comportment. He does not even seem to be moved: all in him is calm one would say, that he is but the spectator of the evils he endures. And yet, who could behold such a spectacle without emotion? One would say, that, when he suffers the most cruel torments and basest treatments, he is in his natural state. This is already too much for a mere man, but it is not as yet enough for Jesus Christ: He prays for his persecutors, he begs pardon for them, he exculpates them. CLXXVIII. Extreme dignity, in that very silence of Jesus Christ. O, what greatness is there in this silence! How elo. quent it is! What does it not say to those who are capable of understanding it? This venerable silence is the triumph of Jesus Christ. It is by this silence especially, that his virtue showed itself above all other virtue. man. The apology, which Socrates made for himself, before his judges; all that he said to his friends, before he took the fatal draught, respecting submission to the laws, the contempt of life, the immortality of the soul; all this depicts to me a great The silence of Jesus Christ paints to me a man above man himself. I see, by the beautiful speeches of Socrates, that he wished to appear constant and resolute: I see, by the silence of Jesus Christ, that he would be so. I see, by the interesting discourse of Socrates, that, when he could not save his life, he would, at least, secure his reputation: I see, by the silence of Jesus Christ, that his virtue was above the loss of life, and above that of reputation. I see, by the beauful speeches of Socrates, that, not being able to make his judges just, he, at least, would render them odious: I see, by the silence of Jesus Christ, that, not being able to make his judges just, he thought on nothing, but suffering their injustice patiently. One single word, which Jesus Christ would have said in behalf of his innocence, would have diminished in me the idea of his virtue. His silence fills, in all its extent, form to myself of virtue, and The silence of Jesus Christ is, the whole idea, which I can even surpasses that idea. therefore, sublime; and this admirable man was not only extremely patient, but he was so, moreover, with extreme dignity. In beholding Jesus Christ, such as I represent him to myself, in perusing the Bible, my reader, I doubt not, will find him still greater; and I feel bold to affirm, that if he find many new traits to add to the picture, which I have made of him, he will not find any to strike out. CLXXIX. He will be compelled to confess, that Jesus Christ was exempt, not only from all vice, but, moreover, from all defect, and from all weakness. That he had all virtues, that he had them in an eminent degree; that he has left far behind him, at an infinite distance, all great men, that have preceded him, and that have followed him. That he had the character of sanctity, which properly became a God-man; insomuch that, if it be true, that God would become man, he ought to have been such as Jesus Christ has been; that it is in him we must look for true sanctity: that he is the model of all men, in whatever condition they be, and in whatever situation they are found: proportioned to all; above all; whom all can imitate, and none can equal: that he resembles. those masterpieces of architecture, painting, and sculpture, which can be compared to nothing, because they are above every thing; and with which, all other works are compared, in order to judge of their beauty, according as they approach them more or less; that no particular virtue constituted the character of Jesus Christ, because he possessed them all in the same degree, which is the supreme degree, that he cannot be defined by any particular virtue, as we are used to define almost all great men; that his definition must present the idea of all virtues, and that his name is The Holy, or the Saint of Saints.* * The divine character of Jesus Christ, does not, in order to be felt, stand in need of foreign recommendations. It recommends itself by its own unmeasurable greatness and elevation; and in order to be struck with admiration of it, it is enough to view it. Still it will not a little assist our weakness, when we behold the enrapturing impression, which it made on the strongest and most comprehensive minds, of past ages as well as of the present. But that adorable character appears in all its lustre, when we behold sophistic impiety itself en. raptured at the beauty, the greatness, the wisdom, and sanctity of this adorable God-man. Yes, the very conspirators against the Son of God, could not reNo. VI. 32 CHAPTER II. On the Beauty, Excellency, and Sanctity of the Law of Jesus Christ.. PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS. CLXXX. From what has been said of the wisdom and sanctity of Jesus Christ, our reader is, no doubt, disposed to listen with a lively interest to what still remains to be said respecting the beauty, excellency, and sanctity of his holy law. He will expect nothing from this venerable man but what is wor frain from paying their tribute of admiration and respect to this divine personage, whenever they viewed it in the silence of their passions. "I must confess," says the too-much renowned J. J. Rousseau," that the majesty of the Scriptures strikes me; the sanctity of the Gospel speaks to my heart. Behold the books of the philosophers, with all their poesys; how insignificant are they beside this! Is it possible, that a book at once so sublime and so simple, is the work of men? Is it possible, that he, whose history it furnishes, is himself but a man? Is this the language of an enthusiast, or of an ambitious sectarian? What meekness, what purity in his manners! What moving grace in his instructions! What elevation in his maxims! What deep wisdom in his discourses! What presence of mind, what wit, and what justness in his answers! Where is the man, where is the sage, who knows how to act, to suffer, and to die without weakness and without ostentation? When Plato is pourtraying his imaginary Just, covered with all the opprobriums of crime, and worthy all the rewards of virtue, he is painting trait for trait, Jesus Christ. The likeness is so striking, that all the fathers of the church have felt it, and that it is not possible to be mistaken. What prejudices, what blindness must not one possess to dare to compare the Son of Sophronicus to the Son of Mary? Socrates, dying without pain, without ignominy, easily maintains to the end his personage; and if this easy kind of death had not reflected honour on his life, one would doubt, whether Socrates, with all his wit, was any thing more than a sophist. He invented, they say, morality. Others before him, had put it în practice; he said no more than what they had said; he did no more than to reduce their examples into lessons. Aristides was just, before Socrates had said what justice is. Leonidas had died for his country, before Socrates had made it a duty to love one's native country. Sparta was sober, before Socrates had recommended sobriety. Before he had defined virtue, Greece had already abounded in virtuous men. But where did Jesus Christ take among his own that elevated and pure morality, of which he only has given both the lessons and the example? From the midst of the most furious fanaticism, the highest wisdom caused itself to be heard; and the simplicity of the most heroic virtues thy of him; and, indeed, what man was ever more capable of giving to mankind just and truly useful laws than he, in whom we have seen shine forth sovereign reason? What man ever deserved so much that mankind should submit to his laws, as he in whom sovereign sanctity shone in all its brightness. I venture to say, that if mankind did not perfectly know all the beauty and all the usefulness of the laws of Jesus Christ, still they ought to receive them only from a sense of respect for their Author; and still these laws are so beautiful and so useful, that men, were they even unacquainted with their Author, ought, with common accord, to submit to them only on account of their beauty and utility. Yes, whoever has on the one side, a thorough knowledge of the nature of man, of his faculties, his inclinations, his wants; and, on the other of the relations which men have with God, and of those which they have with each other, and, in fine, if I may express myself thus, of the relations which every man has with himself; whoever shall know well, I say, all these circumstances of nature, and of the condition of men, will be forced to acknowledge, that the law of Jesus Christ honoured the basest of all nations.* The death of Socrates, quietly philosophizing with his friends, is the mildest that one can wish for; that of Jesus Christ, expiring in torments, outraged and seorned, cursed by a whole people, is the most horrid that one can dread. Socrates, in taking the poisoned cup, blesses him who presents it to him, and who weeps: Jesus, in the midst of dreadful torments, prays for his enfuriate executioners. Yes, if the life and the death of Socrates be those of a sage, the life and the death of Jesus Christ are those of a God. Shall we say that the history of the Gospel was contrived at pleasure? Dear friend, it is not thus men invent; and the events respecting Socrates, of which no one doubts, are less attested than those which relate to Jesus Christ. In the main, this is only to shift the difficulty, not to destroy it; it would be more inconceivable that many men should have agreed to fabricate this book, than it would be that one man should have furnished the subject of it. Never would Jewish authors have found out, either this language or this morality; and the gospel has characteristics of truth, so great so striking, so perfectly inimitable, that the inventor of it would be still more astonishing than its hero." Emile, Tom. iii, page 179. *We are far from approving in all its extent, the horrid idea which this author gives here of the Jewish nation. answers them with such justness, and brings man into such perfect order relatively to all those circumstances, that it was not possible for God himself to conceive a plan of a wiser, a more beautiful, and a more accomplished legislation. Thence he will necessarily conclude, either that Jesus Christ was God, or at least (what suffices us for the moment) that he was filled with the spirit of God. Let us enter upon an examination of this law. CLXXXI. Man is a being composed of an organized body, and of a spiritual and immortal soul, which is closely united to the body to govern it, or if you please that I should make use of the definition universally received, man is a rational animal. Man is endowed with reason, is capable of knowing the truth, and of making the discernment of good and evil; and, in that same capacity he is moreover free, that is to say, he is master of his own determinations and of his own choice, and has particularly the power of embracing what is good and of reflecting what is evil, or of attaching himself to what is evil and of rejecting what is good. Behold the nature of man. Man holds his existence from another; he does not exist of himself. It is God, that is to say, the eternal Being, the Being infinite in all perfections that created him or made him out of nothing, both as to body and to soul. Behold the principle, the origin of man. God created man for his own glory and for the happiness of man himself, or what is tantamount, God made man to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world, and to possess him in the next. Behold the end of man. In fine, God made man to live upon earth in society with his fellow-creatures. It is in order to render this society more necessary, more intimate, and more pleasant, that he caused all men to be born of one, insomuch that they are all brethren and compose but one and the same family, spread all over the surface of the earth. Behold the temporal state of man. Here I easily conceive two things, and the reflecting reader, |