Superstition in all agesHolbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Religion
Superstition in all ages
Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Atheism
"The Jacobins will one day declare that all men are free, that all men
are equal; and as a consequence of this Equality and Liberty they will
conclude that every man must be left to the light of reason. That every
religion subjecting man's reason to mysteries, or to the authority of
any revelation speaking in God's name, is a religion of constraint and
slavery; that as such it should be annihilated in order to reestablish
the indefeasible rights of Equality and Liberty as to the belief or
disbelief of all that the reason of man approves or disapproves: and
they will call this Equality and Liberty the reign of Reason and the
empire of Philosophy." [History of Jacobinism, page 51.]
The results which the Abbé Barruel so clearly foresaw have at length
been realized. The labors of the Jacobins have not been in vain, and the
Revolution they incited has restored France to the government of the
people!
"With ardent hope for the future," says President Carnot in his
centennial address, May 5, 1889, "I greet in the palace of the monarchy
the representatives of a nation that is now in complete possession of
herself, that is mistress of her destinies, and that is in the full
splendor and strength of liberty. The first thoughts on this solemn
meeting turn to our fathers. The immortal generation of 1789, by dint
of courage and many sacrifices, secured for us benefits which we must
bequeath to our sons as a most precious inheritance. Never can our
gratitude equal the grandeur of the services rendered by our fathers to
France and to the human race. . . . The Revolution was based upon the
rights of man. It created a new era in history and founded modern
society."
This is literally true. The freethinkers of France have taught mankind
the doctrines of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. They have taught the
dignity of human reason, and the sacredness of human rights. They have
broken the bondage of the altar, and severed the shackles of the throne;
and it is to be regretted that at the centennial celebration held in
this city on April 30th, 1889, the appointed orator [See the Centennial
Address of the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew.] did not realize the grandeur of
the occasion, and did not, like Carnot, pay a just tribute to our
allies, the reformers of Europe, as well as to the fathers of the
republic. But the people of America will remember what the politician
has forgotten. They will remember the names and deeds of their foreign
benefactors as well as of the American patriots of '76. When they recall
the illustrious Europeans who fought for our liberties they will
remember the name of Lafayette; when they think of the Declaration of
Independence they will not forget the name of Thomas Jefferson; and when
they speak of "the times that tried men's souls" they will recall with
gratitude the name of Thomas Paine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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