was never cramp'd, even in its most extravagant Principles, by any Creeds, Confessions, or penal Statutes. For except the Banishment of Protagoras, and the Death of Socrates, which last Event proceeded partly from other Motives, there are scarce any Instances to be met with, in antient History, of this bigotted Jealousy and Persecution, with which the present Age is so much infested. Epicurus liv'd at Athens to an advanc'd Age, in Peace and Tranquility: Epicureans[1] were even admitted to receive the sacerdotal Character, and to officiate at the Altar, in the most sacred Rites of their Religion: And the public Encouragement[2] of Pensions and Salaries was afforded equally, by the wisest of all the Roman Emperors[3], to the Professors of every Sect of Philosophy. How requisite such kind of Treatment was to Philosophy, in its first Origin, will easily be conceiv'd, if we reflect, that even at present, when it may be suppos'd more hardy and robust, it bears with much Difficulty the Inclemency of the Seasons, and those harsh Winds of Calumny and Persecution, which blow upon it.
You admire, says my Friend, as the singular Good-Fortune of Philosophy, what seems to result from the natural Course of things, and to be unavoidable in every Age and Nation. This pertinacious Bigotry, of which you complain, as so fatal to Philosophy, is
really
