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Page 63
We will give a quotation from Bossuet:--
"One of the things which was the most strongly impressed (by whom?)
upon the mind of the Egyptians, was the love of their country....
_Nobody was allowed_ to be useless to the State; the law assigned
to every one his employment, which descended from father to son. No
one was permitted to have two professions, nor to adopt another....
But there was one occupation which _was obliged_ to be common to
all,--this was the study of the laws and of wisdom; ignorance of
religion and the political regulations of the country was excused
in no condition of life. Moreover, every profession had a district
assigned to it (by whom?).... Amongst good laws, one of the best
things was, that everybody was taught to observe them (by whom?).
Egypt abounded with wonderful inventions, and nothing was neglected
which could render life comfortable and tranquil."
Thus men, according to Bossuet, derive nothing from themselves;
patriotism, wealth, inventions, husbandry, science--all come to them by
the operation of the laws, or by kings. All they have to do is to be
passive. It is on this ground that Bossuet takes exception, when
Diodorus accuses the Egyptians of rejecting wrestling and music. "How is
that possible," says he, "since these arts were invented by
Trismegistus?"
It is the same with the Persians:--
"One of the first cares of the prince was to encourage
agriculture.... As there were posts established for the regulation
of the armies, so there were offices for the superintending of
rural works.... The respect with which the Persians were inspired
for royal authority was excessive."
The Greeks, although full of mind, were no less strangers to their own
responsibilities; so much so, that of themselves, like dogs and horses,
they would not have ventured upon the most simple games. In a classical
sense, it is an undisputed thing that everything comes to the people
from without.
"The Greeks, naturally full of spirit and courage, _had been early
cultivated_ by kings and colonies who had come from Egypt. From
them they had learned the exercises of the body, _foot races_, and
horse and chariot races.... The best thing that the Egyptians had
taught them was to become docile, and to allow themselves to be
formed by the laws for the public good."
_Fenelon_.--Reared in the study and admiration of antiquity, and a
witness of the power of Louis XIV., Fenelon naturally adopted the idea
that mankind should be passive, and that its misfortunes and its
prosperities, its virtues and its vices, are caused by the external
influence which is exercised upon it by the _law_, or by the makers of
the law. Thus, in his Utopia of Salentum, he brings the men, with their
interests, their faculties, their desires, and their possessions, under
the absolute direction of the legislator. Whatever the subject may be,
they themselves have no voice in it--the prince judges for them. The
nation is just a shapeless mass, of which the prince is the soul. In him
resides the thought, the foresight, the principle of all organisation,
of all progress; on him, therefore, rests all the responsibility.
In proof of this assertion, I might transcribe the whole of the tenth
book of "Telemachus." I refer the reader to it, and shall content myself
with quoting some passages taken at random from this celebrated work, to
which, in every other respect, I am the first to render justice.
With the astonishing credulity which characterizes the classics,
Fenelon, against the authority of reason and of facts, admits the
general felicity of the Egyptians, and attributes it, not to their own
wisdom, but to that of their kings:--
"We could not turn our eyes to the two shores, without perceiving
rich towns and country seats, agreeably situated; fields which were
covered every year, without intermission, with golden crops;
meadows full of flocks; labourers bending under the weight of
fruits which the earth lavished on its cultivators; and shepherds
who made the echoes around repeat the soft sounds of their pipes
and flutes. 'Happy,' said Mentor, 'is that people which is governed
by a wise king.'.... Mentor afterwards desired me to remark the
happiness and abundance which was spread over all the country of
Egypt, where twenty-two thousand cities might be counted. He
admired the excellent police regulations of the cities; the justice
administered in favour of the poor _against_ the rich; the good
education of the children, who were accustomed to obedience,
labour, and the love of arts and letters; the exactness with which
all the ceremonies of religion were performed; the
disinterestedness, the desire of honour, the fidelity to men, and
the fear of the gods, with which every father inspired his
children. He could not sufficiently admire the prosperous state of
the country. '_Happy_,' said he, '_is the people whom a wise king
rules in such a manner_.'"
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