History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Vol. II

Interests and the reasons for them—Circumstances that made patriotism in France hostile to liberty—Small changes produced by the attitude of the Protestants in 1615—The Resolutions of 1665 and 1682—Bossuet Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704), a French bishop who was a strong defender of royal absolutism.—How Protestantism, as an act of rebellion, favored democracy—The two balancing parts of early Church government were revived but kept separate—The different political leanings of Episcopalianism The system of church government by bishops. and Presbyterianism The system of church government by elders.—The different political tendencies resulting from the relative importance assigned to the Old and New Testaments—The opinions of Jan Hus original: "Huss", John Wycliffe, and the leaders of the Reformation—The Scots lead the way in Protestant liberalism—John Knox—George Buchanan—The Scottish delegation to Queen Elizabeth—The English Dissenters Protestants who separated from the established Church of England. became similar to the Scots—The debt England owes to the non-Anglican churches—The extreme submissiveness of Anglicanism to the crown—The Homilies A series of authorized sermons used in the Church of England to ensure uniform doctrine.—Jeremy Taylor—How Anglicanism supported every political reaction—The exceptional position of Richard Hooker—Two schools of thought supporting absolute power in England—William Barclay, Robert Filmer, and Thomas Hobbes—Algernon Sidney and John Locke—A parallel between the history of religious liberty and political liberty in England—The greatest English freethinkers were hostile to liberty—Hobbes, Bolingbroke, and David Hume—The difference between the growth of English and French liberty is similar to the difference between English and French tolerance—The French Protestants—Circumstances that reduced their influence—Why religious sectarianism was incompatible with national patriotism—Two currents of opinion among the French Protestants—Liberal opinion dominated—The Franco-Gallia of François Hotman—The Vindiciæ contra Tyrannos original: "Vindiciæ contra Tyrannos" (Claims against Tyrants), a 1579 treatise arguing that the people have a right to resist a king who violates God's law.—Montaigne notices how personal opinions were secondary to interests in France—How the revival of classical Greek and Roman writings influenced liberty—First, through the renewed study of Roman Law—The opinions of Jean Bodin, Johann Friedrich Gronovius, Gerard Noodt, etc.—The different phases of legal science—The principal effect of the classics in changing the ideal of heroism—The different types of heroism resulting from a sense of human dignity versus a religious sense of sin—Étienne de La Boétie—Circumstances that prepared the way for the democracy of the eighteenth century: First, the increase of capital; second, the increase of knowledge—Slavery and superstition were the unavoidable lot of all large populations before the invention of printing—Third, the change in the relative military importance of the cavalry and the infantry—The English archers—The rise of the Flemish infantry—The Italian Condottieri Leaders of mercenary companies in Renaissance Italy.—The invention of gunpowder and the bayonet—Fourth, the influence of political economy on democracy—The French Revolution was inevitable; the importance of the question of who would lead it—Reasons why Catholicism was unable to handle this task—Early freethinkers were not favorable to political liberty—The opinions of Fausto Sozzini original: "Socinus", Michel de Montaigne, Pierre Charron, and Pierre Bayle—The change in their attitude during the eighteenth century—The wide influence of the Revolution—Jean-Jacques Rousseau—His power.