History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3

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 XVIIIe 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.