quarreling among themselves about the true way of understanding them; more than this, they do not agree among themselves; all which they relate of their hidden prince is but a tissue of contradictions, scarcely a single word that is not contradicted at once.  He is called supremely good, nevertheless not a person but complains of his decrees.  He is supposed to be infinitely wise, and in his administration everything seems contrary to reason and good sense.  They boast of his justice, and the best of his subjects are generally the least favored.  We are assured that he sees everything, yet his presence remedies nothing.  It is said that he is the friend of order, and everything in his universe is in a state of confusion and disorder; all is created by him, yet events rarely happen according to his projects.  He foresees everything, but his foresight prevents nothing.  He is impatient if any offend him; at the same time he puts every one in the way of offending him.  His knowledge is admired in the perfection of his works, but his works are full of imperfections, and of little permanence.  He is continually occupied in creating and destroying, then repairing what he has done, never appearing to be satisfied with his work.  In all his enterprises he seeks but his own glory, but he does not succeed in being glorified.  He works but for the good of his subjects, and most of them lack the necessities of life.  Those whom he seems to favor, are generally those who are the least satisfied with their fate; we see them all continually revolting against a master whose greatness they admire, whose wisdom they extol, whose goodness they worship, and whose justice they fear, revering orders which they never follow.  This empire is the world; its monarch is God; His ministers are the priests; their subjects are men.

II.—­WHAT IS THEOLOGY?

There is a science which has for its object only incomprehensible things.  Unlike all others, it occupies itself but with things unseen.  Hobbes calls it “the kingdom of darkness.”  In this land all obey laws opposed to those which men acknowledge in the world they inhabit.  In this marvelous region light is but darkness, evidence becomes doubtful or false, the impossible becomes credible, reason is an unfaithful guide, and common sense changed into delirium.  This science is named Theology, and this Theology is a continual insult to human reason.

III.

By frequent repetition of if, but, and perhaps, we succeed in forming an imperfect and broken system which perplexes men’s minds to the extent of making them forget the clearest notions, and to render uncertain the most palpable truths.  By the aid of this systematic nonsense, all nature has become an inexplicable enigma for man; the visible world has disappeared to give place to invisible regions; reason is obliged to give place to imagination, which can lead us only to the land of chimeras which she herself has invented.