44 DISSERTATION. PART FIRST. perhaps stated in terms somewhat too unqualified ; but there are the best reasons for believing, that the exceptions were few, when compared with the general proposition. [The Christian charity of John Calvin, in judging of the Eoman Pontiffs, does not seern to have exceeded that of Condorcet. " Ad homines autem si veniamus, satis scitur quales reperturi simus Christi vicarios ; Julius, scilicet, et Leo, et Clemens, et Paulus Chris- tianas fidei Columnae erunt, primique religionis interpretes, qui nihil aliud de Christo tenuerunt nisi quod didicerant in schola Luciani. Sed quid tres aut quatuor Pontifices enumero, quasi vero dubium sit qualem religionis speciem professi sint jampri- dem Pontifices cum toto Cardinalium collegio ? Primum enim arcanae illius Theologias quae inter eos regnat, caput est; millum esse Deum; casterum, quaecunque de Christo scripta sunt docentur mendacia esse et imposturas." 1 ] The consequences of the prevalence of such a creed among the rulers of mankind were such as might be expected. " In- famous crimes, assassinations, and poisonings, (says a French historian,) prevailed more than ever. They were thought to be the growth of Italy, where the rage and weakness of the oppo- site factions conspired to multiply them. Morality gradually disappeared, and with it all security in the intercourse of life. The first principles of duty were obliterated by the joint influ- ence of atheism and of superstition." 2 And here, may I be permitted to caution my readers against the common error of confounding the double doctrine of Machi- avellian politicians, with the benevolent reverence for established opinions, manifested in the noted maxim of Pontenelle, " that a wise man, even when his hand was full of truths, would often content himself with opening his little finger ?" Of the advo- cates for the former, it may be justly said, that "they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil;" well knowing (if I may borrow the words of Bacon) " that the open day-light doth not shew the masks and mummeries, and triumphs of the world, half so stately as candle-light." The philosopher, on the other hand, w T ho is duly impressed with the
[Calvini Instit. lib. iv. cap. 7, 17.] 2 Millot.
