A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  Blessed are you if you follow the rules, maxims, and precepts of the only wise and true religion; but I dare say, although I am no prophet, that you will always be miserable and unhappy, you and your descendants, as long you follow any other religion, you will always be miserable and unhappy, you and your descendants, as long as you bear the domination of tyrants, and as long as you bear the abuses, errors, and vain superstitions of the cult of the Gods and their idols, you will be miserable and unhappy, you and your descendants, as long as there is no just subordination among you, and as long as such a great disparity of estates and conditions among you; you will be miserable and unhappy, you and your descendants, as long as you wish, to the detriment of the common good, to appropriate individually all that each of you can get, and you refuse to place all things in common in each parish for the common enjoyment of the goods of the earth and the fruits of your labors, you will be miserable and unhappy, you and your descendants, as long as the goods and the troubles of life are so badly shared among you, or so badly distributed among mankind; so unjust is it that some carry all the burdens of labor and the discomforts of life, while others enjoy alone and without hardship or hard work, all the comforts of life. Finally, you will be miserable and unhappy, you and your descendants, as long as all of you fail to unite, or at least as long as all of you fail to unanimously conspire, and as long as you fail to contribute generously to your deliverance from your common slavery to which you have all been miserably reduced under the unbearable yoke of the tyrannical rule of the princes, and under the detestable yoke of the vain and superstitious practices of a false religion, which can only provide for your fear and worship a false and an imaginary Deity, one that can never do you any good or any injury, as I have clearly shown.

  I would now like to call on all men of wit and common sense, and all those with any probity, to suspend their judgment on this point, to some extent; I would call on them to rid themselves somewhat of their prejudices which they might have from birth, from education, and whatever particular habits they might have. I would like to call on them to pay special attention to all that I’ve said. And finally, I would like to call on them to seriously examine my views and my thoughts, my arguments and my proofs, to see and discover all that is strong and weak in them: for I am so strongly persuaded that, according to the natural lights of their reason, they will easily be persuaded by all the truths I’ve advanced, and would even be surprised that so many vain, detestable, and pernicious abuses might have been introduced and been established so strongly and universally among men, and that they’ve stayed in place for so long, since there are so many people of subtle and enlightened minds who should have opposed the establishment, progress, and perpetuation of so many despicable abuses and so many despicable errors. It seems, in this respect, that people are struck with a spirit of blindness, that they fail to see the errors they’ve fallen for. The subject is important, everyone has a stake in it, it concerns the welfare, peace, and the public liberty; it’s about the deliverance of nearly all men from the harsh and miserable slavery to tyrants, as well as deliverance from the vile and hateful bondage of all the idolatrous superstitions of the religions. If men of intelligence and sense, and if those who have any probity find that I’ve been right to blame and condemn the vices and errors, the abuses and disorders that I’ve blamed and condemned, if they find that I’ve told the truth and that my proofs and arguments are conclusive, as I claim they are, then their task is to maintain the cause of the truth; their task is to blame and condemn the vices, the errors, and the abuses that I blame and condemn; for it is unworthy of men of intelligence and men of probity to always favor, by their silence, so many despicable errors and such despicable abuses. If they don’t dare, any more than I do, to blame and condemn them openly during their lives, let them then at least do it once, at the end of their days. So, let them give this testimony of justice in truth, at least once, at the end of their days, and thus let them at least once before they die give this favor to their country, their relatives, their friends, and their own descendants, to contribute, at least, to their deliverance.

  But if, instead, they find that I haven’t told the truth and that it’s a crime for me to have thought and written as I’ve done, and if passion leads them to unworthily call me an ungodly man and a blasphemer, etc., after my death, as will certainly be done by most of them, or at least all the bigots, all the ignoramuses, and the superstitious ones, all the hypocritical priests, and generally all those who have an interest in and who benefit so massively from the tyrannical Government and superstitious rites of the Gods and their idols, it’s up to them to clearly show the falseness of what I’ve advanced here; it’s up to them to show the falseness or the weakness of my proofs and my arguments; and finally, it’s up to them to establish and prove the supposed truth of their faith and their religion and the supposed justice of their political Government with stronger, clearer, and more convincing arguments, or with arguments that are at least as strong, as clear, as convincing, and as conclusive as those with which I’ve fought them; and I defy them to do so; for natural reason cannot conclusively prove things that are contrary, contradictory, and incomprehensible. And as long as they fail to do this, they will be considered as convicted of errors and abuses in their doctrine and in their government, and consequently, they will be confounded in the vanity of their errors, in the vanity of their lies, and their imposture, and they will be confounded in the injustice of their tyrannical governments[955]. Confundatur omnes iniqua agentes superacue; confundantur omnes qui adorant sculptilia et qui gloriantur in simulacris suis[956]. Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea et qui confidunt in eis[957]. Confundantur omnes facientes mala, opierantur confusione, et pudore qui quoerunt mala[958]. Confundantur confusione qui confidunt in sculptili, qui dicunt conflatili vos Dii nostri. And they must be told, as this other prophet said: Be confounded, and be ashamed of your iniquity[959]: Confundimini et erubescite suberbiis vestris.

  But, as all truths are not always to be spoken, the supposed wise politicians of the age will also be sure to find fault with the fact that I’ve undertaken to reveal so many great and important truths that are better, they’ll say, kept buried in a deep ignorance than revealed so clearly, since they’re sure, they’ll say, that it is to the advantage of the wicked and their pleasure to free them from the fear of God and eternal punishments, and many will claim thereby to loosen the bridle of their disordered desires, to become more wicked and to more boldly commit all manner of wickedness, on the pretext that there are no punishments to be feared after this life; and this is a reason, they’ll say, why wise politicians hold as a maxim that the people must be ignorant of many true things and believe many false things.

  To this I respond in two words: 1). That it wasn’t to favor the wicked, or to gratify them, that I’ve told the truth here: far from it, would rather confound them as much as I can; and it was particularly to confound all the impostors and all the hypocrites that I’ve revealed their errors, illusions, and impostures here; and it’s to confound the tyrants, the wicked rich, and all the powerful on earth, that I’ve uncovered the abuses, theft, and the injustices of their tyrannical governments. Besides, since this fear of God or of the Gods, or that of the supposed punishments of a Hell after this life does nothing to intimidate them, since it does nothing to terrify men, and since it does nothing to keep them from following their worst drives, there is no great danger either that they will be freed from this vain fear, provided they’re always gravely made to fear the punishments of the hand of justice, for it is all too clear that this fear will make far more of an impression on their minds, than the fear of the Gods would, or that of their supposed Hell.

  In second place, I say that it’s not the truth, or the knowledge of natural truths, which leads men to evil, or which makes peoples vicious and wicked, but it is, rather, ignorance and a lack of education, it’s rather the lack of good laws and good governments, which makes them vicious and wicked; for it is sure tha
t they were better informed in the sciences or in good morals, and better governed than they are, they wouldn't be as vicious or as wicked as they are. And the reason for this is that it’s the bad laws themselves and mis-government that leads, as it were, a part of the vicious and wicked section of humanity, because they produce in luxury and vanity the greatness and riches of the earth, in which they then wish to maintain also as viciously as they are born and they are raised in it; and the others the same laws and customs force them, as it were, to become vicious and wicked, because they cause them to be born in poverty and misery, from which they then try to escape by all possible means, both good and mad, not always being able to escape by just and legitimate ones; and thus, it's not science, or the knowledge of natural truths, which leads men to evil, as is often said, but it is, rather, as I’ve said, bad laws and bad customs which lead them to it, because these cause them to be born vicious and wicked, as I’ve said, or they force them to become so through the bad government of men. Honor and glory, wealth and life’s comforts, and even governmental authority should be connected only to virtue, to wisdom, to kindness, to justice, to uprightness, to probity, etc., rather than to favor, rather to birth, and to wealth. Equally, shame, infamy, penalties and misery, and even greater punishments, when necessary, to vice, to injustice, to trickery, to bad faith, to malice, etc., rather than to a low birth, and rather than to a lack of wealth, and you will see that everyone will bring themselves, as if of their own volition, to do what is right and that everyone will be proud to be good, wise, upright, and virtuous. But as long as honor and glory, ease and the comforts of life are only attached to certain kinds of birth and certain conditions of life, rather than to virtue and personal merit, men will always remain vicious and wicked, and consequently, also unhappy, forever.

  If all those with knowledge equal to, or far greater than mine of human things, who have a far greater knowledge than I have of the errors and impostures of the religions, and who know far more than me about the abuses and injustices of human government, would speak, at least at the end of their lives, what they think about them, if they would criticize them, and if they cursed them, as they should do, at least before dying, the world would soon change its face and shape, all these errors and vain and superstitious practices of the religions would soon be a subject for mockery, and all the greatness, all the arrogance, all the pride, and all the power of the tyrants confounded. But what maintains all the vices and all these sorts of abuses and errors so powerfully and so universally in the world is that nobody opposes them, nobody contradicts them, nobody blames them, and nobody openly condemns them once they are received and established. All the peoples groan under the tyrannical yoke of the errors, superstitions, abuses, and injustices of the government, and nobody dares cry against so many detestable errors, against so many detestable abuses, and against so many so detestable thefts and injustices, which are committed so universally in the world. The sages conceal their true feelings on this, they don’t dare openly say what they think about it, and they die in this way without saying how things are and what they think about it. And it’s in favor of this cowardly and timid silence that all the errors, superstitions, and abuses I’ve discussed are maintained and multiplied in the world, as we can see.

  99. AN APPEAL BY THE AUTHOR

  Moreover, I declare, my dear Friends, that in everything I have said or written here, I have only claimed to follow the natural lights of reason, and I have had no other intention or aim but trying to discover and say, frankly and sincerely, the truth. No man of probity or honor should make it his duty to speak it, when he knows it. I’ve spoken it as I think it, and I have only spoken it to acquaint you with it, and to disabuse you, as I’ve said, as much as possible, of all these detestable errors and all these detestable superstitions of the religions, which do nothing but keep you stupidly bridled, and vainly trouble your mental peace, and keep you from peaceably enjoying the goods of life, and make you the vile and miserable slaves of those who govern you. But as I know that this writing, which I aim to consign to the Records Office of your Parishes before I die, for it to then be communicated to you, when it then appears, it will not fail to excite and raise against me the anger and indignation of the priests and tyrants, who for their part will not fail to insult me, to slander me, and call me insulting names after my death: if this happens, I declare in advance that I protest against all these insulting proceedings, that they might then unjustly initiate against me because of this text. I declare in advance that I appeal against these things as abuses and I appeal only to the tribunal of right reason[960], of justice, and of natural equity, before all the wise and enlightened people, who have any probity, who are above all passions, all bias, and all prejudice, which might be contrary to justice or the truth; dismissing as judges in this, my own cause, all the ignorant, the bigots, the flatterers, the hypocrites, and in general all those who, in any way, have a stake in the maintenance and preservation of the vain and mad superstitions of the religious cult of false deities, or who have a stake in the maintenance and preservation of the power and tyrannical government of the rich and powerful men on earth.

  I have never committed any crime, or any wicked or evil deed; I presently defy anyone to justly accuse me of anything. So, if I am treated insultingly and unworthily, slandered or calumniated after my death, it will not be for any crime but that of having candidly spoken the truth, as I’ve done here, to enable you to disabuse yourself and to be able, if you truly wish to understand, to bring and free you from all these detestable errors, all these execrable superstitions, and all these pernicious abuses, in which you so miserably wallow. It’s the force of the truth that makes me say so, and it’s only the hatred of injustice, imposture, tyranny, and all other iniquity, that makes me talk this way. For I truly hate and detest all injustice and all iniquity[961]: Omnem viam iniquam odio habui[962]. Odivi omnem viam iniquitatis[963]. lniquitatem odio habui et abominatus sum. I’ve completely hated all those who take pleasure in doing evil[964], iniquos odio habui[965], perfecto odio oderam illos et inimici facti sunt mihi. This would be the task of men of wit and authority; it would be for savant pens and eloquent men to worthily handle this subject and to maintain here, as would be fitting, the side of justice and truth. They would do so incomparably better than me. The zeal for justice and truth, as well as the zeal for the public good and the common deliverance of the peoples, who groan, should compel them; and they should never cease to blame, condemn, pursue, and combat all the detestable errors, all the detestable abuses, all the detestable tyrannies of which I have spoken, until they have completely confounded and annihilated them, thereby putting into practice the words of he who said[966]: Persequar inimicos meos et comprehendam illos et non convertar donec deficiant. May all the wicked perish, then, may all the tyrants perish, and may they all be confounded in their pride[967]: Comprehendantur in superbia sua.