A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  [570] Essays, ch. 2, book 12.

  [571] Matt. 26:28.

  [572] Matt. 10:1.

  [573] Adducit consiliarios in stultum finem et judices in stuporem. Job. 12:17. Periit enim sapientia a sapientibus ejus. Isaiah 29:14.

  [574] 1 Cor. 1:20.

  [575] Psalm 113:15. (115:4.)

  [576] Wisdom 13:10.

  [577] Wisdom 14:12.

  [578] Baruch 6.

  [579] Exod. 20:4.

  [580] Deut. 4:16-19. Also see Deut 4:15, 16, 17

  [581] Rom. 1:21.

  [582] 1 Cor. 10:14.

  [583] Act. 15:29 and 21:25.

  [584] Luke 18:19.

  [585] John 20:17.

  [586] Pater major me est. John 14:28.

  [587] Deut. 13:9.

  [588] Matt. 5:18.

  [589] Rom. 1:18, 25.

  [590] Rom. 1:23.

  [591] Gen. 9:4.

  [592] Lev. 17:14.

  [593] Ibid. 7:27.

  [594] Deut. 12:23.

  [595] Psalm 111:9. and Gen. 17:7.

  [596] Levit. 23:31.

  [597] How many, says Mr. de Montaigne, histories are there, of similar cuckoldries, perpetrated by the Gods on poor men? In the Religion of Muhammad as this people believes, there are so many Merlins, i.e., fatherless children, divinely born from the wombs of virgins. Essays, book 2, ch. 12.

  [598] Hom. 41.

  [599] In Nativat. 17.

  [600] Heb. 6:6.

  [601] Sup. Psalm 6:7

  [602] Sess. 14. 61.

  [603] Hymn. Quadrg.

  [604] Num. 27:14.

  [605] Deut. 7:25.

  [606] Judith. 2:8.

  [607] ch. 6:6.

  [608] Retraite de St. Ignace, p. 17. 73.

  [609] Deut. 32:21.

  [610] Deut. 32:42.

  [611] Isaiah 63.

  [612] Jeremiah 32:30, 37.

  [613] Ezek. 5:11.

  [614] Ibid. 24:17.

  [615] Num. 11:10.

  [616] Isaiah 6:25.

  [617] Jeremiah, Lam. 2:3.

  [618] Isaiah 9:18.

  [619] Isaiah 6:1.

  [620] Psalm 101:11. (102:9)

  [621] Eph. 2:3.

  [622] Ibid. 5:6.

  [623] Job 22:3. and 35:6 7

  [624] Confessions

  [625] Confessions, ch. 11.

  [626] James 1:17.

  [627] “The offender and the offended Being,” says Montaigne, “are both indications of imbecility, which cannot be suitable for an infinitely perfect Being.” Montaigne, Essays, book 2, ch. 12.

  [628] 1 Kings 6:13, 19.

  [629] 2 Cor. 1:3.

  [630] Job 9:23.

  [631] Isaiah 40:1.

  [632] Gen. 8:21.

  [633] Gen. 9:13.

  [634] Joel 2:13.

  [635] Ezek. 18:23.

  [636] Isaiah 1:18.

  [637] Deus beatos omnium, homo in fine temporum. Hymn of ascens: Quae te vicit clementia ut ferres nostra crimina, crudelem mortem patiens ut nos a morte tolleres. ibid.

  [638] And that after having said, or made Himself say in his Law, that cursed of God is he who is hung on a cross, maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno! Deut. 21:23.

  [639] Deus qui pro nobis filium tuum crucis patibulum subire voluisti, ut inimici a nobis expelleres postestatem. Orat. on Easter.

  [640] Jerem. 2:12.

  [641] Tanta jam stultitia opressit miserurn mundum ut nunc sic absurdae res credantur a Christianis quales nunquam antea ad credendum poterat quisquam suadere paganis. St. Agoar, Bishop of Lyon. Apol. Tome I. N. 87.

  [642] Matt. 5:38.

  [643] Matt. 5:39.

  [644] Luke 6:32.

  [645] Quesnel on St. John 16:1

  [646] (Translator): “The soul shudders to remember it” - Virgil, Aeneid II.12.

  [647] Demosthenes. See the Dict. Hist.

  [648] Jean de La Bruyère, Characters, chapter “On Freethinkers.”

  [649] De Beneficiis, book 3, ch. 28.

  [650] Matt. 20:25.

  [651] Ibi. 23:8.

  [652] James 2:1.

  [653] Esprit Turc. Tit. de Mold. T. 5, lettre 22.

  [654] Ibid.

  [655] Esp. Turc. Tit. de Mold. T. 5. Letter 22.

  [656] Psalm 72.

  [657] In his book to Hermodorus.

  [658] In his book to Hermodore. (Translator): i.e., Jean Pierre Camus, Les esclaircissemens de Meliton sur les Entretiens curieux d'Hermodore, a la iustification du directeur desinteressé. (1635), pp. 582-6.

  [659] Acts 20:35.

  [660] Eccles. 10:29.

  [661] Eccles. 29:31.

  [662] Concil. Later. Cap. fin. De. Relig. Dom.

  [663] Chapter 11, “Of Mankind”.

  [664] Seneca, Letter 90.

  [665] January 1710.

  [666] Translator: “The Golden Age began, this age when, from childhood, / Man stayed innocent as long as he lived, / And, basing his plans on fairness only, / He added exactness to faithfulness. / The laws, since discovered, for punishment / Had yet to be engraved on the brass, / And, all in security, living without self-seeking, / Nobody knew names like “judge” or “decree”.

  [667] Pascal, 331.

  [668] Acts 2:44

  [669] Montaigne, Essays, book 1, ch. 42.

  [670] 1 Samuel 8:11.

  [671] Josephus.

  [672] 1 Kings 12:10.

  [673] Card. de Richelieu.

  [674] Chapter VI, “On the Gifts of Fortune”.

  [675] Rev. 13:17.

  [676] Esprit de Mazarin, Page 14.

  [677] Ibid., p. 44.

  [678] Esprit de Mazarin, p. 335.

  [679] Ibid. p. 260.

  [680] Esprit de Mazarin, p. 74.

  [681] Esprit. Turc. Tom. 6 Letter 17.

  [682] Ibid. Tome 2. Lettre 34.

  [683] Espion Turc. Tome 2. Lettre 34.

  [684] In the supplement des Etats. Vol. 2, towards the end.

  [685] Le salut de l'Europe consideré dans un état de crise. (This anonymous pamphlet, from 1694, is generously quoted for the first half or so of this chapter.)

  [686] Agric. 30. 7.

  [687] Lib. reb. gest.

  [688] Le salut de l'Europe consideré dans un état de crise.

  [689] The income of the French crown during the reign of Charles VII was no higher than 1,800,000. During the reign of Louis XIII it was 50 million livres, in the reign of Louis XIV it was increased by the skill of Mr. de Colbert to more than 80 million. And since then it has been increased a great deal and it increases every day by the savoir-faire of the Ministers of this Prince.

  [690] Salut de l'Europe en 1694.

  [691] Policy of Cardinal Richelieu.

  [692] Corruption of the Clergy.

  [693] Corruption and cowardice of the clergy.

  [694] Degradation and cowardice of the French Nobility.

  [695] Oppression of the masses.

  [696] The enslaved Parlement.

  [697] The corruption of justice.

  [698] The corruption of all justice and every virtue.

  [699] The bad-faith of France.

  [700] The cruelty of the French.

  [701] Le salut de l'Europe

  [702] Telemachus.

  [703] We no longer have such emperors.

  [704] Telemachus.

  [705] (Translator) Essays, Book 2, Ch. 10.

  [706] (Translator): Op. cit. Book 2, ch. 11.

  [707] Ezek. 22:27, 28.

  [708] Rom. 13:2.

  [709] Wisdom 14:22.

  [710] Jess. 15.

  [711] Et haec fuit vitae humanae deceptio. Wisdom 14:21.

  [712] Dict. Hist.

  [713] Pliny book 11 Ch. 6

  [714] Mémoires de Comines, Chap. III.

  [715] Mémoires of Sr. Argenton, book 6, pages 449ff.

  [716] Aug. de Spiritu and Litt. Cap. 34.

  [717] Essays, bk. 2. Ch. 12.

  [718] Gen. 3:8.

  [719] Gen. 1:27.


  [720] Gen. 3:1, 6.

  [721] Exodus 33:13.

  [722] Exodus 33:23.

  [723] Essays, Book 2, Ch. 12.

  [724] Rom. 1:21, 22.

  [725] Existence de Dieu, § 1.

  [726] (Translator): The passage is from Vanini, Amphitheatrum aeternae providentiae, Exercise II.

  [727] Eccles. I. 9, 10.

  [728] Praeparavit terram in aeterno tempore. Baruch 3:32.

  [729] Recherche de la vérité. Tome 1. Page 359.

  [730] Ibid, Page 418.

  [731] Recherche de la vérité. Tome 2, Page 24.

  [732] Recherche de la vérité. Tome 2, p. 359.

  [733] N. Malebranche, Recherche de la vérité. Tome 2, p. 329.

  [734] How can a being who would effectively be immutable and immobile, be able to move or set any body in motion?

  [735] Would this not be an illusion, rather than a true vision? They should think about that.

  [736] Recherche de la vérité, Tome 2, p. 329.

  [737] Recherche de la vérité. Tome 2, p. 333.

  [738] Being and matter are one and the same thing. Being is the substantial side, matter of being is the formal side, and thus all consists and all is reducible to being and the manner of being; but it is clear and evident that being in general can only have received its existence and its movement from itself, and consequently, it can’t have been created.

  [739] Ps. 148:5.

  [740] Essays. Book 2, Ch. 12.

  [741] Ibid.

  [742] “On what grounds of justice,” said Montaigne, “can the Gods recognize and reward man for his good and virtuous deeds, since it way they themselves who led them to such, and produced such in them?”

  [743] “And why are they offended by and vengeful against the wicked, since they themselves have produced them in this faulty condition, and from a single nod of their will they can save them from failure?” (Montaigne), Essays, book 2, Ch. 12.

  [744] Isaiah 46:10.

  [745] August. Confess. 12. Chap. 11.

  [746] St. Thomas Aquinas.

  [747] Can it be said that a simple modification of being would still truly be something, after it would have ceased to be? Certainly not. But it is certain that each of us are, personally, only simple modifications of being, and consequently, we are no longer anything, from the moment we have ceased to be.

  [748] Rom. 14:17.

  [749] Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6.

  [750] Jean de la Bruyère, Characters, “Of Freethinkers”.

  [751] Prov. 21:30.

  [752] Isaiah 46:10.

  [753] “It’s well known,” says the author of the Entretiens Eccles., “that God, filled as He is with holiness and infinite wisdom, could not fail to give to all His works the perfection required by them, to be full and complete. A God does nothing halfway, and there can be no lacunae in His works, they necessarily have all the perfections and the fulness of holiness and merit that they are capable of having. In the 12th Entretien for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Vol. 3, Page 403.

  [754] Eccles. 41:17.

  [755] 41:18.

  [756] Isaiah 40:5.

  [757] Jeremiah 31:34.

  [758] Isaiah 43:20.

  [759] Isaiah 48:11.

  [760] Exod. 20:5.

  [761] Isaiah 45:23.

  [762] Exod. 20:5.

  [763] Psalm, 17:31.

  [764] Ps. 36:39.

  [765] 33:15.

  [766] 144:20.

  [767] Psalm 145:7.

  [768] Gen. 15:1.

  [769] Deut. 28:2, 12.

  [770] Zeph. 3:8.

  [771] Deut. 28:15.

  [772] Deut. 28:22.

  [773] Eccl. 8:11, 14

  [774] Eccl. 9: 1, 2, 3.

  [775] Eccles. 6:9.

  [776] Eccles. 9:4, 5, 6.

  [777] Ibid, vs. 7, 9, 10.

  [778] Rom. 1:20.

  [779] Heb. 1:1, 2.

  [780] John 4:34.

  [781] John 8:42.

  [782] John 15:22, 24.

  [783] Gal. 1:8.

  [784] 2 Cor. 11:13, 14.

  [785] Matt. 24:11, 24.

  [786] But they truly are impostors, scoffers, as even a prophet puts it, and impostors who follow their passions and seek to satisfy their evil desires. Isaiah 28:14.

  [787] 2 Cor. 10:6.

  [788] Montaigne, Essays, Book 2, Ch. 12.

  [789] Ibid.

  [790] Ibid.

  [791] Matt. 24:24.

  [792] 2 Paral. XVIII:22.

  [793] 2 Thess. 2:11.

  [794] Num. 12:1.

  [795] 1 Cor. 1:23.

  [796] Math. 24:11 and 24:26.

  [797] Montaigne, Essays, Book 2, Ch. 12.

  [798] Psalm 18 (19): 1.

  [799] Existence de Dieu, P. 1.

  [800] Eccles. 1: 2 and 12: 8. (10)

  [801] Orat. Dom. 8va post Pent.

  [802] Hosea 2:18.

  [803] Dan. 9:24.

  [804] Isaiah 11:6 and 65:25.

  [805] Isaiah 43:20.

  [806] Rev. 21:3, 4.

  [807] Eccles. 9:2, 11.

  [808] Existence de Dieu, S. 1.

  [809] Ibid. S. 4.

  [810] S. 5.

  [811] De natura deorum (section 37).

  [812] Ibid. S. 6.

  [813] Ibid. S. 7.

  [814] De natura deorum, book 2, section 8.

  [815] Ibid. S. 7.

  [816] Recherche de la vérité. Tome 2, bk 4, p. 93.

  [817] Existence de Dieu et de ses Attributs, Page 379 & 382.

  [818] Existence de Dieu et de ses Attributs, Page 383.

  [819] P. 384.

  [820] Existence de Dieu et de ses Attributs, page 386.

  [821] Ibid: 388.

  [822] Existence de Dieu, p. 378.

  [823] 379.

  [824] 387.

  [825] 389.

  [826] Existence de Dieu, p. 421.

  [827] Idem, Page 420.

  [828] Existence de Dieu, p. 421.

  [829] Existence de Dieu, Page 360, 396. Recherche de la vérité Tome II, pages 91 & 93.

  [830] But this author clearly conceives that a being who would have no extension, and who would have no body, no form, and no shape, could nevertheless be infinitely perfect? Certainly not, he doesn’t conceive this at all, and never has conceived of it.

  [831] P. 94.

  [832] Existence de Dieu, Page 370.

  [833] 371.

  [834] 371.

  [835] Recherches, Tom. 2, pag. 394.

  [836] Existence de Dieu. Page 1.

  [837] Romans 1:20.

  [838] Recherche de la vérité. T. 2. Page 344.

  [839] He assumes that extension and matter are one and the same thing.

  [840] Recherche, p. 346.