[877] About the time that Bossuet wrote, a very learned writer calculated that the area of the countries which professed Mohammedanism, exceeded, by one fifth, those where Christianity was believed. See Brerewood's Inquiries touching the Diversity of Languages and Religions, Lond. 1674, pp. 144, 145. The estimate of Southey (Vindiciæ Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, London, 1826, p. 48), is very vague; but it is much easier to judge of the extent of Mohammedan countries than of the extent of their population. On this latter point we have the most conflicting statements. In the nineteenth century, there are, according to Sharon Turner (Hist. of England, vol. iii. p. 485, edit. 1839), eighty million Mohammedans; according to Dr. Elliotson (Human Physiology, p. 1055, edit. 1840), more than a hundred and twenty-two million; while, according to Mr. Wilkin (note in Sir Thomas Browne's Works, vol. ii. p. 37, edit. 1835), there are a hundred and eighty-eight million.
[878] ‘Le faux prophète donna ses victoires pour toute marque de sa mission.’ Bossuet, p. 125.
[879] The greatest Mohammedan writers have always expressed ideas regarding the Deity more lofty than those possessed by the majority of Christians. The Koran contains noble passages on the oneness of God; and for the views of their ordinary theologians, I may refer to an interesting Mohammedan sermon, in Transactions of the Bombay Society, vol. i. pp. 146–158. See also, in vol. iii. pp. 398–448, an Essay by Vans Kennedy; and compare a remarkable passage, considering the quarter from which it comes, in Autobiography of the Emperor Jehangueir, p. 44. Those who are so thoughtless as to believe that Mohammed was a hypocrite, had better study the admirable remarks of M. Comte (Philos. Pos. vol. v. pp. 76, 77), who truly says, ‘qu'un homme vraiment supérieur n'a jamais pu exercer aucune grande action sur ses semblables sans être d'abord lui-même intimement convaincu.’
[880] ‘Saint Martin fut fait évêque de Tours, et remplit tout l'univers du bruit de sa sainteté et de ses miracles, durant sa vie, et après sa mort.’ Bossuet, Hist. Univ. p. 111.
[881] The Benedictines have written the life of Martin in their Hist. Lit. de la France, vol. i. part ii. pp. 413–417, Paris, 1733, 4to. They say that he erected the first monastery in Gaul: ‘Martin, toujours passionné pour la solitude, érigea un monastère qui fut le premier que l'on eût encore vû dans les Gaules,’ p. 414. At p. 415, they make the unnecessary admission, that the saint ‘n'avoit point étudié les sciences profanes.’ I may add, that the miracles of Martin are related by Fleury, who evidently believes that they were really performed. Fleury, Hist. Ecclésiastique, livre xvi. no. 31, vol. iv. pp. 215–217, Paris, 1758, 12mo. Neander, having the advantage of living a hundred years later than Fleury, is content to say, ‘the veneration of his period denominated him a worker of miracles.’ Hist. of the Church, vol. iv. p. 494. There is a characteristic anecdote of him, from Sulpitius Severus, in Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 123.
[882] At pp. 479, 480, Bossuet gives a sort of summary of his historical principles; and if they are true, history is evidently impossible to be written. On this account, though fully recognizing the genius of Bossuet, I cannot agree with the remarks made upon him by M. Comte, Philos. Pos. vol. iv. p. 280, vol. vi. pp. 316, 317.
[883] And then, as M. Charles Comte well says, they call this prejudice their moral sense, or their moral instinct. Comte, Traité de Législation, vol. i. p. 116.
[884] The connection between the opinions of Bossuet and the despotism of Louis XIV. is touched on by Montlosier, who, however, has probably laid too much stress on the influence which the civil law exercised over both. Montlosier, Monarchie Française, vol. ii. p. 90.
[885] He belonged to a class of historians, described by a celebrated writer in a single sentence: ‘dans leurs écrits l'auteur paraît souvent grand, mais l'humanité est toujours petite.’ Tocqueville, Démocratie, vol. iv. p. 139.
[886] Hardly any one acquainted with the writings and the history of Bossuet will require evidence of his singular arrogance. But the reader may consult Sismondi, Hist. des Franç. vol. xxvi. p. 247; and on his treatment of Fénelon, which was the most shameful transaction of his life, compare Burnet's Own Time, vol. iv. p. 384, with Capefigue's Louis XIV, vol. ii. p. 58; where there is printed one of the many epigrams to which the conduct of Bossuet gave rise.