ity; nor when they are teaching, for commended also those vows and it dulls the learner, and breeds in professions made in prayers, as things him a hatred of all learning; nor if neither indecent in themselves nor they be in prosperity, for it increases unbecoming the wise, for a whole envy; nor if in adversity, for it year to abstain, serving God with makes them to be unpitied, if they temperance all the while; or else are morose and apt to quarrel with those who commiserate them.

again, for a certain time to abstain from falsehood, minding and watching over ourselves, that we speak nothing but what is true, either in earnest or in jest.

14 On the other hand, good temper doth remedy some things, put an ornament upon others, and sweeten others; and it wholly overcomes 18 After the manner of these vows all anger and moroseness, by gentle- then I made my own, supposing it ness. As may be seen in that ex- would be no less acceptable to God cellent example of Euclid, who, and sacred than theirs; and I set when his brother had said in a myself first to observe a few sacred quarrel: Let me perish if I be not days also, wherein I would abstain avenged of you, replied: And let from being angry, as if it were from me perish if I do not persuade you drunkenness or from drinking wine, into a better mind; and by so say- celebrating a kind of Nephalia and ing he straightway diverted him Melisponda with respect to my anger. from his purpose, and changed his mind.

19 Then, making trial of myself little by little for a month or two, I 15 If every one would always re- by this means in time made some peat the question of Plato to himself: good progress unto further patience "But am not I perhaps such a one in bearing evils, diligently observing myself?" and turn his reason from and keeping myself courteous in lanabroad to look into himself, and put guage and behavior, free from anger, restraint upon his reprehension of and pure from all wicked words and others, he would not make so much absurd actions, and from passion, use of his hatred of evil in reproving which for a little (and that no grateother men, seeing himself to stand ful) pleasure brings with itself great in need of great indulgence. perturbations and shameful repent

16 And, what is most truly shame-ance. ful of all, we do in our anger reprove 20 Whence experience, not withothers for being angry; and what was out some divine assistance, hath, I done amiss through anger we punish suppose, made it evident that that in our passion, therein not acting was a very true judgment and asserlike physicians, but rather increas- tion, that this courteous, gentle, and ing and exasperating the disease kindly disposition and behavior is which we pretend to cure.

17 But above all the rest, I look on that of Empedocles as a divine saying: "To fast from evil." And I

not so acceptable, so pleasing, and so delightful to any of those with whom we converse, as it is to those that have it.

SELECTION IV.

of reason and audacity, renders our

Fragmentary selections from Plutarch's whole irrational part stupid, distractdiscourse on Superstition and Atheism, ed, and unserviceable. showing that both are great evils, but Superstition being the cause of Atheism, besides being more slavish and degrading, is therefore the greater evil.

5 But of all fears, none so dozes and confounds as that of superstition. He fears not the sea that never goes to sea; nor a battle, that

ATHEISM, which is a false per- follows not the camp; nor robbers,

suasion that there are no blessed that stirs not abroad; nor malicious and incorruptible beings, tends, by informers, that is a poor man; nor its disbelief of a Divinity, to bring emulation, that leads a private life; men to a sort of unconcernedness nor earthquakes, that dwells in Gaul; and indifferency of temper; for the nor thunderbolts, that dwells in design of those that deny a God is Ethiopia. But he that dreads divine to ease themselves of his fear. powers dreads everything: the land, 2 But superstition appears by its the sea, the air, the sky, the dark, appellation to be a distempered the light, a sound, a silence, a dream. opinion and conceit, productive of 6 Even slaves forget their masters such mean and abject apprehensions in their sleep sleep lightens the as debase and break a man's spirit: irons of the fettered; their angry while he thinks there are divine sores, mortified gangrenes, and powers indeed, but withal sour and pinching pains allow them some invindictive ones. termission at night.

3 So that the atheist is not at all, and the superstitious is perversely, affected with the thoughts of God; ignorance depriving the one of the sense of his goodness, and superadding to the other a persuasion of his cruelty. Atheism, then, is but false reasoning single, but superstition is a disorder of the mind produced by this false reasoning.

Dear sleep, sweet easer of my irksome grief, Pleasant thou art! how welcome thy relief! 7 But superstition will not permit a man to say this: it alone will give no truce at night, nor suffer the poor soul so much as to breathe or look up, or respite her sour and dismal thoughts of God a moment.

8 Neither have they, when awake, enough wisdom, to slight and smile at all this, or to be pleased with the thought that nothing of all that terrified them was real; but they still fear an empty shadow, that could never mean them any ill, and cheat themselves afresh at noonday.

4 Every distemper of our minds is truly base and ignoble; yet some passions are accompanied with a sort of levity, that makes men appear gay, prompt, and erect; and none, we may say, is wholly destitute of force for action. But the common 9 They that were careful to precharge upon all sorts of passions is, serve good singing used to direct the that they excite and urge the reason, practisers of that science to sing forcing it by their violent stings. with their mouths in their true and Fear alone, being equally destitute proper postures. Should not we

then admonish those that would ad- ue or a shrine. But the superstitious dress themselves to the Heavenly fears, quivers, and dreads most of Powers to do that also in a true all there, where others when fearfuland natural way, lest, while we are lest take greatest courage. Never so solicitous that the sacrifice be hale a superstitious man from the alpure and right, we distort and abuse tar. It is his place of torment: he our own with silly and canting lan- is there chastised. guage, and thereby expose the dignity of our divine and ancient piety to contempt and raillery?

14 In one word, death itself, the end of life, puts no period to this vain and foolish dread; but it tran10 Polycrates was formidable at scends those limits and extends its Samos, and so was Periander at fears beyond the grave, adding to it Corinth; but no man ever feared the imagination of immortal ills; either of them, who had made his es- and after respite from past sorrows, cape to an equal and free govern- it fancies it shall next enter upon ment. But he that dreads the di- never-ending ones. I know not what vine government, as a sort of inex-gates of hell open themselves from orable and implacable tyranny, beneath, rivers of fire together with whither can he remove? Whither Stygian torrents present themselves can he fly? What land, what sea to view; a gloomy darkness appears can he find where God is not?

full of ghastly spectres and horrid shapes, with dreadful aspects and doleful groans, together with judges and tormentors, pits and caverns, full of millions of miseries and woes. Thus does wretched superstition bring inevitably upon itself, by its fancies, even those calamities which

II Wretched and miserable man! in what corner of the world canst thou so hide thyself as to think thou hast now escaped him? Slaves are allowed by the laws, when they despair of obtaining their freedom, to demand a second sale in hopes of kinder masters. But superstition it has once escaped. allows of no change of Gods.

15 Atheism is attended with none 12 Nor could he indeed find a God of this. True, indeed, the ignorance he would not fear, he who dreads is very lamentable and sad. For to his own and his ancestors' guardians; be blind or to see amiss in matters who quivers at his preservers and benign patrons; and who trembles and shakes at those of whom we ask wealth, plenty, concord, peace, and direction to the best words and actions.

of this consequence cannot but be a fatal unhappiness to the mind; it being then deprived of the fairest and brightest of its many eyes, the knowledge of God. Yet this opinion (as hath been said) is not necessarily 13 A slave may fly to an altar, accompanied with any disordering, and many temples afford sanctuary ulcerous, frightful, or slavish pasto thieves; and they that are pur- sion. sued by an enemy think themselves

16 The one, therefore, hath neither safe if they can catch hold on a stat-la sense nor belief of that Divine

Good he might participate of; and fortunate but in open hostility with the other dreads and fears it. In Heaven, he imagines that he is a word, atheism is an absolute insen- punished by God and is now maksibility to God, which does not rec-ing satisfaction for his past crimes, ognize Goodness; while supersti- and saith that his sufferings are all tion is a blind heap of passions, just and owing to himself. which imagine Good to be Evil. 19 Again, when the atheist falls The superstitious are afraid of their sick, he reckons up and calls to his Gods, and yet run to them; they remembrance his several surfeits and fawn upon them, and reproach them; debauches; his irregular course of they invoke them, and accuse them. living, excessive labors, or unaccus17 Consider well the atheist, and tomed changes of air or climate. observe his behavior first in things Likewise, when he miscarries in any not under the disposal of his will. public administration, and either If he be otherwise a man of good falls into popular disgrace or comes temper, he is silent under his pres- to be ill presented to his prince, he ent circumstances, and is providing searches for the causes in himself himself with either remedies or palli- and those about him, and asks, atives for his misfortunes. But if he be a fretful and impatient man, his whole complaint is against Fortune. He cries out, that nothing is 20 But the fanciful superstitionist managed here below either after the accounts every little distemper in his rules of a strict justice or the order- body or decay in his estate, the death ly course of a providence, and that of his children, and crosses and disall human affairs are hurried and appointments in matters relating to driven without either premeditation the public, as the immediate strokes or distinction. of God and the incursions of some

Where have I erred? What have I done amiss?

What should be done by me that undone is ?

18 This is not the demeanor of vindictive demon. And therefore the superstitious; if the least thing he dares not attempt to remove or do but happen amiss to him, he sits relieve his disasters, or to use the him down plunged in sorrow; and least remedy, or to oppose himself raises himself a vast tempest of in- to them, for fear he should seem to tolerable and incurable passions; struggle with God, or to make resistand presents his fancy with nothing ance under correction. but terrors, fears, surmises, and dis- 21 Such, then, is the behavior of tractions; until he hath overwhelmed | superstition in times of adversity, himself with groans and fears. He and in things out of the power of blames neither man, nor Fortune, man's will. Nor doth it a jot excel nor the times, nor himself; but atheism in the more agreeable and charges all upon God, from whom pleasurable part of our lives. he fancies a whole deluge of ven- 22 Now what we esteem the most geance to be pouring down upon agreeable things in human life are him; and, as if he were not only un-our holidays, temple-feasts, initia

tings, processionings, with our public fellow; if you invite others to sup prayers and solemn devotions. Mark with you, and chance to leave out

Plutarch, or if some business falls out that you cannot wait at his door with the morning salute, or if when you meet with him you don't speak to him, he 'll fasten upon you somewhere with his teeth and bite the

we now the atheist's behavior here. 'Tis true, he laughs at all that is done, with a frantic and sardonic laughter, and now and then whispers to a confidant of his, The devil is in these people sure, that can imagine God can be taken with these fooleries: but part through, or catch one of your this is the worst of his disasters.

children and cane him, or turn his beast into your corn and spoil your crop.'

23 But now the superstitious man would fain be pleasant and gay, but cannot for his heart. The whole 26 Moreover, atheism hath no town is filled with odors of incense hand at all in causing superstition; and perfumes, and at the same time but superstition not only gave athea mixture of hymns and sighs fills his ism its first birth, but serves it ever poor soul. He looks pale with a since by giving it its best apology garland on his head; he sacrifices for existing, which, although it be and fears, prays with a faltering neither a good nor a fair one, is yet tongue, and offers incense with a the most specious and colorable. trembling hand. In a word, he ut- For men were not at first made atheterly baffles that saying of Pythago- ists by any fault they found in the ras, that we are then best when heavens or stars, or in the seasons of we come near to God. For the the year, or in those revolutions or superstitious person is then in his motions of the sun about the earth worst and most pitiful condition, when he approaches the shrines and temples of God.

24 So that I cannot but wonder at those that charge atheism with impiety, and in the meantime acquit superstition. Anaxagoras was indicted of blasphemy for having affirmed the sun to be a red-hot stone. What? Is he that holds there is no God guilty of impiety, and is not he that describes him as the superstitious do much more guilty?

that make the day and night; nor yet by observing any mistake or disorder either in the breeding of animals or the production of fruits.

27 No, it was the uncouth actions and ridiculous and senseless passions of superstition; her canting words, her foolish gestures, her charms, her magic, her freakish processions, her taborings, her foul expiations, her vile methods of purgation, and her barbarous and inhuman penances and bemirings at the temples,-it 25 I, for my own part, had much was these, I say, that gave occasion rather people should say of me, that to many to affirm, it would be far there neither is nor ever was such a happier there were no Gods at all man as Plutarch, than they should than for them to be pleased and desay: "Plutarch is an unsteady, lighted with such fantastic toys, and fickle, froward, vindictive, and touchy to thus abuse their votaries, and to