524 
NAN 
the decree, and foftened its feverities, where they could 
not prevent them. This praftical condemnation of the 
refort to temporal power for effefting religious converfion, 
does all thefe illuftrious characters the greateft honour, as 
the doftrine of religious toleration was, at that time, little 
underftood. We are conftrained, however, to allow that 
Boffuet, the bilhop of Meaux, feems to admit, in theory, 
the general right of Cbriftian princes to enforce ads of re¬ 
ligious conformity by \vholefome feverities ; and thus 
allows them, for effefting a fpiritual good, a refort to tem¬ 
poral means, which the divine founder of our faith fo ex¬ 
plicitly difclaimed for himfelf. 
The confequences of this cruel and unrighteous pro¬ 
ceeding were highly detrimental to the true interefts and 
the real profperity of the French nation, by the prodigious 
emigration it occafioned among the proteftants, who 
fought, in various parts of Europe, that religious liberty, 
and that humane treatment, which their mother-country 
had fo cruelly refuled them. Thofe among them whom 
the vigilance of their enemies guarded fo clofely as to 
prevent their flight, wereexpofed to the brutal rage of an 
unrelenting foldiery, and were affailed by every form of 
barbarous perfecution that might tend to fubdue their 
courage, exhauft their patience, and thus engage them to a 
feigned and external profeffion of popery, which in their 
confciences they beheld with the utmoft averfion and dif- 
guft. From this evil, however, good has ultimately pro¬ 
ceeded. The event was very beneficial to almoft all the 
proteftant countries of Europe; and more efpecially to 
the commerce of Holland, Brandenburg, and England. 
The number of refugees, who on this occafion fled from 
France, and carried their (kill and induftry in various 
manufactures to other countries, was, at a moderate com¬ 
putation, more than half a million. 
The lofs of faithful fubjeCts and valuable manufacturers 
is not the only inconvenience which the legitimate up¬ 
holders of tyranny and intolerance have to deplore. From 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and the cruelties 
which followed, we think we can trace the caufes of the 
late revolution by which kings and priefts fuffered in 
their turn. That the doCtrines of the reformation made 
a great progrefs in France at the time of their firft pro¬ 
pagation, is fufficiently known; but it is only fince the 
difclofures made by the revolution, that it has been feen 
how very deeply their roots had fcruck, and how much 
of them remained in the ground, notwithftanding the 
perfevering meafures adopted wholly to tear them up. 
From the flames kindled in France, by the revocation of 
the edift of Nantes, a fhort century only elapfed, till the 
flames of the revolution began to break out. It was 
ftated fome years ago, in one of the mod inftruCtive books 
which the French prefs has lately yielded us, the Effay 
of Villers on the Reformation of Luther, that among the 
caufes of the revolution was to be ranked, and that in a 
high place, the revocation of the edift of Nantes. We 
have important fafts now before us, in fufikient abun¬ 
dance, to prove the juftice of the affertion; and, moll 
affuredly, it prefents a view of the French revolution, 
the confideration of which is pregnant with inftruCtion. 
It is not in general, in this country, known or believed, 
in what an exafperated Hate the Catholic clergy of France 
remained towards their Huguenot brethren, up to the 
very lateft periods, and how much mifchief refulted from 
their intolerance. The Aflembly of the Bilhops in 1765 
prefented a remonftrance to Louis XV. in which they 
laid, “ C’eft en vain que l’ex'ercice public de toute autre 
religion que la Romaine eft defendue dans vos etats. Au 
mepris des lois, les Proteftans font de toutes parts des 
attroupemens;” that is to fay, they met clandeftinely 
in the fields (for, to build or ufe a houfe as a place of 
worlhip was impoflible) to perform the aCls of their re¬ 
ligion 5 and this is the abomination, for the fuppreflion 
of which the bilhops call for the exertions of the king. 
They proceed; “ Dans les diocefes de Valence, Viviette, 
Die, Grenoble, Caftres, Cahors, Nimes, Rodez, Montau- 
T E S. 
ban, Montpellier, Litton, Agew, Beziers, See. ils tiennent 
des affemblees.” What were the meafures, the execution 
of which the bilhops in confequence demanded ? Belief 
is almoft daggered at the anfwer. “ Si la loi,” they cry, 
“ qui a reyoque I'edit de Nantes, fi votre declaration de 
1724, avaient ete exaftement obfervees, nous ofons le 
dire, il n’y aurait plus de Calviniftes en France.” Be- 
caufe the atrocious perfecutions which difgraced the con- 
clufion of the reign of Louis XIV. had abated; becaufe 
the wounds which they had inflifted on their country 
began to be healed; the indignation of the bilhops wa3 
excited. Nothing would fatisfy them, but the renewal 
of the fame deteftable proceedings; they could predict 
nothing but mifery to France, unlefs the flames of per¬ 
fecution were, to their fatisfaftion, again lighted up: 
“ Nous n’inlifterons pas, fire,” they continue, “ fur les 
fuites funeftes qui refulteraient neceffairement en France 
d'une tolerance qui deviendrait cruelle par fes effets. . . . 
Nous, qui fommes les chefs de la tribu Jainte, les guides, 
les pafteurs, de votre peuple Catholique, pouvons-nous 
garder le filence? Ce n’ell pas feulement a la religion et 
a l’eglife que vous devez, fire, votre proteftion; vous la 
devez a vous-meme. Si vous n’employez votre autorite 
pour arreter les enterprifes de l’herefie, les progres de 
I’impiete, il ne fera plus terns d’y remedier. Que n’avons 
nous pas a craindre de nos ennemis ? Deja ils nous 
menacent. Rendez, fire, rendez aux lois toute leur vi- 
gueur, et a la religion fon eclat; que le renouvellement 
de votre declaration de 1724 foit le fruit de nos tres- 
humbles remonftrances.” 
Among the great interefts of humanity there is fuch a 
connexion, that thofe who are the enemies of one are 
almoft always the enemies of the reft. Accordingly, in 
this fame remonftrance, the bilhops of France Ihow an 
hoftility equally bitter and unrelenting againll the liberty 
of the prefs and the liberty of confidence: “ Ce fleau,” 
they tell the king, “ dont nous nous plaignons, ne ceffera 
de ravager fes etats, que lorfque la librairie fera affujetie a 
des reglemens fideleinent executes. Ainfi penlerent et 
agirent vos illuftres predecefleurs, lorfque le Luther- 
anifme, apres avoir defole 1 ’Allemagne, cherchait a s’in- 
troduire en France. La piete de ces grands rois, et des 
magiftrats depofitaires de leur autorite, prit des mefures 
vigoureufes pour repouffer les livres pernicieux: ces 
mefures font dans les edits de 1542, 1547, 1551. Nous 
vous fupplions, fire, de vous faire reprelenter ces edits et 
reglemens. Votre majefte y verra des exemples de JugejJe 
et de Jeverite digues d'etre unites; elle y verra les auteurs, 
les libraires, et ceux qui achetent les livres, condamnes 
a des peines feveres.” The time, however, was now come, 
when the public mind would not hear a plain and un- 
difguifed declaration of the love of ignorance, without 
an expreflion of indignation and contempt. The bi- 
fhops accordingly aft the hypocrites; and to the words 
which we have juft cited, are not alhamed to add thofe 
which follow: “ Nous fommes bien eloignes, fire, de 
vouloir donner des entraves au genie, et arreter les pro¬ 
gres des connaiffances humaines; mais nous devons re- 
prefenter a. votre majefte la contagion dont vos etats font 
menaces.” Enemies to the progrefs of human know¬ 
ledge !—No; not any more, to be fure, than he who 
fhould prohibit the importation of grain, and the cul¬ 
tivation of the ground, would be an enemy to the pro¬ 
grefs of population. 
Another aflembly of the bilhops who met in 1770, and 
renewed their remonftrances on the fame fubjeft, fay, 
“La religion, fire, ne craint pas les lumieres; elle ne 
craint que les egaremens de 1’efprit, et non fes efforts: 
elle ne s’oppofe pas aux progres des fciences humaines.” 
What then were thofe egaremens, of which it was fo much 
afraid ? The reader will probably fmile, when he learns 
that it is neither more nor lefs than Englijh liberty; that 
very liberty, by exprefs name and defignation, from 
which we fondly imagine that we have derived fo many 
advantages: “ C'eft cette fatale liberte qui a introduit 
chez 
