[1015] Choiseul is reported to have said of the Jesuits: ‘leur éducation détruite, tous les autres corps religieux tomberont d'eux-mêmes.’ Barruel, Hist. du Jacobinisme, vol. i. p. 63.
[1016] In 1771, Horace Walpole writes from Paris that the churches and convents were become so empty, as to ‘appear like abandoned theatres destined to destruction;’ and this he contrasts with his former experience of a different state of things. Walpole's Letters, vol. v. p. 310, edit. 1840.
[1017] ‘So low had the talents of the once illustrious church of France fallen, that in the latter part of the eighteenth century, when Christianity itself was assailed, not one champion of note appeared in its ranks; and when the convocation of the clergy, in 1770, published their famous anathema against the dangers of unbelief, and offered rewards for the best essays in defence of the Christian faith, the productions called forth were so despicable that they sensibly injured the cause of religion.’ Alison's Hist. of Europe, vol. i. pp. 180, 181.
[1018] In 1766, the Rev. William Cole writes to Alban Butler: ‘I travelled to Paris through Lille and Cambray in their public voitures, and was greatly scandalized and amazed at the open and unreserved disrespect, both of the trading and military people, for their clergy and religious establishment. When I got to Paris, it was much worse.’ Ellis's Original Letters, second series, vol. iv. p. 485. See also Walpole's Letters to Lady Ossory, vol. ii. p. 513, edit. 1848; and the complaint made at Besançon in 1761, in Lepan, Vie de Voltaire, p. 113.
[1019] And also to retain their immense property, which, when the Revolution occurred, was estimated at 80,000,000l. English money, bringing in a yearly revenue of ‘somewhat under 75,000,000 francs.’ Alison's Europe, vol. i. p. 183, vol. ii. p. 20, vol. xiv. pp. 122, 123.
[1020] M. Barante (Littérature Française au XVIIIe Siècle, p. 94) says, ‘On arriva bientôt à tout nier; déjà l'incrédulité avait rejeté les preuves divines de la révélation, et avait abjuré les devoirs et les souvenirs chrétiens; on vit alors l'athéisme lever un front plus hardi, et proclamer que tout sentiment religieux était une rêverie et un désordre de l'esprit humain. C'est de l'époque de l'Encyclopédie que datent les écrits où cette opinion est le plus expressément professée. Ils furent peu imités.’ This last sentence is erroneous, I am sorry to say.
[1021] ‘Dans un intervalle de douze années, de 1758 à 1770, la littérature française fut souillée par un grand nombre d'ouvrages où l'athéisme étoit ouvertement professé.’ Lacretelle, XVIIIe Siècle, vol. ii. p. 310.
[1022] Voltaire, who wrote against it, mentions its diffusion among all classes, and says it was read by ‘des savants, des ignorants, des femmes.’ Dict. Philos. article Dieu, section iv., in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xxxviii. p. 366: see also vol. lxvii. p. 260; Longchamp et Wagnière, Mém. sur Voltaire, vol. i. pp. 13, 334; Lettres inédites de Voltaire, vol. ii. pp. 210, 216; and a letter from him in Correspond. de Dudeffand, vol. ii. p. 329. Compare Tennemann, Gesch. der Philos. vol. xi. p. 320: ‘mit ungetheiltem Beifalle aufgenommen worden und grossen Einfluss gehabt hat.’
[1023] ‘Le code monstrueux d'athéisme.’ Biog. Univ. vol. xxix. p. 88. Morellet, who in such matters was by no means a harsh judge, says, ‘Le Système de la Nature, surtout, est un catéchisme d'athéisme complet.’ Mém. de Morellet, vol. i. p. 133. Stäudlin (Gesch. der theolog. Wissenschaften, vol. ii. p. 440) calls it ‘ein System des entschiedenen Atheismus:’ while Tennemann, who has given by far the best account of it I have met with, says, ‘Es machte bei seinem Erscheinen gewaltiges Aufsehen, und ist fast immer als das Handbuch des Atheismus betrachtet worden.’ Gesch. der Philos. vol. xi. p. 349.
[1024] ‘Le monstrueux athéisme est devenu l'opinion dominante.’ Soulavie, Règne de Louis XVI, vol. iii. p. 16: the address of the archbishop with a deputation, ‘muni des pouvoirs de l'assemblée générale du clergé,’ in September 1775.