The Huguenots and French Opinion, 1685-1787: The Enlightenment Debate on Toleration

353 Pages·1992·26.036 MB·English

by  Geoffrey Adams

The Huguenots and
French Opinion,
1685-1787
The Enlightenment Debate
on Toleration
Geoffrey Adams
The decision of Louis XIV to revoke the Edict of Nantes and
thus liquidate French Calvinism was well received in the
intellectual community which was deeply prejudiced against
the Huguenots. This antipathy would gradually disappear.
After the death of the Sun King, a more sympathetic view of
the Protestant minority was presented to French readers by
leading thinkers such as Montesquieu, the abbe Prevost, and
Voltaire. By the middle years of the eighteenth century,
liberal clerics, lawyers, and government ministers joined
Encyclopedists in urging the emancipation of the Reformed
who were seen to be loyal, peaceable, and productive. Then,
in 1787, thanks to intensive lobbying by a group which
included Malesherbes, Lafayette, and the future revolution-
ary Rabaut Saint-Etienne, the government of Louis XVI
issued an edict of toleration which granted the Huguenots a
modest bill of civil and religious rights.
Adams' illuminating work treats a major chapter in the his-
tory of toleration; it explores in depth a fascinating shift in
mentalites, and it offers a new focus on the process of
"reform from above" in pre-Revolutionary France.
Geoffrey Adams is a Toronto native who did his graduate work
at the University of Chicago under Louis Gottschalk. He has
taught at Waterloo Lutheran College (now Wilfrid Laurier
University), Elmira College in New York State and, since
1962, at Concordia University in Montreal. He is currently
researching the civic role of French Protestants since the
Dreyfus Affair.
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Editions SR / 12
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EDITIONS SR
Volume 12
The Huguenots and
French Opinion,
1685-1787
The Enlightenment Debate
on Toleration
Geoffrey Adams
Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in
Religion/Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses
by Wilfrid Laurier University Press
1991
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Adams, Geoffrey, 1926-
The Huguenots and French opinion, 1685-1787
(Editions SR ; 12)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88920-217-6 (bound) ISBN 0-88920-209-5 (pbk.)
1. Huguenots - France - History. 2. Religious
tolerance - France - History - 18th century.
I. Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion.
II. Title. III. Series.
BX9454.2.A33 1991 272.40944 C91-095690-1
1991 Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion/
Corporation Canadienne des Sciences Religieuses
Cover design by Connolly Art & Design
(oo)
Printed in Canada
The Huguenots and French Opinion, 1685-1787: The Enlightenment Debate on
Toleration has been produced from a manuscript supplied in camera-ready form
by the author.
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may
be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or
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Toronto, Ontario M5V 1S5.
Cover photograph: Grand Dieu qu'allois-je dire? ... o mon Pere! mon Pere!
- Engraving courtesy of the Bibliotheque National de Paris
Order from:
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5
for
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and for
Reford and Natalie
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Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
PART ONE
THE REVOCATION IMPOSED, 1685-1715
I. The Edict of Fontainebleau: The Rationalization
of Intolerance 7
II. Thunderous Applause, Discreet Dissent: The
Intellectual Reaction to the Revocation 19
III. A Three-way Impasse: The Huguenots,
The Clergy, and The State 35
PART TWO
THE REVOCATION ATTACKED, 1715-1760
IV. An Abstract Combat: Voltaire's First Battles
Against Intolerance, 1713-1750 49
V. Montesquieu and the Huguenots: A Conservative's
View of Minority Rights 61
VI. A Friend in the Enemy Camp: The Abbe Prevost 75
VII. Controller-General Machault Provokes a Public
Debate on Huguenot Rights, 1751-1760 87
VIII. Encyclopedists and Calvinists: An Exercise
in Mutual Aid 103
IX. A Case Study in Incompatibility: The Philosophe
Voltaire and the Calvinist La Beaumelle,
1750-1756 119
X. Mutual Disenchantment: Voltaire and
the Genevans, 1755-1762 135
XI. Distant Cousins: Rousseau and the French Calvinists ... 147
XII. The Stage in the Service of Huguenot Emancipation:
Voltaire, Fenouillot de Falbaire, and Mercier 165
XIII. Reaction Put to Rout: The Dictionnaire Philosophique,
the Last of the Encyclopedie and the
Belisaire Affair, 1764-1767 179
IX