have lived without serious danger, and then have died peaceably in their beds,-the mere fact that this should have happened, is a decisive proof of the progress which, during fifty years, had been made by the French nation. With such rapidity were the prejudices of that great people dying away, that opinions utterly subversive of theological traditions, and fatal to the whole scheme of ecclesiastical power, were with impunity advocated by Descartes, and put in practice by Richelieu. It was now clearly seen, that the two foremost men of their time could, with little or no risk, openly propagate ideas which, half a century before, it would have been accounted dangerous even for the most obscure man to whisper in the privacy of his own chamber.

Nor are the causes of this impunity difficult to understand. They are to be found in the diffusion of that sceptical spirit, by which, in France as well as in England, toleration was preceded. For, without entering into details which would be too long for the limits of this Introduction, it is enough to say, that French literature generally was, at this period, distinguished by a freedom and a boldness of inquiry, of which, England alone excepted, no example had then been seen in Europe. The generation which had listened to the teachings of Montaigne and of Charron, was now succeeded by another generation, the disciples, indeed, of those eminent men, but disciples who far outstripped their masters. The result was, that, during the thirty or forty years which preceded the power of Louis XIV.,245 there was not to be found a single Frenchman of note who did not share in the general feeling,not one who did not attack some ancient dogma, or sap the foundation of some old opinion. This fearless temper was the characteristic of the ablest writers of that time .246

245 That is, in 1661, when Louis XIV. first assumed the government. 246 M. Barante (Tableau de la Littérature Française, pp. 26, 27) notices cette indépendance dans les idées, ce jugement audacieux de toutes choses, qu'on remarque dans Corneille, dans Mézéray, dans Balzac, dans Saint-Réal, dans Lamothe-Levayer." To these may be added Naudé, Patin, and probably Gassendi. Compare Hallam's Literat. of Europe, vol. ii. pp. 364, 365, with Mackintosh's Ethical Philos. p. 116, and Lettres de Patin, vol. i. p. 297, vol. ii. pp. 33, 186, 191, 242, 342, 490, 508, vol. iii. p. 87.

but what is still more observable is, that the movement spread with such rapidity as to include in its action even those parts of society which are invariably the last to be affected by it. That spirit of doubt, which is the necessary precursor of all inquiry, and therefore of all solid improvement, owes its origin to the most thinking and intellectual parts of society, and is naturally opposed by the other parts: opposed by the nobles, because it is dangerous to their interests; opposed by the uneducated, because it attacks their prejudices. This is one of the reasons why neither the highest nor the lowest ranks are fit to conduct the government of a civilized country; since both of them, notwithstanding individual exceptions, are, in the aggregate, averse to those reforms which the exigencies of an advancing nation constantly require. But in France, before the middle of the seventeenth century, even these classes began to participate in the great progress; so that, not only among thoughtful men, but likewise among the ignorant and the frivolous, there was seen that inquisitive and incredulous disposition, which, whatever may be said against it, has at least this peculiarity, that, in its absence, there is no instance to be found of the establishment of those principles of toleration and of liberty, which have only been recognized with infinite difficulty, and after many a hard-fought battle against prejudices whose inveterate tenacity might almost cause them to be deemed a part of the original constitution of the human mind.247

It is no wonder if, under these circumstances, the speculations of Descartes and the actions of Richelieu should

247 The increase of incredulity was so remarkable, as to give rise to a ridiculous assertion, "qu'il y avoit plus de 50,000 Athées dans Paris vers l'an 1623." Baillet, Jugemens des Savans, Paris, 1722, 4to, vol. i. p. 185. Baillet has no difficulty in rejecting this preposterous statement (which is also noticed in Coleridge's Literary Remains, vol. i. p. 305; where, however, there is apparently a confusion between two different periods); but the spread of scepticism among the upper ranks and courtiers, during the reign of Louis XIII. and the minority of Louis XIV., is attested by a great variety of evidence. See Mém. de Madame de Motteville, vol. iii. p. 52; Mém. de Retz, vol. i. p. 266; Conrart, Mém. p. 235 note; Des Réaux, Historiettes, vol. vii. p. 143; Mém. de Brienne, vol. ii. p. 107 note.

have met with great success. The system of Descartes exercised immense influence, and soon pervaded nearly every branch of knowledge.248 The policy of Richelieu was so firmly established, that it was continued without the slightest difficulty by his immediate successor: nor was any attempt made to reverse it until that forcible and artificial reaction which, under Louis XIV., was fatal, for a time, to every sort of civil and religious liberty. The history of that reaction, and the way in which, by a counter-reaction, the French Revolution was prepared, will be related in the subsequent chapters of this volume; at present we will resume the thread of those events which took place in France before Louis XIV. assumed the govern

ment.

A few months after the death of Richelieu, Louis XIII. also died, and the crown was inherited by Louis XIV., who was then a child, and who for many years had no influence in public affairs. During his minority, the government was administered, avowedly by his mother, but in reality by Mazarin; a man who, though in every point inferior to Richelieu, had imbibed something of his spirit, and who, so far as he was able, adopted the policy of that great statesman, to whom he owed his promotion.249 He, influenced partly by the example of his predecessor, partly by his own character, and partly by the spirit of his age, showed no desire to persecute the Protestants, or to dis

248 Volumes might be written on the influence of Descartes, which was seen, not only in subjects immediately connected with his philosophy, but even in those apparently remote from it. Compare Broussais, Examen des Doctrines Médicales, vol. ii. pp. 55 seq.; Lettres de Patin, vol. iii. p. 153; Sprengel, Hist. de la Médecine, vol. iv. p. 238; Cuvier, Hist. des Sciences, part ii. pp. 327, 332, 352, 363; Stäudlin, Geschichte der theologischen Wissenschaften, vol. i. p. 263; Tennemann, Gesch der Philos. vol. x. pp. 285 seq.; Huetius de Rebus ad eum pertinentibus, pp. 35, 295, 296, 385-389; Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. p. 258; Dacier, Rapport Historique, p. 334; Leslie's Nat. Philos. p. 121; Eloges, in Euvres de Fontenelle, Paris, 1766, vol. v. pp. 94, 106, 137, 197, 234, 392, vol. vi. pp. 157, 318, 449; Thomson's Hist. of Chemistry, vol. i. p. 195; Quérard, France Lit, vol. iii. p. 273.

249 On the connexion between Richelieu and Mazarin, see Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxiii. pp. 400, 530; and a curious, though, perhaps, apocryphal anecdote in Tallemant des Réaux, Historiettes, vol. ii. pp. 231, 232. In 1636 there was noticed "l'étroite union" between Richelieu and Mazarin. Le Vassor, Hist. de Louis XIII, vol. viii. part ii. p. 187.

turb them in any of the rights they then exercised.250 His first act was to confirm the Edict of Nantes .251 and, towards the close of his life, he even allowed the Protestants again to hold those synods which their own violence had been the means of interrupting.252 Between the death of Richelieu and the accession to power of Louis XIV., there clapsed a period of nearly twenty years, during which Mazarin, with the exception of a few intervals, was at the head of the state; and in the whole of that time, I have found no instance of any Frenchman being punished for his religion. Indeed, the new government, so far from protecting the church by repressing heresy, displayed that indifference to ecclesiastical interests which was now becoming a settled maxim of French policy. Richelieu, as we have already seen, had taken the bold step of placing Protestants at the head of the royal armies; and this he had done upon the simple principle, that one of the first duties of a statesman is to employ for the benefit of the country the ablest men he can find, without regard to their theological opinions, with which, as he well knew, no government has any concern. But Louis XIII., whose personal feelings were always opposed to the enlightened measures of his great minister, was offended by this magnanimous disregard of ancient prejudices; his piety was shocked at the idea of Catholic soldiers being commanded by heretics; and, as we are assured by a well-informed contemporary, he determined to put an end to this scandal to the church, and, for the future, allow no Protestant to receive the staff of marshal of France.253 Whether the king, if he had lived, would have carried his

250 Mazarin n'avoit ni fanatisme ni esprit persécuteur." Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxiv. p. 531. That he did not persecute the Protestants is grudgingly confessed in Felice's Hist. of the Protestants of France, p. 292. See also Smedley's Reformed Religion in France, vol. iii. p. 222. 251 He confirmed it in July 1643. See Benoist, Hist. de l'Edit de Nantes, vol. iii. appendix, p. 3; and Quick's Synodicon in Gallia, vol.i . p. ciii.

252 In 1659, there was assembled the Synod of Loudun, the moderator of which said, "It is now fifteen years since we had a national synod." Quick's Synodicon in Gallia, vol. ii. p. 517.

233 Brienne records the determination of the king, "que cette dignité ne seroit plus accordée à des protestans." Sismondi, Histoire des Français, vol. xxiv. p. 65.

point, is doubtful;254 but what is certain is, that, only four months after his death, this appointment of marshal was bestowed upon Turenne, the most able of all the Protestant generals.255 And in the very next year, Gassion, another Protestant, was raised to the same dignity; thus affording the strange spectacle of the highest military power in a great Catholic country wielded by two men against whose religion the church was never weary of directing her anathemas.256 In a similar spirit, Mazarin, on mere grounds of political expediency, concluded an intimate alliance with Cromwell; an usurper who, in the opinion of the theologians, was doomed to perdition, since he was soiled by the triple crime of rebellion, of heresy, and of regicide.257 Finally, one of the last acts of this pupil of Richelieu's258 was to sign the celebrated treaty of the Pyrenees, by which ecclesiastical interests were seriously weakened, and great injury inflicted on him who was still considered to be the head of the church.2 259

254 He was so uneasy about the sin he had committed, that just before his death he entreated the Protestant marshals to change their creed: "Il ne voulut pas mourir sans avoir exhorté de sa propre bouche les maréchaux de la Force et de Chatillon à se faire Catholiques." Benoist, Hist. de l'Edit de Nantes, vol. ii. p. 612. The same circumstance is mentioned by Le Vassor, Hist. de Louis XIII, vol. x. part ii. p. 785.

255 Louis XIII. died in May 1643, and Turenne was made marshal in the September following. Lavallée, Hist. des Français, vol. iii. pp. 148, 151.

256 Sismondi (Hist. des Français, vol. xxiv. p. 65) makes the appointment of Gassion in 1644; according to Montglat (Mémoires, vol. i. p. 437) it was at the end of 1643. There are some singular anecdotes of Gassion in Les Historiettes de Tallemant des Réaux, vol. v. pp. 167-180; and an account of his death in Mém. de Motteville, vol. ii. p. 290, from which it appears that he remained a Protestant to the last.

257 The Pope especially was offended by this alliance (Ranke, die Päpste, vol. iii. p. 158, compared with Vaughan's Cromwell, vol. i. p. 343, vol. ii. p. 124); and, judging from the language of Clarendon, the orthodox party in England was irritated by it. Clarendon's Hist. of the Rebellion, pp. 699, 700. Contemporary notices of this union between the cardinal and the regicide, will be found in Mem. de Retz, vol. i. p. 349; Mém. de Montglat, vol. ii. p. 478, vol. iii. p. 23; Lettres de Patin, vol. ii. pp. 183, 302, 426; Marchand, Dict. Historique, vol. ii. p. 56; Mem. of Sir Philip Warwick, p. 377; Harris's Lives of the Stuarts, vol. iii. p. 393.

258 De Retz (Mémoires, vol. i. p. 59), who knew Richelieu, calls Mazarin "son disciple.' And at p. 65 he adds, "comme il marchoit sur les pas du cardinal de Richelieu, qui avoit achevé de détruire toutes les anciennes maximes de l'état." Compare Mém. de Motteville, vol. ii. p. 18; and Mém. de la Rochefoucauld, vol. i. p. 444.

259 On the open affront to the Pope by this treaty, see Ranke, die Päpste,