the most able expositions of theological absurdities which has ever been written. It is in reality a System of Nature. Man is here considered in all his relations both to his own species and those spiritual beings which are supposed to exist in the imaginary Utopia of religious devotees. This great work strikes at the root of all the errours and evil consequences of religious superstition and intolerance. It inculcates the purest morality; instructing us to be kind one to another, in order to live happily in each other's society-to be tolerant and forbearing, because belief is involuntary, and mankind are so organized that all cannot think alike-to be indulgent and benevolent, because kindness begets kindness, and hence each individual becomes interested for the happiness of every other, and thus all contribute to human felicity. Let those who declare the immorality of sceptical writings, read the System of Nature, and they will be undeceived. They will then learn that the calumniated sceptics are incited by no other motives than the most praiseworthy benevolence; that far from endeavouring to increase that misery which is incidental to human life, they only wish to heal the animosities caused by religious dissensions, and to show men that their true polar star is to be happy, and endeavour to render others But above all, let those read this work who seek to come at a knowledge of the truth;"-let those read it whose minds are harassed by the fear of death, or troubled by the horrible tales of a sanguinary and vengeful God. Let them read this work, and their doubts will vanish if there is any potency in the spear of Ithuriel. If the most profound logic, the acutest discrimination, the keenest and most caustic sarcasm, can reflect credit on an author, then we may justly hail Baron d'Holbach as the greatest among philosophers, and an honour to infidels. He is the author of many celebrated works besides the SYSTEM OF NATURE,* among which we may number, Good SENSE, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SUPERSTITION, LETTERS TO EUGENIA, and other famous publications. He is described by biographers as a man of great and varied talents, generous and kindhearted." And the Reverend Laurence Sterne, informs us in his Letters, that he was rich, generous, and learned, keeping an open house several days in the week for indigent scholars. Davenport, ubi sup., page 324, says, "His works are numerous, and were all published anonymously." It is, no doubt, on this account that the Système de la Nature was first attributed to Helvétius, and then to Mira * A person by the name of Robinet, wrote a work of a similar tendency, called De la Nature, which should not be confounded with that of Baron d Holbach. † Vide R. A. Davenport's Dictionary of Biography, Boston edition, page 324, Article, HOLBACH. Perhaps it may be well to add that he was born in 1723, in Heidesheim, Germany, though he was educated at Paris, where he spent the greatest part of his life. He was a distinguished member of many European academies, and peculiarly conversant with mineralogy. He died in 1789. beau. But this important question has been set to rest by Baron Grimm, from whose celebrated correspondence we make the following extracts, under the date of August 10th, 1789: "I became acquainted with the Baron d'Holbach only a few years before his death; but, to know him, and to feel that esteem and veneration with which his noble character inspired his friends, a long acquaintance was not necessary. I therefore shall endeavour to portray him as he appeared to me; and I fain would persuade myself, that if his manes could hear me, they would be pleased with the frankness and simplicity of my homage. "I have never met with a man more learned-I may add, more universally learned, than the Baron d'Holbach; and I have never seen any one who cared so little to pass for learned in the eyes of the world. Had it not been for the sincere interest he took in the progress of science, and a longing to impart to others what he thought might be useful to them, the world would always have remained ignorant of his vast erudition. His learning, like his fortune, he gave away, but never crouched to public opinion. "The French nation is indebted to Baron d'Holbach for its rapid progress in natural history and chymistry. It was he who, 30 years ago, translated the best works published by the Germans on both these sciences, till then, scarcely known, or at least, very much neglected in France. His translations are enriched with valuable notes, but those who availed themselves of his labour ignored to whom they were indebted for it; and even now it is scarcely known. "There is no longer any indiscretion in stating that Baron d'Holbach is the author of the work which, eighteen years ago, made so much noise in Europe, of the far-famed SYSTEM OF NATURE. His self-love was never seduced by the lofty reputation his work obtained. If he was so fortunate as to escape suspicion, he was more indebted for it to his own modesty, than to the prudence and discretion of his friends. As to myself, I do not like the doctrines taught in that work, but those who have known the author, will, in justice, admit, that no private consideration induced him to advocate that system: he became its apostle with a purity of intention, and an abnegation of self, which in the eyes of faith, would have done honour to the apostles of the holiest religion. "His Système Social, and his Morale Universelle, did not create the same sensation as the Système de la Nature; but those two works show that, after having pulled down what human weakness had erected as a barrier to vice, the author felt the necessity of rebuilding another founded on the progress of reason, a good education, and wholesome laws. "It was natural for the Baron d'Holbach to believe in the empire of reason, for his passions (and we always judge others by ourselves), were such, as in all cases to give the ascendency to virtue and correct principles. It was impossible for him to hate any one; yet he could not, without an effort, dissimulate his profound horrour for priests, the panders of despotism, and the promoters of superstition. Whenever he spoke of these, his naturally good temper forsook him. 66 Among his friends, the Baron d'Holbach numbered the celebrated Helvétius, Diderot, d'Alembert, Naigeon, Condillac, Turgot, Buffon, J. J. Rousseau, Voltaire, &c.; and in other countries, such men as Hume, Garrick, the Abbate Galiani, &c. If so distinguished and learned a society was calculated to give more strength and expansion to his mind, it has also been justly remarked, that those illustrious men could not but learn many curious and useful things from him; for he possessed an extensive library, and the tenacity of his memory was such as to enable him to remember without effort every thing he had once read." However, the most praiseworthy feature in d'Holbach's character, was his benevolence; and we now conclude this sketch with the following pithy anecdote related by Mr. Naigeon, in the Journal of Paris: Among those who frequented d'Holbach's house, was a literary gentleman, who, for some time past, appeared musing and in deep melancholy. Pained to see his friend in that state, d'Holbach called on him. I do not wish,' said d'Holbach, 'to pry into a secret you did not wish to confide to me, but I see you are sorrowful, and your situation makes me both uneasy and unhappy. I know you are not rich, and you may have wants which you have hid from me. I bring you ten thousand francs which are of no use to me. You will certainly not refuse them if you feel any friendship for me; and by-andby, when you find yourself in better circumstances, you will return them.' This friend, moved to tears by the generosity of the action, assured him that he did not want money, that his chagrin had another cause, and therefore could not accept his offer; but he never forgot the kindness which prompted it, and to him I am indebted for the facts I have just related." We have no apologies to make for republishing the System of Nature at this time; the work will support itself, and needs no advocate; it has never been answered, because, in truth, it is, indeed, unanswerable. It demonstrates the fallacy as well of the religion of the Pagan as the Jew-the Christian as the Mahometan. It is a guide alike to the philosopher emancipated from religious thraldom, and the poor votary misled by the follies of superstition. All Christian writers on Natural Theology have studiously avoided even the mention of this masterly production: knowing their utter inability to cope with its powerful reasoning, they have wisely passed it by in silence. Henry Lord Brougham, it is true, in his recent Discourse of Natural Theology, has mentioned this extraordinary treatise, but with what care does he evade entering the lists with this distinguished writer! He passes over the work with a haste and sophistry that indicates how fully conscious he was of his own weakness and his opponent's strength. "There is no book of an Atheistical ADVERTISEMENT. description," says his lordship," which has ever made a greater impression than the famous Système de la Nature." "It is impossible to deny the merits of the Système de la Nature. The work of a great writer it unquestionably is; but its merit lies in the extraordinary eloquence of the composition, and the skill with which words are substituted for ideas; and assumptions for proofs, are made to pass current," &c. It is with a few pages of such empty clamation that his lordship attacks and condemns this eloquent and logical work.*. de We do not wish to detain the reader longer from its perusal by lengthening out our preface, and have only to remark, in conclusion, that when Baron d'Holbach finished this work, he might have said with more truth, and far less vanity than Horace :— "Exegi monumentum ære perennius, Quod non imber edax, non Aquilo impotens Annorum series, et fuga temporum.”—et seq. New York, September, 1835. *Vide A Discourse of Natural Theology, by Henry Lord Brougham, F.R.S., &c. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, and Blanchard. 1835. Pages 146 and 147. Terms.-The Free Enquirers' Family Library will be stereotyped, and issued semi-monthly, in numbers of 32 large octavo pages (equal to 62 duodecimo pages), with a handsome frontispiece, at $3 per annum, payable half-yearly in advance, or 12 cents per number, by G. W. & A. J. MATSELL, No. 94, Chatham street, New York, sole proprietors and publishers; to whom all orders for the above work should be addressed (post paid). Baron d'Holbach's (entire) System of Nature,* with notes by Diderot, translated now for the first time by H. D. Robinson, will form 12 Numbers of the Library, which we offer to the public for the very low price of $1 50 per copy. (The London edition of the same work now sells for 10 and even $13.) IF Persons forwarding $5, postage free, will be entitled to four copies. of the System of Nature entire. IF Those persons who have heretofore complained of the high price of liberal publications, will perceive, by referring to the above terms of the Library, that it will be as cheap, if not cheaper, than most of the popular publications of the day. AUTHOR'S PREFACE THE Source of man's unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature. The pertinacity with which he clings to blind opinions imbibed in his infancy, which interweave themselves with his existence, the consequent prejudice that warps his mind, that prevents its expansion, that renders him the slave of fiction, appears to doom him to continual errour. He resembles a child destitute of experience, full of idle notions: a dangerous leaven mixes itself with all his knowledge it is of necessity obscure, it is vacillating and false :-He takes the tone of his ideas on the authority of others, who are themselves in errour, or else have an interest in deceiving him. To remove this Cimmerian darkness, these barriers to the improvement of his condition; to disentangle him from the clouds of errour that envelop him, that obscure the path he ought to tread; to guide him out of this Cretan labyrinth, requires the clue of Ariadne, with all the love she could bestow on Theseus. It exacts more than common exertion; it needs a most determined, a most undaunted courage-it is never effected but by a persevering resolution to act, to think for himself; to examine with rigour and imparti-ality the opinions he has adopted. He will find that the most noxious weeds have sprung up beside beautiful flowers; entwined themselves around their stems, overshadowed them with an exuberance of foliage, choked the ground, enfeebled their growth, diminished their petals, dimmed the brilliancy of their colours; that deceived by the apparent freshness of their verdure, by the rapidity of their exfoliation, he has given them cultivation, watered them, nurtured them, when he ought to have plucked out their very roots. Man seeks to range out of his sphere: notwithstanding the reiterated checks his ambitious folly experiences, he still attempts the impossible; strives to carry his researches beyond the visible world; and hunts out misery in imaginary regions. He would be a metaphysician before he has become a practical philosopher. He quits the contemplation of realities to meditate on chimeras. He neglects experience to feed on conjecture, to indulge in hypothesis. He dares not cultivate his reason, because from his earliest days he has been taught to consider it criminal. He pretends to know his fate in the indistinct abodes of another life, before he has considered of the means by which he is to render himself happy in the world he inhabits: in short, man dis |