rdinate propensities; you assert, that they attack
your gods only because they fear their severity. But, are you yourselves,
in defending Religion and its chimeras, truly exempt from passions and
interests? Who reap advantages from this Religion, for which priests
display so much zeal? Priests. To whom does Religion procure power,
influence, riches, and honours? To Priests. Who wage war, in every
country, against reason, science, truth, and philosophy, and render them
odious to sovereigns and people? Priests. Who profit by the ignorance and
vain prejudices of men? Priests.--Priests! you are rewarded, honoured
and paid for deceiving mortals, and you cause those to be punished who
undeceive them. The follies of men procure you benefices, offerings, and
expiations; while those, who announce the most useful truths, are rewarded
only with chains, gibbets and funeral-piles. Let the world judge between
us.

188.

Pride and vanity have been, and ever will be, inherent in the priesthood.
Is any thing more capable of rendering men haughty and vain, than the
pretence of exercising a power derived from heaven, of bearing a sacred
character, of being the messengers and ministers of the Most High? Are not
these dispositions perpetually nourished by the credulity of the people,
the deference and respect of sovereigns, the immunities, privileges, and
distinctions enjoyed by the clergy? In every country, the vulgar are much
more devoted to their spiritual guides, whom they regard as divine, than
to their temporal superiors, whom they consider as no more than ordinary
men. The parson of a village acts a much more conspicuous part, than the
lord of the manor or the justice of the peace. Among the Christians, a
priest thinks himself far above a king or an emperor. A Spanish grandee
having spoken rather haughtily to a monk, the latter arrogantly said,
"Learn to respect a man, who daily has your God in his hands, and your
Queen at his feet." Have priests then a right to accuse unbelievers of
pride? Are they themselves remarkable for uncommon modesty or profound
humility? Is it not evident, that the desire of domineering over men is
essential to their trade? If the ministers of the Lord were truly modest,
should we see them so greedy of respect, so impatient of contradiction, so
positive in their decisions, and so unmercifully revengeful to those
whose opinions offend them? Has not Science the modesty to acknowledge
how difficult it is