Discourse
Decipimur specie recti.
[4] Has the restoration of the Sciences and Arts contributed to the purification of Morals, or to their corruption? This is what has to be examined. Which side ought I to take in this question? The side, Gentlemen, which becomes an honest man who knows nothing and esteems himself no less for it.
[5] I am sensible to the difficulty of making what I have to say conform to the Tribunal before which I appear. How shall I dare to blame the Sciences before one of Europe’s most learned Associations, praise ignorance in a famous Academy, and reconcile contempt for study with respect for the truly Learned? I have seen these contradictions; and they have not deterred me. It is not, so I have told myself, Science I abuse; it is Virtue I defend before virtuous men. Probity is even dearer to Good Men than erudition is to the Learned. What, then, have I to fear? The enlightenment of the Assembly listening to me? I acknowledge it; but only with regard to the composition of the discourse, not to the Speaker’s sentiment. Equitable Sovereigns have never hesitated to pass judgment against themselves in debates of doubtful issue; and the most advantageous position in a just cause is to have to defend oneself against a Party of integrity and enlightenment judging in his own case.
[6] To this motive which emboldens me is joined another which decides me: namely that, in upholding the side of truth by my natural light; regardless of how successful I may be, there is one Prize that cannot escape me: I will find it in the depths of my heart.