The War Upon Religion Part 3

The theories of these pseudo-canonists nowhere found greater favor than among a certain cla.s.s of prelates in Germany, who besides their jurisdiction as bishops of the Roman Catholic Church enjoyed the further dignity and revenues of prince-electors in the German Empire. These combinations of politician and churchman could hardly regard with favor the pre-eminence of a Bishop in Rome who claimed however justly the rights of jurisdiction in any manner over them. They thus welcomed with open arms any daring spirit who would minimize or destroy the value of the Papal supremacy, and thus leave them in undisturbed possession of their pretended rights, carrying as these did with them a broad license to all the worldly luxuries and distractions of a political court.

The prince Bishop of Treves in Germany was one of this kind, and it is not surprising that when a canonist or theologian of the new order suddenly appeared at his court that the latter should receive all the honor and encouragement such a bishop could bestow. The court of the Bishop of Treves produced in the middle of the eighteenth century such a spirit in Johannes von Hontheim, a suffragan of the electoral diocese, and better known under his pseudonym of Febronius. In 1763 appeared in Germany some copies of a mysterious quarto ent.i.tled: _The State of the Church and of the Legitimate Power of the Roman Pontiff_, bearing the name of _Justinus Febronius_, and the place of publication _Bouillon_, though the author was in reality Johannes von Hontheim, and the place of its publication, Frankfort-on-the-Main. The book, finally increased to five volumes, was rapidly spread throughout Europe. In Venice it appeared in two editions, Latin and Italian. In France it was translated twice. In Spain the Council of Castile defrayed in part the expenses of a new translation, and that edition according to Cardinal Capara became the law for the Court and the Nation. Portugal provided both a Latin and a Portuguese text which latter was distributed gratuitously. Germany also produced both a Latin and German edition.

The book was condemned by Clement XIII., in 1764, and anathematized by the greater number of the German bishops upon its appearance, yet it made so much noise in the world, was so highly eulogized by the ignorant, and so greedily welcomed by the enemies of the Church, besides the fact that it has served to sanction so many desolating a.s.saults upon the faith, the hierarchy and the discipline of the Catholic Church, that it is necessary to discuss it in detail, in order to undeceive many who even today hold some of the views espoused by Febronius.

And first as to the theme around which the author has woven his network of sophisms. George Goyau, in his _Catholicism_, thus synopsises the whole teaching of Febronius: "Febronius recognized the Pope as the Vicar of Jesus Christ; he professes that the Church has need of a chief to direct it, and that the bonds which unite the members to the chief ought to be sacred and inviolable; he desires that the primacy be conserved in the Church with care, and that it be piously honored; and Photius who strove to sap its foundations appears to him a fool. But this primacy is to Febronius only a simple pre-eminence; all that it imports is a right of inspection and direction over the different dioceses, similar to that which an archbishop possesses with regard to his suffragans; but it does not signify that the Pope has any jurisdiction." He holds, moreover, that "The power of the keys was conferred by Christ to the whole body of the faithful; it belongs to them all _radicaliter et princ.i.p.aliter_; the bishops exercise it under the t.i.tle of _usufruct, usualiter et usufructualiter_; while as to the Pope, he is superior to each bishop in particular in virtue of what Hontheim terms the _majoritas_; but that majoritas does not extend over the whole episcopal body in its entirety; the episcopal body is thus the real sovereign of the Church."

It was a consequence of such ideas that Febronius should utter the usual outcry against the "abuses" of the Roman Church, and recommend a general council of all Christians to the decisions of which all must bow. In all this he pretended to seek the furtherance of unity in the great Christian body.

The false doctrines of Febronius were met with denunciation and refutation from all reliable sources. Clement XIII. in 1764, Clement XIV. in 1769, and Pius VI. in 1775, raised their voices solemnly in condemnation of the book. The ablest theologians of the Church gave their services to combat its errors. Among these were especially Zaccaria, Amort, Kleiner and St. Alphonsus Liguori. It is noteworthy that the first refutation of Febronius came from the pen of a Lutheran, Frederick Bahrdt, in Leipzig.

Among the many able discussions upon the work of Hontheim that of the Abbe Bernier deserves to be reproduced in part, not only because it reflects the sentiment of the time, but especially for its keen exposure of the falsehoods and inconsistencies which abound in the work of the heretic. It is found in a letter to the Duke Louis Eugene of Wurtemburg dated 1775.

"It is astonishing how the Treatise on the Government of the Church and the Authority of the Pope, by Febronius has made so much noise in some of the states of Germany; neither in its depth nor in its form was this book ever capable of impressing men of intellect or such as pretend to the faculty of reasoning. Whatever of truth the author produces is taken from French theologians, particularly from Bossuet, in his _Defense of the Declaration of the Clergy of France of 1682_; his falsehoods and errors are extracted from Protestants and Jansenists, or from those canonists who seek to humiliate the Court of Rome in her time of trouble. Various materials, which were never intended to be taken together, have been maladroitly compiled by Febronius; he has lighted torches which destroy each other; as he never takes his stand upon principles universally admitted, he is continually falling into contradictions; he denies in one place what he affirms in another; he sustains one theory at the very time that he professes to reject it; it would be sufficient to compare the t.i.tles of the sections and chapters of his work, to perceive that he either does not understand what he writes, or that he is not in accord with himself."

The Abbe thereupon goes on to point out the most glaring contradictions in the work, and to show that to any person not yet blinded by prejudice, the very contention of the author is destroyed by his evident lack of truthfulness.

In 1778, through the influence brought to bear upon the Archbishop Elector of Treves by the Papal nuncios, Caprara and Bellisomi, Febronius was led to reconsider his action, and signed a retractation of his errors in a letter sent to Pope Pius VI. Three years later, however, in 1781, he published a _Commentary_ on his _Retraction_, which served to show the spirit of insincerity which dominated him throughout his whole career. He died in 1790.

Febronianism was not so disastrous in itself as (it proved to be) in its consequences. Its immediate result was a weakening of that loyalty which Catholic peoples owe to the centre of unity in the Holy See; but through all that, it affected, in a certain way, the very foundations of the social and political life of Europe. Although its immediate effects were almost simultaneous in their action, yet for the sake of brevity we shall notice them in order. 1. The revolt of the Elector archbishops of Germany. 2. The schism of Scipio de Ricci. 3. The final development into Josepheism.

_THE CONGRESS OF EMS._

For two centuries, there were three nuncios sent by the Holy See to Germany: to Vienna, to Cologne, and to Lucerne. In 1777, the new Elector of Bavaria pet.i.tioned Pius VI. for a fourth nunciature, to Munich. This measure, so just and useful in itself, irritated the German archbishops, already too jealous of the jurisdiction of the nuncios in the Empire.

The three Electors, Clement Wenceslas of Saxony, Archbishop of Treves; Maximilian of Austria, Archbishop of Cologne, and Baron d'Erthal, Archbishop of Mayence, were the soul of the resistance to the will of the Sovereign Pastor. Jerome Collerodo, Archbishop of Salzburg, and Legate of the Holy See, joined forces with them, and when Cardinal Pacca, the papal nuncio, arrived at Cologne, the Archbishop forbade any official reception, pretending that henceforth he would recognize no external jurisdiction. A like treatment was accorded to Zogno, the new nuncio to Munich.

In August, 1786, the delegates of the above-mentioned four prelates, a.s.sembled in a congress at Ems, near Coblenz, and agreed upon measures to be taken in order to restrict the authority of the Pope in his relations with Germany, a restriction that, in their antic.i.p.ations, was to mean nothing less than complete annihilation. The Congress of Ems formulated twenty-three decisions, which have become known as the Punctuations of Ems. Their purport was to suppress the immunities which were enjoyed by convents in regard to episcopal jurisdiction, to forbid all intercourse between the religious orders of Germany and their superiors in Rome, to suppress the nunciatures to Germany; they would also abolish the custom by which the Holy Father granted to German bishops the faculty, to be renewed every five years, of granting matrimonial dispensations. Moreover the Pontifical doc.u.ments might not be circulated without the formal acceptance of each bishop; they changed the formula of the oath of fidelity to the Pope as fixed by Pope Gregory VII. The Electors, in fine, made themselves thenceforth the legislators for the Church of Germany, and as such addressed their "Punctuations" to the Emperor for his approval.

It is significant that Joseph II. much as he had encouraged the Electors, one of whom, Maximilian, was his brother, in their hostility to the Holy See, nevertheless he received the acts of the Congress coldly; it was not his policy to permit so much power to the German bishops when he had already decided that all ecclesiastical authority in his dominions was to reside in his own hands. Nor was the King of Prussia, Protestant as he was, any more enthusiastic in support of the rebellious Electors. On the contrary he accorded to the Papal nuncio, Mgr. Pacca, every reasonable service, even receiving the latter, with all the formalities due to his amba.s.sadorial character, at Wesel, in 1788. In fact the advent of this great representative of the Holy See proved a G.o.d-sent blessing to the Catholic people of the German States; for the spirit of revolt so obstinately settled in the minds of the ecclesiastical princes, found no echo in the hearts of their subjects, always as loyal to the Holy Father as they were disgusted and humiliated by the time-serving att.i.tude of those to whom they had the right to look for guidance and example.

The anger of the four archbishops against Mgr. Pacca increased despite all reverses. In 1788 they pet.i.tioned the Diet of Ratisbonne to cause the framing of a law suppressing altogether the nunciatures. The German princes, however, had no intention of issuing thus a formal insult to the Court of Rome, and the law was not pa.s.sed. Moreover, the archbishops had by this time discovered that their suffragans had taken umbrage at the fact that they were not officially notified as to the proceedings of the Congress of Ems, thus weakening the effect of that a.s.sembly in its most vital point, the adhesion of the episcopate to the repudiation of Papal authority. Finally, after various vain attempts to gain the aid of the secular princes, three of the archbishops, those of Salzburg, Treves, and Cologne, yielded a tardy obedience to the authority of the Pope; the Archbishop of Mayence, von Erthal, held obstinately to his position until after seeing himself abandoned by his quondam friends, he was at length driven from his See by the advent of the French revolutionary troops in 1793. By this event Febronianism lost, for a time at least, the influence it had exerted for thirty years over the Church in Germany.

_THE SYNOD OF PISTOIA._

While these events were taking place in Germany a like movement was observable in Northern Italy. The Diocese of Pistoia, presided over from 1780 by Scipione di Ricci, was the scene of the trouble. This bishop, fanatically addicted to the reforms introduced into the Austrian States by Joseph II. held himself in constant opposition to the Holy See, especially because of the Pope's rejection of his errors. As counsellor to the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, he permitted the government to meddle with ecclesiastical affairs, to regulate all matters of worship and ceremony, and to a.s.sume full control of ecclesiastical teaching.

Catechisms were composed without consulting the bishops, and schools were established by professors imbued with doctrines accredited by the government.

In 1786, at the instance of the Grand Duke, Ricci a.s.sembled at Pistoia a synod which was to formulate regularly the reforms he had in view. The schismatical bishop placed as moderator in this gathering that Tamburini who had been deprived of his professional office by Cardinal Molino, and who had not the right even to be present at an ecclesiastical a.s.sembly.

The synod adopted all the doctrines of the French Appellants, and reconsecrated the old errors of Baius, Jansen, and Quesnel. The year following, the people of Prato, in the Diocese of Pistoia, arose in arms against the tyrannical bishop. They overthrew his episcopal throne and burned his coat-of-arms, after having despoiled his palace and seminary of the books and ma.n.u.scripts found therein.

Despite these reverses Ricci, still sustained by the Grand Duke, held firmly to his position. He caused new edicts hostile to legitimate religion to be put forth, which might have had disastrous effects but for the death of Joseph II., which caused Leopold to abandon Tuscany for the Imperial throne. The errors of Ricci were formally condemned by Pope Pius VI., in the Const.i.tution _Auctorem Fidei_ of 1794. Ricci, however, held his See in opposition to the will of the Sovereign Pontiff until 1799, when at length he sent his resignation to the Emperor. He was finally reconciled with the Church through the good offices of Pope Pius VII. in 1805, and died in 1810.

_JOSEPHINISM._

Joseph II. of Austria, son of the celebrated Maria Theresa, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, was the incarnation of that spirit which, beginning its active life in Jansenism, was formulated in the doctrines of Febronius. More anti-Roman than all his predecessors, except perhaps Frederic II. of Hohenstaufen, he was destined through his practical alliance with the anti-Christian spirit of his day, to sound the knell of that same Holy Roman Empire, which was dissolved fifteen years after his death.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOSEPH II. OF AUSTRIA.]

It was not, indeed, that Joseph II. desired to be, or to be considered un-Christian or un-Catholic. He had his own ideas of the Church of Christ, which were not the ideas of the rest of Christendom. His principle of rendering to G.o.d what belongs to G.o.d, and to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, he interpreted with a large margin in favor of Caesar, to such an extent, indeed, that the tribute to G.o.d besides being determined wholly by himself, was to be so meagre as almost to be non-existent. Following the lead of his too liberal counsellor Heinke, he distinguished, much in the manner of the Modernists of today, between what he considered essential and immutable in the Church, and what was only accessory and changeable. The former he would accept as coming from Christ, and as manifested in the primitive Church; under the latter category he cla.s.sed all that might not suit his caprices, especially all that was bound up in the authority and functions of the Holy See, its supremacy, for instance, its infallibility, its temporal power, its court of Cardinals, its Curia, and all else that, according to him, were but abuses arising from the mutations of history. Hence he looked upon himself as one whose duty it was to reform the Church, at least within the extent of his own dominions, and he entered upon that work with a vigor worthy of a n.o.bler cause.

In the Church as conceived by Joseph II. everything was to be subordinate to the needs of the State. It was to be his Church, and its bishops and priests were to be his bishops, his clergy. Persuaded that he was the absolute and sole source of authority he employed all his energies in isolating his bishops, clergy and people from the centre of Catholic unity. The system of vexatious persecutions which he introduced to uphold his ideas gave to his system the name of Josephinism, a system which, but for the intervention of the French invasions, might even today have become the ruling force of Germany.

On April 2nd, 1781, he issued his edict against the religious orders; it was at this point, in accordance with the ideas of Frederic II. and the Encyclopaedists, that his subversive work ought to begin, a process indeed, which has been imitated in our own days by Jules Ferry, and by Combes. Eight days later, another edict exacted the imperial _placet_ for all bulls or other doc.u.ments emanating from Rome. The canonical oath of the Austrian bishops at their consecration, was modified to restrict all loyalty to the Holy See; the Papal nuncio, Mgr. Varampi, was made the object of vexatious measures, and all recourse to Rome, even for marriage dispensations was interdicted. Still more, the Emperor suppressed all sodalities and confraternities, abolished processions, restricted the number of the holy days, and even went so far in his meddlesome measures as to regulate the number of candles to be lighted at the various devotions, and forbade the use of coffins for burial, making it obligatory to bury the dead in shrouds of cloth. At the same time, however, while interfering with and persecuting his Catholic subjects, his mind a.s.sumed a spasm of broadness to such an extent as to induce him to offer freely to Jews and Protestants, what he denied to his co-religionists.

At the same time it must be acknowledged that the headstrong att.i.tude of the Emperor owed much of its obstinacy to the influence of counsellors in whom the spirit of flattery was more p.r.o.nounced than any care for the welfare either of the Church or the people. Foremost among these was that Prince Kaunitz, who after serving through many successive reigns had acquired an ascendancy in the imperial household which would require strength of character in the sovereign to destroy. The mind and policy of Joseph II. were almost entirely in the hands of this politician, who had imbibed every rampant theory that the times could offer. Influenced by Voltaire and the encyclopaedists his reverence for religion was dictated only by the demands of expediency. Throughout his whole reign the Emperor listened to the counsels of this statesman in every matter of State or religion. Nevertheless, in order that his reforms might appear to have the sanction of ecclesiastical law, the Emperor gathered around him canonists and professors only too willing to prost.i.tute their casuistry to the imperial will. Riegger, a disciple of the Jesuits in his youth, and later a Freemason, compiled in his _Outlines of Ecclesiastical Law_ a new digest out of all sympathy with the laws that bore the Papal approval. Eybel published an _Introduction to the Ecclesiastical Law of the Catholics_, and by his teachings in regard to the laws of marriage, created such scandal as to require his resignation from the professor's chair which he held; this fact, however, in no way diminished his credit at court. Pehem, another professor of the same kindred, diffused his untenable theories among the priests of the Empire. Chief among these destructive canonists was the Benedictine Rautenstrauch, whose influence extended throughout the dominions of the Emperor. It was through the instrumentality of this cleric that Joseph II. brought about the unification of the Universities and Seminaries of the Empire, building them up upon a plan of utter independence of all Papal control, and making their programme of ecclesiastical studies emanate from the powers of the State. Naturally the guidance of teachers such as the above could lead a selfish and ambitious mind like that of Joseph II. to any extreme of absurdity; nor was the Emperor slow in following their counsels.

In the meantime Pope Pius VI. regarded with grave anxiety the eccentric tactics of the Emperor. At first he made use of all his paternal condescension in the hope of leading Joseph to better sentiments.

Perceiving, however, that he was gaining nothing by his representations, the Pope resolved upon a decision which surprised the world. Breaking with all traditions of the Holy See, he declared his intention of proceeding in person to Vienna. With this end in view he accordingly wrote to the Emperor stating his desire for an interview close at hand, with the hope of thus reconciling the rights of the Emperor with those of the Church. To this letter full of touching kindness, and announcing so unusual an action on the part of the Holy See, he answered in his pride:

"As the object of your journey touches upon matters which Your Holiness regards as doubtful, but which I have settled, permit me to believe that you are giving yourself needless trouble. I ought to warn you that, in my resolutions, I act only in conformity with my reason, equity, and religion.

Before coming to a decision, I weigh the matter long and well, and I consult my council; but once having decided, I remain firm."

[Ill.u.s.tration: POPE PIUS VI.]

Pope Pius VI. was not discouraged by the discourteous reply of the Emperor; nor did he give heed to the remonstrances of the cardinals and of his own family. On February 27, 1782, he set out for Vienna, reaching his destination on March 22 following. The Emperor and his brother Maximilian, that Archbishop of Cologne who had already so deeply wounded the heart of the Pontiff, came to meet him some leagues from the capital. As soon as the Papal carriage was seen, the two royalties descended and walked forward to meet it. The greeting on both sides was most affectionate. The visit of the Holy Father, however, did not prove in every way a consoling event. An imperial ordinance had forbidden the Austrian bishops from appearing in the presence of the Pope. The latter, nevertheless, could officiate pontifically on Easter Day, and a few days later were opened the negotiations which had determined this journey of the Sovereign Pontiff. Unfortunately these conferences produced no result at all commensurate with the sacrifices entailed. Joseph showed himself inflexible in every main contention, and his concessions affected only points of the slightest importance, namely the promised cessation of new encroachments, and the renewal of the official relations between the nuncio Varampi on the part of the Holy See and Cardinal Herzan, representing the Emperor. The departure of the Holy Father from Vienna called forth the same official courtesies as marked his arrival.

On his return to Rome, Pius VI. was pained to see that his journey, which had met with disapprobation at its start, was more loudly censured now on his arrival in the Eternal City. These criticisms, indeed, seemed somewhat justified in the events which happened almost immediately, for the news was brought that the Emperor still continued to abolish convents and to confiscate their property. Moreover, the See of Milan being then vacant, Joseph appointed its new inc.u.mbent, although he knew very well that such right belonged to the Holy See. Prince Kaunitz, the Austrian Premier, who had added brutality to hostility during the Pope's sojourn at Vienna, continued his insults, and threatened the Bishop of Rome officially that he would bring about a startling rupture of relations. The feeble and too confiding Emperor encouraged these audacious menaces. Indeed, writings of the most venomous character were being circulated throughout the Empire, their object being to throw discredit upon the Papal authority to the exaltation of that of the Emperor.

A visit of Joseph II. to Rome in December of the following year, 1783, effected little towards softening his sentiments in regard to the rights of religion in his dominions. A change of heart, however, came to him at length, but only when the evil seeds he had sown had sprung up into a harvest of destruction for that Empire which he valued more than G.o.d. In his mania for regulating everything, he decided to consolidate all the Seminaries of his States into four princ.i.p.al establishments at Vienna, Pesth, Pavia, and Louvain; and in these inst.i.tutions the tribunes were to be given only to enlightened professors, that is, to professors in harmony with Josephist ideas. At Louvain this measure met with a particularly hostile reception: Cardinal de Frankenberg, Archbishop of Malines, refused absolutely to send his young men to Louvain, until he had obtained the promise that he should have control of the professors.

When the University opened, in 1786, the Emperor's professors, Stagger and Leplat, were driven away by the students, who themselves soon abandoned the establishment. Cardinal Frankenberg and the nuncio Oppizzoni, were accused of inciting this movement and were punished, the one by being recalled to Vienna, and the other by an order to leave the Netherlands. At length, in 1789, the Netherlands, disgusted with the conduct of the Emperor, declared their independence, and signalized the last day of that year by signing their own Const.i.tution. Movements of unrest and rebellion began to manifest themselves at the same time in Hungary, and in the Tyrol, and although Pope Pius VI., forgetful of the injuries he had received at the hands of the Austrian monarch, interceded with the angry people in his behalf, the harm was too great to be remedied. Joseph II., who had brought these evils upon himself by his disregard of the duties he owed to G.o.d and His Church, died of a broken heart on February 20, 1790, begging that his monument should bear the inscription: _Here lies Joseph, who was unfortunate in all his undertakings_.

The purpose of Joseph II., however, like those of his teachers, bore fruit more abundant that they would have desired. Out of their determined efforts to undermine the authority of the Holy See, and the sanct.i.ty of Catholic inst.i.tutions, the forces of revolution and anarchy drew their inspiration. The way was prepared, and the enemy had only to march dry-shod to their sanguinary victories.

_SUPPRESSION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS._

The rapid rise of the Society of Jesus in the various countries of Europe, naturally attracted the attention of all those whose aim was the acquisition of as much personal power as was possible, to the detriment of individual, family, and social rights, and who had reason to fear an influence that stood for human progress and equal rights to all. The Jesuits soon a.s.sumed great prominence among the religious orders. Their excellence was admitted both in school and seminary; their learning gained for them the spiritual direction of influential persons; they became the confessors to princes and kings; they displayed extraordinary zeal in the practices of devotion, especially that in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they had already embraced the whole world in the field of their missions. They became a power that excited the envy of the less active, and the fear of potentates whose greed and inhumanity found a check in the gentle teachings of the followers of St. Ignatius. More than all, they had ever shown themselves energetic in their support of ecclesiastical authority, especially in times when the latter was threatened by the vagaries of Gallicanism, Jansenism, and like movements; in the state itself they showed themselves veritable defenders against the machinations of those secret societies which even in the eighteenth century were very much in evidence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FATHER RICCI, S. J. The last General of the Society of Jesus before the suppression in 1773.]

It was impossible that an organization such as theirs, blessed by the spirit of religion, going about doing good, defending the principles of true Christianity against any and every a.s.sault, should escape the odium and persecution of spirits whose chief claim to existence lay in the desire to pull down the structure of civilization and to erect in its place the temple of anti-Christ. The vials of irreligious wrath were poured out upon them to the last dregs. In the various countries of Europe they met with proscription and expulsion. In 1759 they were driven from Portugal through the efforts of the infamous Pombal; in 1764 they were forbidden to live as a society in France; they were exiled from Spain in 1767, from Naples in 1767, and from Parma in 1768. Finally every effort of anti-Christianism and Masonry was exerted to bring about their complete extinction in the whole world. In 1773 pressure was brought to bear upon Pope Clement XIV., who, while refusing to listen to the invidious complaints brought against them, nevertheless, for the sake of a temporary peace, was compelled to sign the decree of their suppression.

The suppression of the Society of Jesus may be regarded as the first great blow in the modern war of anti-Christianism. It was the annihilation of the vanguard of the army of civilization and Christianity. With the Society of Jesus out of the way, the campaign of social, moral, intellectual and religious subversion found an open road to the excesses of anarchy and revolution. The Jesuits, however, like well-disciplined soldiers of Christ, bowed to the will of the Vicar of Christ, and bore their humiliation in silence for forty years, till the day when the Pope, Pius VII., freed from the chains of persecution, called them back to honor and usefulness.

_THE SOPHISTS._

The suppression of the Jesuits met with no greater joy than in the hearts of a certain cla.s.s of intellectual perverts who may be regarded as the actual founders of modern anti-Christianism; these were the sophists who in that period of the eighteenth century were already flooding France and Europe with a deluge of immoral, irreligious and uncivilized literature.

It is to England that we must go to find the immediate origin of this desolating spirit. There, among the Socinians and Deists, a school arose that taught men to trifle with the sublime truths of revelation and to undermine the foundations of religious belief, men like Shaftesbury, Collins, Tindal, and Bolingbroke, who strove to subject religion to the state, and regarded virtue as a mere human instinct; who declared reason antagonistic to revelation, and saw in the Holy Scriptures nothing more than a collection of pretty fables. It was not until the eighteenth century that the influence of their theories began to ruffle the Catholic atmosphere of France. There were not wanting birds of pa.s.sage who, while hibernating among the philosophic haunts of London, gathered up the seeds of infidelity to scatter them broadcast upon the soil of France.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROUSSEAU.]

The writings of Montesquieu (1689-1775) display a sneering att.i.tude towards the most sacred teachings and inst.i.tutions of the Church. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) in his _Social Contract_ and similar works endeavored to destroy the social order and bring back humanity to primitive barbarism. But more terrible in the rage of his iniquity than all others, in the great war of anti-Christianism, was the arch-infidel, Francois Marie Arouet, later called Voltaire (1694-1778). Of him might have been written the lines which Milton puts into the mouth of Satan:

"To do aught good never will be our task, But ever to do ill our sole delight; As being contrary to his high will, Whom we resist. If then his providence Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, Our labor must be to pervert that end, And out of good still find means of evil."