Essays, or discourses, vol. 1 (of 4)

by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

That ill-understood maxim, that God explains himself in the Voice of the People, authorizes the commonalty to triumph over sound judgment, and erect to themselves a tribunitial authority, capable of oppressing, and bearing down the dignity of literature. This is an error that is pregnant with an infinity of others, because, by establishing the position, that the voice of the multitude is the rule of truth, all the extravagances of the vulgar, would be venerated as inspirations of heaven. This consideration excites me to attack this error the first, upon a supposition, that by exploding this, I shall subdue many enemies in one, or at least, that it will be more easy to expunge other errors, by removing the patronage, which they receive from the common voice in the estimation of unwary men.

SECT. I.

I. Æstimes judicia, non numeres, said Seneca, (Epist. 39). The value of opinions, should be computed by the weight, not by the number of votaries. The ignorant, though numerous, are ignorant still; what benefit then is to be expected from their determinations? It is rather probable, that the multitude, by increasing the partizans of error, would increase obstacles to the advancement of truth. If it was a barbarous superstition in the Molossians, an antient people of Epirus, to constitute the trunk of an oak for the organ of Apollo; would it be less so, to concede this privilege to the whole Dodonean Wood? and if from a stone, unless modelled by the hand of an artist, you could not produce the image of Minerva, the same impossibility would continue, although you add to it all the rocks of a mountain. One wise person, will always discern more than a croud of simpletons, as one eagle can better see the sun, than an army of owls.

II. Pope John the XXIII. being once asked what was the thing most distant from truth, answered, the opinion of the vulgar. The severe Phocion was so firmly of this sentiment, that observing, while he was once making an oration in Athens, the people with one consent raise their voices in his applause, asked his friends who were near him, what mistake he had been guilty of, as he was persuaded, the blind populace were incapable of applauding any thing but absurdities. I don’t approve these rigorous decisions, nor can I consider the populace, as the precise antipodes to the hemisphere of truth; they are sometimes right, but this generally speaking, is either the result of chance, or the effect of borrowed reflection. Some wise man, I don’t remember who, compared the vulgar to the moon, on account of their inconstancy: the comparison however was just, as they never shine by the power of their own lights. Non consilium in vulgo, non ratio, non discrimen, non diligentia, said Tully. (Orat. pro Planc.) There is not in this vast body, any native illumination, wherewith can be discerned the true from the false; the light is all borrowed, and reflected superficially; for by reason of its opacity, the rays cannot penetrate through it.

III. The public is an instrument of various sounds, which (unless it happens by some rare accident) till adjusted by a skilful hand, is hardly ever in tune. Epicurus was dreaming, when he imagined, that infinite atoms impelled by chance, and wandering through the air, could, without the interposition of a supreme will, form this admirable system of the globe. Peter Gassendi, and the other modern refiners upon Epicurus, added to this vulgar confusion, a disposition and regulation, executed by the divine hand; but even supposing this, it will be difficult for us to comprehend, by what means, the rudeness of matter was polished, and the earth rendered capable of producing the most trifling plant. The vulgar of mankind, differ but little from the vulgarity of the atoms; and as from the casual concurrence of our sentiments, there would hardly ever result a regular series of established truths, it becomes necessary, that the Supreme Being should superintend the business. But how must this be done? Why by employing learned and wise men as his subalterns, and using them as a secondary means, to dispose and organize such material entities.

IV. Those who ascribe so great authority to the common voice, don’t foresee a dangerous consequence, that treads close on the heels of their tenet; for if the decision of what is truth, was to be confided to the plurality of voices, you should look for sound doctrine in the Alcoran of Mahomed, and not in the Gospel of Christ; it being certain, that the Alcoran would have more votes in its favour than the Gospel. I am so far from being of opinion, that such a question should be decided by numbers, that I think it ought to be determined the reverse, because in the nature of things, error occupies a much larger field than truth, and the vulgar of mankind, as the lowest and most humble portion of the rational world, may be compared to the element of earth, whose bowels contain little gold, but much iron.

SECT. II.

V. Whoever considers, that there is but one path which leads to truth, and that those which lead to error are infinite, will not be surprised, that mankind who travel by so dim a light, should in the bulk go astray. The conception which the understanding forms of things, may be compared to squares, which can only be regular one way, but may be irregular in an infinite number of ways. Every body, according to its species, can, by but one mode, be produced rightly organized, but may be produced a monster by an infinite number. Even in the heavens, there are but two fixed points to direct the navigator; all the others are changeable. There are likewise two fixed points in the sphere of the human understanding, to wit, revelation, and demonstration: the rest is a group of opinions, that dance about, and are made to follow one another, according to the caprice of doubtful and inferior comprehensions. Whoever does not observe attentively these two points, or at least one of them, according to the hemisphere in which he navigates; that is, the first in the hemisphere of grace, and the second in the hemisphere of nature, will never arrive at the port of truth: for as in very few parts of the terraqueous globe, the magnetic needle points true to the poles; but in most places has more or less degrees of variation; even so in very few parts of the world, does the human understanding attain the pole of its direction; the pole of revelation, is perceived directly, in only two places, Europe, and America; in all other parts, it has more or less degrees of declination: in the heretical countries, the needle is much warped, more in the Mahometan countries, and more still in the idolatrous ones. The pole of demonstration, is observed only by the small community of mathematicians, and even within that small circle, is affected with declination.

But what necessity is there for beating round the world, to discover, that in various regions, the common opinion is the reverse of truth; even among the people who were called God’s people, so far many times was the voice of the people from being the voice of God, that there was not the least semblance between them: no sooner was the voice of the people in unison with the divine voice, than it immediately changed to the greatest dissonance. Moses propounded to them the laws which God had given him; and all the people cried with one consent, “What the Lord has commanded let us do:” how beautiful was the sound of consonance between the two voices! but no sooner did the chapel-master Moses, who had put them in tune, turn his back, than the same congregation, after obliging Aaron to make two idols, lifted up their voice, and said, “These are the true Gods to whom we owe our liberty:” what horrible dissonance!

VII. Circumstances of this sort occurred often; but the case of their petitioning Samuel to give them a king, has something particular in it. The voice of God promulged by the mouth of the Prophet, dissuaded them from desiring a king; but how distant was the voice of the people from concording with the divine organ, for they once and again, repeat their intreaties to have a king; and on what do they found their request? Why upon other nations having kings. In this instance, there are two things which are striking and remarkable; the one is, that though this request was made by the voice of the whole people, it was erroneous; the other is, that it’s being qualified by the authority of all other people, does not amend, or exempt it from error. To sum up the whole, the voice of the people of Israel, concorded with the voices of all other people, and it’s being in consonance with that of all those other people, made it dissonant to the divine voice. Away with those then, who would govern us by common cries, upon the foundation, that the voice of the people is the voice of God.