Any man who reflects can not fail of knowing his duties, of discovering the relations which subsist between men, of meditating upon his own nature, of discerning his needs, his inclinations, and his desires, and of perceiving what he owes to the beings necessary to his own happiness.  These reflections naturally lead to the knowledge of the morality which is the most essential for society.  Every man who loves to retire within himself in order to study and seek for the principles of things, has no very dangerous passions; his greatest passion will be to know the truth, and his greatest ambition to show it to others.  Philosophy is beneficial in cultivating the heart and the mind.  In regard to morals, has not he who reflects and reasons the advantage over him who does not reason?

If ignorance is useful to priests and to the oppressors of humanity, it is very fatal to society.  Man, deprived of intelligence, does not enjoy the use of his reason; man, deprived of reason and intelligence, is a savage, who is liable at any moment to be led into crime.  Morality, or the science of moral duties, is acquired but by the study of man and his relations.  He who does not reflect for himself does not know true morals, and can not walk the road of virtue.  The less men reason, the more wicked they are.  The barbarians, the princes, the great, and the dregs of society, are generally the most wicked because they are those who reason the least.  The religious man never reflects, and avoids reasoning; he fears examination; he follows authority; and very often an erroneous conscience makes him consider it a holy duty to commit evil.  The incredulous man reasons, consults experience, and prefers it to prejudice.  If he has reasoned justly, his conscience becomes clear; he finds more real motives for right-doing than the religious man, who has no motives but his chimeras, and who never listens to reason.  Are not the motives of the incredulous man strong enough to counterbalance his passions?  Is he blind enough not to recognize the interests which should restrain him?  Well! he will be vicious and wicked; but even then he will be no worse and no better than many credulous men who, notwithstanding religion and its sublime precepts, continue to lead a life which this very religion condemns.  Is a credulous murderer less to be feared than a murderer who does not believe anything?  Is a religious tyrant any less a tyrant than an irreligious one?

CLXXXI.—­OPINIONS RARELY INFLUENCE CONDUCT.

There is nothing more rare in the world than consistent men.  Their opinions do not influence their conduct, except when they conform to their temperament, their passions, and to their interests.  Religious opinions, according to daily experience, produce much more evil than good; they are injurious, because they very often agree with the passions of tyrants, fanatics, and priests; they produce no effect, because they have