History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3

by Henry Thomas Buckle

[184] ‘All Christian magistrates are advised not in the least to suffer them, because it feeds foolish curiosity, puts upon unnecessary expenses, and wastes time,’ Ibid. vol. i. p. 194.

[185] This was a very knotty question for the theologians; but it was at length decided in the affirmative by the synod of Saumur: ‘On the 13th article of the same chapter, the deputies of Poicton demanded, whether two names might be given a child at baptism? To which it was replied: The thing was indifferent; however, parents were advised to observe herein Christian simplicity.’ Ibid. vol. i. p. 178.

[186] Ibid. vol. i. pp. xlvi. 25.

[187] I quote the language of the synod of Castres, in 1626. Ibid. vol. ii. p. 174.

[188] Quick's Synodicon, vol. i. p. 165, vol. ii. pp. 7, 174, 574, 583. In the same way, the Spanish clergy, early in the present century, attempted to regulate the dress of women. See Doblado's Letters from Spain, pp. 202–205: a good illustration of the identity of the ecclesiastical spirit, whether it be Catholic or Protestant.

[189] On his influence over her in and after 1616, see Le Vassor, Hist. de Louis XIII, vol. ii. p. 508; Mém. de Pontchartrain, vol. ii. p. 240; Mém. de Montglat, vol. i. p. 23; and compare, in Mém. de Richelieu, vol. ii. pp. 198–200, the curious arguments which he put in her mouth respecting the impolicy of making war on the Protestants.

[190] In 1625, the Archbishop of Lyons wrote to Richelieu, urging him ‘assiéger la Rochelle, et châtier ou, pour mieux dire, exterminer les huguenots, toute autre affaire cessante.’ Bazin, Hist. de Louis XIII, vol. ii. p. 276. See also, on the anxiety of the clergy in the reign of Louis XIII. to destroy the Protestants, Benoist, Hist. de l'Edit de Nantes, vol. ii. pp. 155, 166, 232, 245, 338, 378, 379, 427; Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxii. p. 485.

[191] He confirmed it in March 1626; Flassan, Hist. de la Diplomatie Française, vol. ii. p. 399; and also in the preceding January. See Benoist, Hist. de l'Edit de Nantes, vol. ii. appendix, pp. 77, 81.

[192] ‘Ceux qui affectent autant le nom de zélés catholiques.’ Mém. de Richelieu, vol. iii. p. 16; and at p. 2, he, in the same year (1626), says, that he was opposed by those who had ‘un trop ardent et précipité désir de ruiner les huguenots.’

[193] Sismondi, Hist. des Français, vol. xxiii. p. 66.