Montaigne; the endless study...

Prefatory Note

INTRODUCTION, BY THE TRANSLATOR .

SKETCH OF MONTAIGNE, BY THE TRANSLATOR

THE IDEA OF THE INFINITE ....

THE CENTRE OF MORAL GRAVITATION.

NOTICE OF JOUFFROY, BY THE TRANSLATOR .

THE RELIGIONS OF MAN AND THE RELIGIONS OF GOD THE MYSTERIES OF CHRISTIANITY ....

THE GOSPEL COMPREHENDED BY THE HEART

MAN DEPRIVED OF ALL GLORY BEFORE GOD .

THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN MORALITY .

NECESSITY OF BECOMING CHILDREN.

THE CLAIMS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH ADJUSTED . THE PURSUIT OF HUMAN GLORY INCOMPATIBLE WITH

THE INTOLERANCE OF THE GOSPEL ....

THE TOLERANCE OF THE GOSPEL

PREFATORY NOTE

Those acquainted with a volume of Vinet's Essays and Discourses published by the translator a few years ago, but now out of print, under the title of " Vital Christianity," will readily discover, in a modified form, some portions of that work in the present, particularly in the Introduction and in the latter part of the volume. Circumstances, over which the editor had no control, left him only this method of preserving for the use of the public, any part of that work, which was received with unusual cordiality, and served to introduce Vinet to American readers. The present volume, we think, will be found to possess a still higher interest and value, as it contains some of the finest things that Vinet wrote, and on themes of the highest moment. An apology, perhaps, is due from the translator for presuming to mingle his thoughts and explanations with the productions of such an author, in the form of Introduction, notes, and so forth. But the candid reader will allow, that as every author writes under peculiar circumstances, and with a view to certain readers, his works may not be so well adapted to another sphere and another class of readers. This, we think, will be found peculiarly the case with the works of Vinet, who wrote chiefly for the benefit of Swiss, French, and German readers, and who mingles in all his productions allusions and references to matters, literary, religious, and philosophical, with which comparatively few American or English readers are supposed to be familiar. Our aim has been, so to translate and so to edit the following work, that it may be really useful to general readers, and thus subserve the great end for which its devout and eloquent author lived and died.

Introduction

Since the days of Ulric Zuingle and Theodore Beza, no theologian or preacher in Switzerland has attained a higher celebrity than Alexander Vinet ; not only on account of the superior excellence of his character, and his vast attainments as a scholar, but also on account of the philosophical depth of his writings and the striking beauty and force of his diction. " Perfectly at home in the regions of pure thought," he was intimately conversant with French, German, Italian, English, and Classic literature, and astonished his contemporaries as much by the acuteness of his speculations, as by the finish and brilliancy of his style. His recent death caused a deep sensation among all classes of the community in his native land, as well as in France, England, and the United States. " He was loved," says one of his contemporaries, " respected, and admired by all. His adversaries, even, if he can be said to have had adversaries, gave him the most honorable tribute of esteem and grief on the occasion of his death. The Reformed Churches of Switzerland and France feel that they have lost one of their foremost supports. Men of learning, who also know the distinguished merit of Mr. Vinet, unite with pious persons to deplore his departure from this world."

" This universal sorrow," he adds, " is owing to the fact that Mr. Vinet joined to a high and comprehensive intellect a most benevolent heart. He was not only a writer of the first order and a philosopher endowed with the finest powers ; he was also a mild and amiable man, seeking to promote good wherever it was in his power, taking pleasure in pointing out the merits rather than the defects of others. * * Thus he became one of the most honored men of the age. This union of genius and goodness is unhappily too rare. It often happens, even among Christians, that the gifts of the understanding are

Vlll INTRODUCTION.

accompanied with a bitter or arbitrary spirit, and then our admiration is mingled with a sort of fear and distrust. But when greatness of soul is combined with the simplicity of a child (as in his case), it constitutes one of the noblest works of God."

Our attention was first called to the writings of Vinet by Dr. Merle d'Aubigne, the well-known author of the "History of the Reformation." Having, in the course of conversation, asked him concerning the published discourses of the most distinguished preachers in France and Switzerland, he particularly recommended those of Vinet, speaking of him as the Chalmers of Switzerland. He referred, also, to the work which he had recently published on the " Profession of Religious Convictions, and the Separation of the Church from the State," as having produced a very great sensation in that part of the world. He admitted that Vinet differed from Chalmers in some respects, but intimated that he possessed a more profoundly philosophical spirit. Every one familiar with the writings of both men, will readily allow that they resemble each other in breadth and energy of mind, originality of conception, and vigor of diction. Chalmers, we think, has more of energy and passion, but less of philosophical acumen and delicacy of perception ; more of oratorical force and affluence of imagery, but less of real beauty, perspicacity, and power of argument. His discourses resemble mountain torrents, dashing in strength and beauty amid rocks and woods, carrying everything before them, and gathering force as they leap and foam from point to point, in their progress to the sea. Vinet's, on the other hand, are like deep and beautiful rivers, passing with calm but irresistible majesty through rich and varied scenery ; now gliding around the base of some lofty mountain, then sweeping through meadows and cornfields, anon reflecting in their placid bosom some old castle, or vine-covered hill, taking villages and cities in their course, and bearing the commerce and population of the neighboringcountries on their deepening and expanding tide. The diction of Chalmers is strikingly energetic, but somewhat rugged and involved, occasionally, too, rather unfinished and clumsy. Vinet's is pure and classical, pellucid as one of his own mountain lakes, and yet remarkably energetic and free in its graceful flow.

Another thing in which they differ has reference to the mode in which they develop a subject. Chalmers grasps one or two great

INTRODUCTION. IX

conceptions, and expands them into a thousand beautiful and striking forms. His great power lies in making luminous and impressive the single point upon which he would fix his reader's attention, running it, like a thread of gold, through the web of his varied and exhaustless imagery. Vinet penetrates into the heart of his subject, analyzes it with care, lays it open to inspection, advances from one point to another, adds thought to thought, ilustration to illustration, till it becomes clear and familiar to the mind of the reader. His intellect is distinguished as much by its logical acumen as by its powers of illustration and ornament. He seldom repeats his thoughts in the same discourse, and rarely fails in clearness of conception and arrangement. Chalmers delights and persuades by the grandeur of his ideas and the fervor of his language, but he adds little to the stock of our information. He abounds in repetitions, and is not unfrequently confused in his arrangement, and somewhat negligent in his statements. Though eloquent and powerful, his discourses are not remarkably instructive. But this is not the case with those of Vinet. While they charm by their beauty, and convince by their persuasive power, they abound in original views, and lead the mind into fresh channels of reflection and feeling. While one is satisfied with reading the productions of the great Scottish divine once or twice, he recurs again and again to those of his Swiss compeer. They abound in " the seeds of things," and possess a remarkable power to quicken and expand the mind. On this account they ought to be read, or rather studied, slowly and deliberately. Like the works of John Howe, which Robert Hall was accustomed to read so frequently, they will repay many perusals.

Both of these distinguished men were truly evangelical in their theological views ; they developed with equal power the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and in their respective spheres did much to promote evangelical religion among the higher and more cultivated circles of society. Both laid their great literary attainments under contribution to defend and illustrate the religion of the Cross, and devoted much time and attention to those great moral and politicoecclesiastical questions which agitate the whole Christian world. On most of these questions the views of Vinet were more thorough and consistent, and aimed at a complete separation of the Church from the State ; a result, however, to which Chalmers came in prac-

1*

X INTRODUCTION.

tice, and which, had he lived, he would unquestionably have reached even in theory. Both possessed great simplicity and earnestness of character. Alike free from cant and pretension, and apparently unconscious of their greatness, they were distinguished by a rare depth and beauty of character. They were men of genius and men of God. As a writer, Vinet led the movement in France and Switzerland against formalism and scepticism in the Church, and particularly against the union of Church and State. Chalmers did the same, at least by means of action, in Scotland and England. Both were professors in the colleges of their native lands ; both seceded from the national church, but continued, by the common consent of the community, to occupy important places as teachers of theology. They wrote largely and successfully on the subject of moral science, in its connections with Christianity, and were called, especially by their published discourses, to address men of high station and cultivated minds.

As a preacher, Vinet was more calm in manner, more comprehensive in thought, more subtle in analysis, more felicitous in diction than his Scottish compeer ; but he never reached his impassioned fervor and practical power. He was better acquainted with the French and German philosophy, which he had studied carefully in the original sources. He had read more extensively and thought more deeply upon all the fundamental problems which agitate the thinkers of continental Europe, and he possessed naturally a keener and more discriminating intellect ; but he could lay no claim to the fervid enthusiasm, the practical wisdom, the business tact, the allembracing energy of that prince of preachers. Vinet regards every subject in its fundamental relations. He thinks patiently and profoundly. With a vigorous and delicate imagination and great power of expression, he is serene, self-possessed, and philosophical. His words are carefully weighed ; and to those who can fully enter into his spirit they possess a clearness and precision, combined with a grandeur and beauty, at once surprising and delightful. But their very precision, more philosophical than popular, in connection with their unusual depth and fulness of import, somewhat bewilder common minds, those, especially, not versed in philosophical inquiries, and thus invest them with an air of difficulty and obscurity. These peculiarities are seen to some extent in a few of his discourses, but

INTRODUCTION. XI

it is in his dissertation on religious convictions, and especially in his critical and philosophical essays, that they appear in their perfection. One must be conversant with these to form a just idea of the depth and grandeur of his conceptions, the force and delicacy of his language. Chalmers, on the other hand, with all his majesty and force is plain and practical, and even somewhat loose and declamatory. He is seldom if ever obscure, except from defective reasoning or inadequate expression. The stream of his eloquence rushes bright and strong under the eye of all. Its course is easily marked as it sparkles and foams under the light of heaven. The eloquence of Vinet is not only different in kind and aspect, but seems to take a different course. Deep and strong, it only seems obscure — reflecting a strange spiritual radiance, borrowed from afar, it glides in many winding turns, as if among Alpine solitudes ; now mirroring the glacier peaks in its calm depths, now passing under the shadow of some frowning precipice, and anon gathering itself into one of those dark-blue lakes which lie encircled amid the everlasting hills. Chalmers goes forth in the daylight of this every-day world, " rejoicing as a strong man to run a race." Vinet is seen gazing upon the stars in the depths of the far heavens. The one adores Jehovah amid the kindling glories of the sunrise, the other in the hallowed shadows of the night. The latter is a philosopher, profound and reverent, the other an orator, energetic and free. Chalmers sways the minds of the people, and works a mighty reformation in the Church of God, Vinet illumines the souls of thinkers, aud mingles, like the star of morning, with the light of heaven. Both died about the same time, when they seemed to be needed the most by their respective countries, and the Church of Christ ; and now they worship together in the temple not made with hands, while " the long radiance" of their genius and piety lingers behind them, to stimulate and cheer their fellow-pilgrims on earth.

It is but justice to say that Chalmers as a preacher was more popular than Vinet, and that his writings thus far have secured a wider circulation. Vinet, however, must become popular, if not with the mass, yet with the thoughtful and cultivated wherever he is known. His reputation in Switzerland and France is veiy high, even among mere literary men ; he is also well known and highly esteemed in Germany, where his writings have been translated and

Xll INTRODUCTION.

read with much interest. His great work on the " Manifestation" or " Profession of Religious Convictions," has been translated into German and English, in the one case by Dr. Volkmann, in the other by Charles Theodore Jones, and has attracted much attention, particularly in Germany, where the way was prepared for its reception by the two works of Dr. Rettig,* and Pastor Wolff,f on the same subject. It has exerted a great and obvious influence on the mind of Count Gasparin, whose writings on the subject of religious liberty are destined, we think, to produce the most salutary results. Indeed, this work of Vinet is greatly admired on the continent of Europe, except perhaps by some of the friends of the alliance of Church and State. The great number of reviews and replies it has called out, is a striking proof of its value. We are apprehensive, however, that the English version gives but an inadequate conception of its force and eloquence. Faithful and laborious it undoubtedly is, but it does not reach the strength and beauty of the original.

" There are in Vinet's mind and writings," says an accomplished American scholar, " many things to remind a reader of John Foster. There is the same searching analysis and profound thought, united to a flowing eloquence to which, generally, Foster can lay no claim."! The remark is just, though Foster is greatly inferior to Vinet in acquired knowledge, and especially in an intimate familiarity with general literature and speculative philosophy. Generally speaking, also, Vinet is more genial and hopeful, and takes a wider and more discursive range of thought. It is questionable, however, whether he quite equals the English essayist in the complete originality of his conceptions, and the racy vigor of his language. Vinet has borrowed more from Fenelon, Pascal, and the Port Royalists, than Foster has from any writer whatever. Still, in philosophical depth, as well as in delicacy, precision, and beauty of style, the palm must be given to Vinet. The thoughts of Foster, to borrow a figure of Robert Hall's, are presented to us in the shape of rich and beautiful masses of bullion ; Vinet's are wrought into finished and elegant forms.

It is evident, however, from a perusal of Vinet's writings, as

J Dr. William R. Williams.

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

Sainte Beuve, a distinguished contemporary critic suggests, that he sympathized more fully with Pascal than with any other writer. Inferior in originality and force to that prodigy of genius, who may be said to have invented geometry for himself, and at the same time created a rich and vigorous style of writing, which has left its marked impress upon the literature of France, Vinet has the same power of abstract thinking, the same distrust of philosophic theories, the same sense of" the vanity and grandeur of man," and the same majestic and beautiful style. Free from the superstitions and doubts of Pascal, he worships with him in the same solemn temple, trusts in the same Redeemer, and longs for the same perfection. Their " thoughts" on religion wonderfully harmonize ; and it is really beautiful to see how, in this high union, Catholic and Protestant are blended. Indeed, Vinet is Pascal in a softened light, with a stronger faith, and a deeper peace.

The following are the principal events in the life of our author, so far as we have been able to ascertain them.

Alexander Vinet was born 17th June, 1797, in Lausanne, capital of the Canton Vaud, Switzerland, certainly one of the most beautiful cities in the world, lying as it does upon the high and sloping bank of Lake Leman, or the Lake of Geneva, adorned with squares and gardens, fine edifices and delightful promenades ; in sight, also, of the high Alps with their snow-clad peaks, and in the neighborhood of Vevay, Chillon, Villeneuve, and other places of classic and romantic interest ; at one time the residence of Zuingle and Beza, and the chosen dwelling-place of Gibbon, the historian of Rome. An Academy of considerable celebrity has existed here since 1536,* which, in 1806, was elevated into an Academic Institute (what in this country would perhaps be called a University), with fourteen professors and a rector. It was also re-organized in 1838, and separated, if we mistake not, from all immediate connection with the national church. From its origin Lausanne has been distinguished for its high literary culture, its refined and agreeable society. It is the residence of many foreigners.

Destined to the ministry by his father, who regarded the clerical profession as the most desirable and honorable of all, Vinet was

* Founded by the celebrated reformer, Viret, one of the ablest and most eloquent preachers of the Swiss Reformation.

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placed at the Academy of his native city, and pursued the ordinary course of studies, occupied, however, more with literature than theology. Fortunately his mind was attracted, at an early period, to the study of moral science, for which he possessed a decided genius, and which exerted a very favorable influence, not only upon his theological inquiries, but upon his religious character.

At the age of twenty, two years before the legal termination of his studies, he accepted a place as professor of the French language and literature, in the Establishment of Public Instruction or University, at Bale (German, Basle), capital of the canton of that name, a fine old city on the banks of the Rhine, distinguished for its Cathedral and University, once the residence of Oecolampadius, the friend of Zuinglius, and one of the most eloquent preachers of the Reformation, and also the burial-place of the celebrated Erasmus. Such an appointment is an incontestable evidence of the superiority of Vinet's talents, and the high reputation for scholarship he had acquired even at that early period of his life. He made a visit to Lausanne in 1819, in order to submit to the requisite examinations and receive ordination as a minister of the gospel. He returned to Bale, and continued there till 1837, as professor of the French language and literature. It was during his residence in this place that he published the most of his earlier writings, and established his reputation as a preacher. In 1830 he published two discourses, the one on the Intolerance of the Gospel, the other on the Tolerance of tlie Gospel, which attracted great attention. They were prefaced in the following style, furnishing a beautiful specimen of the simplicity and modesty of his character. " Persons advanced in Christian knowledge will find, we fear, little nutriment in these discourses. Nor is it to them we have felt ourselves called to speak ; it would better become us to hear them. We have forbidden our words to transcend the limits of our personal emotions ; an artificial heat would not be salutary. Nevertheless we hope that to many persons we have spoken a word in season ; and we cast it into the world, commending it to the Divine blessing, which can make some fruits of holiness and peace to spring from it for the edification of the Christian church."

In this brief preface a peculiarity of all our author's productions, and especially of his discourses, reveals itself. They are " born, not

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made," originated, not manufactured. His soul was never cast into any artificial mould. It has great clearness, elasticity, and strength. He is therefore entirely free from hackneyed phrases, and stereotyped modes of thought. His discourses are drawn fresh from his own profound spirit. While perusing them, you feel as if you were listening, not to the mere preacher, but to the deep thinker and the man of God. He never transcends the limits of his own personal experience ; but that being the experience at once of a great and a good man, it possesses a peculiar warmth and beauty. " One must breathe the spirit," says Pindar, " before he can speak." — " Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," is the testimony of Jesus Christ. Our author, we think, understands this, and hence approaches as near as possible to the model which John Foster has in his mind when he insists so strongly on the necessity, in evangelical writings, of naturalness and entire freedom from cant. Indeed Vinet distinctly acknowledges the great importance of this quality, and urges the same views as those of Foster's Essay on the Aversion of Men of Taste to Evangelical Religion. In the Introduction to a Volume of his Discourses, he says : — " Feeble, I address myself to the feeble. I give to them the milk which has nourished myself. When some of us become stronger than the rest, we will together demand the bread of the strong. But I have thought that those who are at the commencement of their course need some one who, placing himself in their point of view, should speak to them less as a preacher than as a man who precedes them by scarcely a single step, and who is anxious to turn to their account the little advance he has made upon them.

" It is perhaps desirable that every one, according to the measure of knowledge which has been given him, should labor for the evangelization of the world. In the mumber of those whom I may be permitted to call candidates of the truth, there are perhaps some souls that are particularly attracted by the kind of preaching I have employed, and employed without choice ; for I could not choose it. I say perhaps, and nothing more ; but what I affirm with more confidence is, that it is important that each one should show himself such as he is, and not affect gifts he has not received.

" I believe I am not mistaken in saying that among those who speak or write on divine things there is an exaggerated craving for

XVI INTRODUCTION.

uniformity. I know indeed, that community of convictions and hopes, the habit of deriving instruction from the same sources, the intimate nature of the relations that subsist in Christian society, must have produced, as their result, a unity of thoughts, of intellectual habits, and even, to a certain extent, of expression ; but while we ought to admire this unity when it is produced, we ought to make no effort to produce it. The generous freedom of Christianity is repugnant to that timid deference to a conventional language and a vain orthodoxy of tone and style ; nor does sincerity permit us to adopt, as an expression of our individuality, a common type, the imprint of which is always, in some degree, foreign to us ; the interest of our religious development demands that we should not conceal from ourselves our real condition ; and nothing could be more fitted to conceal it from ourselves than the involuntary habit of disguising it to others. In fine, the beauty of the evangelical work, and even unity itself, demand that each nature should manifest itself with its own characteristics. Confidence is felt in unity, when it produces itself under an aspect of variety ; community of principle is rendered more striking by diversity of forms ; while uniformity being necessarily artificial, is always more or less suspected, and involuntarily suggests the idea of constraint or dissimulation."

It was probably in Bale that Vinet formed those decidedly spiritual views of religion, so clearly developed in all his discourses and other writings. In this place, an evangelical influence in greater or less degree, has existed ever since the time of the Reformation. The labors of Oecolampadius, whom the good people of the city were accustomed to call their bishop, the occasional presence and preaching of the great Swiss reformer, Zuinglius, the decided piety and activity of several of their most distinguished pastors and preachers in subsequent times, and more recently the prevalence of a noble missionary spirit, have conspired to impress an evangelical character upon the place. It has of course suffered, like all other cities in Switzerland and Germany, from the prevalence of rationalism, formalism, and infidelity ; still the fire of divine love has continued to burn upon its altars with a pure, and we hope, brightening flame.

It was in Bale also that Vinet composed his " Memoir in favor of Liberty of Worship," which obtained the prize offered by the Society of Christian Morals in Paris. This production, which displays the

INTRODUCTION. XV11

vigor and enthusiasm of his mind, as well as his intense aversion to all intolerance and injustice, had a great circulation in France, among intelligent men. M. Guizot, chairman of the Committee of Award, rendered a public tribute to the piety and talent of the author.

In 1832, he gave to the public the first volume of his Discourses on Religious Subjects. His " Nouveaux Discours" appeared at a subsequent period. As they were written under particular circumstances and addressed to a particular class of men, they possess a character of their own, differing from anything in the whole range of pulpit literature. " I would not," says Felice, " offer these Discourses as models to be followed by all preachers ; Mr. Vinet himself does not. I say only that they deserve to be carefully studied by all enlightened men.

" In general, great pulpit orators try to be popular ; and this is right. Christianity is not a science addressing itself only to some choice minds ; it is a religion revealed for all, necessary for all, and which seems to have been designed for the small even more than the great. ' To the poor the Gospel is preached,'' said Jesus Christ. A preacher then conforms to the spirit of the Gospel, when he adapts himself to the capacity of the hearers ; and the more accessible he is to the comprehension of the humble, the better he attains his end. But there is no rule without exceptions, and in some circumstances, the Christian orator is called to fathom the obscurest depths of philosophy. It depends especially upon the character of the hearers. It depends, also, upon the obstacles which the preacher must combat, and the effects he aims to produce.

" On these principles we must judge the Religious Discourses of Mr. Vinet. They are, properly speaking, doctrinal, moral, and philosophical dissertations. He delivered them at Bale, before a select audience composed specially of professors and students. He had before him men accustomed to profound thought, and who felt doubts upon some points of the Christian revelation. His duty was to satisfy these internal wants. He could, without fear of not being understood, lift himself to the sublime regions of speculative thought, and encounter objections which are happily unknown to the mass of Christians.

" Considered in this point of view, nothing would seem more admirable than the Discourses of Mr. Vinet. What copiousness and

XV111 INTRODUCTION.

what originality of thought ! what novelty in the illustrations of doctrine and morals ! what logic, at once sound and vigorous ! what warmth and pungency in the style ! To read merely the title of these meditations you would believe, often, that the speaker only discussed some common-place ; but if you go farther, you see with surprise that upon the tritest subjects he has found things which no other had discovered before him. He is truly an orator sui generis ; he imitates no one, and I doubt if any one should imitate him.

" This volume of Discourses had in France many readers. It did good particularly to those reflecting men who, without having distinct religious opinions, profess to believe something, and are known for their irreproachable conduct in the eyes of the world. Mr. Vinet, with his philosophical views and his amiable qualities, exactly met their wishes ; and more than one literary man, once a sceptic, was led by him to the cross of God the Saviour."