Chapter V (10)

This correspondence between the Scotch clergy and the English statesman, is not to be regarded as a mere passing episode of light or temporary interest. On the contrary, it represents that terrible struggle between theology and science, which, having begun in the persecution of science, and in the martyrdom of scientific men, has, in these later days, taken a happier turn, and is now manifestly destroying that old theological spirit, which has brought so much misery and ruin upon the world. The ancient superstition, which was once universal, but is now slowly though surely dying away, represented the Deity as being constantly moved to anger, delighting in seeing His creatures abase and mortify themselves, taking pleasure in their sacrifices and their austerities, and, notwithstanding all they could do, constantly inflicting on them the most grievous punishments, among which the different forms of pestilence were conspicuous. It is by science, and by science alone, that these horrible delusions are being dissipated. Events, which formerly were deemed supernatural visitations, are now shown to depend upon natural causes, and to be amenable to natural remedies. Man can predict them, and man can deal with them. Being the inevitable result of their own antecedents, no room is left for the notion of their being special inflictions. This great change in our opinions is fatal to theology, but is serviceable to religion. For, by it, science, instead of being the enemy of religion, becomes its ally. Religion is to each individual according to the inward light with which he is endowed. In different characters, therefore, it assumes different forms, and can never be reduced to one common and arbitrary rule. Theology, on the other hand, claiming authority over all minds, and refusing to recognize their essential divergence, seeks to compel them to a single creed, and sets up one standard of absolute truth, by which it tests every one's opinions; presumptuously condemning those who disagree with that standard. Such arrogant pretensions need means of support. Those means are threats, which, in ignorant times, are universally believed, and which, by causing fear, produce submission. Hence it is, that the books of every theological system narrate acts of the grossest cruelty, which, without the least hesitation, are ascribed to the direct interposition of God. Humane and gentle natures revolt at such cruelties, even while they try to believe them. It is the business of science to purify theology, by showing that there has been no cruelty, because there has been no interposition. Science ascribes to natural causes, what theology ascribes to supernatural ones. According to this view the calamities with which the world is afflicted, are the result of the ignorance of man, and not of the interference of God. We must not, therefore, ascribe to Him what is due to our own folly, or to our own vice. We must not calumniate an all-wise and all-merciful Being, by imputing to Him those little passions which move ourselves, as if He were capable of rage, of jealousy, and of revenge, and as if He, with outstretched arm, were constantly employed in aggravating the sufferings of mankind, and making the miseries of the human race more poignant than they would otherwise be.

That this remarkable improvement in religious ideas is due to the progress of physical science, is apparent, not only from general arguments which would lead us to anticipate that such must be the case, but also from the historical fact, that the gradual destruction of the old theology is everywhere preceded by the growth and diffusion of physical truths. The more we know of the laws of nature, the more clearly do we understand that every thing which happens in the material world, pestilence, earthquake, famine, or whatever it may be, is the necessary result of something which had previously happened. Cause produces effect, and the effect becomes, in its turn, a cause of other effects. In that operation, we see no gap, and we admit of no pause. To us, the chain is unbroken; the constancy of nature is unviolated. Our minds become habituated to contemplate all physical phenomena as presenting an orderly, uniform, and spontaneous march, and running on in one regular and uninterrupted sequence. This is the scientific view. It is also the religious view. Against it, we have the theological view; but that which has already lost its hold over the intellect of men is now losing its hold over their affections, and is so manifestly perishing, that at present no educated person ventures to defend it, without so limiting and guarding his meaning, as to concede to its opponents nearly every point which is really at issue.

While, however, in regard to the material world, the narrow notions formerly entertained, are, in the most enlightened countries, almost extinct, it must be confessed that, in regard to the moral world, the progress of opinion is less rapid. The same men who believe that Nature is undisturbed by miraculous interposition, refuse to believe that man is equally undisturbed. In the one case, they assert the scientific doctrine of regularity; in the other, they assert the theological doctrine of irregularity. The reason of this difference of opinion is, that the movements of nature are less complex than the movements of man. Being less complex, they are more easily studied, and more quickly understood. Hence we find, that while natural science has long been cultivated, historical science hardly yet exists. Our knowledge of the circumstances which determine the course of mankind, is still so imperfect, and has been so badly digested, that it has produced scarcely any effect on popular ideas. Philosophers, indeed, are aware, that here, as elsewhere, there must be a necessary connexion between even the most remote and dissimilar events. They know that every discrepancy is capable of being reconciled, though we, in the present state of knowledge, may be unequal to the task. This is their faith, and nothing can wean them from it. But the great majority of people have a different faith. They believe that what is unexplained is inexplicable, and that what is inexplicable is supernatural. Science has explained an immense number of physical phenomena, and therefore, even to the vulgar, those phenomena no longer seem supernatural, but are ascribed to natural causes. On the other hand, science has not yet explained the phenomena of history; consequently, the theological spirit lays hold of them, and presses them into its own service. In this way there has arisen that famous and ancient theory, which has received the name of the moral government of the world. It is a high-sounding title, and imposes on many, who, if they examined its pretensions, would never be duped by them. For, like that other notion which we have just considered, it is not only unscientific, but it is eminently irreligious. It is, in fact, an impeachment of one of the noblest attributes of the Deity. It is a slur on the Omniscience of God. It assumes that the fate of nations, instead of being the result of preceding and surrounding events, is specially subject to the control and interference of Providence. It assumes that there are great public emergencies, in which such interference is needed. It assumes, that, without the interference, the course of affairs could not run smoothly; that they would be jangled and out of tune; that the play and harmony of the whole would be incomplete. And thus it is, that the very men who, at one moment, proclaim the Divine Omniscience, do, at the next moment, advocate a theory which reduces that Omniscience to nothing, since it imputes to an All-wise Being, that the scheme of human affairs, of which He must, from the beginning, have foreseen every issue and every consequence, is so weakly contrived as to be liable to be frustrated; that it has not turned out as He could have wished; that it has been baffled by His own creatures, and that, to preserve its integrity, its operations must be tampered with, and its disorders redressed. The great Architect of the universe, the Creator and Designer of all existing things, is likened to some clumsy mechanic, who knows his trade so ill, that he has to be called in to alter the working of his own machine, to supply its deficiencies, to fill up its flaws, and to rectify its errors.

It is time that such unworthy notions should come to an end. It is time that what has long been known to philosophers, should also be known to historians, and that the history of mankind should cease to be troubled by what, to those who are imbued with the scientific spirit, must seem little better than arrant trifling. Of two things, choose one. Either deny the Omniscience of the Creator, or else admit it. If you deny it, you deny what, to my mind at least, is a fundamental truth, and, on these matters, there can be no sympathy between us. But if you admit the Omniscience of God, beware of libelling what you profess to defend. For when you assert what is termed the moral government of the world, you slander Omniscience, inasmuch as you declare that the mechanism of the entire universe, including the actions both of Nature and of Man, planned as it is by Infinite Wisdom, is unequal to its duties, unless that same Wisdom does from time to time interfere with it. You assert, in fact, either that Omniscience has been deceived, or that Omnipotence has been defeated. Surely, they who believe, and whose pride and happiness it is to believe, that there is a Power above all and before all, knowing all and creating all, ought not to fall into such a snare as this. They who, dissatisfied with this little world of sense, seek to raise their minds to something which the senses are unable to grasp, can hardly fail, on deeper reflection, to perceive how coarse and material is that theological prejudice, which ascribes to such a Power the vulgar functions of a temporal ruler, arrays him in the garb of an earthly potentate, and represents him as meddling here and meddling there, uttering threats, inflicting punishments, bestowing rewards. These are base and grovelling conceptions, the offspring of ignorance and of darkness. Such gross and sordid notions are but one remove from actual idolatry. They are the draff and offal of a bygone age, and we will not have them obtruded here. Well suited they were to those old and barbarous times, when men, being unable to refine their ideas, were, therefore, unable to purify their creed. Now, however, they jar upon us; they do not assimilate with other parts of our knowledge; they are incongruous; their concord is gone. Every thing is against them. They stand alone; there is nothing left with which they harmonize. The whole scope and tendency of modern thought force upon our minds conceptions of regularity and of law, to which they are diametrically opposed. Even those who cling to them, do so from the influence of tradition, rather than from complete and unswerving belief. That child-like and unhesitating faith, with which the doctrine of interposition was once received, is succeeded by a cold and lifeless assent, very different from the enthusiasm of former times. Soon, too, this will vanish, and men will cease to be terrified by phantoms which their own ignorance has reared. This age, haply, may not witness the emancipation; but, so surely as the human mind advances, so surely will that emancipation come. It may come quicker than any one expects. For, we are stepping on far and fast. The signs of the time are all around, and they who list may read. The handwriting is on the wall; the fiat has gone forth; the ancient empire shall be subverted; the dominion of superstition, already decaying, shall break away, and crumble into dust; and new life being breathed into the confused and chaotic mass, it shall be clearly seen, that, from the beginning, there has been no discrepancy, no incongruity, no disorder, no interruption, no interference; but that all the events which surround us, even to the furthest limits of the material creation, are but different parts of a single scheme, which is permeated by one glorious principle of universal and undeviating regularity.

INDEX.

Aberdeen, burnt by the Highlanders, iii. 22. Population of, in the
sixteenth century, 28. Linen manufacturers of, 180. The first county
bank in Scotland established in, 181. Tyranny of the Kirk session
of, 222

Abyssinians, their superstition as to the hyæna, i. 126 _note_. Causes
of the corruptions of the Christianity of the, i. 265 _note_

Academies, why favoured in France, ii. 127 _note_

Achenwall, considered to be the first writer on systematic statistics,
i. 33 _note_

Acoustics, creation of the science of, ii. 190

Adam of Bremen, cause of his error as to Turks in Finland, i. 299. His
authority in Northern geography, 299 _note_

Adanson, his botanical discoveries, ii. 397

Addison, Joseph, his establishment of the easy and democratic style of
writing, i. 437 _note_

Advocates, Faculty of, great part of the, expelled from Edinburgh,
iii. 145

Africa, condition of, in the desert of Sahara, i. 47, 48. Causes of its
stationary condition, 49

Agassiz, his classification of fossil ichthyology, ii. 383, 384

Ages, the Dark, ii. 108. Supremacy of the clergy at this period, 108

Agricola, Roman invasion of Scotland under, iii. 7

Agriculture, system of, of the Arabs of Spain, ii. 497

Agriculturists, causes of the superstitions of, i. 376, 379

Air, Boyle's discovery of the law of the elasticity of the, i. 368.
Marriott's confirmation of this law, 368 _note_

Albany, Regent of Scotland, his vigorous measures against the nobles,
iii. 45. Leaves Scotland, 57

Alberoni, his services to Spain, ii. 519, 522, 523

Alexander IV., Pope, his the first formal call to the secular power to
punish heretics, ii. 109 _note_

Alexandrian doctrine of development in religion, ii. 21 _note_

Alfred of Beverley, his abridgment of the history of Geoffrey of
Monmouth, i. 324

Alfred, King, causes of our admiration of, ii. 249 _note_. The
institutions popularly ascribed to him, 249 _note_

Alison, Sir A., his eulogy of William III., i. 403 _note_

Almansa, battle of, ii. 516

Alva, number of persons put to death by, in the Netherlands, ii. 451

Amazon river, extent of the, i. 97 _note_. Area drained by the,
97 _note_. Origin of the name, i. 299 _note_

Amazons, origin in the North of Europe of the fable of the nation of,
i. 298, 299

Amboise, conspiracy of, predominance of the theological spirit shown in
the, ii. 10

Ambrose, St., his statement of the doctrine of predestination,
i. 13 _note_

America, policy of the Spaniards in, in the eighteenth century, ii. 557

America, Central, ancient civilization of, i. 93. Ruins and statues
extant in, 93 _note_. Evidences of the unequal distribution of wealth
in, 94. Question as to the races which formerly inhabited it, 94.
Character of the national religion of, 147

America, North, rivers of importance to be found almost wholly on the
eastern side of, i. 97. Causes of this, 97 _note_. Extent of the Amazon
alone, 97 _note_. Area drained by the Mississippi, 97. The Oregon the
boundary of the Californian flora, 97 _note_. One of the main causes of
the fertility of America, heat, 98. Difference between the heat of the
eastern and western coasts, 98. Early state of the North American
tribes, 99 _note_. Intercourse between the north-east of Asia and the
north-west of America, 99 _note_. Another main cause of fertility of,
irrigation, 97. Calvinism the popular creed of the republics of,
ii. 339

America, South, no great river on the western side of, i. 97, 98.
Difference between the heat and moisture of the eastern and western
coasts of, 100. Way in which the trade-wind is connected with the
civilization of, 103. Physical condition of Brazil, 103-107. And of
Peru, 107 _et seq._ Exuberance of the maize plant in Mexico and Peru,
109. And of the banana, 111. The Mexican and Peruvian kingdoms, and
the effect of the physical laws under which they existed, 113-117

America, United States of. See United States

Anabaptists, number of, put to death in Holland, i. 189 _note_

Anatomy, experiments of Descartes in, ii. 80. State of the study of,
in the reign of Louis XIV., 197 _note_. Daubenton's union of
comparative anatomy with geology, 371. Cuvier's system, 376, 377.
Bichat's labours, 378. Results of the study of the tissues, 383. Value
of the examination of the teeth of animals, 384

Andrews, St., burnt by the English, iii. 14. The University of,
founded, 40 _note_

Aneurism, Hunter's improvement in the practice of, iii. 456

Anglo-Saxons, free men of the, all trained to the use of arms, i. 203
_note_. War and religion the absorbing subjects among the, 204 _note_

Animal life, examination of Bichat's work on, ii. 390

Anne, Queen, effects of her love for the clergy, i. 419. Her want of
abilities, as shown in her letters, 419 _note_

Antichrist, Audigier's statement respecting, ii. 281

Antinomianism, principles of Calvin leading to, ii. 338

Antiquities, study of, i. 2

Antiquity, harm worked by veneration of, i. 134. Marvellous feats of the
ancients as recorded in Sanscrit works, 135. The Hindu poets'
statements as to the duration of life in the early age of the world,
135. Undue reverence for antiquity, ii. 139. Voltaire's attack on the
admiration entertained for old writers, 306

Antonio, Spanish bibliographer, ii. 480

Apostates, number of, produced by religious persecution, i. 189

Aquinas, Thomas, on the doctrine of providential interference, i. 19

Arabs, causes of their permanent barbarism in Arabia, i. 45. Their
foundation of empires in Europe and Asia, 46. Their cultivation of
astronomy, 47 _note_. Their conquests in Spain, ii. 439. The struggles
which ensued between the Spaniards and Arabians, 439. Re-establishment
of the Spanish Christian monarchy, and extinction of the Arab power,
440. Their expulsion from Spain, 485 _et seq._ Number expelled, 494.
Their manufactures and system of husbandry, 497

Aranda, his attacks on the Inquisition, ii. 547

Archery, attempts to revive, in the reign of Elizabeth, i. 205 _note_

Architecture, condition of, in the reign of Louis XIV., ii. 209

Argensola, Spanish poet, ii. 480

Arian controversy, the, at the beginning of the last century, i. 427

Arianism established in Spain by the Visigoths, ii. 434

Aristocracy, commencement of hereditary, in Europe, ii. 112. Reason
why the aristocracy possessed more power in France than in England,
113. Policy of William the Conqueror and of Henry II. in reducing the
power of the nobles, 114 and _note_. Right of the nobles in France to
wage private war, 115. But in England they were glad to ally
themselves with the people against the Crown, 116. Instances of the
power of the French nobles, 128. Effect of the Wars of the Roses upon
the English nobles, 138. Aversion of the aristocracy to innovation,
and reverence for antiquity, 139. Causes of the alliance between the
nobles and clergy, 140. The noble class weakened in the reign of
Elizabeth, 143, 145. Aristocratic characters of the rebellion of 1569,
144. Abeyance of the ducal order, 146. Attempts made by James I. and
Charles I. to revive the power of the nobles, 147. Conduct of the
nobles in the Great English Rebellion, 152. Determination of the
rebels as to the nobles, 153. The House of Peers abolished, 153.
Vanity and imbecility of the French nobles, 162. Instances of this,
164 _et seq._ Arminianism always connected with aristocracy, 339.
Reasons for this, 341. Causes of the power of the nobles of Scotland,
iii. 19. Coalition of the Crown and clergy in Scotland against the
nobles, 34. Ignorance of the Scotch nobles, 40, 41. Causes of the
decline of the power of the Scotch nobles, 162, 167

Aristotle, authority of, overthrown by Descartes, ii. 91, 92

Ark, the, of Auriol, i. 331

Armada, the Spanish, ii. 453

Armies, origin of standing, i. 206, 207, 397. And of the custom of
employing mercenaries, 207. Computation of the proportion of soldiers
to civilians which a country can bear, 208 _note_

Arminianism, connexion of free will with, i. 14. Its feud with
Calvinism, ii. 338. Arminianism always aristocratic, 339. Arminianism
the popular creed in England at the beginning of the seventeenth
century, 339, 340. This doctrine one for the rich, 340. Causes of
this, 341, 342. Arminianism more favourable to the arts than to the
sciences, 342

Armorial bearings, origin of, in Europe, ii. 112

Arran, Earl of, regent of Scotland, iii. 70

Art, condition of, in the reign of Louis XIV., ii. 206-208

Arthur, King, history of, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, i. 321

Aselli, his discovery of the lacteals, ii. 81

Asia, region of, in which wealth and progress can alone exist, i. 44,
45. The birthplace of almost all the cruel diseases now prevalent in
Europe, 130

Asser, question of the genuineness of his Life of Alfred, ii. 249

Astronomy, the only branch of knowledge raised to a science by the
Arabs, i. 47 _note_. Success with which it was cultivated by the
ancient Mexicans, 112. Encouraged by Louis XIV., ii. 191. His eminent
astronomers not French but foreigners, 191. Newton's discoveries, 191.
Practical astronomy unknown in Scotland in the seventeenth century,
iii. 285 _note_

Atomic theory, importance of the, ii. 364 _note_

Atheism, rise and progress of, in France, ii. 351. Publication of the
'Encyclopædia,' 351. The 'System of Nature,' 351. French atheists in
1623, 95 _note_

Atmosphere, consequences resulting from the weight of the, pointed out
by Descartes, ii. 78

Atomic doctrine, the natural precursor of Platonism, i. 10. The doctrine
of Chance of the atomists, 10

Atterbury, Bishop, his remarks on the condition of the Church in the
time of Anne and George I., i. 442 _note_

Audigier, examination of his 'Origin of the French,' ii. 279

Audra, his 'Abridgment of General History,' suppressed, ii. 238. His
death, 239

Augustin, St., the doctrine of predestination first systematically
methodized by, i. 13

Aurelius, Marcus, the Emperor, causes of his violent persecution of the
Christians, i. 186

Averages, doctrine of, its importance, i. 23 _note_

Avocats-généraux, of the eighteenth century, their functions, ii. 245
_note_

Bacon, Lord, effect of his secular philosophy, i. 329. Translation of
his works into French, ii. 218

Baikal, dangers of the Lake of, and their effect on the Baikal sailors,
i. 376 _note_

Baillou, his advancement of pathology, ii. 195

Bali, Javanese traditions preserved in the island of, i. 306

Ballads the form and groundwork of early history, i. 291. National
bards, 292. Antiquity of rhyme, 293 _note_. General accuracy of the
early ballads, 295 _note_

Balls forbidden by the French Protestants, ii. 70

Banana, extraordinary reproductive powers of the, i. 111. Its nutritive
powers as compared with those of potatoes and wheat, 111

Bangorian controversy, effect of the, i. 427

Bank, the first County, in Scotland, iii. 181

Bannockburn, battle of, iii. 15

Bards known in almost all nations, i. 292, 293. Those of Gaul,
Scotland, and Ireland, 292 _note_. Cause of the extinction of the
class of bards, 296

Bargeton, suppression of the 'Letters' of, ii. 238

Bark, its discredit in France as a 'remède anglais,' ii. 214 _note_

Baron, different meanings attached to the word, ii. 114

Barrow, Isaac, his virtues and abilities, i. 393. Neglect with which
he was treated by Charles II., 393

Barter, misconception of the true nature of barter in early times,
i. 210-212

Bartholomew, St., massacre of, predominance of the theological spirit
shown in the, ii. 11

Basilides, his views of predestination, i. 13 _note_

Baxter, Richard, persecution of, i. 398

Beaton, Archbishop of St. Andrew's, compelled to resign his office of
Chancellor, iii. 57. His conspiracy, 58

Beaton, Cardinal, his persecution of the Protestants, iii. 63.
Arrested, 70. Conspiracy to assassinate him, 73, 74

Beaumarchais, his 'Memoirs' burned, ii. 237

Beauvais, Bishop of, his proposal to the Dutch, ii. 38 _note_

Bedford, Earl of, joins the Parliamentary forces, but deserts them,
ii. 151, 152

Being, obscurities of our, solved by the doctrines of free will and
predestination, i. 12

Benares, cases of suicide by drowning at, i. 26 _note_

Bentham, Jeremy, his demolition of the usury laws, i. 214 _note_. His
method of investigating speculative jurisprudence, i. 426

Bentley, Richard, his corrupt English style, ii. 307

Berkeley, Bishop, his erroneous notions of trade, i. 212 _note_

Berthault, his method of writing history, ii. 270

Berwick, Duke of, appointed Generalissimo of the Spanish army, ii. 515.
Gains the battle of Almansa, 516

Berwick destroyed by the English, iii. 13

Berwick, treaty of, iii. 81

Berzelius, his attempts to reduce mineralogical phenomena, ii. 399

Bichat, impetus given to the study of zoology by, ii. 376. Sketch of
his method of investigation of the human frame, 379. His views
respecting the tissues, 379. Publication of his great work, 380.
Connexion between his views and subsequent discoveries, 380-388.
Immense importance of his method of investigation, 388. Examination of
his work on life, 390

Birmingham, establishment of the first circulating library in, i. 431
_note_. Not a bookseller in the town in the reign of Anne, 422 _note_.
First printing office in, 432 _note_

Bishops, precarious tenure with which they hold their seats in the House
of Lords, i. 418

Black, David, his violent sermon against James VI., iii. 107. Thrown
into prison, 108, 109

Black, Joseph, examination of his theory of latent heat, iii. 367. And
of his method of physical philosophy, 368

Blackburne on 'The Confessional' ferment caused by, i. 428

Blackstone, Sir W., his 'Commentaries' translated into French, ii. 219

Blanca, Florida, prime minister of Spain, his reforms, ii. 548.
Concludes a treaty with Turkey, 549

Blood, discovery of the circulation of the, by Harvey, neglected by
his contemporaries, ii. 80. But recognized by Descartes, 81. Hunter's
discovery as to the red globules of the, iii. 436. Corroboration of
his views after his death, 438

Bodin, John, his character as a historian, i. 326

Boileau, pensioned to write a History of France for Louis XIV., ii. 277

Bombs, invention of, i. 206 _note_

Boncerf, his treatise on 'Feudal Law' burned, ii. 237

Book Clubs and Book Societies, establishment of, i. 433

Books, only use of, i. 267

Boots, the torture of the, iii. 148

Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, character of his 'Universal History,' ii.
282. Connexion between his opinions and the despotism of Louis XIV.,
289. Character of his writings, 290. His singular arrogance, 290. His
works compared with those of Voltaire, 291

Botany, importance of the study of, ii. 197, 198. First steps in the
study of, 198. Discoveries of the seventeenth century, 199. Nothing
done in France in botanical discovery during the reign of Louis XIV.,
200. Labours of the French in, 395. Göthe's discoveries, 396. Number
of known species, 396 _note_

Botany. The natural method superseding the artificial one of Linnæus,
ii. 397. Jussieu's generalizations, 397, 398. Phyllotaxis, 399 _note_

Boucquet, suppression of the 'Letters' of, ii. 208

Boyle, Robert, his doubts as to the theological and scientific
theories of diseases, i. 128 _note_. Influence of the spirit of
opposition to unsupported authority on, 367. His great discoveries,
368. His view of the importance of individual experiments, and
disregard of ancient authority, 369. His doubts and caution as shown
in his works, 370

Brahmanism, remote period of its establishment in India, i. 301.
Introduction of a form of, into China, 302

Brain, amount of phosphorus in the, i. 57 _note_. Excretion of the
phosphorus under certain circumstances, 57 _note_. Doctrines of the
improvement of the human brain by transmission, 176 _note_

Brazil, causes of the gorgeousness of the fauna and flora of, i. 103,
104. Description of the rainy season of, 103 _note_. Inveterate
barbarism of the natives of, 105 _note_. Smallness of the population
of, 107

Brissot, his knowledge of the English language and literature, ii. 225.
His admiration for the English Constitution, 229

Bristol, Earl of, his notions of political economy, i. 212 _note_

Brougham, Lord, his life of Robert Simson, i. 248 _note_

Browne, Sir Thomas, influence of the spirit of opposition to
unsupported authority on, i. 365. His 'Vulgar and Common Errors' and
'Religio Medici,' 365. His love of botany, 200

Brunfels, his investigations in the vegetable kingdom, ii. 198 _note_

Buchanan, George, character of his works, iii. 183

Buffier, the only Jesuit whose name has a place in abstract philosophy,
ii. 342

Buffon, his knowledge of the English language and literature, ii. 218.
His translations of Newton and Hales, 218. Compelled to publish a
recantation of some of his views on geology, 236. His geological
theory, 368

Burgos, decay of, in the seventeenth century, ii. 503

Burke's, Edmund, his remarks on the decline of the abilities of
official men under George III., i. 449. His great ability and
accomplishments, 455, 456. His practical political principles, 458.
His view of the true end of legislation, 459 _note_. Effect which his
profound views produced in the House of Commons, 460 _note_. His
attack on the delusions of his time, 461. His opposition to the views
of George III., and consequent neglect, 461. His anticipation and
defence of most of the great measures of the present generation, 462,
463. His subsequent hallucinations and violence, 467. His rupture with
Fox, 469. His hostility to Condorcet and La Fayette, 470, 471.
Favoured in his degeneracy by George III., 476, 477

Burnet, Bishop, offer to him of a pension for a history of France,
ii. 277, 278

Caithness seized by the Norwegians, iii. 11

Calderon, his fanaticism for the Inquisition, ii. 481

Californian flora, the Oregon or Columbia river the boundary of the,
i. 97 _note_

Calonne, M., his attack on the church property, ii. 333

Calvin, John, his doctrine of predestination, i. 13

Calvinism, its feud with Arminianism, ii. 338. Calvinism always
democratic, 339. This doctrine one for the poor, 340. Animosity of the
Church of Rome against it, 341. Reasons why it is the doctrine of the
poor, 341, 342. More favourable to the sciences than to the arts, 342.
Reasons why the professors of this religion are likely to acquire
habits of independent thinking, 342, 343. The doctrine of necessity,
343. Alliance of Jansenism with Calvinism, 343

Campbell, Lord, character of his 'Lives of the Chancellors,'
i. 441 _note_

Camus, his Jansenism, ii. 345

Cannibalism in Scotland, iii. 17

Canons, invention of, i. 206 _note_

Capital, Adam Smith's views as to, iii. 327

Carbon, in food, i. 55 _et seq._

Carolan, the last Irish bard, i. 292 _note_

Carra, his familiarity with the English language and literature, ii. 224

Carrillo, Martin, Spanish jurisconsult and historian, ii. 480

Cartaud, suppression of his 'Essay on Taste,' ii. 237

Cartwright, Dr., the nonjuring bishop, i. 412 _note_

Cashmere, rent paid by the cultivator to the sovereign in, i. 76 _note_

Casualties, diminution of, one cause of the increased duration of life,
i. 153

Catholics, Roman, their doctrines compared with those of Protestants,
i. 261. Importance of the Toleration Act to them, 402 _note_. Causes
which led to the feeling in favour of Catholic Emancipation, 426.
Burke's advocacy of Roman Catholic claims, 462. Importance of the
Emancipation Bill, 502. Obligations Europe is under to the Catholic
clergy, ii. 5 _note_. Intolerance of Roman Catholics compared with
that of Protestants, 51. Pliancy of the Roman Church against morals,
and its inflexibility in regard to dogmas, 52 _note_. Theory of
indulgences, 339. Animosity of the Church of Rome against Calvinism,
ii. 341

Causes, final, the study of, abandoned by Descartes, ii. 91. And by
Bacon and Auguste Comte, 91 _note_. Authorities for the injury it has
wrought, 91 _note_

Caussin, 'le petit père,' exiled by Richelieu, ii. 29, 30

Cavaliers, the name and the English civil war, ii. 149

Cavendish, Henry, method employed by him in the discovery of the
composition of water, iii. 403

Celibacy of the clergy, opposed by the principle of hereditary rank,
ii. 113. Period of the first general and decisive movement in its
favour, 113 _note_

Centralization, in France, the natural successor of feudality, ii.
122. Its baneful effects, 123. How the system actually works, 123
_note_. Its results in France compared with the freedom of England,
126, 127

Certainty contrasted with precision in writing history, ii. 325

Cervantes, becomes a monk, ii. 479. His joy at the expulsion of the
Moors from Spain, 496 _note_

Chance, doctrine of, i. 8. Causes of its displacement by the doctrine
of Necessary Connection, 9. The doctrine of Chance of the atomists, 10

Chancery, Court of, early exertion of its powers against persecution,
i. 345 _note_

Chantilly, the actress, story of, ii. 243

Character, knowledge of, a key to results and action, i. 18, 19

Charlemagne. His droves of pigs, i. 314 _note_. His history as related
by Archbishop Turpin, 318

Charles I., character of the opposition to ecclesiastical authority in
the reign of, i. 359. This king's attempts to revive the power of the
aristocracy, and adopt the superannuated theories of protection, ii.
147. How treated by his Scottish subjects, iii. 4, 134. Sold by the
Scotch to the English, 135. His execution, 136. Character of the war
against him in England compared with that of the Scotch, 197

Charles II., frivolous form of the opposition to ecclesiastical
authority in the reign of, i. 362. His deism, 362 _note_. His last
refuge in superstition, 362 _note_. Antagonism in his reign between
the physical sciences and the theological spirit, 372. Legislative
improvements of this reign in spite of political degradation, 381.
Character of Charles II., and condition of the kingdom in his reign,
381, 382. Aid given by his vices to the comprehensive reforms of his
reign, 388. And by his dislike of the clergy, 389. Character of this
king's ecclesiastical appointments, 391. His inability to do permanent
harm to English institutions, ii. 466. Compelled by the Scotch to sign
a public declaration, iii. 136. His oppressions of the Scotch,
137-139. His attempted despotism baffled by the Scotch, 140

Charles II. of Spain, his character, ii. 468-470. Misery of Spain during
his reign, 501-510. His death, 513

Charles III. of Spain, vigour and success of his rule, ii. 552 _et seq._
His death, 571

Charles IV. of Spain, his accession, ii. 571. Reaction begun by him, 571

Charles V. the Emperor, his domestic and foreign policy, ii. 446. His
humiliation of the Protestant princes in Germany, 446. His repulse of
the Turks before Vienna, 446. Number of heretics put to death in the
Netherlands during his reign, 447. His codicil to his will as to
dealing with heretics, 448. Causes of his barbarous policy, 449

Charles IX., his massacre of St. Bartholomew, ii. 13

'Charles XII., History of,' Voltaire's, ii. 292. Charles's only
merits, 293. Voltaire's admiration of him, 293. His murder of Patkul,
293

Charles the Bald, initiates a hereditary aristocracy in Europe, ii. 112

Charron, Pierre, reputation of his 'De la Sagesse,' ii. 19. Its purity
and systematic completeness, 19. Analysis of the work, 20, 21

Charta, Magna, peculiar beauty of, ii. 117

Chateaubriand, his method, ii. 389 _note_

Chatillon, Marshal, ii. 43

Chauvelin, his Jansenism, ii. 345

Chemistry, the law of definite proportions in as laid down by Turner,
i. 59 _note_. Boyle's discoveries in, 369. His 'Sceptical Chemist,'
370. Study of, forbidden by the French Protestants, ii. 69. State of
the science of, in the reign of Louis XIV., 197. Causes of its great
progress in modern times, 365. The existence of chemistry as a science
due to France, 366. Discoveries of Lavoisier, 367. Formation of a
chemical nomenclature, 368. Inability of chemistry to reduce
mineralogical phenomena, 399. Popularity of Fourcroy's lectures,
407 _note_

Childebert, King of the Franks, attacks the Arian Visigoths,
ii. 435 _note_

Chillingworth, William, his 'Religion of Protestants,' i. 347. His
connexion and correspondence with Laud, 347. His work compared with
those of Hooker and Jewel, 348. The right of private judgment held
sacred by him, 349, 352. Popularity of his work, 352 _note_. His
scepticism compared with that of Hooker, ii. 86

China, gunpowder said to have been used at an early period in, i. 203
_note_. Causes of the trustworthiness of the early annals of, 302.
Antiquity of the history of, 302 _note_. Early knowledge of printing
in, 302 _note_

Chivalry, origin of, ii. 131. Influence of, on the nobles, 132.
Results of the institution of, 132. Origin of the orders of chivalry,
133. Merits ascribed to chivalry, 133 _note_. Small influence of
chivalry in England, 134. The ballad of the 'Turnament of Tottenham,'
136 _note_. Extinct in England in the fifteenth century, 135. Relation
between chivalry and duelling, 136

Choiseul, De, his anti-ecclesiastical policy, ii. 333. Openly protects
the Jansenists, 345

Cholera, attempts made to revive the theological theory of disease on
the first outbreak of the, i. 128 _note_. And again in Scotland,
iii. 473

Christianity, influence of religion on the progress of society
illustrated by the early history of, i. 258. And by the history of
Catholicism and Protestantism, 261. Baneful effects of the
interference of governments with the opinions of the people, 261, 262.
Causes of the corruptions of the Christianity of the Abyssinians and
of the Oguiché Indians, 265 _note_. The crusade against Christianity
one of the antecedents of the French Revolution, ii. 247-257. Causes
of the Roman persecutions, i. 185

Church property, Vattel's opinions respecting, quoted, ii. 31 _note_

Church, the revenues of the, seized and appropriated by the contracting
parties to the peace of Westphalia, ii. 41

Church of England. See Clergy, English

Chyle, discovery of the, ii. 194

Circular progression, doctrine of, ii. 377

Clanship, in Scotland, causes of the abolition of, iii. 167, 168

Clarke, Adam, the last scholar of European repute amongst the
Dissenters, i. 422

Classes, the two, in France, before the Revolution, ii. 128 _et seq._
The Great Rebellion of England a war of, 150. Opposite character of
the Fronde in France, 150

Classical scholars and commentators, Locke and Voltaire's attacks on,
ii. 306-308

Clergy, the influence of the, the cause of the corruption of early
history, i. 307. Their meddling, inquisitive, and vexatious spirit,
ii. 72. Supremacy of the clergy in the Dark Ages, 108. Period when the
spirit of inquiry began to weaken the church, 108, 109. And when the
clergy began to punish men for thinking for themselves, 109. The first
constitution addressed 'inquisitoribus hæreticæ pravitatis,' 109
_note_. Connection between the feudal system and the ecclesiastical
spirit, 110, 111. Causes of the alliance between the clergy and the
nobles, 140. The clergy weakened in the reign of Elizabeth, 143

Clergy, English, attempts of the, in the reign of Charles II. to oppose
the spread of physical science, i. 372. Reasons for their hostility,
373. Destruction of the privileges of the clergy to burn heretics and
tax themselves, 383. The tender of the ex-officio oath prevented by
law, 384. Dislike of Charles II. of the clergy, 389. Causes of this
dislike, 389. Character of his ecclesiastical appointments, 391.
Efforts of the clergy in this reign to revive the doctrines of passive
obedience and divine right, 394. Good churchmen always bad citizens,
395 _note_. Alliance between the Protestant clergy and the Roman
Catholic king James II., 395. Dissolution of this compact, 397. And
union of the clergy with the Dissenters, 399. Which union produces the
Revolution of 1688, 400. Sudden repentance of the clergy of their own
act, 403. Hostility between them and William III., 405. Their growing
unpopularity, 409. King William's deprivation of six of the prelates,
410. The consequent schism in the church, 411. Origin of the term
'high church' and 'low church' parties, 412 _note_. Adoption of the
theory of the sovereign _de facto_ and _de jure_, 413. Encouragement
which the clergy thus give to scepticism, 414. The church avoided by
the ablest men, who prefer secular professions, 415, 416. The most
honourable and lucrative posts formerly occupied by ecclesiastics,
416. Loss of the clergy of all offices out of the church, and
diminution of their number in both Houses of Parliament, 416, 417. The
last ecclesiastic who held any of the high offices of state,
417 _note_. Final expulsion of the clergy from the House of Commons,
418. Temporary rally of the church in the reign of Anne, 419.
The clergy weakened by the Dissenters, headed by Wesley and Whitefield,
419-424. Effects of the separation of theology from morals and from
politics, 424-427. Rapid succession of sceptical controversies, 427.
Diffusion of knowledge, and the popular form taken by it, 430.
Opposition of the clergy to the establishment of Sunday schools, 431.
Their factious and disloyal conduct during the reign of the first two
Georges, 442. Joy of the clergy at the attachment of George III. to
the church, 445. Their support of the policy of George III. against,
and bitterness towards, the Americans, 479 _note_

Clergy, the French, greater power possessed by them than by the
English clergy, ii. 3, 4. Their endeavours to suppress the progress of
secular enquiry, 22. Their alarm at the protection given to the
Protestants by Henry IV., Catherine de Medici, and Louis XIII., 26.
Richelieu's treatment of the Clergy, and of the Protestants, 28-31.
Animosity between the clergy and the secular tribunals, 32. Archbishop
Sourdis ignominiously beaten, 32. Reasons why French literary men
attacked the Church and not the Government, 247. And therefore to
assail Christianity, 247. Personal character of the hierarchy during
the reign of Louis XIV., 252. And during the reign of his successor,
252. Attack of the Government on the clergy, 332. Machault's edict
against mortmain, 332. Anti-ecclesiastical policy of Machault's
successors, 333. Machault hated by the clergy, 333 _note_. The power
of the clergy weakened by the two hostile parties among themselves,
335. Decline of the respect entertained for the clergy, 348. Reasons
why their fall was averted for a time, 349, 350

Clergy, Scottish, causes of the union of the Crown and the, iii. 34.
Causes of the flourishing state of the clergy in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, 38. And of their great influence, 43. The Church
favoured by James I., 46. Struggle between the Crown and clergy on
one side and the nobles on the other, 55 _et seq._ Destruction of the
Church, and supremacy of the nobles, 81. Abolition of episcopacy, 94.
Struggle between the upper classes and the clergy as to episcopacy,
100. Violence of the clergy, 105 _et seq._ Boons conferred by them
upon their country, 112. Attempts of the King to subjugate the clergy,
115. His cruel treatment of them, 117-123. Tyrannical conduct of the
bishops, 128. The bishops overthrown, 133. But again forced upon the
people, 141. Alliance between the Crown and the clergy, and its
consequences, 147. The struggle of the clergy with Cromwell, 194. And
with Charles I., 197. Causes which produced the Solemn League and
Covenant, 198. Character of the sermons and zeal of the people in
hearing them in the seventeenth century, 203 _et seq._ The consequent
extension and consolidation of the authority of the clergy, 206. Their
great engine of power, the Kirk-session, and its tyranny, 206-210.
Cases in which it was believed that their pretensions were upheld and
vindicated by miracles, 212, 229. Their consequent arrogance, 220.
Effect of their advocacy of horrible notions concerning evil spirits
and future punishments, 232. And concerning the Deity, 239. Harmless
and praiseworthy actions declared to be sinful, 252. Specimens of the
sins invented by them, 261, 263. Their arbitrary regulations for
punishing disobedience, 262. Their deductive method in philosophy, 286

Clergy, Spanish, rise of the influence of the, ii. 436-444. Proofs of
their power, 437, 438. Consequences of the reverence for them, 461
_et seq._ Causes of their increasing influence, 472. Hold of the
Church over all, high or low, 478-481. Use made by the clergy of
their power in obtaining the expulsion of the whole of the Spanish
Moors, 483. Forced to contribute to the support of the state, 522,
523. Deprived of their wealth by Mendizabal, 590. But re-endowed soon
after, 591. The Concordat of 1851, 591, 592

Climate, its influence on the condition of the human race, i. 40. Its
effect on the regularity and energy with which labour is conducted,
42, 43. Tartary, 45. Arabia, 45. The civilization of Europe governed
by climate, 50. Influence of climate on the kind of food necessary for
man, 56. And on his ease or difficulty in procuring it, 58. Modes in
which the average temperature of a country affects its civilization,
95. Difference between the eastern and western coasts of North
America, 97. Character of the climate of Spain, ii. 427

Clotaire, his attacks of the Visigoth Arians, ii. 435 _note_

Clovis, King of the Franks, his attack of the Visigoths, ii. 435

Clubs, establishment of, in France, at the end of the last century,
ii. 412, 414

Cobbett, William, his racy and idiomatic English, ii. 307 _note_

Codification, causes of the French love of, ii. 127 _note_

Coffee, its discredit in France as an English drink, ii. 214 _note_

Colours, Boyle's experiments in, i. 368 _note_

Comedies of Racine, character of the period in which they appeared,
ii. 208

Comets, feelings of terror inspired by the presence of, i. 376,
377 _note_

Comines, Philip de, credulity shown in his history, i. 327;
ii. 265 _note_

Commerce. See Trade

Commerce; Rise of trading interests in Scotland in the eighteenth
century, iii. 171. See Trade; Trade, Free

Commission, High Court of, established in Scotland, iii. 125. Cruelty
of the, 142 _note_

Commons, House of, origin of the, ii. 117. Causes of the increase of
the authority of the, 121

Comte, M., remarks on his 'Philosophie Positive,' i. 5 _note_

Condillac, his metaphysical work, the 'Traité des Sensations,' ii. 357.
Essential positions upon which the work is based, 358

Condorcet, his character and abilities, i. 470. Burke's remarks on,
471. His proposal of English criminal jurisprudence as a model for
France, ii. 226. His professed atheism, 352

Conjurors, tricks of, forbidden to be seen by the French Protestants,
ii. 70

Conquest, Norman, Sir F. Palgrave on the results produced by the,
ii. 116 _note_

Consciousness, faculty or state of the mind so called, i. 14.
Different opinions respecting, 14 _note_. Its fallibility, 15.
Authorities as to the preservation of consciousness in dreams and in
insanity, 17 _note_

Constant, M., his adoption of a remark of Voltaire, ii. 303

Converts, fickleness of, i. 255, 256

Convocation, falls into general contempt, i. 414. Final prorogation
of, by an act of the Crown, 415. Permitted recently to re-assemble,
415

Copyhold rights in England, ii. 119. Not recognised by the French
laws, 120

Coquereau, suppression of his 'Memoirs of Terrai,' ii. 238

Corn, free trade in, proposed by Stafford in 1581, i. 213 _note_. The
real cause of the abolition of the, 273. Merits of the Anti-Corn-Law
League, 274. Importance of the repeal of the Corn-laws, 502

Corneille, period in which his tragedies appeared, ii. 209

Cornwall, hardly a bookseller in, in 1780, i. 432 _note_

Corporation Act, i. 396. Suspended by James II., i. 397

Corvée, the, in France, ii. 129. Authorities respecting the, 129 _note_

Coulumb, his experiments on electrical phenomena, ii. 362

Councils, authority of, despised by Chillingworth, i. 349

Courrayeur, suppression of the 'Dissertations' of, ii. 237

Cousin, M., on free will, quoted, i. 14 _note_

Covenant, Solemn League and, framed, iii. 132. Causes which produced
the, 198

Coyer, his knowledge of the English language and literature, ii. 219

Credulity of Asiatics as compared with that of Europeans, i. 134.
Instances of the credulity of the sixteenth century, 330. This
credulity the natural result of the state of the age, 333

Crime, uniform reproduction of, i. 24, 25, 31 _notes_. Crime the
result of the state of society into which the criminal is thrown, 29.
Rawson on the possibility of arriving at certain constants with regard
to crime, quoted, 31 _note_. Mode of preventing crime in France,
ii. 125

Criminals, mode of examining, in France, ii. 124

Cromwell, Oliver, his alliance with Cardinal Mazarin, ii. 98. Irritation
of the orthodox with their union, 98. His hostility to the Church not
theological, but political, 361 _note_. His plebeian origin, ii. 156.
Capacity of his lieutenants, 156, 157. His chain of fortresses in
Scotland, iii. 194. His treatment of the Scotch people, 195 _note_

Crusades, theological feeling of the English as to the, ii. 6 _note_

Crystallography, discoveries of De Lisle and Haüy in, ii. 400, 401.
Power of crystals, in common with animals, of repairing their own
injuries, 403 _note_. Hunter's inquiries into the malformation of
crystals, iii. 443

Cudworth, comparison of the method employed by Hume in his 'Natural
History of Religion' compared with that of Cudworth's 'Intellectual
System,' iii. 348

Cullen, William, account of his generalizations respecting pathology,
iii. 413. His love of theory, 414. His method of studying pathology
compared with that of Adam Smith, 417. His theory of the solids, 418.
Character of his premisses and conclusions, 418-421. His theory of
fever, 424. His nosology, 426

Culloden, results of the battle of, to the Highland Chieftains,
iii. 168 _note_

Cumberland, Dr., Bishop of Peterborough, his system of morals without
the aid of theology, i. 425. Relation between Hume and Cumberland,
426 _note_

Cuvier, Baron, his labours in geology, ii. 369. Impetus given by him
to the study of zoology, 376. His overthrow of the Linnæan system,
376, 377

D'Alembert, his professed atheism, ii. 352

D'Alibard, his experiments on electricity, ii. 362

Damiens, his attempted assassination of Louis XV., ii. 345

Dancing forbidden by the French Protestants, ii. 69, 70. And by the
Scotch clergy, iii. 258

Darigrand, suppression of his work on 'Finance,' ii. 238

Dates, effect of the cheapness and abundance of, in Egypt, i. 83

David IV. of Scotland, his imprisonment by the English, iii. 20

Daubenton, his application of the principles of comparative anatomy to
the study of fossil bones, ii. 371

Dead, adoration of the, i. 145 _note_

Death, influence of the fear of, on the imagination, i. 127

Debating clubs, establishment of, i. 433. Authorities as to, 433 _note_

Deccan, bards of the, i. 292 _note_

Dedications, servility of the, in books of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, i. 438. Abolition of mean and crouching, 438

Defender of the Faith, title of the, conferred on James V. of Scotland,
iii. 6

De Grana, entrusted by the King of Spain with the defence of the
Netherlands, ii. 515

De Lisles, Romé, his studies in crystallography, ii. 400

Deluge, the predicted, of St[oe]ffler, i. 330

De Maistre, his method, ii. 389 _note_

Democracy, Calvinism always connected with, ii. 339. Physical science
essentially democratic, 409. Democratic tendency, observable in France
in the change of dress just before the Revolution, 410. And in the
establishment of clubs, 412

Denmark, Mallet's 'History' of, ii. 299

Desaguliers, Dr., his success in popularizing physical truths,
i. 432 _note_

Descartes, Réné, his military genius and learning, i. 200. Effect of his
secular philosophy, 329. His profundity, ii. 77. His physical
discoveries and speculations, 78, 79. Recognizes Harvey's discovery of
the circulation of the blood and Aselli's discovery of the lacteals,
81. His origination of the modern method of philosophy, 81, 82.
Reasons why he deserves the gratitude of posterity, 82. Account of his
philosophy as showing its analogy with the anti-theological policy of
Richelieu, 83, 92. His words of wisdom addressed to his countrymen,
85. Compared with Montaigne, 86. Eminent characteristic of his
philosophy, 87. Analysis of his principles, 88, 89. Mischief done by
his principles to the old theology, 90. And to the inordinate respect
with which antiquity was regarded, 91. Period in which he flourished,
189

Desfontaines, his botanical discoveries, ii. 397

Desforges, imprisoned for his work respecting the Pretender, ii. 238

Desmarest, his geological labours, ii. 368

Desmoulins, Camille, his knowledge of the English language and
literature, ii. 224

De Thou, raised to the presidency of parliament in France, ii. 26. His
great French historical work, 266

Devil, horrible notions of the Scotch clergy concerning, iii. 232

Dhourra of Upper Egypt, its cheapness and abundance, i. 86

Diderot, his knowledge of the English language and literature,
ii. 218. His talents, 240. His imprisonment in Vincennes, 242. His
professed atheism, 352

Diogenes Laertius, on the physical which preceded metaphysical
inquiries, i. 10 _note_. On the preservation of consciousness in
dreams and in insanity, 17 _note_

Diplomacy, commencement of a purely secular era in the history of,
ii. 41

Disease, theological theory of, in the middle ages and in our own
times, i. 127, 128 _note_. Authorities as to the nature and treatment
of a disease and the belief that such disease is caused by
supernatural power, and is to be cured by it, 129 _note_. The origin
of almost all the cruel diseases of Europe to be found in Asia, 130.
Hunter's theories of diseases, iii. 448

Dissenters, persecution of the, in England, in the reign of James II.,
i. 397. Union of the clergy and dissenters and its result, 399, 400.
Authorities for the cruelties inflicted upon them in the reign of
Charles II. and James II., 419. Principles avowed by the clergy in
justification of the persecution, 419 _note_. Persecutions in the
reign of Anne, 419, 420. Repeal of the laws against them, 420. The
Toleration Act regarded by the Dissenters as their Magna Charta, 402
_note_. Favour shown to them by William III., 405, 406. Their struggle
with the clergy, 420. Wesley and Whitefield, 421. Loss of their
intellectual vigour, 422. Causes of their recent mental penury, 422.
Nonconformist statistics, from the reign of William III. to the
present time, 423 _note_. Treatment which the Wesleyans received from
the clergy, 423 _note_, 424 _note_. Combination of the Dissenters with
the Government against the clergy and the Pretender, 443 _note_.
Passing of the Schism Bill, 452. Burke's support of measures for the
relief of the, 463