Introductory. 29 



nature, and M. de Candolle* has recently shown how 

 Geneva has gained its scientific eminence only since it 

 threw off its orthodox Protestant character. 



It may be affirmed then that Protestantism, as Pro- 

 testantism, has had no positive effect, and therefore has 

 no true place in the great humanistic naturalistic revival, 

 in spite of the vigorous self-reliance and generous no- 

 bility of character so widely prevalent in much of the 

 area it occupies. Its direct effects have been but ne- 

 gative, and it has only aided that revival in so far as it 

 has accelerated the process of Christian disintegration. 



We may now turn our attention to yet another aspect 

 in which the movement of the last three centuries may 

 be regarded ; namely, its political effects. 



In the pagan Roman Empire, as before in Greece, the 

 omnipotence of the State was a recognised as well as a 

 logical doctrine. Religion, though polytheistic, was pan- 

 theistic, as the philosophy was prevalently monistic. The 

 individual citizen had no sacred god-given rights to main- 

 tain, and the will or the welfare of the community rose 

 superior to every plea which any single citizen could put 

 forward. 



It was the Jews and Christians, with a religion re- 

 posing on a dualistic philosophy, who, for the first time, 

 to the amazement of judges who would fain have been 



* " Histoire des Savants depuis deux Siecles," par A. de Candolle : 

 Geneve, 1873. 



