746 DAVIDHUME
Speculative dogmas of religion, the present occasions of such furious dispute, could not
possibly be conceived or admitted in the early ages of the world; when mankind, being
wholly illiterate, formed an idea of religion more suitable to their weak apprehension,
and composed their sacred tenets of such tales chiefly as were the objects of traditional
belief, more than of argument or disputation. After the first alarm, therefore, was over,
which arose from the new paradoxes and principles of the philosophers; these teachers
seem ever after, during the ages of antiquity, to have lived in great harmony with the
established superstition, and to have made a fair partition of mankind between them; the
former claiming all the learned and wise, the latter possessing all the vulgar and illiterate.
It seems then, say I, that you leave politics entirely out of the question, and never
suppose, that a wise magistrate can justly be jealous of certain tenets of philosophy,
such as those of Epicurus, which, denying a divine existence, and consequently a prov-
idence and a future state, seem to loosen, in a great measure, the ties of morality, and
may be supposed, for that reason, pernicious to the peace of civil society.
I know, replied he, that in fact these persecutions never, in any age, proceeded
from calm reason, or from experience of the pernicious consequences of philosophy;
but arose entirely from passion and prejudice. But what if I should advance farther, and
assert, that if Epicurus had been accused before the people, by any of the sycophantsor
informers of those days, he could easily have defended his cause, and proved his principles
of philosophy to be as salutary as those of his adversaries, who endeavoured, with such
zeal, to expose him to the public hatred and jealousy?
I wish, said I, you would try your eloquence upon so extraordinary a topic, and
make a speech for Epicurus, which might satisfy, not the mob of Athens, if you will allow
that ancient and polite city to have contained any mob, but the more philosophical part of
his audience, such as might be supposed capable of comprehending his arguments.
The matter would not be difficult, upon such conditions, replied he: And if you
please, I shall suppose myself Epicurus for a moment, and make you stand for the
Athenian people, and shall deliver you such an harangue as will fill all the urn with
white beans, and leave not a black one to gratify the malice of my adversaries.
Very well: Pray proceed upon these suppositions.
I come hither, O ye Athenians, to justify in your assembly what I maintained in
my school, and I find myself impeached by furious antagonists, instead of reasoning
with calm and dispassionate enquirers. Your deliberations, which of right should be
directed to questions of public good, and the interest of the commonwealth, are diverted
to the disquisitions of speculative philosophy; and these magnificent, but perhaps fruit-
less enquiries, take place of your more familiar but more useful occupations. But so far
as in me lies, I will prevent this abuse. We shall not here dispute concerning the origin
and government of worlds. We shall only enquire how far such questions concern the
public interest. And if I can persuade you, that they are entirely indifferent to the peace
of society and security of government, I hope that you will presently send us back to our
schools, there to examine, at leisure, the question the most sublime, but at the same
time, the most speculative of all philosophy.
The religious philosophers, not satisfied with the tradition of your forefathers,
and doctrine of your priests (in which I willingly acquiesce), indulge a rash curios-
ity, in trying how far they can establish religion upon the principles of reason; and
they thereby excite, instead of satisfying, the doubts, which naturally arise from a
diligent and scrutinous enquiry. They paint, in the most magnificent colours, the
order, beauty, and wise arrangement of the universe; and then ask, if such a glorious
display of intelligence could proceed from the fortuitous concourse of atoms, or if