[807] See some very just remarks in Whewell's Philos. of the Induc. Sciences, vol. ii. p. 143. In Neander's Hist. of the Church, vol. iv. pp. 41, 128, there are two curious illustrations of the universal interest which theological discussions once inspired in Europe; and on the former subservience of philosophy to theology, compare Hamilton's Discussions on Philosophy, p. 197. But no one has treated this subject so ably as M. Auguste Comte, in his great work, Philosophie Positive. The service which the metaphysicians rendered to the church by their development of the doctrine of transubstantiation (Blánco White's Evidence against Catholicism, pp. 256–258) is a striking instance of this subordination of the intellect to ecclesiastical dogmas.

[808] M. Tocqueville says, what I am inclined to think is true, that an increasing spirit of equality lessens the disposition to form new religious creeds. Démocratie en Amérique, vol. iv. pp. 16, 17. At all events, it is certain that increasing knowledge has this effect; for those great men whose turn of mind would formerly have made them heretics, are now content to confine their innovations to other fields of thought. If St. Augustin had lived in the seventeenth century, he would have reformed or created the physical sciences. If Sir Isaac Newton had lived in the fourth century, he would have organized a new sect, and have troubled the church with his originality.

[809] Biog. Univ. vol. xix. pp. 315, 316; where it is said, ‘l'ouvrage de Du Haillan est remarquable en ce que c'est le premier corps d'histoire de France qui ait paru dans notre langue.’ See also Dacier, Rapport sur les Progrès de l'Histoire, p. 170; and Des Réaux, Historiettes, vol. x. p. 185.

[810] Bayle, article Haillan, note L.

[811] Mercure François, in Bayle, article Haillan, note D.

[812] De Rebus gestis Francorum, which appeared about 1516. Biog. Univ. vol. xiii. p. 119. Compare, respecting the author, Mézéray, Hist. de France, vol. ii. p. 363, with Audigier, l'Origine des François, vol. ii. p. 118, who complains of his opinion about Clovis, ‘quoy qu'il fasse profession de relever la gloire des François.’ Even the superficial Boulainvilliers (Hist. de l'Ancien Gouvernement, vol. ii. p. 166) contemptuously notices ‘les rétoriciens postérieurs, tels que Paul Emile.’

[813] Compare Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. i. pp. 176, 177, with Montlosier, Monarchie Française, vol. i. pp. 43, 44. Philippe de Comines, though superior to Sismondi and Montlosier in point of ability, lived in the middle ages, and therefore had no idea of doubting, but simply says, ‘Pharamond fut esleu roy, l'an 420, et régna dix ans,’ Mém. de Comines, livre viii. chap. xxvii. vol. iii. p. 232. But De Thou, coming a hundred years after Comines, evidently suspected that it was not all quite right, and therefore puts it on the authority of others. ‘Pharamond, qui selon nos historiens a porté le premier la couronne des François.’ De Thou, Hist. Univ. vol. x. p. 530. See a singular passage on Pharamond in Mém. de Duplessis Mornay, vol. ii. p. 405.

[814] Sorel (La Bibliothèque Françoise, Paris, 1667, p. 373) says of Du Haillan, ‘On lui peut reprocher d'avoir donné un commencement fabuleux à son histoire, qui est entièrement de son invention, ayant fait tenir un conseil entre Pharamond et ses plus fidelles conseillers, pour sçavoir si ayant la puissance en main il deuoit réduire les François au gouvernement aristocratique ou monarchique, et faisant faire une harangue à chacun d'eux pour soustenir son opinion. On y voit les noms de Charamond et de Quadrek, personnages imaginaires.’ Sorel, who had a glimmering notion that this was not exactly the way to write history, adds, ‘C'est une chose fort surprenante. On est fort peu asseuré si Pharamond fut jamais au monde, et quoy qu'on sçache qu'il y ait esté, c'est une terrible hardiesse d'en raconter des choses qui n'ont aucun appuy.’

[815] ‘Die erste Regung des skeptischen Geistes finden wir in den Versuchen des Michael von Montaigne.’ Tennemann, Gesch. der Philos. vol. ix. p. 443.

[816] The first volume appeared in 1604. See Le Long, Bibliothèque Historique de la France, vol. ii. p. 375; and preface to De Thou, Hist. Univ. vol. i. p. iv.

[817] Sismondi has scarcely done justice to Sully; but the reader will find a fuller account of him in Capefigue, Hist. de la Réforme, vol. viii. pp. 101–117; and a still better one in Blanqui, Histoire de l'Economie Politique, vol. i. pp. 347–361.

[818] According to D'Aubigné, the king, on his conversion, said, ‘Je ferai voir à tout le monde que je n'ai esté persuadé par autre théologie que la nécessité de l'estat.’ Smedley's Reformed Religion in France, vol. ii. p. 362. That Henry felt this is certain; and that he expressed it to his friends is probable; but he had a difficult game to play with the Catholic church; and in one of his edicts we find ‘une grande joye de son retour à l'église, dont il attribuoit la cause à la grâce du Tout-Puissant, et aux prières de ses fidèles sujets.’ De Thou, Hist. Univ. vol. xii. pp. 105, 106. Compare, at pp. 468, 469, the message he sent to the pope.

[819] Marchand, Dictionnaire Historique, vol. ii. pp. 205, 209, La Haye, 1758, folio. This curious and learned work, which is much less read than it deserves, contains the only good account of Serres I have been able to meet with; vol. ii. pp. 197–213.

[820] ‘On ne prenoit presque aucun soin de marquer les dates des événemens dans les ouvrages historiques…. De Serres reconnut ce défaut; et pour y remédier, il rechercha avec beaucoup de soin les dates des événemens qu'il avoit à employer, et les marqua dans son histoire le plus exactement qu'il lui fut possible. Cet exemple a été imité depuis par la plupart de ceux qui l'ont suivi; et c'est à lui qu'on est redevable de l'avantage qu'on tire d'une pratique si nécessaire et si utile.’ Marchand, Dict. Historique, vol. ii. p. 206.

[821] ‘Il est le premier historien qui ait cité en marge ses autorités; précaution absolument nécessaire quand on n'écrit pas l'histoire de son temps, à moins qu'on ne s'en tienne aux faits connus.’ Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xix. p. 95. And the Biog. Univ. vol. xii. p. 277, says, ‘On doit lui faire honneur d'avoir cité en marge les auteurs dont il s'est servi; précaution indispensable, que l'on connaissait peu avant lui, et que les historiens modernes négligent trop aujourd'hui.’ Bassompierre, who had a quarrel with Dupleix, has given some curious details respecting him and his History; but they are, of course, not to be relied on. Mém. de Bassompierre, vol. iii. pp. 356, 357. Patin speaks favourably of his history of Henry IV. Lettres de Patin, vol. i. p. 17: but compare Sully, Œconomies Royales, vol. ix. pp. 121, 249.

[822] The ancients, as is well known, rarely took this trouble. Mure's Hist. of Greek Literature, vol. iv. pp. 197, 306, 307. But what is much more curious is, that, even in scientific works, there was an equal looseness; and Cuvier says, that, in the sixteenth century, ‘on se bornait à dire, d'une manière générale, Aristote a dit telle chose, sans indiquer ni le passage ni le livre dans lequel la citation se trouvait.’ Cuvier, Hist. des Sciences, part ii. p. 63; and at p. 88, ‘suivant l'usage de son temps, Gessner n'indique pas avec précision les endroits d'où il a tiré ses citations:’ see also p. 214.

[823] ‘Le premier ouvrage de philosophie publié dans cette langue.’ Biog. Univ. vol. xii. p. 277.

[824] So it seemed to me, when I turned over its leaves a few years ago. However, Patin says, ‘sa philosophie françoise n'est pas mauvaise.’ Lettres de Patin, vol. iii. p. 357. On the dialectic powers of Dupleix, see a favourable judgment in Hamilton's Discuss. on Philos. p. 119.

[825] Biog. Univ. vol. xxxv. p. 402. Sorel (Bibliothèque Françoise, p. 165), who is evidently displeased at the unprecedented boldness of La Popelinière, says, ‘il dit ses sentimens en bref des historiens de toutes les nations, et de plusieurs langues, et particulièrement des historiens françois, dont il parle avec beaucoup d'asseurance.’

[826] ‘Il réfute l'opinion, alors fort accréditée, de l'arrivée dans les Gaules de Francus et des Troyens.’ Biog. Univ. vol. xxxv. p. 402. Compare Le Long, Bibliothèque Historique de la France, vol. ii. p. 39. Patin says that De Thou was much indebted to him: ‘M. de Thou a pris hardiment de la Popelinière.’ Lettres de Patin, vol. i. p. 222. There is a notice of Popelinière, in connexion with Richer, in Mém. de Richelieu, vol. v. p. 349.

[827] ‘Il réfute les fables qu'on avançoit sur l'origine des François, appuyées sur le témoignage au faux Bérose. Il dit que leur nom vient de leur ancienne franchise.’ Le Long, Bibliothèque Historique, vol. ii. p. 750.

[828] Compare Sorel, Bibliothèque Françoise, p. 298, with Du Fresnoy, Méthode pour étudier l'Histoire, vol. x. p. 4, Parie, 1772. There is an account of Gomberville in Les Historiettes de Tallemant des Réaux, vol. viii. pp. 15–19; a singularly curious book, which is, for the seventeenth century, what Brantome is for the sixteenth. I ought to have mentioned earlier the inimitable ridicule with which Rabelais treats the habit historians had of tracing the genealogies of their heroes back to Noah. Œuvres de Rabelais, vol. i. pp. 1–3, and vol. ii. pp. 10–17: see also, at vol. v. pp. 171, 172, his defence of the antiquity of Chinon.

[829] ‘L'auteur croit qu'il ne faut pas la chercher ailleurs que dans le pays où ils out été connus des Romains, c'est-à-dire entre l'Elbe et le Rhin,’ Le Long, Bibliothèque Historique, vol. ii. p. 56. This work of Berthault's was, for many years, a text-book in the French colleges. Biog. Univ. vol. iv. p. 347.

[830] The first volume in 1643; the second in 1646; and the last in 1651. Biog. Univ. vol. xxviii. p. 510.

[831] ‘The French have now their first general historian, Mezeray.’ Hallam's Literature of Europe, vol. iii. p. 228; and see Stephen's Lectures on the History of France, 1851, vol. i. p. 10.

[832] Bayle says, that Mezeray is, ‘de tous les historiens celui qui favorise le plus les peuples contre la cour.’ Le Long, Bibliothèque Historique, vol. iii. p. lxxxvi.

[833] Though it did not prevent him from believing that sudden tempests, and unusual appearances in the heavens, were aberrations, due to supernatural interference, and, as such, were the prognosticators of political change. Mézéray, Hist. de France, vol. i. pp. 202, 228, 238, 241, 317, 792, vol. ii. pp. 485, 573, 1120, vol. iii. pp. 31, 167, 894; instructive passages, as proving that, even in powerful minds, the scientific and secular method was still feeble.

[834] What he did on these subjects is most remarkable, considering that some of the best materials were unknown, and in manuscript, and that even De Thou gives scarcely any information respecting them; so that Mezeray had no model. See, among other passages which have struck me in the first volume, pp. 145–147, 204, 353, 356, 362–365, 530, 531, 581, 812, 946, 1039. Compare his indignant expressions at vol. ii. p. 721.

[835] Those who have studied the French memoirs of the seventeenth century, know how little can be found in them respecting the condition of the people; while the fullest private correspondence, such as the letters of Sévigné and De Maintenon, are equally unsatisfactory. The greater part of the evidence now extant has been collected by M. Monteil, in his valuable work, Histoire des divers Etats: but whoever will put all this together must admit, that we are better informed as to the condition of many savage tribes than we are concerning the lower classes of France during the reign of Louis XIV.

[836] This is noticed in Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxvii. pp. 181, 182; also in Villemain, Littérature Française, vol. ii. pp. 29, 30. Compare D'Argenson, Réflexions sur les Historiens François, in Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, vol. xxviii. p. 627, with Boulainvilliers, Ancien Gouvernement de la France, vol. i. p. 174.

[837] ‘Le jeune Louis XIV n'avait reçu aucune éducation intellectuelle.’ Capefigue's Richelieu, Mazarin et la Fronde, vol. ii. p. 245. On the education of Louis XIV., which was as shamefully neglected as that of our George III., see Lettres inédites de Maintenon, vol. ii. p. 369; Duclos, Mém. Secrets, vol. i. pp. 167, 168; Mém. de Brienne, vol. i. pp. 391–393.

[838] On his political maxims, see Lemontey, Etablissement de Louis XIV, pp. 325–327, 407, 408. The eloquent remarks made by M. Ranke upon an Italian despotism, are admirably applicable to his whole system: ‘Sonderbare Gestalt menschlichen Dinge! Die Kräfte des Landes bringen den Hof hervor, der Mittelpunkt des Hofes ist der Fürst, das letzte Product des gesammten Lebens ist zuletzt das Selbstgefühl des Fürsten.’ Die Päpste, vol. ii. p. 266.

[839] His Abrégé Chronologique was published in 1668, in three volumes quarto. Biog. Univ. vol. xxviii. p. 510. Le Long (Bibliothèque Historique, vol. iii. p. lxxxv.) says, that it was only allowed to be published in consequence of a ‘privilège’ which Mezeray had formerly obtained. But there seems to have been some difficulty, of which these writers are not aware: for Patin, in a letter dated Paris, 23 December 1664, speaks of it as being then in the press: ‘on imprime ici en grand-in-quarto un Abrégé de l'Histoire de France, par M. Mezeray.’ Lettres de Patin, vol. iii. p. 503: compare p. 665. It long remained an established school-book: see D'Argenson's Essay, in Mém. de l'Académie, vol. xxviii. p. 635; and Works of Sir William Temple, vol. iii. p. 70.

[840] Barrière, Essai sur les Mœurs du Dix-septième Siècle, prefixed to Mém. de Brienne, vol. i. pp. 129, 130, where reference is made to his original correspondence with Colbert. This treatment of Mezeray is noticed, but imperfectly, in Boulainvilliers, Hist. de l'Ancien Gouvernement, vol. i. p. 196; in Lemontey, Etablissement de Louis XIV, p. 331; and in Palissot, Mém. pour l'Hist. de Lit. vol. ii. p. 161.

[841] In 1685 was published at Paris what was called an improved edition of Mezeray's History; that is, an edition from which the honest remarks were expunged. See Le Long, Bibliothèque Historique, vol. ii. p. 53, vol. iv. p. 381; and Brunet, Manuel du Libraire, vol. iii. p. 383, Paris, 1843. Hampden, who knew Mezeray, has recorded an interesting interview he had with him in Paris, when the great historian lamented the loss of the liberties of France. See Calamy's Life of Himself, vol. i. pp. 392, 393.

[842] Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxvi. pp. 240, 241.

[843] ‘Par l'infidélité d'un domestique chargé de transcrire le manuscrit.’ Biog. Univ. vol. xiv. p. 289; and see Peignot, Dict. des Livres condamnés, vol. i. pp. 134, 135. It was suppressed in France, and appeared in Holland in the same year, 1699. Lettres de Sévigné, vol. vi. pp. 434, 435 note.

[844] ‘Louis XIV prit le Télémaque pour une personnalité…. Comme il (Fénelon) avait déplu au roi, il mourut dans l'exil.’ Lerminier, Philos. du Droit, vol. ii. pp. 219, 220; and see Siècle de Louis XIV, chap. xxxii., in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xx. p. 307.

[845] These circumstances are related in a letter from Lord Preston, dated Paris, 22 July 1682, and printed in Dalrymple's Memoirs, pp. 141, 142, appendix to vol. i. The account given by M. Peignot (Livres condamnés, vol. ii. pp. 52, 53) is incomplete, he being evidently ignorant of the existence of Lord Preston's letter.

[846] An able writer has well called him ‘glorieux plutôt qu'appréciateur de la vraie gloire.’ Flassan, Histoire de la Diplomatie Française, vol. iv. p. 399.

[847] In 1677, Madame de Sévigné writes from Paris respecting the king: ‘Vous savez bien qu'il a donné deux mille écus de pension à Racine et à Despréaux, en leur commandant de travailler à son histoire, dont il aura soin de donner des Mémoires.’ Lettres de Sévigné, vol. iii. p. 362. Compare Eloge de Valincourt, in Œuvres de Fontenelle, vol. vi. p. 383; and Hughes's Letters, edit. 1773, vol. ii. pp. 74, 75.

[848] Burnet relates this with delightful simplicity: ‘Others more probably thought that the king, hearing I was a writer of history, had a mind to engage me to write on his side. I was told a pension would be offered me. But I made no steps towards it; for though I was offered an audience of the king, I excused it, since I could not have the honour to be presented to that king by the minister of England.’ Burnet's Own Time, vol. ii. p. 385.

[849] During many years it enjoyed great reputation; and there is no history written in that period respecting which Le Long gives so many details. See his Bibliothèque Historique de la France, vol. ii. pp. 13, 14. Compare La Bibliothèque de Leber, vol. ii. p. 110, Paris, 1839.

[850] Audigier, L'Origine des François, Paris, 1676, vol. i. p. 5. See also p. 45, where he congratulates himself on being the first to clear up the history of Sigovese.

[851] Audigier, vol. i. p. 7. Other antiquaries have adopted the same preposterous etymology. See a note in Kemble's Saxons in England, vol. i. p. 41.

[852] ‘Or le plus ancien Jupiter, le plus ancien Neptune, et le plus ancien Pluton, sont ceux de Gaule; ils la divisèrent les premiers en Celtique, Aquitaine et Belgique, et obtinrent chacun une de ces parties en partage. Jupiter, qu'on fait régner au ciel, eut la Celtique…. Neptune, qu'on fait régner sur les eaux, et sur les mers, eut l'Aquitaine, qui n'est appelée de la sorte qu'à cause de l'abondance de ses eaux, et de la situation sur l'océan.’ Audigier, L'Origine des François, vol. i. pp. 223, 224.

[853] See his argument, vol. i. pp. 216, 217, beginning, ‘le nom de Noé, que portèrent les Galates, est Gallus;’ and compare vol. ii. p. 109, where he expresses surprise that so little should have been done by previous writers towards establishing this obvious origin of the French.

[854] Audigier, vol. i. pp. 196, 197, 255, 256.

[855] ‘Voilà donc les anciennes divinitez d'Europe, originaires de Gaule, aussi bien que les beaux arts et les hautes sciences.’ Audigier, vol. i. p. 234.

[856] Ibid. vol. i. pp. 73, 74. He sums up, ‘c'en est assez pour relever l'Anjou, à qui cette gloire appartient légitimement.’

[857] Vol. i. pp. 265, 266.

[858] Vol. i. p. 149.

[859] Vol. ii. pp. 179, 180.

[860] Vol. ii. p. 269.

[861] Vol. ii. p. 124.

[862] Vol. ii. pp. 451–454.

[863] ‘A quoy nous pourrions joindre un autre monument fort authentique, c'est le résultat de certains pères, et de certains docteurs de l'église, qui tiennent que l'Ante-christ ne viendra point au monde qu'après la dissection, c'est-à-dire après la dissipation de nostre empire. Leur fondement est dans la seconde épistre de saint Paul aux Thessaloniciens.’ Audigier, vol. ii. p. 462.

[864] This is the opinion of Mr. Hallam respecting Bossuet's History of the Variations of Protestant Churches. Const. Hist. vol. i. p. 486: compare Lerminier, Philos. du Droit, vol. ii. p. 86. Attempts have been made by Protestant theologians to retort against the Catholics the arguments of Bossuet, on the ground that religious variations are a necessary consequence of the honest pursuit of religious truth. See Blanco White's Evidence against Catholicism, pp. 109–112; and his Letters from Spain, by Doblado, p. 127. With this I fully agree; but it would be easy to show that the argument is fatal to all ecclesiastical systems with strictly defined creeds, and, therefore, strikes as heavily against the Protestant churches as against the Catholic. Beausobre, in his acute and learned work on Manichæism, seems to have felt this; and he makes the dangerous admission, ‘que si l'argument de M. de Meaux vaut quelque chose contre la Réformation, il a la même force contre le Christianisme.’ Hist. de Manichée, vol. i. p. 526. On Bossuet as a controversialist, see Stäudlin, Geschichte der theologischen Wissenschaften, vol. ii. pp. 43–45; and for a contemporary opinion of his great work, see a characteristic passage in Lettres de Sévigné, vol. v. p. 409.

[865] His method is fairly stated by Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxv. p. 427.

[866] See, on this attempt of Bossuet‘s, some good remarks in Stäudlin, Geschichte der theologischen Wissenschaften, vol. ii. p. 198: 'Kirche und Christenthum sind für diesen Bischoff der Mittelpunct der ganzen Geschichte. Aus diesem Gesichtspuncte betrachtet er nicht nur die Patriarchen und Propheten, das Judenthum und die alten Weissagungen, sondern auch die Reiche der Welt.’

[867] Bossuet, Discours sur l'Histoire Universelle, pp. 10, 11, 16, 17; see also, at p. 90, a curious specimen of his chronological calculations.

[868] He says, that if the ordinarily received dates of the Pentateuch and the Prophets are not true, then the miracles must fall, and the writings themselves are not inspired. Hist. Univ. p. 360. It would be hard to find, even in the works of Bossuet a more rash assertion than this.

[869] Indeed the Jews have no consecutive chronology before Solomon. See Bunsen's Egypt, vol. i. pp. viii. xxv. 170, 178, 185, vol. ii. p. 399.

[870] Doing this, as they did everything else, on account, not of reason, but of dogma; for, as a learned writer says, ‘l'Église a bien distingué certains livres en apocryphes et en orthodoxes; elle s'est prononcée d'une manière formelle sur le choix des ouvrages canoniques; néanmoins sa critique n'a jamais été fondée sur un examen raisonné, mais seulement sur la question de savoir si tel ou tel écrit était d'accord avec les dogmes qu'elle enseignait.’ Maury, Légendes Pieuses, p. 224.

[871] Theologians have always been remarkable for the exactness of their knowledge on subjects respecting which nothing is known; but none of them have surpassed the learned Dr. Stukeley. In 1730, this eminent divine writes: ‘But according to the calculations I have made of this matter, I find God Almighty ordered Noah to get the creatures into the ark on Sunday the 12th of October, the very day of the autumnal equinox that year; and on this present day, on the Sunday se'nnight following (the 19th of October), that terrible catastrophe began, the moon being past her third quarter.’ Nichols's Illustrations of the Eighteenth Century, vol. ii. p. 792.

[872] ‘Premièrement, ces empires ont pour la plupart une liaison nécessaire avec l'histoire du peuple de Dieu. Dieu s'est servi des Assyriens et des Babyloniens pour châtier ce peuple; des Perses pour le rétablir; d'Alexandre et de ses premiers successeurs pour le protéger; d'Antiochus l'Illustre et de ses successeurs pour l'exercer; des Romains pour soutenir sa liberté contre les rois de Syrie, que ne songeaient qu'à le détruire.’ Bossuet, Hist. Univ. p. 382. Well may M. Lerminier say (Philos. du Droit, vol. ii. p. 87), that Bossuet ‘a sacrifié toutes les nations au peuple juif.’

[873] On the extraordinary and prolonged ignorance of the Jews, even to the time of the Apostles, see Mackay's Progress of the Intellect, vol. i. pp. 13 seq.; a work of profound learning.

[874] The original scheme of Christianity, as stated by its Great Author (Matthew x. 6, and xv. 24), was merely to convert the Jews; and if the doctrines of Christ had never extended beyond that ignorant people, they could not have received those modifications which philosophy imposed upon them. The whole of this subject is admirably discussed in Mackay's Progress of the Intellect in Religious Development, vol. ii. pp. 382 seq.; and on the ‘universalism,’ first clearly announced ‘by the Hellenist Stephen,’ see p. 484. Neander makes a noticeable attempt to evade the difficulty caused by the changes in Christianity from ‘various outward causes:’ see his History of the Church, vol. iii. p. 125.

[875] Neander (Hist. of the Church, vol. ii. p. 42) even thinks that Cerinthus whose views are remarkable as being the point where Gnosticism and Judaism touch each other, borrowed his system from Alexandria. But this, though not unlikely, seems only to rest on the authority of Theodoret. On the influence of the Platonism of Alexandria in developing the idea of the Logos, see Neander, vol. ii. pp. 304, 306–314. Compare Sharpe's Hist. of Egypt, vol. ii. pp. 152 seq.

[876] And having to mention Clemens Alexandrinus, who was more deeply versed in the philosophy of Alexandria than were any of the other fathers, Bossuet merely says, p. 98, ‘à peu près dans le même temps, le saint prêtre Clément Alexandrin déterra les antiquités du paganisme pour le confondre.’

[877] About the time that Bossuet wrote, a very learned writer calculated that the area of the countries which professed Mohammedanism, exceeded, by one fifth, those where Christianity was believed. See Brerewood's Inquiries touching the Diversity of Languages and Religions, Lond. 1674, pp. 144, 145. The estimate of Southey (Vindiciæ Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, London, 1826, p. 48), is very vague; but it is much easier to judge of the extent of Mohammedan countries than of the extent of their population. On this latter point we have the most conflicting statements. In the nineteenth century, there are, according to Sharon Turner (Hist. of England, vol. iii. p. 485, edit. 1839), eighty million Mohammedans; according to Dr. Elliotson (Human Physiology, p. 1055, edit. 1840), more than a hundred and twenty-two million; while, according to Mr. Wilkin (note in Sir Thomas Browne's Works, vol. ii. p. 37, edit. 1835), there are a hundred and eighty-eight million.

[878] ‘Le faux prophète donna ses victoires pour toute marque de sa mission.’ Bossuet, p. 125.

[879] The greatest Mohammedan writers have always expressed ideas regarding the Deity more lofty than those possessed by the majority of Christians. The Koran contains noble passages on the oneness of God; and for the views of their ordinary theologians, I may refer to an interesting Mohammedan sermon, in Transactions of the Bombay Society, vol. i. pp. 146–158. See also, in vol. iii. pp. 398–448, an Essay by Vans Kennedy; and compare a remarkable passage, considering the quarter from which it comes, in Autobiography of the Emperor Jehangueir, p. 44. Those who are so thoughtless as to believe that Mohammed was a hypocrite, had better study the admirable remarks of M. Comte (Philos. Pos. vol. v. pp. 76, 77), who truly says, ‘qu'un homme vraiment supérieur n'a jamais pu exercer aucune grande action sur ses semblables sans être d'abord lui-même intimement convaincu.’

[880] ‘Saint Martin fut fait évêque de Tours, et remplit tout l'univers du bruit de sa sainteté et de ses miracles, durant sa vie, et après sa mort.’ Bossuet, Hist. Univ. p. 111.

[881] The Benedictines have written the life of Martin in their Hist. Lit. de la France, vol. i. part ii. pp. 413–417, Paris, 1733, 4to. They say that he erected the first monastery in Gaul: ‘Martin, toujours passionné pour la solitude, érigea un monastère qui fut le premier que l'on eût encore vû dans les Gaules,’ p. 414. At p. 415, they make the unnecessary admission, that the saint ‘n'avoit point étudié les sciences profanes.’ I may add, that the miracles of Martin are related by Fleury, who evidently believes that they were really performed. Fleury, Hist. Ecclésiastique, livre xvi. no. 31, vol. iv. pp. 215–217, Paris, 1758, 12mo. Neander, having the advantage of living a hundred years later than Fleury, is content to say, ‘the veneration of his period denominated him a worker of miracles.’ Hist. of the Church, vol. iv. p. 494. There is a characteristic anecdote of him, from Sulpitius Severus, in Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 123.

[882] At pp. 479, 480, Bossuet gives a sort of summary of his historical principles; and if they are true, history is evidently impossible to be written. On this account, though fully recognizing the genius of Bossuet, I cannot agree with the remarks made upon him by M. Comte, Philos. Pos. vol. iv. p. 280, vol. vi. pp. 316, 317.

[883] And then, as M. Charles Comte well says, they call this prejudice their moral sense, or their moral instinct. Comte, Traité de Législation, vol. i. p. 116.

[884] The connection between the opinions of Bossuet and the despotism of Louis XIV. is touched on by Montlosier, who, however, has probably laid too much stress on the influence which the civil law exercised over both. Montlosier, Monarchie Française, vol. ii. p. 90.

[885] He belonged to a class of historians, described by a celebrated writer in a single sentence: ‘dans leurs écrits l'auteur paraît souvent grand, mais l'humanité est toujours petite.’ Tocqueville, Démocratie, vol. iv. p. 139.

[886] Hardly any one acquainted with the writings and the history of Bossuet will require evidence of his singular arrogance. But the reader may consult Sismondi, Hist. des Franç. vol. xxvi. p. 247; and on his treatment of Fénelon, which was the most shameful transaction of his life, compare Burnet's Own Time, vol. iv. p. 384, with Capefigue's Louis XIV, vol. ii. p. 58; where there is printed one of the many epigrams to which the conduct of Bossuet gave rise.

[887] He says that he wrote it in 1728. Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xxii. p. 5, but, according to M. Lepan (Vie de Voltaire, p. 382), ‘il parut en 1731.’ Both statements may be accurate, as Voltaire frequently kept his works for some time in manuscript.

[888] Sir A. Alison, who certainly cannot be accused of want of respect for military conquerors, says of Sweden, ‘the attempt which Charles XII. made to engage her in long and arduous wars, so completely drained the resources of the country, that they did not recover the loss for half a century.’ Hist. of Europe, vol. x. p. 504. See also, on the effects produced by the conscriptions of Charles XII., Laing's Sweden, p. 59; Koch, Tableau des Révolutions, vol. ii. p. 63; and above all, a curious passage in Duclos, Mém. Secrets, vol. i. p. 448. Several of the soldiers of Charles XII. who were taken prisoners, were sent into Siberia, where Bell fell in with them early in the eighteenth century. Bell's Travels in Asia, edit. Edinb. 1788, vol. i. pp. 223–224.

[889] ‘Charles XII, l'homme le plus extraordinaire peut-être qui ait jamais été sur la terre, qui a réuni en lui toutes les grandes qualités de ses aïeux, et qui n'a eu d'autre défaut ni d'autre malheur que de les avoir toutes outrées.’ Hist. de Charles XII, livre i., in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xxii. p. 30.

[890] ‘Plein d'honneur.’ Ibid. in Œuvres, vol. xxii. p. 63.

[891] Which Burke, not without justice, compares to the murder of Monaldeschi by Christina. Burke's Works, vol. i. p. 412. See some remarks on the murder of Patkul, in Vattel, Droit des Gens, vol. i. p. 230; and an account of it, from Swedish authorities, in Somers Tracts, vol. xiii. pp. 879–881. For Voltaire's version see his Œuvres, vol. xxii. pp. 136, 137; which may be contrasted with Crichton and Wheaton's History of Scandinavia, Edinb. 1838, vol. ii. p. 127.

[892] Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xxii. pp. 250–260. It may interest some persons to hear, that the litter in which this madman ‘was borne from the battle of Pultava’ is still preserved at Moscow. Kohl's Russia, p. 220. It was also seen by M. Custine. Custine's Russia, vol. iii. p. 263.

[893] ‘Sa modestie ne put empêcher qu'on ne frappât à Stockholm plusieurs médailles pour perpétuer la mémoire de ces événements.’ Charles XII, livre ii., in Œuvres, vol. xxii. p. 70.

[894] Even some of its geographical details are said to be inaccurate. Compare Villemain, Littérature au XVIII^e Siècle, vol. ii. p. 33, with Kohl's Russia, p. 505. However, as M. Villemain says, this must always be the case, when writers, who only know a country from maps, attempt to enter into details respecting military geography. In regard to style, it cannot be too highly praised; and a well-known critic, Lacratelle, calls it ‘le modèle le plus accompli de narration qui existe dans notre langue.’ Lacretelle, Dix-huitième Siècle, vol. ii. p. 42. In 1843 it was still used as a text book in the French royal colleges. See Report on Education in France, in Journal of Stat. Soc. vol. vi. p. 308. Further information respecting this work may be found in Longchamp et Wagnière, Mém. sur Voltaire, vol. ii. p. 494; and in Mém. de Genlis, vol. viii. p. 224, vol. x. p. 304.

[895] It is evident, from Voltaire's correspondence, that he afterwards became somewhat ashamed of the praises he had bestowed on Charles XII. In 1735, he writes to De Formont, ‘si Charles XII n'avait pas été excessivement grand, malheureux, et fou, je me serais bien donné de garde de parler de lui.’ Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. lvi. p. 462. In 1758, advancing still further, he says of Charles, ‘voilà, monsieur, ce que les hommes de tous les temps et de tous les pays appellent un héros; mais c'est le vulgaire de tous les temps et de tous les pays qui donne ce nom à la soif du carnage.’ Ibid. vol. lx. p. 411. In 1759, he writes, that he was then engaged on the history of Peter the Great: ‘mais je doute que cela soit aussi amusant que la vie de Charles XII; car ce Pierre n'était qu'un sage extraordinaire, et Charles un fou extraordinaire, qui se battait, comme Don Quichotte, contre des moulins à vent.’ Vol. lxi. p. 23: see also p. 350. These passages prove the constant progress Voltaire was making in his conception of what history ought to be, and what its uses were.

[896] In 1741, he mentions his increasing love of history. Corresp. in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. li. p. 96.

[897] Lord Brougham, in his life of Voltaire, says that it appeared in 1751. Lives of Men of Letters, vol. i p. 106. But 1752 is the date given in Biog. Univ. xlix. 478; in Quérard, France Lit. vol. x. p. 355; and in Lepan, Vie de Voltaire, p. 382.

[898] ‘On veut essayer de peindre à la postérité, non les actions d'un seul homme, mais l'esprit des hommes dans le siècle le plus éclairé qui fut jamais.’ Siècle de Louis XIV, in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xix. p. 213. And in his correspondence respecting his work on Louis XIV., he carefully makes the same distinction. See vol. lvi. pp. 453, 488, 489, 500, vol. lvii. pp. 337, 342–344, vol. lix. p. 103.

[899] Chap. xxix., in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xx. pp. 234–267.

[900] Chap. xxx., in Œuvres, vol. xx. pp. 267–291. This chapter is praised in Sinclair's History of the Public Revenue, vol. iii. appendix, p. 77; an indifferent work, but the best we have on the important subject to which it refers.

[901] Chap. xxxi., in Œuvres, vol. xx. pp. 291–299; necessarily a very short chapter, because of the paucity of materials.

[902] Chapters xxxii. to xxxiv., in Œuvres, vol. xx. pp. 299–338.

[903] Œuvres, vol. xx. pp. 338–464.

[904] This disposition to favour Louis XIV. is noticed by Condorcet, who says it was the only early prejudice which Voltaire was unable to shake off: ‘c'est le seul préjugé de sa jeunesse qu'il ait conservé.’ Condorcet, Vie de Voltaire, in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. i. p. 286. See also, on this defect, Grimm et Diderot, Corresp. Lit. vol. ii. p. 182; Lemontey, Etablissement Monarchique, pp. 451, 452; Mém. de Brissot, vol. ii. pp. 88, 89. It is interesting to observe, that Voltaire's earlier opinions were still more favourable to Louis XIV. than those which he afterwards expressed in his history. See a letter which he wrote in 1740 to Lord Harvey, printed in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. lviii. pp. 57–63.

[905] Mr. Burton, in his interesting work, Life and Correspondence of Hume, vol. ii. p. 129, says it was ‘first published in 1756;’ and the same date is given by Quérard (France Littéraire, vol. x. p. 359), who is a very accurate bibliographer; so that Condorcet (Vie de Voltaire, p. 199) and Lord Brougham (Men of Letters, vol. i. p. 98) are probably in error in assigning it to 1757. In regard to its title, I translate ‘Mœurs’ as ‘morals and manners;’ for M. Tocqueville uses ‘mœurs’ as equivalent to the Latin word ‘mores.’ Tocqueville, Démocratie en Amérique, vol. iii. pp. 50, 84.

[906] Superficial writers are so much in the habit of calling Voltaire superficial, that it may be well to observe, that his accuracy has been praised, not only by his own countrymen, but by several English authors of admitted learning. For three remarkable instances of this, from men whom no one will accuse of leaning towards his other opinions, see notes to Charles V., in Robertson's Works, pp. 431, 432; Barrington's Observations on the Statutes, p. 293; and Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. i. p. xvi. Even Sir W. Jones, in his preface to the Life of Nader Shah, says, that Voltaire is ‘the best historian’ the French have produced. Works of Sir William Jones, vol. v. p. 542; and compare the preface to his Persian Grammar, in Works, vol. ii. p. 123.

[907] ‘Je voudrais découvrir quelle était alors la société des hommes, comment on vivait dans l'intérieur des familles, quels arts étaient cultivés, plutôt que de répéter tant de malheurs et tant de combats, funestes objets de l'histoire, et lieux communs de la méchanceté humaine.’ Essai sur les Mœurs, chap. lxxxi., in Œuvres, vol. xvi. p. 381.

[908] ‘L'objet était l'histoire de l'esprit humain, et non pas le détail des faits presque toujours défigurés; il ne s'agissait pas de rechercher, par exemple, de quelle famille était le seigneur de Puiset, ou le seigneur de Montlheri, qui firent la guerre à des rois de France; mais de voir par quels degrés on est parvenu de la rusticité barbare de ces temps à la politesse du nôtre.’ Supplement to Essai sur les Mœurs, in Œuvres, vol. xviii. p. 435. Compare Fragments sur l'Histoire, vol. xxvii. p. 214, with two letters in vol. lx. pp. 153, 154, vol. lxv. p. 370.

[909] Mallet, though born in Geneva, was a Frenchman in the habits of his mind: he wrote in French, and is classed among French historians, in the report presented to Napoleon by the Institut. Dacier, Rapport sur les Progrès de l'Histoire, p. 173.

[910] Göthe, in his Autobiography, mentions his obligations to this work, which, I suspect, exercised considerable influence over the early associations of his mind: ‘Ich hatte die Fabeln der Edda schon längst aus der Vorrede zu Mallet's Dänischer Geschichte kennen gelernt, und mich derselben sogleich bemächtigt; sie gehörten unter diejenigen Mährchen, die ich, von einer Gesellschaft aufgefordert, am liebsten erzählte.’ Wahrheit u. Dichtung, in Goethe's Werke, vol. ii. part ii. p. 169. Percy, a very fair judge, thought highly of Mallet's history, part of which, indeed, he translated. See a letter from him, in Nichols's Illustrations of the Eighteenth Century, vol. vii. p. 719.

[911] Mallet's Northern Antiquities, edit. Blackell, 1847, p. 78.

[912] The first two volumes were published in 1765; the other two in 1790. Biog. Univ. vol. xxvi. pp. 9, 12.

[913] Mably, Observ. sur l'Hist. de France, vol. i. p. ii.; and compare vol. iii. p. 289: but this latter passage was written several years later.

[914] ‘Bornés à nous apprendre les victoires ou les défaites du souverain, ils ne nous disent rien ou presque rien des peuples qu'il a rendus heureux ou malheureux. On ne trouve dans leurs écrits que longues descriptions de sièges et de batailles; nulle mention des mœurs et de l'esprit de la nation. Elle y est presque toujours sacrifiée à un seul homme.’ Histoire de France par Velly, Paris, 1770, 4to, vol. i. p. 6; and see, to the same effect, the Continuation by Villaret, vol. v. p. vi.

[915] ‘Si l'histoire que j'écris n'est ni militaire, ni politique, ni économique, du moins dans le sens que je conçois pour ces différentes parties, on me demandera quelle est donc celle que je me propose d'écrire. C'est l'histoire des hommes et des mœurs.’ Duclos, Louis XIV et Louis XV, vol. i. p. xxv.

[916] ‘Je voulois connoître nos loix, nos mœurs, et tout ce qui est l'âme de l'histoire, ou plutôt l'histoire même.’ Hénault, Nouvel Abrégé chronologique de l'Histoire de France, edit. Paris, 1775, vol. i. p. i.

[917] In 1763, he writes to D'Argental: ‘il y a environ douze batailles dont je n'ai point parlé, Dieu merci, parceque j'écris l'histoire de l'esprit humain, et non une gazette.’ Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. lxiii. p. 51. See also his letter to Tabareau (Lettres inédites de Voltaire, vol. ii. p. 585): ‘Personne ne lit les détails des combats et des sièges; rien n'est plus ennuyeux que la droite et la gauche, les bastions et la contrescarpe.’

[918] M. Lamartine characterizes him as ‘ce génie non pas le plus haut, mais le plus vaste de la France.’ Hist. des Girondins, vol. i. p. 180.

[919] Biog. Univ. vol. xlix. p. 493. His Orphelin de la Chine is taken from Chinese sources: see Davis's China, vol. ii. p. 258.

[920] The surprising versatility of Voltaire's mind is shown by the fact, unparalleled in literature, that he was equally great as a dramatic writer and as an historian. Mr. Forster, in his admirable Life of Goldsmith, 1854, says (vol. i. p. 119), ‘Gray's high opinion of Voltaire's tragedies is shared by one of our greatest authorities on such a matter now living, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, whom I have often heard maintain the marked superiority of Voltaire over all his countrymen in the knowledge of dramatic art, and the power of producing theatrical effects.’ Compare Correspondence of Gray and Mason, edit. Mitford, 1855, p. 44.

[921] Essai sur les Mœurs, chap. lxxxv., in Œuvres, vol. xvi. p. 412, and elsewhere.

[922] During the eighteenth century, and, I may say, until the publication in 1818 of Hallam's Middle Ages, there was in the English language no comprehensive account of the feudal system; unless, perhaps, we except that given by Robertson, who in this, as in many other matters of history, was a pupil of Voltaire. Not only Dalrymple, and writers of his kind, but even Blackstone, took so narrow a view of this great institution, that they were unable to connect it with the general state of society to which it belonged. Some of our historians gravely traced it back to Moses, in whose laws they found the origin of allodial lands. See a charming passage in Barry's History of the Orkney Islands, p. 219. On the spirit of feudality, there are some remarks well worth reading in Comtés Philos. Posit. vol. v. pp. 393–413.

[923] Constant, in his work on Roman polytheism, says, ‘des rites indécens peuvent être pratiqués par un peuple religieux avec une grande pureté de cœur. Mais quand l'incrédulité atteint ces peuples, ces rites sont pour lui la cause et le prétexte de la plus révoltante corruption.’ This passage is quoted by Mr. Milman, who calls it ‘extremely profound and just.’ Milman's History of Christianity, 1840, vol. i. p. 28. And so it is—extremely profound and just. But it happens that precisely the same remark was made by Voltaire, just about the time that Constant was born. Speaking of the worship of Priapus, he says (Essai sur les Mœurs, chap. cxliii. in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xvii. p. 341), ‘nos idées de bienséance nous portent à croire qu'un cérémonie qui nous paraît si infâme n'a été inventée que par la débauche; mais il n'est guère croyable que la dépravation des mœurs ait jamais chez aucun peuple établi des cérémonies religieuses. Il est probable, au contraire, que cette coutume fut d'abord introduite dans les temps de simplicité, et qu'on ne pensa d'abord qu'à honorer la Divinité dans le symbole de la vie qu'elle nous a donnée. Une telle cérémonie a dû inspirer la licence à la jeunesse, et paraître ridicule aux esprits sages, dans les temps plus raffinés, plus corrompus, et plus éclairés.’ Compare the remarks on the indecency of the Spartan customs, in Thirlwall's Hist. of Greece, vol. i. pp. 326, 327.

[924] Essai sur les Mœurs, chaps. xiv. and xxxi., in Œuvres, vol. xv. pp. 391, 514. Neander observes, that in the Greek church there were more heresies than in the Latin church, because the Greeks thought more; but he has failed to perceive how this favoured the authority of the popes. Neander's History of the Church, vol. ii. pp. 198, 199, vol. iii. pp. 191, 492, vol. iv. p. 90, vol. vi. p. 293, vol. viii. p. 257.

[925] In his account of the trade of Archangel, he says, ‘les Anglais obtinrent le privilége d'y commercer sans payer aucun droit; et c'est ainsi que toutes les nations devraient peut-être négocier ensemble.’ Hist. de Russie, part i. chap. i., in Œuvres, vol. xxiii. p. 35. Remarkable words to have been written by a Frenchman, born at the end of the seventeenth century; and yet they have, so far as I am aware, escaped the attention of all the historians of political economy. Indeed, on this, as on most matters, sufficient justice has not been done to Voltaire, whose opinions were more accurate than those of Quesnay and his followers. However, Mr. M'Culloch, in noticing one of the economical errors of Voltaire, honestly admits that his ‘opinions on such subjects are, for the most part, very correct.’ M'Culloch's Principles of Political Economy, p. 530. For proof of his sympathy with Turgot's efforts to establish free trade, compare Lettres inédites de Voltaire, vol. ii. pp. 367, 403, 423, with Longchamp, Mém. sur Voltaire, vol. i. pp. 376, 378.

[926] ‘The idea of the different ratios by which population and food increase, was originally thrown out by Voltaire; and was picked up and expanded into many a goodly volume by our English political economists in the present century.’ Laing's Notes, second series, p. 42.

[927] It is often said that Malthus was indebted to Townsend's writings for his views on population; but this obligation has been too strongly stated, as, indeed, is always the case when charges of plagiarism are brought against great works. Still, Townsend is to be considered as the precursor of Malthus; and if the reader is interested in tracing the paternity of ideas, he will find some interesting economical remarks in Townsend's Journey through Spain, vol. i. pp. 379, 383, vol. ii. pp. 85, 337, 387–393; which must be compared with M'Culloch's Literature of Political Economy, pp. 259, 281–3. Voltaire having preceded these authors, has, of course, fallen into errors which they avoided; but nothing can be better than the way in which he opposes the ignorant belief of his own time, that every thing should be done to increase population. ‘Le point principal n'est pas d'avoir du superflu en hommes, mais de rendre ce que nous en avons le moins malheureux qu'il est possible,’ is the summing-up of his able remarks, in Dict. Philos., article Population, sect. 2, in Œuvres, vol. xli. p. 466. Godwin, in his notice of the history of these opinions, is evidently ignorant of what was done by Voltaire. Sinclair's Corresp. vol. i. p. 396.

[928] With the single exception of Porson, not one of the great English scholars has shown an appreciation of the beauties of his native language; and many of them, such as Parr (in all his works) and Bentley (in his mad edition of Milton), have done every thing in their power to corrupt it. And there can be little doubt, that the principal reason why well-educated women write and converse in a purer style than well-educated men, is because they have not formed their taste according to those ancient classical standards, which, admirable as they are in themselves, should never be introduced into a state of society unfitted for them. To this may be added, that Cobbett, the most racy and idiomatic of all our writers, and Erskine, by far the greatest of our forensic orators, knew little or nothing of any ancient language; and the same observation applies to Shakespeare. On the supposed connexion between the improvement of taste and the study of classical models, there are some remarks worth attending to in Rey's Théorie et Pratique de la Science Sociale, vol. i. pp. 98–101.

[929] ‘We can best judge, from the Jesuitical rage with which he was persecuted, how admirably he had delineated the weaknesses and presumption of the interpreters of the ancients, who shone in the schools and academies, and had acquired great reputation by their various and copiously exhibited learning.’ Schlosser's Eighteenth Century, vol. i. p. 120. At p. 270, M. Schlosser says, ‘And it was only a man of Voltaire's wit and talents, who could throw the light of an entirely new criticism upon the darkness of those grabbing and collecting pedants.’

[930] ‘C'est l'imagination seule qui a écrit les premières histoires. Non seulement chaque peuple inventa son origine, mais il inventa aussi l'origine du monde entier.’ Dict. Philos. article Histoire, sec. 2, in Œuvres, vol. xl. p. 195. See also his article on Chronology, vol. xxxviii. p. 77, for the application of this to the history of Rome, where he says, ‘Tite Live n'a garde de dire en quelle année Romulus commença son prétendu règne.’ And at vol. xxxvi. p. 86, ‘tous les peuples se sont attribués des origines imaginaires; et aucun n'a touché à la véritable.’

[931] ‘Qu'on fasse attention que la république romaine a été cinq cents ans sans historiens; que Tite Live lui-même déplore la perte des autres monuments qui périrent presque tous dans l'incendie de Rome,’ &c. Dict. Philos. in Œuvres, vol. xl. p. 202. At p. 188, ‘ce peuple, si récent en comparaison des nations asiatiques, a été cinq cents années sans historiens. Ainsi, il n'est pas surprenant que Romulus ait été le fils de Mars, qu'une louve ait été sa nourrice, qu'il ait marché avec mille hommes de son village de Rome contre vingt-cinq mille combattants du village des Sabins.’

[932] ‘Par quel excès de démence, par quel opiniâtreté absurde, tant de compilateurs ont-ils voulu prouver dans tant de volumes énormes, qu'une fête publique établie en mémoire d'un événement était une démonstration de la vérité de cet événement?’ Essai sur les Mœurs, in Œuvres, vol. xv. p. 109. See also the same remark applied to monuments, in chap. cxcvii., Œuvres, vol. xviii. pp. 412–414; and again, in vol. xl. pp. 203, 204.

[933] ‘La plupart des histoires out été crues sans examen, et cette créance est un préjugé. Fabius Pictor raconte que, plusieurs siècles avant lui, une vestale de la ville d'Albe, allant puiser de l'eau dans sa cruche, fut violée, qu'elle accoucha de Romulus et de Rémus, qu'ils furent nourris par une louve, etc. Le peuple romain crut cette fable; il n'examina point si dans ce temps-là il y avait des vestales dans le Latium, s'il était vraisemblable que la fille d'un roi sortît de son couvent avec sa cruche, s'il était probable qu'une louve allaitât deux enfants au lieu de les manger; le préjugé s'établit.’ Dict. Philos. article Préjugés, in Œuvres, vol. xli. pp. 488, 489.

[934] ‘Les amateurs du merveilleux disaient: Il faut bien que ces faits soient vrais, puisque tant de monuments en sont la preuve. Et nous disions: Il faut bien qu'ils soient faux, puisque le vulgaire les a crus. Une fable a quelque cours dans une génération; elle s'établit dans la seconde; elle devient respectable dans la troisième; la quatrième lui élève des temples.’ Fragments sur l'Histoire, article i. in Œuvres, vol. xxvii. pp. 158, 159.

[935] In this case, as in many others, ignorance has been fortified by bigotry; for, as Lord Campbell truly says of Voltaire, ‘since the French Revolution, an indiscriminate abuse of this author has been in England the test of orthodoxy and loyalty.’ Campbell's Chief Justices, vol. ii. p. 335. Indeed, so extensively has the public mind been prejudiced against this great man, that, until a very few years ago, when Lord Brougham published a life of him, there was no book in the English language containing even a tolerable account of one of the most influential writers France has produced. This work of Lord Brougham's, though a middling performance, is at least an honest one, and, as it harmonizes with the general spirit of our time, it has probably had considerable weight. In it he says of Voltaire, ‘nor can any one since the days of Luther be named, to whom the spirit of free inquiry, nay, the emancipation of the human mind from spiritual tyranny, owes a more lasting debt of gratitude.’ Brougham's Life of Voltaire, p. 132. It is certain, that the better the history of the eighteenth century is understood, the more the reputation of Voltaire will increase; as was clearly foreseen by a celebrated writer nearly a generation ago. In 1831, Lerminier wrote these remarkable, and, as the result has proved, prophetic words: ‘Il est temps de revenir à des sentimens plus respectueux pour la mémoire de Voltaire…. Voltaire a fait pour la France ce que Leibnitz a fait pour l'Allemagne; pendant trois-quarts de siècle il a représenté son pays, puissant à la manière de Luther et de Napoléon; il est destiné à survivre a bien des gloires, et je plains ceux qui se sont oubliés jusqu'à laisser tomber des paroles dédaigneuses sur le génie de cet homme.’ Lerminier, Philosophie du Droit, vol. i. p. 199. Compare the glowing eulogy in Longchamp et Wagnière, Mémoires sur Voltaire, vol. ii. pp. 388, 389, with the remarks of Saint-Lambert, in Mém. d'Epinay, vol. i. p. 263.

[936] Vie de Montesquieu, p. xiv., prefixed to his works.

[937] Before Montesquieu, the only two great thinkers who had really studied Roman history were Macchiavelli and Vico: but Macchiavelli did not attempt any thing approaching the generalizations of Montesquieu, and he suffered, moreover, from the serious deficiency of being too much occupied with the practical utility of his subject. Vico, whose genius was perhaps even more vast than that of Montesquieu, can hardly be considered his rival; for, though his Scienza Nova contains the most profound views on ancient history, they are rather glimpses of truth, than a systematic investigation of any one period.

[938] Which M. Guizot (Civilisation en France, vol. iv. p. 36), in his remarks on the Esprit des Lois, does not take sufficiently into consideration. A juster appreciation of Montesquieu will be found in Cousin, Hist. de la Philosophie, part ii. vol. i. p. 182; and in Comte, Philosophie Positive, vol. iv. pp. 243–252, 261. Compare Charles Comte, Traité de Législation, vol. i. p. 125, with Meyer, Esprit des Institutions Judiciaires, vol. i. p. lxi., respecting the vast innovations he introduced.

[939] He says of the emperor Maximin, ‘il fut tué avec son fils par ses soldats. Les deux premiers Gordiens périrent en Afrique. Maxime, Balbin, et le troisième Gordien furent massacrés.’ Grandeur et Décadence des Romains, chap. xvi., in Œuvres de Montesquieu, p. 167.

[940] Ibid. chap. xi., in Œuvres de Montesquieu, pp. 149–153. Compare a similar remark, respecting Charles XII., in Esprit des Lois, livre x. chap. xiii. Œuvres, p. 260.

[941] On the difference between cause and occasion, see Grandeur et Décad. chap. i. p. 126.

[942] ‘Il y a des causes générales, soit morales, soit physiques, qui agissent dans chaque monarchie, l'élèvent, la maintiennent, ou la précipitent; tous les accidents sont soumis à ces causes; et si le hasard d'une bataille, c'est-à-dire une cause particulière, a ruiné un état, il y avoit une cause générale qui faisoit que cet état devoit périr par une seule bataille. En un mot, l'allure principale entraîne avec elle tous les accidente particuliers.’ Grand. et Décad. des Romains, chap. xviii. p. 172.

[943] De l'Esprit des Lois, books xiv. to xviii. inclusive; in Œuvres, pp. 300–336.

[944] Ibid. livre xxiii. chap. xiii. p. 395. Compare Burdach, Traité de Physiologie, vol. ii. p. 116.

[945] Ibid. livre xvi. chap. iv., and livre xxiii. chap. xii. pp. 317, 395.

[946] Ibid. livre xiv. chap. ii., livre xvii. chap. ii., and elsewhere.

[947] On the supreme importance of method, see my defence of Bichat in the next chapter.

[948] How completely futile this was, as regards results, is evident from the fact, that a hundred years after he wrote, we, with all our increased knowledge, can affirm nothing positively respecting the direct action of climate, food, and soil, in modifying individual character; though it has, I trust, appeared in the second chapter of this Introduction, that something can be ascertained respecting their indirect action, that is, their action on individual minds through the medium of social and economical organisation.

[949] ‘Il a créé en 1750 la philosophie de l'histoire dans ses deux discours prononcés en Sorbonne.’ Cousin, Hist. de la Philosophie, I. série, vol. i. p. 147. There is a short notice of these striking productions in Condorcet, Vie de Turgot, pp. 11–16.

[950] Nothing can be better than his summary of this vast conception: ‘Tous les ages sont enchaînés par une suite de causes et d'effets qui lient l'état du monde à tous ceux qui l'ont précédé.’ Second Discours en Sorbonne, in Œuvres de Turgot, vol. ii. p. 52. Every thing Turgot wrote on history is a development of this pregnant sentence. That he understood the necessity of an historian being acquainted with physical science, and with the laws of the configuration of the earth, climate, soil, and the like, is evident in his fragment, La Géographie Politique, in Œuvres, vol. ii. pp. 166–208. It is no slight proof of his political sagacity, that in 1750 he distinctly foretold the freedom of the American colonies. Compare Œuvres de Turgot, vol. ii. p. 66, with Mém. sur Turgot, vol. i. p. 139.

[951] A confidence which is apparent in his economical as well as in his historical works. In 1811, Sir James Mackintosh writes, that Turgot ‘had more comprehensive views of the progress of society than any man since Bacon:’ Mem. of Mackintosh, vol. ii. p. 133; and see a similar remark by Dugald Stewart, in his Philos. of the Mind, vol. i. p. 246.