permitted to have two professions, nor to adopt another....
But there was one occupation which _was obliged_ to be common to
all,--this was the study of the laws and of wisdom; ignorance of
religion and the political regulations of the country was excused
in no condition of life. Moreover, every profession had a district
assigned to it (by whom?).... Amongst good laws, one of the best
things was, that everybody was taught to observe them (by whom?).
Egypt abounded with wonderful inventions, and nothing was neglected
which could render life comfortable and tranquil."

Thus men, according to Bossuet, derive nothing from themselves;
patriotism, wealth, inventions, husbandry, science--all come to them by
the operation of the laws, or by kings. All they have to do is to be
passive. It is on this ground that Bossuet takes exception, when
Diodorus accuses the Egyptians of rejecting wrestling and music. "How is
that possible," says he, "since these arts were invented by
Trismegistus?"

It is the same with the Persians:--

"One of the first cares of the prince was to encourage
agriculture.... As there were posts established for the regulation
of the armies, so there were offices for the superintending of
rural works.... The respect with which the Persians were inspired
for royal authority was excessive."

The Greeks, although full of mind, were no less strangers to their own
responsibilities; so much so, that of themselves, like dogs and horses,
they would not have ventured upon the most simple games. In a classical
sense, it is an undisputed thing that everything comes to the people
from without.

"The Greeks, naturally full of spirit and courage, _had been early
cultivated_ by kings and colonies who had come from Egypt. From
them they had learned the exercises of the body, _foot races_, and
horse and chariot races.... The best thing that the Egyptians had
taught them was to become docile, and to allow themselves to be
formed by the laws for the public good."

_Fenelon_.--Reared in the study and admiration of antiquity, and a
witness of the power of Louis XIV., Fenelon naturally adopted the idea
that mankind should be passive, and that its misfortunes and its
prosperities, its virtues and its vices, are caused by the external
influence which is exercised upon it by the _law_, or by the makers of
the law. Thus, in his Utopia of