uous opponents of that spiritual body, which no minister would have assailed in the preceding generation. Not only these eminent statesmen, but even such inferior men as Calonne, Malesherbes, and Terray, looked on it as a stroke of policy to attack privileges which superstition had consecrated, and which the clergy had hitherto reserved, partly to extend their own influence, and partly to minister to those luxurious and profligate habits, which in the eighteenth century were a scandal to the ecclesiastical order.

19

While these measures were being adopted against the clergy, another important step was taken in precisely the same direction. Now it was that the government began to favour that great doctrine of religious liberty, the mere defence of which it had hitherto punished as a dangerous speculation. The connexion between the attacks on the clergy and the subsequent progress of toleration, may be illustrated, not only by the rapidity with which one event succeeded the other, but also by the fact, that both of them emanated from the same quarter. Machault, who was the author of the edict of mortmain, was also the first minister who showed a wish to protect the Protestants against the persecutions of the Catholic priesthood. In this he only partly succeeded; but the impetus thus given soon became irresistible. In 1760, that is only nine years later, there was seen a marked change in the administration of the laws; and the edicts against heresy, though not yet repealed, were enforced with unprecedented mildness.20 The movement quickly spread from the capital to the remoter parts of the kingdom; and we are assured that, after the year 1762, the reaction was felt even in those provinces, which, from their backward condition, had always been most remarkable for religious bigotry, 21 At the same time, as we shall presently see, a great schism arose in the church itself, which lessened the power of the clergy, by dividing them into two hostile parties. Of these factions, one made common cause with the state, still further aiding the overthrow of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Indeed, the dissensions

19 On which account, he still further provoked the indignation of the Catholic clergy. See Felice, Hist. of the Protest. of France, pp. 401, 402; a letter written in 1751.

20"The approach of the year 1760 witnessed a sensible relaxation of persecution.... The clergy perceived this with dismay; and, in their general assembly of 1760, they addressed urgent remonstrances to the king against this remission of the laws." Felice, Protest. of France, p. 422. Comp. an interesting letter from Nismes in 1776, in Thicknesse's Journey through France, London, 1777, vol. i. p. 66.

21 Sismondi says of 1762,"Dès lors, la réaction de l'opinion publique contre l'intolérance pénétra jusque dans les provinces les plus fanatiques." Hist. des Franç. vol. xxix. p. 296. See also a letter to Damilaville, dated 6th of May, 1765, in Lettres inédites de Voltaire, vol. i. p. 412; and two other letters in Euvres de Voltaire, vol. lxiv. p. 225, vol. lxvi. p. 417.

became so violent, that the last great blow dealt to spiritual ascendency by the government of Louis XVI. proceeded not from the hands of a layman, but from one of the leaders of the church; a man who, from his standing, would, under ordinary circumstances, have protected the interests which he now eagerly attacked. In 1787, only two years before the Revolution, Brienne, archbishop of Toulouse, 22 who was then minister, laid before the parliament of Paris a royal edict, by which the discouragement hitherto thrown upon heresy was suddenly removed. By this law, the Protestants were invested with all those civil rights which the Catholic clergy had long held out as the reward of adherence to their own opinions.23 It was, therefore, natural that the more orthodox party should condemn, as an impious innovation, a measure which, by placing the two sects, in some degree, on the same footing, seemed to sanction the progress of error; and which certainly deprived the French church of one of the chief attractions by which men had hitherto been induced to join her communion. Now, however, all these considerations were set at naught. Such was the prevailing temper, that the parliament, though then in a mood very refractory to the royal authority, did not hesitate to register the edict of the king; and this great measure became law; the dominant party being astonished, we are told, how any doubt could be entertained as to the wisdom of the principles on which it was based. 25

24

These were omens of the coming storm; signs of the time, which those who run may read. Nor are there wanting other marks, by which the true complexion of that age may be clearly seen. In addition to what has been just related, the government, soon after the middle of the eighteenth century, inflicted a direct and fatal injury upon the spiritual authority. This consisted in the expulsion of the Jesuits; which is an event, important not only for its ultimate effects, but also as an evidence of the feelings of men, and of what could be peaceably

22 of whom Hume, several years before, had formed a very high opinion. See Burton's Life of Hume, vol. ii. p. 497; a too favourable judgment, which should be contrasted with the opposite exaggerations, in Mém. de Genlis, vol. ix. pp. 360-363, and Barruel, Hist. du Jacobinisme, vol. i. pp. 87, 199.

édit

23 Lavallée, Hist. des Franç. iii. p. 516; Biog. Univ. xxiv. p. 656.

24 Georgel, Mémoires, vol. ii. pp. 293, 294; a violent outbreak against “l'irréligieux qui autorise tous les cultes."

26 "Le parlement de Paris discutait l'édit sur les protestans. Vingt ans plus tôt, combien une telle résolution n'eût-elle pas agité et divisé les esprits? En 1787, on ne s'étonnait que d'une chose: c'était qu'il pût y avoir une discussion sur des principes évidens." Lacretelle, XVIII Siècle, vol. iii. pp. 342, 343. In 1776, Malesherbes, who was then minister, wished to secure nearly the same privileges for the Protestants, but was prevented from doing so. Dutens, Mémoires, vol. ii. pp. 56-58. Dutens was himself concerned in the negotiation.

accomplished by the government of him who was called "the most Christian king."26

The Jesuits, for at least fifty years after their institution, rendered immense services to civilization, partly by tempering with a secular element the more superstitious views of their great predecessors, the Dominicans and Franciscans, and partly by organizing a system of education far superior to any yet seen in Europe. In no university could there be found a scheme of instruction so comprehensive as theirs; and certainly no where was displayed such skill in the management of youth, or such insight into the general operations of the human mind. It must, in justice, be added, that this illustrious society, notwithstanding its eager, and often unprincipled, ambition, was, during a considerable period, the steady friend of science, as well as of literature; and that it allowed to its members a freedom and a boldness of speculation which had never been permitted by any other monastic order.

As, however, civilization advanced, the Jesuits, like every spiritual hierarchy the world has yet seen, began to lose ground; and this not so much from their own decay, as from a change in the spirit of those who surrounded them. An institution admirably adapted to an early form of society, was ill suited to the same society in its maturer state. In the sixteenth century, the Jesuits were before their age; in the eighteenth century they were behind it. In the sixteenth century, they were the great missionaries of knowledge; because they believed that, by its aid, they could subjugate the consciences of men. But, in the eighteenth century, their materials were more refractory; they had to deal with a perverse and stiff-necked generation; they saw in every country the ecclesiastical authority rapidly declining; and they clearly perceived that their only chance of retaining their old dominion was, by checking that knowledge, the progress of which they had formerly done much to acceler

ate.27

Under these circumstances, the statesmen of France, almost

26 Henry II. used to refer to this title, by way of justifying his persecution of the Protestants (Ranke's Civil Wars in France, vol. i. p. 241); and great account was made of it by that exemplary prince, Louis XV. Soulavie, Règne de Louis XVI, vol. i. p. 155. The French antiquaries trace it back to Pepin, the father of Charlemagne. Barrington's Observations on the Statutes, p. 168.

The Prince de Montbarey who was educated by the Jesuits about 1740, says, that, in their schools, the greatest attention was paid to pupils intended for the church; while the abilities of those destined for secular professions were neglected. See this statement, which, coming from such a quarter, is very remarkable, in Mém. de Montbarey, vol. i. pp. 12, 13. Montbarey, so far from being prejudiced against the Jesuits, ascribes the Revolution to their overthrow. Ibid. vol. iii. p. 94. For other evidence of the exclusive and unsecular character of their education in the eighteenth century, see Schlosser's Eighteenth Century, vol. iv. pp. 29, 30, 245.

VOL. I.-39

immediately after the middle of the eighteenth century, determined to ruin an order which had long ruled the world, and which was still the greatest bulwark of the church. In this design they were aided by a curious movement which had taken place in the church itself, and which, being connected with views of much wider import, deserves the attention even of those for whom theological controversies have no interest.

29

Among the many points on which metaphysicians have wasted their strength, that of free-will has provoked the hottest disputes. And what has increased the acerbity of their language, is, that this, which is eminently a metaphysical question, has been taken up by theologians, who have treated it with that warmth for which they are remarkable. 28 From the time of Pelagius, if not earlier, Christianity has been divided into two great sects, which, though in some respects uniting by insensible shades, have always preserved the broad features of their original difference. By one sect, the freedom of the will is virtually, and often expressly, denied; for it is asserted, not only that we cannot of our own will effect any thing meritorious, but that whatever good we may do will be useless, since the Deity has predestined some men to perdition, others to salvation. By the other sect, the freedom of the will is as strongly upheld; good works are declared essential to salvation; and the opposite party is accused of exaggerating that state of grace of which faith is a necessary accompaniment. 30

These opposite principles, when pushed to their logical consequences, must lead the first sect into antinomianism, and the second sect into the doctrine of supererogatory works. 32 But since on such subjects, men feel far more than they reason, it usually happens that they prefer following some common and

28 See some singular observations in Parr's first sermon on faith and morals (Parr's Works, vol. vi. p. 598), where we are told that, in the management of the feud between Calvinists and Arminians, "the steadiness of defence should be proportionate to the impetuosity of assault;" unnecessary advice, so far as his own profession is concerned. However, the Mohammedan theologians are said to have been even keener than the Christians on this subject. See Troyer's Discourse on the Dabistan, vol. i. p. cxxxv.; an important work on the Asiatic religions.

29 Neander (Hist. of the Church, vol. iv. p. 105) finds the germ of the Pelagian controversy in the dispute between Athanasius and Apollinaris. Compare, respecting its origin, a note in Milman's History of Christianity, 1840, vol. iii. pp. 270, 271.

30 No writer I have met with, has stated so fairly and clearly the theological boundaries of these doctrines, as Göthe. Wahrheit und Dichtung, in Werke, vol. ii. part ii. p. 200, Stuttgart, 1837.

31 Compare Butler's Mem. of the Catholics, vol. iii. p. 224; Copleston on Necessity and Predestination, pp. 25, 26; Mosheim's Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 254.

32 Hence the theory of indulgences, constructed by the Church of Rome with perfect consistency, and against which most of the Protestant arguments are illogical.

accredited standard, or appealing to some ancient name :33 and they, therefore, generally class themselves on the one side under Augustin, Calvin, and Jansenius; on the other side under Pelagius, Arminius, and Molina.

Now, it is an interesting fact, that the doctrines which in England are called Calvinistic, have been always connected with a democratic spirit; while those of Arminianism have found most favour among the aristocratic or protective party. In the republics of Switzerland, of North America, and of Holland, Calvinism was always the popular creed. On the other hand, in those evil days, immediately after the death of Elizabeth, when our liberties were in imminent peril; when the church of England, aided by the crown, attempted to subjugate the consciences of men; and when the monstrous claim of the divine right of episcopacy was first put forward ;35—then it was that Arminianism became the cherished doctrine of the ablest and most ambitious of the ecclesiastical party. And in that sharp retribution which followed, the Puritans and Independents, by whom the punishment was inflicted, were, with scarcely an exception, Calvinists: nor should we forget, that the first open movement against Charles proceeded from Scotland, where the principles of Calvin had long been in the ascendant.

36

33 This seems to be the natural tendency, and has been observed by Neander in his instructive account of the Gnostics, History of the Church, vol. ii. p. 121: "The custom with such sects to attach themselves to some celebrated name or other of antiquity."

34 The Dutch church was the first which adopted, as an article of faith, the doctrine of election held at Geneva. Mosheim's Eccles. History, vol. ii. p. 112. See also, on this doctrine in the Netherlands, Sinclair's Corresp. vol. ii. p. 199; Coventry's Speech in 1672, in Parl. Hist. vol. iv. p. 537; and Staudlin, Gesch. der theolog. Wissenschaften, vol. i. p. 262: "In den Niederlanden wurde der Calvinische Lehrbegriff zuerst in eine scholastische Form gebracht.”

As to the Calvinism of North America, compare Bancroft's American Revolution, vol. i. pp. 165, 173, 174, vol. ii. pp. 329, 363, vol. iii. p. 213; Lyell's Second Visit to the United States, 1849, vol. i. p. 51; and Combe's Notes on the United States, vol. i. pp. 35, 99, 223, vol. iii. pp. 88, 118, 219, 226.

36 It is sometimes said that this was advocated by Bancroft as early as 1588; but this assertion appears to be erroneous, and Mr. Hallam can find no instance before the reign of James I. Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 390. The dogma, though new in the Church of England, was of great antiquity. See, on its origin among the early Christians, Klimrath, Hist. du Droit, vol. i. p. 253.

The spread of Arminianism was frequently noticed in parliament during the reign of Charles I. Parl. Hist. vol. ii. pp. 444, 452, 455, 470, 484, 487, 491, 660, 947, 1368. On the decline of Calvinism at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge early in the seventeenth century, see a curious letter from Beale, in Boyle's Works, vol. v. p. 483; and on this movement in the church after Elizabeth, compare Yonge's Diary, p. 93, edit. Camden Soc. 1848; Orme's Life of Owen, p. 32; Harris's Lives of the Stuarts, vol. i. pp. 154-156, vol. ii. pp. 208, 213, 214; Hutchinson's Mem. pp. 66, 77; Hallam's Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 466; Des Maizeaux's Life of Chillingworth, p. 112.

37 Respecting the Calvinism of the opponents of the king, see Clarendon's Rebellion, pp. 36, 37; Bulstrode's Memoirs, pp. 8, 9; Burton's Diary, vol. iii. p. 206; Carlyle's Cromwell, vol. i. p. 68; and on its influence in the House of Commons in 1628, Carwithen's Hist. of the Church of England, vol. ii. p. 64.