairs.

When Constantine ordained that the people should rest on the Sabbath, he made this decree for the cities,30 and not for the inhabitants of the open country; he was sensible that labor in the cities was useful, but in the fields necessary.

For the same reason, in a country supported by commerce, the number of festivals ought to be relative to this very commerce. Protestant and Catholic countries are situated in such a manner that there is more need of labor in the former than in the latter;31 the suppression of festivals is, therefore, more suitable to Protestant than to Catholic countries.

Dampier observes that the diversions of different nations vary greatly, according to the climate.32 As hot climates produce a quant.i.ty of delicate fruits, the barbarians easily find necessaries, and, therefore, spend much time in diversions. The Indians of colder countries have not so much leisure, being obliged to fish and hunt continually; hence they have less music, dancing, and festivals. If a new religion should be established among these people, it ought to have regard to this in the inst.i.tution of festivals.

24.-Of the local Laws of Religion There are many local laws in various religions; and when Montezuma with so much obstinacy insisted that the religion of the Spaniards was good for their country, and his for Mexico, he did not a.s.sert an absurdity; because, in fact, legislators could never help having a regard to what nature had established before them.

The opinion of the metempsychosis is adapted to the climate of the Indies. An excessive heat burns up all the country:33 they can breed but very few cattle; they are always in danger of wanting them for tillage; their black cattle multiply but indifferently;34 and they are subject to many distempers. A law of religion which preserves them is, therefore, more suitable to the policy of the country.

While the meadows are scorched, rice and pulse, by the a.s.sistance of water, are brought to perfection; a law of religion which permits only this kind of nourishment must, therefore, be extremely useful to men in those climates.

The flesh of cattle in that country is insipid,35 but the milk and b.u.t.ter which they receive from them serve for a part of their subsistence; therefore, the law which prohibits the eating and killing of cows is in the Indies not unreasonable.

Athens contained a prodigious mult.i.tude of people, but its territory was barren. It was, therefore, a religious maxim with this people, that those who offered some small presents to the G.o.ds honored them more than those who sacrificed an ox.36 25.-The Inconvenience of transplanting a Religion from one Country to another It follows hence that there are frequently many inconveniences attending the transplanting a religion from one country to any other.

"The hog," says Mr. de Boulainvilliers,37 "must be very scarce in Arabia, where there are almost no woods, and hardly anything fit for the nourishment of these animals; besides, the saltness of the water and food renders the people most susceptible of cutaneous disorders." This local law could not be good in other countries,38 where the hog is almost a universal, and in some sort a necessary, nourishment.

I shall here make a reflection. Sanctorius has observed that pork transpires but little,39 and that this kind of meat greatly hinders the transpiration of other food; he has found that this diminution amounts to a third.40 Besides, it is known that the want of transpiration forms or increases the disorders of the skin. The feeding on pork ought rather to be prohibited in climates where the people are subject to these disorders, as in Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, and Libya.

26.-The same Subject continued Sir John Chardin says41 that there is not a navigable river in Persia, except the Kur, which is at the extremity of the empire. The ancient law of the Gaurs which prohibited sailing on rivers was not, therefore, attended with any inconvenience in this country, though it would have ruined the trade of another.

Frequent bathings are extremely useful in hot climates. On this account they are ordained in the Mahommedan law and in the Indian religion. In the Indies it is a most meritorious act to pray to G.o.d in the running stream;42 but how could these things be performed in other climates?

When a religion adapted to the climate of one country clashes too much with the climate of another it cannot be there established; and whenever it has been introduced it has been afterwards discarded. It seems to all human appearance as if the climate had prescribed the bounds of the Christian and the Mahommedan religions.

It follows hence, that it is almost always proper for a religion to have particular doctrines, and a general wors.h.i.+p. In laws concerning the practice of religious wors.h.i.+p there ought to be but few particulars; for instance, they should command mortification in general and not a certain kind of mortification. Christianity is full of good sense; abstinence is of divine inst.i.tution; but a particular kind of abstinence is ordained by human authority, and, therefore, may be changed.

1 "Thoughts on the Comet."

2 "Description of Ethiopia," by M. Ponce, Physician. "Collection of Edifying Letters."

3 See "Diodorus," lib. II.

4 Dupin's "Ecclesiastical Library of the 6th century," vol. v.

5 "Collection of Voyages that contributed to the establishment of the East India Company," vol. iii. part I. p. 36.

6 "History of the Jews," by Prideaux.

7 This is the inconvenience of the doctrine of Foe and Laockium.

8 Lib. II. of Laws."

9 "Sacrum commissum, quod neque expiari poterit, impie commissum est; quod expiari poterit publici sacerdotes expianto."

10 See the relation written by John Duplan Carpin, sent to Tartary by Pope Innocent IV in the year 1246.

11 "Collection of Voyages that Contributed to the establishment of the East India Company," vol. v. p. 192.

12 "Edifying Letters," collect. 15.

13 "Polit." lib. VII. cap. xvii.

14 Suetonius, in "Augusto," cap. x.x.xi.

15 "Collection of Voyages made to establish an India Company," vol. iv. p. 127.

16 See Prideaux, "Life of Mahomet," p. 64.

17 Koran, book I., chapter "of the. Cow."

18 On renouncing the law of retaliation.

19 "De Moribus Germanorum."

20 "Collection of Voyages that contributed to the establishment of the East India Company," vol. vii. p. 303. See also "Memoirs" of the C. de Forbin, and what he says of the people of Maca.s.sar.

21 Plato, of "Laws," lib. IX.

22 Tragedy of "dipus Coloneus."

23 Plato, of "Laws," lib. IX.

24A Chinese philosopher reasons thus against the doctrine of Foe: "It is said, in a book of that sect, that the body is our dwelling-place and the soul the immortal guest which lodges there; but if the bodies of our relatives are only a lodging, it is natural to regard them with the same contempt we should feel for a structure of earth and dirt. Is not this endeavoring to tear from the heart the virtue of love to one's own parents? This leads us even to neglect the care of the body, and to refuse it the compa.s.sion and affection so necessary for its preservation; hence the disciples of Foe kill themselves by thousands."-"Work of an ancient Chinese philosopher," in the Collection of Du Halde, vol. iii. p. 52.

25 See Tho. Bartholin's "Antiquities of the Danes."

26 "An Account of j.a.pan," in the "Collection of Voyages that contributed to establish an East India Company."

27 Forbin's "Memoirs."

28 Mr. Hyde.

29 Xenophon "on the Republic of Athens."

30 Leg. 3, cod. "de Feriis." This law was doubtless made only for the Pagans.

31 The Catholics lie more towards the south, and the Protestants towards the north.

32 Dampier's "Voyages," vol. ii.

33 See Bernier's "Travels," vol. ii. p. 137.

34 "Edifying Letters," Col. 12, p. 95.

35 Bernier's "Travels," vol. ii. p. 187.

36 Euripides, in "Athenaeus," lib. II.

37 "Life of Mahomet."

38 As in China.

39 "Medicina Statica," sect. 3, aphor. 23.

40 Ibid.

41 "Travels into Persia," vol. ii.

42 Bernier's "Travels," vol. ii.

Book XXV

Of Laws in Relation to the Establishment of Religion and its External Polity 1.-Of Religious Sentiments THE pious man and the atheist always talk of religion; the one speaks of what he loves, and the other of what he fears.

2.-Of the Motives of Attachment to different Religions The different religions of the world do not give to those who profess them equal motives of attachment; this depends greatly on the manner in which they agree with the turn of thought and perceptions of mankind.

We are extremely addicted to idolatry, and yet have no great inclination for the religion of idolaters; we are not very fond of spiritual ideas, and yet are most attached to those religions which teach us to adore a spiritual being. This proceeds from the satisfaction we find in ourselves at having been so intelligent as to choose a religion which raises the deity from that baseness in which he had been placed by others. We look upon idolatry as the religion of an ignorant people, and the religion which has a spiritual being for its object as that of the most enlightened nations.

When with a doctrine that gives us the idea of a spiritual supreme being we can still join those of a sensible nature and admit them into our wors.h.i.+p, we contract a greater attachment to religion; because those motives which we have just mentioned are added to our natural inclinations for the objects of sense. Thus the Catholics, who have more of this kind of wors.h.i.+p than the Protestants, are more attached to their religion than the Protestants are to theirs, and more zealous for its propagation.

When the people of Ephesus were informed that the fathers of the council had declared they might call the Virgin Mary the Mother of G.o.d, they were transported with joy, they kissed the hands of the bishops, they embraced their knees, and the whole city resounded with acclamations.1 When an intellectual religion superadds a choice made by the deity, and a preference for those who profess it over those who do not, this greatly attaches us to religion. The Mahommedans would not be such good Mussulmans if, on the one hand, there were not idolatrous nations who make them imagine themselves the champions of the unity of G.o.d; and on the other Christians, to make them believe that they are the objects of his preference.

A religion burdened with many ceremonies2 attaches us to it more strongly than that which has a fewer number. We have an extreme propensity to things in which we are continually employed: witness the obstinate prejudices of the Mahommedans and the Jews,3 and the readiness with which barbarous and savage nations change their religion, who, as they are employed entirely in hunting or war, have but few religious ceremonies.

Men are extremely inclined to the pa.s.sions of hope and fear; a religion, therefore, that had neither a heaven nor a h.e.l.l, could hardly please them. This is proved by the ease with which foreign religions have been established in j.a.pan, and the zeal and fondness with which they were received.4 In order to raise an attachment to religion it is necessary that it should inculcate pure morals. Men who are knaves by retail are extremely honest in the gross; they love morality. And were I not treating of so grave a subject I should say that this appears remarkably evident in our theatres: we are sure of pleasing the people by sentiments avowed by morality; we are sure of shocking them by those it disapproves.

When external wors.h.i.+p is attended with great magnificence it flatters our minds and strongly attaches us to religion. The riches of temples and those of the clergy greatly affect us. Thus even the misery of the people is a motive that renders them fond of a religion which has served as a pretext to those who were the cause of their misery.