We ought, it is true, to remove superstition from the
persuasion we have of the Gods, as we would the gum
from our eyes; but if that be impossible, we must not
root out and extinguish with it the belief which the most
have of the Gods; nor is that a dismaying and sour one
either, as these gentlemen feign, while they libel and
abuse the blessed Providence, representing her as a hobgoblin or as some fell and tragic fury. Yea, I must tell
you, there are some in the world that fear God in an excess, for whom yet it would not be better not so to fear
him. For, while they dread him as a governor that is
gentle to the good and severe to the bad, and are by this
one fear, which makes them not to need many others,
freed from doing ill and brought to keep their wickedness with them in quiet and (as it were) in an enfeebled
languor, they come hereby to have less disquiet than those
that indulge the practice of it and are rash and daring in
it, and then presently after fear and repent of it. Now
that disposition of mind which the greater and ignorant
part of mankind, that are not utterly bad, are of towards
God, hath, it is very true, conjoined with the regard and
honor they pay him, a kind of anguish and astonished
dread, which is also called superstition; but ten thousand
times more and greater than this are the good hope and
true joy that attend it, which both implore and receive
the whole benefit of prosperity and good success from
the Gods only. And this is manifest by the greatest
tokens that can be; for neither do the discourses of those
that wait at the temples, nor the good times of our
solemn festivals, nor any other actions or sights more
recreate and delight us than what we see and do about the
Gods ourselves, while we assist at the public ceremonies,
and join in the sacred balls, and attend at the sacrifices
and initiations. For the mind is not then sorrowful, demiss, and heavy, as she would be if she were addressing
[p. 191]
to certain tyrants or cruel torturers; but on the contrary,
where she is most apprehensive and fullest persuaded the
Divinity is present, there she most of all throws off sorrows, tears, and pensiveness, and lets herself loose to
what is pleasing and agreeable, to the very degree of tipsiness, frolic, and laughter. In amorous concerns, as the
poet said once,
When old man and old wife think of love's fires,
Their frozen breasts will swell with new desires;
but now in the public processions and sacrifices not only
the old man and the old wife, nor yet the poor and mean
man only, but also
The dusty thick-legged drab that turns the mill,
and household-slaves and day-laborers, are strangely elevated and transported with mirth and jovialty. Rich men
as well as princes are used at certain times to make public entertainments and to keep open houses; but the
feasts they make at the solemnities and sacrifices, when
they now apprehend their minds to approach nearest the
Divinity, have conjoined with the honor and veneration
which they pay him a much more transcending pleasure
and satisfaction. Of this, he that hath renounced God's
providence hath not the least share; for what recreates
and cheers us at the festivals is not the store of good
wine and roast meat, but the good hope and persuasion
that God is there present and propitious to us, and kindly
accepts of what we do. From some of our festivals we
exclude the flute and garland; but if God be not present
at the
sacrifice, as the solemnity of the banquet, the rest
is but unhallowed, unfeast-like, and uninspired. Indeed
the whole is but ungrateful and irksome to such a man;
for he asks for nothing at all, but only acts his prayers
and adorations for fear of the public, and utters expressions contradictory to his philosophy. And when he sacrifices, he stands by and looks upon the priest as he kills
[p. 192]
the offering but as he doth upon a butcher; and when
he hath done, he goes his way, saying with Menander,
To bribe the Gods I sacrificed my best,
But they ne'er minded me nor my request.
For such a mien Epicurus would have us to put on, and
neither to envy nor to incur the hatred of the common
sort by doing ourselves with displeasure what others do
with delight. For, as Evenus saith,
No man can love what he is made to do.
For which very reason they think the superstitious are
not pleased in their minds but in fear while they attend
at the sacrifices and mysteries; though they themselves are
in no better condition, if they do the same things out of
fear, and partake not either of as great good hope as the
others do, but are only fearful and uneasy lest they should
come to be discovered cheating and abusing the public,
upon whose account it is that they compose the books
they write about the Gods and the Divine Nature,
Involved, with nothing truly said,
But all around enveloped;
hiding out of fear the real opinions they contain.
