Page:Four Dissertations - David Hume (1757).djvu/257

 ' essential to the Roman catholic religion to inspire a violent hatred to every other worship, and represent all pagaus, mahometans, and heretics as the objects of divine wrath and vengeance. Such sentiments, though they are in reality extremely blameable, are considered as virtues by the zealots of that communion, and are represented in their tragedies and epic poems as a kind of divine heroism. This bigotry has disfigured two very fine tragedies of the French theatre, Polieucte and Athalia; where an intemperate zeal for particular modes of worship is set off with all the pomp imaginable, and forms the predominant character of the heroes. "What is this," says the heroic Joad to Josabet, finding her in discourse with Mattan, the priest of Baal, "Does the daughter of David speak to this traitor? Are you not afraid, left the earth should open and pour forth flames to devour you both? Or that these holy walls should fall and crush you together? What is his purpose? Why comes that enemy of God hither to poison the air, which we breath, with his horrid presence?" Such sentiments are received with great applause on the theatre of Paris; but at London the spectators would be full as much pleased to hear Achilles tell Agamemnon, that he