The Confession of a Child of the Century | Page 8

those who do not know what to do; they mock at
themselves, and in doing so prove the correctness of their view. And
then it is pleasant to believe one's self unhappy when one is only idle
and tired. Debauchery, moreover, the first result of the principles of
death, is a terrible millstone for grinding the energies.
The rich said: "There is nothing real but riches, all else is a dream; let
us enjoy and then let us die." Those of moderate fortune said: "There is
nothing real but oblivion, all else is a dream; let us forget and let us
die." And the poor said: "There is nothing real but unhappiness, all else
is a dream; let us blaspheme and die."
Is this too black? Is it exaggerated? What do you think of it? Am I a

misanthrope? Allow me to make a reflection.
In reading the history of the fall of the Roman Empire, it is impossible
to overlook the evil that the Christians, so admirable when in the desert,
did to the State when they were in power. "When I think," said
Montesquieu, "of the profound ignorance into which the Greek clergy
plunged the laity, I am obliged to compare them to the Scythians of
whom Herodotus speaks, who put out the eyes of their slaves in order
that nothing might distract their attention from their work . . . . No
affair of State, no peace, no truce, no negotiations, no marriage could
be transacted by any one but the clergy. The evils of this system were
beyond belief."
Montesquieu might have added: Christianity destroyed the emperors
but it saved the people. It opened to the barbarians the palaces of
Constantinople, but it opened the doors of cottages to the ministering
angels of Christ. It had much to do with the great ones of earth. And
what is more interesting than the death-rattle of an empire corrupt to
the very marrow of its bones, than the sombre galvanism under the
influence of which the skeleton of tyranny danced upon the tombs of
Heliogabalus and Caracalla? How beautiful that mummy of Rome,
embalmed in the perfumes of Nero and swathed in the shroud of
Tiberius! It had to do, my friends the politicians, with finding the poor
and giving them life and peace; it had to do with allowing the worms
and tumors to destroy the monuments of shame, while drawing from
the ribs of this mummy a virgin as beautiful as the mother of the
Redeemer, Hope, the friend of the oppressed.
That is what Christianity did; and now, after many years, what have
they done who destroyed it? They saw that the poor allowed
themselves to be oppressed by the rich, the feeble by the strong,
because of that saying: "The rich and the strong will oppress me on
earth; but when they wish to enter paradise, I shall be at the door and I
will accuse them before the tribunal of God." And so, alas! they were
patient.
The antagonists of Christ therefore said to the poor: "You wait patiently
for the day of justice: there is no justice; you wait for the life eternal to

achieve your vengeance: there is no life eternal; you gather up your
tears and those of your family, the cries of children and the sobs of
women, to place them at the feet of God at the hour of death: there is no
God."
Then it is certain that the poor man dried his tears, that he told his wife
to check her sobs, his children to come with him, and that he stood
erect upon the soil with the power of a bull. He said to the rich: "Thou
who oppressest me, thou art only man," and to the priest: "Thou who
hast consoled me, thou hast lied." That was just what the antagonists of
Christ desired. Perhaps they thought this was the way to achieve man's
happiness, sending him out to the conquest of liberty.
But, if the poor man, once satisfied that the priests deceive him, that the
rich rob him, that all men have rights, that all good is of this world, and
that misery is impiety; if the poor man, believing in himself and in his
two arms, says to himself some fine day: "War on the rich! For me,
happiness here in this life, since there is no other! for me, the earth,
since heaven is empty! for me and for all, since all are equal." Oh!
reasoners sublime, who have led him to this, what will you say to him
if he is conquered?
Doubtless you are philanthropists, doubtless you are right about the
future, and the day will come when you will be blessed; but thus far,
we have not blessed you.