deal to the victory, it seemed not unreasonable
that they should have some share in the
spoil. They were weary, besides, of humouring
the people, and of depending upon
their caprice for a subsistence. In making
this demand, therefore, they consulted their
own ease and comfort, without troubling
themselves about the effect which it might
have, in future times, upon the influence and
authority of their order. The civil magistrate,
who could comply with their demand
only by giving them something which he
would have chosen much rather to take, or
to keep to himself, was seldom very forward
to grant it. Necessity, however, always
forced him to submit at last, though frequently
not till after many delays, evasions, and
affected excuses.
But if politics had never called in the aid
of religion, had the conquering party never
adopted the tenets of one sect more than
those of another, when it had gained the
victory, it would probably have dealt equally
and impartially with all the different sects,
and have allowed every man to choose his
own priest, and his own religion, as he
thought proper. There would, and, in this
case, no doubt, have been, a great multitude
of religious sects. Almost every different
congregation might probably have had a
little sect by itself, or have entertained some
peculiar tenets of its own. Each teacher,
would, no doubt, have felt himself under the
necessity of making the utmost exertion,
and of using every art, both to preserve and
to increase the number of his disciples. But
as every other teacher would have felt himself
under the same necessity, the success of
no one teacher, or sect of teachers, could have
been very great. The interested and active
zeal of religious teachers can be dangerous
and troublesome only where there is either
but one sect tolerated in the society, or
where the whole of a large society is divided
into two or three great sects; the teachers
of each acting by concert, and under a
regular discipline and subordination. But
that zeal must be altogether innocent, where
the society is divided into two or three hundred,
or, perhaps, into as many thousand
small sects, of which no one could be considerable
enough to disturb the public tranquillity.
The teachers of each sect, seeing
themselves surrounded on all sides with more
adversaries than friends, would be obliged to
learn that candour and moderation which are
so seldom to be found among the teachers of
those great sects, whose tenets, being supported
by the civil magistrate, are held in veneration
by almost all the inhabitants of extensive
kingdoms and empires, and who, therefore,
see nothing round them but followers,
disciples, and humble admirers. The teachers
of each little sect, finding themselves almost
alone, would be obliged to respect those of
almost every other sect; and the concessions
which they would mutually find in both convenient
and agreeable to make one to another,
might in time, probably reduce the
doctrine of the greater part of them to that
pure and rational religion, free from every
mixture of absurdity, imposture, or fanaticism,
such as wise men have, in all ages of the world,
wished to see established; but such as positive
law has, perhaps, never yet established, and
probably never will establish in any country;
because, with regard to religion, positive law
always has been, and probably always will
be, more or less influenced by popular superstition
and enthusiasm. This plan of
ecclesiastical government, or, more properly,
of no ecclesiastical government, was what
the sect called Independents (a sect, no
doubt, of very wild enthusiasts), proposed to
establish in England towards the end of the
civil war. If it had been established, though
of a very unphilosophical origin, it would
probably, by this time, have been productive
of the most philosophical good temper and
moderation with regard to every sort of religious
principle. It has been established in
Pennsylvania, where, though the quakers
happen to be the most numerous, the law, in
reality, favours no one sect more than another;
and it is there said to have been productive
of this philosophical good temper and
moderation.
But though this equality of treatment
should not be productive of this good temper
and moderation in all, or even in the greater
part of the religious sects of a particular
country; yet, provided those sects were sufficiently
numerous, and each of them consequently
too small to disturb the public
tranquillity, the excessive zeal of each for its
particular tenets could not well be productive
of any very hurtful effects, but, on the contrary,
of several good ones; and if the government
was perfectly decided, both to let
them all alone, and to oblige them all to let
alone one another, there is little danger that
they would not of their own accord, subdivide
themselves fast enough, so as soon to
become sufficiently numerous.
In every civilized society, in every society
where the distinction of ranks has once been
completely established, there have been always
two different schemes or systems of morality
current at the same time; of which the one
may be called the strict or austere; the
other the liberal, or, if you will, the loose
system. The former is generally admired
and revered by the common people; the
latter is commonly more esteemed and adopted
by what are called the people of fashion.
The degree of disapprobation with which we
ought to mark the vices of levity, the vices
which are apt to arise from great prosperity,
and from the excess of gaiety and good humour,
seems to constitute the principal distinction