An Enquiry into an Origin of Honour; and the Usefulness of Christianity in War

by Bernard Mandeville

Hor. That the Words Honour and Shame are either literally made Use of, as you say, or metaphorically applied to other Creatures or Things inanimate, I believe: I allow likewise, that the Principle of Honour is found in no Breast that is not possess'd of Self-liking to an eminent Degree; but I don't think that a Fault.

Cleo. The only Fault I have found with the Principle of Honour, is, it's clashing with the Christian Religion. I have told you the Reasons, why the Church of Rome thought it her Interest to reconcile them, and make People believe, that they did not interfere with one another. She has always consulted Human Nature, and ever join'd gay Shew and Pomp, as I have hinted before, to Superstition; well knowing, that, as to keep Man under and in Subjection, you must work upon his Fear, so, to make him act with Alacrity, and obey with Pleasure, where Lucre is out of Question, you must flatter his Pride. It is from this Policy of hers, that all Names of Dignity and Distinction among Christians, as Earl, Baron, Duke, Marquis, &c. had originally their Rise as Hereditary Titles. To the same have been owing all the various Ceremonies of Institutions and Instalments; and Coronations, as well as Inthronizations. Of the Orders of Knighthood, and the vast Multiplicity of them, I have spoke already.

Hor. You give more to the Church of Rome than her Due: Most Countries in Christendom have Orders of Knighthood peculiar to themselves, and of which it is evident, that they were instituted by their own Sovereigns.

Cleo. But look into the Ceremonial of those Institutions, and the great Share the Clergy has in most of them, and you'll easily see, what Stock they sprung from. And tho' the Sovereign, in every Country, is deem'd to be the Fountain of Honour, yet the Sovereigns themselves had their Titles, as well as Coats of arms, from the Popes; nor had they ever any Ensign of Honour, Power or Authority, which they could depend upon, unless it had first been granted, or confirm'd and ratify'd, by the See of Rome.

Hor. I take the Insignia, which the Proconsuls and Proprietors had in the different Provinces of the Roman Empire, and which Pancirolus has wrote of so amply, to have been much after the Nature of Coats of Arms.

Cleo. Those Insignia belong'd to the Office; and a Governour could only make Use of them, whilst he was in it: But hereditary Coats of arms, that were given to particular Men or Societies, by Way of Reward for Services perform'd, were never known; and Heraldry it Self had no Existence, before the Pope's Supremacy had been acknowledged by the Christian World. And if we consider the fine Opportunities, which the most idle and indolent, the most insignificant and unworthy of the Society, often meet with from this Invention of valuing themselves upon Actions that were perform'd several Ages before they were born, and bespeak a Merit which they know in their Consciences that they are destitute of; if, I say, we consider what I have now mention'd, we shall be forc'd to confess, that, of all Arts and Sciences, Heraldry has been the most effectual to stir up and excite in Men the Passion of Self-liking, on the finallest Foundation; and daily Experience teaches us, that Persons of Education and Politeness can taste no Pleasure in any Thing at Home or Abroad, at Church or the Play-House, where the Gratification of this Passion is entirely excluded. Of all the Shews and Solemnities that are exhibited at Rome, the greatest and most expensive, next to a Jubilee, is the Canonization of a Saint. For one that has never seen it, the Pomp is incredible. The Stateliness of the Processions, the Richness of Vestments and sacred Utensils that are display'd, the fine Painting and Sculpture that are expos'd at that Time, the Variety of good Voices and Musical Instruments that are heard, the Profusion of Wax-Candles, the Magnificence which the Whole is perform'd with, and the vast Concourse of People, that is occasion'd by those Solemnities, are all such, that it is impossible to describe them.

Hor. It is astonishing, I own; but what would you infer from them?

Cleo. I would desire you to observe, how vastly different some of the Ends and Purposes are, that Canonizations may be made to serve at the same Time. It is pretended, in the First Place, that they are perform'd to do Justice and pay Veneration to the Memory of those Holy Persons: Secondly, that by Men's worshiping them, they may be induced, among the Rest of the Saints, to intercede with God for the the Sins of their Votaries: And lastly, because it is to be hoped, that among such Numbers as assist at those Solemnities, there are many who will be affected by them, and endeavour to imitate, in their Lives, the holy Examples that are set before them: For there is no Time more seasonable to stir Men up to Devotion and Sentiments of Piety, than when Rapture and high Admiration have been rais'd in them first.

Hor. Besides Canonizations keep up the Reputation of the Roman Catholick Faith; for the new Saints, that are made from Time to Time, are always fresh Witnesses, that Miracles are not ceas'd, and consequently that the Church of Rome continues to be the same Church which Christ and his Apostles first establish'd.

Cleo. You are in the Right; and whilst we consider and give Credit to those Pretences, the Design must seem to be religious; and every Roman Catholick, who is firm in his Belief; is obliged to think, that whatever Cost is bestow'd upon Canonizations, no Money could be laid out better. But if we mind, on the other Side, the strong Sollicitations of the great Men, that either are, or pretend to be the Relations of the venerable Person, whose Holiness they vouch for; the vast Pains that are taken, the Intrigues that are carried on for Years together, to procure this high Favour of the Sacred College; and when it is obtain'd, what an Honour it is to the whole Family; the Visits that are paid from all Parts to every Rich Man that belongs to it, and the Compliments that are made on Account of it; besides the Privileges they receive from it ever after; If, I say, we mind these Things on the other Side, we shall find, that in the Motives from which Men sue for this Honour, there is not a Grain of Religion to an Ounce of Pride, and that what seems to be a Solemnity to celebrate the Sanctity of the Dead, is in Reality a Stratagem of the Church to gratify the Ambition of the Living. The Church of Rome has never made a Step without Regard to her Temporal Interest, and an After-Thought on her Successors, Luther and Calvin, and some Others of the chief Adversaries of Rome, were Men of great Parts, that have gain'd themselves Immortal Names; but it must be confess'd, that they rais'd themselves altogether at the Expence of their Brethren. They gave up both the Patrimony and Dominion of the Church, and made Presents of them to the Secular Powers, that would espouse their respective Causes, and establish their Doctrines; by which, and the destroying of Purgatory, they not only stript the Clergy of their Wealth and Power for the present, but likewise took away the Means by which, one Day or other, it might have been possible for their Successors to retrieve them. It is well for the Protestant Cause, that the Multitude can't hear or know the Wishes, that are made in Secret by many of the Clergy, nor the hearty Ejaculations, which the Men of Spirit among them are often sending after the Memory of the first Reformers, for having left their Order in that Pickle, and almost at the Mercy of the Laity, after they had been made dependent on the Clergy. If those pious Leaders had understood, or at least consulted Human Nature, they would have known, that strict Lives and Austerity of Manners don't go by Inheritance, and must have foreseen, that as soon as the Zeal of the Reformation should begin to cool both the Clergy and the Laity would relax in their Morals; and consequently, that their Successors, after Two or Three Generations, would make wretched Figures, if they were still to continue to preach Christianity without Deceit or Evasions, and pretend to live conformably to the Rules of it: If they had but reflected on what had happen'd in the Infancy of their Religion, they must have easily foreseen what I say.