A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  But let’s return to our argument and show the absurdities that would follow if matter did not have an inherent power of self-movement. It would follow from this, that all bodies, being once made and fashioned, would be inalterable and incorruptible in their nature, and consequently they would not have in themselves, not only no principle of action, but they would also have of themselves no natural principle of generation, or of corruption, which immediately seems absurd: they would have no principle of action in themselves, since if anything is to act it must move, as I’ve already said; such that, if they had no principle of motion in themselves, they would also lack an inherent principle of action, and they would, consequently, be completely powerless to act of themselves; and thus, no liberty for men, since they have no inherent power to move, or any power to act; for how could liberty subsist alongside an utter impotence to act or move? 2). Living bodies would have no inherent principle of generation or corruption, and would be naturally incorruptible and inalterable; for, since the motions of the parts of matter is the principle of the generations and corruptions found in nature, if bodies do not have an inherent principle of motion, they also have no inherent principle of generation and corruption. That the motion of the parts of matter is the principle of the generation and corruption which occurs in nature is quite evident, since it’s clear that generation only really happens on the occasion of a new union and a new assemblage of the parts of matter, and that corruption only comes about by the disunion, and the detachment of the same parts of matter: and the union and separation of the parts of matter are only produced by motion. Therefore, if bodies don’t have an inherent principle of motion, nor will they have an inherent principle of generation or of corruption. 3). If the union or the disunion of the parts of matter are not made by the motive force of bodies themselves, it must be done by an external cause; if done by an external cause, the bodies will in no way be the true causes, but only the occasional or instrumental causes of generation and corruption, as well as all the other effects and actions done in bodies, and not only in inanimate bodies but also in living bodies; so it wouldn’t be, for example, men or animals who move themselves, when we see them moving, acting and running or doing anything else; but it would be some external and invisible cause acting on them, which would be setting them in motion and making them do everything that they seem to be doing by themselves. And since, for example, a saw doesn’t move itself to saw something, a knife doesn’t move itself to cut, a hammer doesn’t raise itself up before falling on something, the millstones in a windmill don’t turn themselves to grind the grain, and marionettes don’t dance and leap by themselves when they leap and dance, but all these movements come from external causes which make them do all they do by their means, in the same way living bodies also lack an inherent power of self-movement; neither men nor animals would move, by themselves, the parts of their bodies to act, or to do anything at all, but rather, an external and alien cause would acts on them and use their limbs to make them do all that men and beasts seem to do by themselves; and thus, since, for example, we see someone playing musical instruments very well, singing joyfully, speaking knowledgeably on all subjects; or others who dance well, leap with great agility, or skillfully perform all sorts of maneuvers with skill and subtlety, or finally, when we see others who are completely possessed with anger and fury, or who are raving mad and insane, foaming at the mouth, who say a thousand nonsensical things and do a thousand crude or terrible things, it wouldn’t be those people who are actually doing these things, it wouldn’t be they themselves who move their arms and legs, or their tongues and eyes, as they seem to be doing; but, as I’ve said, an external and invisible cause would be acting on them and using them to do everything, unruly or orderly, and everything, both good and evil, in their conduct, their words, deeds, or even their thoughts, desires, and passions. Neither would it be, for example, a flea or a fly that would move about, when they leap or fly into the air, but it would necessarily be a foreign cause that would move all the imperceptible springs of their parts and would make them leap so quickly and subtly as they do; from which it would evidently follow that men would in no way be the true causes of the good or evil they do, and thus they would be no more worthy of blame or praise than purely inanimate instruments, acting only by the hands of workers who wield them; and, assuming this, what basis would there be for the supposed rewards of the good and the punishments of the wicked? Since neither one nor the other can do anything of themselves, and since they can only do[742] what a superior force and power makes them do[743], or does in them.

  Don’t try to say that there is a great difference between men and pure instruments, as there is between how men and inanimate instruments act, since inanimate instruments are deprived of all sensation, knowledge, and liberty, whereas men, being animated and endowed not only with feelings and knowledge, but also with will and liberty, and also doing only what they want, act freely and voluntarily in all that they do, and are therefore worthy of blame and punishment when they do evil, and on the other hand deserve praise and rewards when they do good. Don’t say that, because, no matter how great a difference there is between beings with life and sensation and between beings who have neither life nor sensation, still, there is no more liberty in one than in the other, if neither of them can do anything of themselves. But neither of the two, according to this hypothesis, can do anything of themselves, neither more than the others, since they can in no way move of themselves: thus, neither would be more free than the other, whether to act or not to act, whether to do good or to do evil, and therefore, they would be no more worthy of praise or of blame, or deserving of rewards or punishments in either case; except that praise and rewards, as well as blame and punishment are better suited to others who have knowledge and sensations, than to those who have none; but that has no relation to the liberty which, according to the hypothesis, would be no more present in some than in the others.

  Add to that, that the knowledge and will of animated beings wouldn’t help, in this hypothesis, the liberty of those who would act, since all their thoughts, all their knowledge, and all the wishes they might have would all be nothing but the necessary products and effects of the various determinations or the various modifications of the most subtle parts of matter, which various modifications and determinations of the motion of the subtlest parts of matter, being no more free or any less strong and effective in animated bodies than in inanimate bodies, they would leave no more liberty in the former than the latter. But it is evident that living beings, like animals, naturally have more inner force and power of movement than inanimate tools; and we certainly feel by ourselves that we naturally have the power to move ourselves, since we do actually move and rest when we want to. It’s the same with animals, they move by themselves, when there is nothing stopping them: so, it is not by an external force and power that animate beings move, but by an inner force and power which is their own and natural to them, and therefore, matter has a motive force of its own. But it might be said that this force and that this internal power that living beings have in themselves to move, not just the matter they are made of, but from an inner force given to them by the sovereign Being, who acts in all animated beings, and who gives them all this motion, which they appear to have of themselves. But if that’s the case, I still draw my conclusion, which is that animated beings and even men are only instruments unable to move themselves, and consequently, men have no freedom, any more than inanimate instruments, which would be ridiculous and absurd to say.

  Moreover, if matter doesn’t have an inherent motive power, there must have always been some other being, one or many, which continuously press on matter, shifting and moving it: since, as it continuously moves everywhere, even in an infinite variety of ways, and in all the different bodies which it comprises, and since, even in a single body, for example in that of a plant or an animal, and even if it were only in that of a fly, it moves in an almost infinite variety of ways; this being or these beings, if mul
tiple, which move matter must always be united and press directly on it: in addition, this being or these being that move it must have a perfect knowledge of nature and of the particular needs of every last thing, and they must be perfectly acquainted with the tiniest parts of matter that can enter into their composition. For if they are less than perfectly knowledgeable about these things, how could they properly form the nature of each thing? And how could they move or arrange, as they do, each part of matter, to form perfect bodies, as are had by all those we see in this whole universe? How might they, for example, form in this or that part of the earth so many different metals, minerals, and various kinds of stones are found in so many different places? How could form, on the earth, so many different kinds of plants and herbs in the ground, and so many different kinds of roots and the fibers of all the different species? How could they form, on earth, so many men and so many other kinds of animals of so different species? How could they form so many different kinds of birds and insects that fly in the air, and so many different kinds of fish that swim in the waters? How could form be so good at forming all sorts of herbs, plants and trees, bodies, branches, bark, buds, flowers, leaves and their suitable fruits, each in their kind, and in these fruits of the pips or pits, in which there are also seeds capable of producing new plants, and sometimes on a single foot of a tree, whose main branches are cut off and on which many sorts of fruits have been grafted, such as various kinds of apples on an apple tree, different kinds of pears on a pear tree, or many kinds of cherries on a cherry tree? How, I ask, could the supposed first mover of all physical beings remember so well to always infallibly produce on each tree and even each grafted branch with the fruits that are suitable to the nature of the tree or of the graft, without making any mistakes or errors, even if there were 20 or 30 different grafts on each tree? How might he form so many living bodies and all sorts of animals and insects, and in these bodies so many parts, internal and external that are so well assembled, so well connected, and so well proportioned, both bones and joints, so well measured, both of hairs of different colors and of different kinds on the bodies of the animals; the sinks and flesh which cover the whole body, so many nerves in this flesh, so many muscles, so many arteries, so many veins, so much blood in these veins, and so many animal spirits, whose well-ordered agitation and movements produce all the life, all the feelings, all the force, and all the health of animated bodies? It is evident that the first movers of matter, if they are many and if they are different from matter itself, can’t form so much excellent and delicate works, if they didn’t have a perfect knowledge of nature and if they didn’t know perfectly well how to arrange, turn, and dispose of all the largest and smallest parts of matter, in order to put all of them into order and the position they should hold vis-a-vis each other to compose nature and the bodies of all things; it is impossible, I say, for all that to happen intentionally, without a perfect knowledge being held by he or those who are supposed to be their authors: for, just as, for example, the materials of the buildings which don’t have in themselves any power to move will never come together and will never organize themselves, or put themselves into a suitable order and respective positioning to make a perfect building, but the workers necessarily have to shape them, assemble them, organize them, and place each of them into their proper order and respective positions to make this or that sort of complete and perfect building; in the same way, too, all natural bodies, like so many complete and perfect buildings, composed of diverse parts of matter joined and connected, if these diverse parts of matter lacked an inherent motive force, then he or those who would be giving them their movement, must necessarily have known nature perfectly, along with the properties of each thing, and they must know perfectly how to appropriate, assemble, join, organize, and connect each part of matter, so that they could compose the buildings, i.e., the complete and perfect bodies, each according its own nature.

  What skill, what force, what subtlety, what deep understanding, what diligence, and what extensive intellect and knowledge wouldn’t be required to form, with intention and deliberate will throughout the universe, so many large and small, diverse and amazing machines? It’s infinitely beyond the infinite, so to speak, and how can we imagine such a force, such a power, such wisdom, and such an extent of intelligence and knowledge in a being or in many beings who would have neither shape, body, or parts, or any extension at all, and of which it’s impossible to form any true idea? What proves too much, they say, proves nothing, and for this reason the God-cultists might be told that the arguments by which they claim to prove the existence of their God wouldn’t prove anything, because they lead to too much nonsense.

  That’s not all, after all the natural bodies are formed by the various assemblages and arrangements of the various parts of matter that compose them, he or those who would have impressed the movement necessary for their formation, to also be able to impress at every moment all the motions which are necessary for their preservation, especially if they are animated bodies, they would have to be able, at every moment, to impress on them internally all the motions necessary to the preservation of their life, as well as all the other movements which are suited to their nature, to their inclinations, and their specific dispositions. Thus, they must be able, at the designated time and place and point, on all occasions to impress in their hearts and their brains, by means of the animal spirits, all the motions which are necessary for them to feel pleasure, joy, pain, or sadness, etc., or to kindle in them the passions or feelings they are capable of; and finally, they have to be able to impress in time and place, in all the parts of all bodies, in all their nerves, all their fibers, and in all the muscles of all animals the motion of the vital and animal spirits that are required to act in any way whatsoever, or to do anything at all; such that there isn’t a single atom of matter in all bodies, or even in the full extent of the universe, which wouldn’t receive all its movement and every modification in its motion from a being who would know its nature perfectly, and who would have a perfect knowledge of all the uses it can have; which also necessarily presumes that this first mover, if singular, an extent of knowledge and an infinitely infinite power, if that can be said: for, as all the parts of matter are infinite in number, and as all the various modifications of their motion, of their shapes, of their combinations, and of all their mutual connections are infinite and they all change at nearly every moment in their respective positions, nothing less would be required than an infinitely infinite knowledge to know and comprehend all of them. And, as all the different bodies that they compose, and all the different effects they produce, or which they can produce continuously everywhere by their motion, by their various shapes and combinations are equally infinite, an infinitely infinite power would also be required to produce them all.