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" # $% &'()( Kitchener 2001 Table of Contents Author’s Preface ................................................ 8 Chapter I: Of Nature............................................. 11 Chapter II: Of Motion, and its Origin................................ 17 Chapter III: Of Matter: — Of its various Combinations; Of its diversified Motion; or, of the Course of Nature........................................ 25 Chapter IV: Of the Laws of Motion common to all the Beings of Nature — Of Attraction and Repulsion — Of inert Force — Of Necessity.............. 29 Chapter V: Of Order and Confusion — Of Intelligence — Of Chance. ...... 36 Chapter VI: Of Man — Of his Distinction into Moral and Physical — Of his Origin. ............................................................. 43 Chapter VII: Of the Soul, and of the Spiritual System. .................. 52 Chapter VIII: Of the Intellectual Faculties; they are all derived from the Faculty of Feeling. ...................................................... 57 Chapter IX: Of the Diversity of the Intellectual Faculties; they depend on Physical Causes, as do their Moral Qualities. The Natural Principles of Society. — Of Morals. — Of Politics. ........................................... 64 Chapter X: The Soul does not derive its Ideas from itself. It has no innate Ideas. ............................................................. 84 Chapter XI: Of the System of Man’s Free Agency...................... 98 Chapter XII: An Examination of the Opinion which pretends that the System of Fatalism is Dangerous........................................... 115 Chapter XIII: Of the Immortality of the Soul, — Of the Doctrine of a future State; — Of the Fear of Death.......................................... 132 Chapter XIV: Education, Morals, and the Laws, suffice to restrain Man. — Of the Desire of Immortality. — Of Suicide. .............................. 146 Chapter XV: Of Man’s true Interest, or of the Ideas he forms to himself of Happiness. — Man cannot be Happy without Virtue................... 156 Chapter XVI: The Errours of Man, upon what constitutes Happiness, the true Source of his Evil. — Remedies that may be applied................... 168 Chapter XVII: Those Ideas which are true, or founded upon Nature, are the only Remedies for the Evils of Man. — Recapitulation. — Conclusion of the First Part. ............................................................ 177 Chapter XVIII: The Origin of Man’s Ideas upon the Divinity. ........... 185 Chapter XIX: Of Mythology, and Theology.......................... 197 Notes ....................................................... 210 Advertisement. To the Public. To expose superstition, the ignorance and credulity on which it is based, and to ameliorate the condition of the human race, is the ardent desire of every philanthropic mind. Mankind are unhappy, in proportion as they are deluded by imaginary systems of theology. Taught to attach much importance to belief in religious doctrines, and to mere forms and ceremonies of religious worship, the slightest disagreement among theological dogmatists is oftentimes sufficient to inflame their minds, already excited by bigotry, and to lead them to anathematize and destroy each other without pity, mercy, or remorse. The various theological systems in which mankind have been misled to have faith, are but fables and falsehoods imposed by visionaries and fanatics on the ignorant, the weak, and the credulous, as historical truths; and for unbelief of which, millions have perished at the stake, or pined in gloomy dungeons: and such will ever be the case, until the mists of superstition, and the influence of priestcraft, are exposed by the light of knowledge and the power of truth. Many honest and talented philanthropists have directed their powerful intellects against the religious dogmas which have caused so much misery and persecution among mankind. Owing, however, to the combined power and influence of kings and priests, many of those learned and liberal works have been either destroyed or buried in oblivion, and the characters of the writers assailed by the unsparing and relentless rancour of pious abuse. To counteract and destroy, if possible, these sources of mischief and misery, is the intention of the publishers of the Free Enquirer’s Family Library. It is proposed to publish in a form which shall unite the various advantages of neatness of typography and cheapness of price, the works of those celebrated authors whose writings, owing to religious intolerance, have been kept in obscurity. We have commenced the library with a translation of Baron d’Holbach’s System of Nature, because it is estimated as one of 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 so. 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, D’Holbach, The System of Nature 5 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,1 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.”2 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 Helvetius, and then to Mirabeau. 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 D’Holbach, The System of Nature 6 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.

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