登陆注册
4904300000044

第44章

Immense masses of property were confiscated. Every part of Europe swarmed with exiles. In moody and turbulent spirits zeal soured into malignity, or foamed into madness. From the political agitation of the eighteenth century sprang the Jacobins. From the religious agitation of the sixteenth century sprang the Anabaptists. The partisans of Robespierre robbed and murdered in the name of fraternity and equality. The followers of Kniperdoling robbed and murdered in the name of Christian liberty. The feeling of patriotism was in many parts of Europe, almost wholly extinguished. All the old maxims of foreign policy were changed. Physical boundaries were superseded by moral boundaries. Nations made war on each other with new arms, with arms which no fortifications, however strong by nature or, by art, could resist, with arms before which rivers parted like the Jordan, and ramparts fell down like the walls of Jericho. The great masters of fleets and armies were often reduced to confess, like Milton's warlike angel, how hard they found it "--To exclude Spiritual substance with corporeal bar."

Europe was divided, as Greece had been divided during the period concerning which Thucydides wrote. The conflict was not, as it is in ordinary times, between state and state, but between two omnipresent factions, each of which was in some places dominant and in other places oppressed, but which, openly or covertly, carried on their strife in the bosom of every society. No man asked whether another belonged to the same country with himself, but whether he belonged to the same sect. Party-spirit seemed to justify and consecrate acts which, in any other times, would have been considered as the foulest of treasons. The French emigrant saw nothing disgraceful in bringing Austrian and Prussian hussars to Paris. The Irish or Italian democrat saw no impropriety in serving the French Directory against his own native government.

So, in the sixteenth century, the fury of theological factions suspended all national animosities and jealousies. The Spaniards were invited into France by the League; the English were invited into France by the Huguenots.

We by no means intend to underrate or to palliate the crimes and excesses which, during the last generation, were produced by the spirit of democracy. But, when we hear men zealous for the Protestant religion, constantly represent the French Revolution as radically and essentially evil on account of those crimes and excesses, we cannot but remember that the deliverance of our ancestors from the house of their spiritual bondage was effected "by plagues and by signs, by wonders and by war." We cannot but remember that, as in the case of the French Revolution, so also in the case of the Reformation, those who rose up against tyranny were themselves deeply tainted with the vices which tyranny engenders. We cannot but remember that libels scarcely less scandalous than those of Hebert, mummeries scarcely less absurd than those of Clootz, and crimes scarcely less atrocious than those of Marat, disgrace the early history of Protestantism. The Reformation is an event long past. That volcano has spent its rage. The wide waste produced by its outbreak is forgotten. The landmarks which were swept away have been replaced. The ruined edifices have been repaired. The lava has covered with a rich incrustation the fields which it once devastated, and, after having turned a beautiful and fruitful garden into a desert, has again turned the desert into a still more beautiful and fruitful garden. The second great eruption is not yet over. The marks of its ravages are still all around us. The ashes are still hot beneath our feet. In some directions the deluge of fire still continues to spread. Yet experience surely entitles us to believe that this explosion, like that which preceded it, will fertilise the soil which it has devastated. Already, in those parts which have suffered most severely, rich cultivation and secure dwellings have begun to appear amidst the waste. The more we read of the history of past ages, the more we observe the signs of our own times, the more do we feel our hearts filled and swelled up by a good hope for the future destinies of the human race.

The history of the Reformation in England is full of strange problems. The most prominent and extraordinary phaenomenon which it presents to us is the gigantic strength of the government contrasted with the feebleness of the religious parties. During the twelve or thirteen years which followed the death of Henry the Eighth, the religion of the state was thrice changed. Protestantism was established by Edward; the Catholic Church was restored by Mary; Protestantism was again established by Elizabeth. The faith of the nation seemed to depend on the personal inclinations of the sovereign. Nor was this all. An established church was then, as a matter of course, a persecuting church. Edward persecuted Catholics. Mary persecuted Protestants.

Elizabeth persecuted Catholics again. The father of those three sovereigns had enjoyed the pleasure of persecuting both sects at once, and had sent to death, on the same hurdle, the heretic who denied the real presence, and the traitor who denied the royal supremacy. There was nothing in England like that fierce and bloody opposition which, in France, each of the religious factions in its turn offered to the government. We had neither a Coligny nor a Mayenne, neither a Moncontour nor an Ivry. No English city braved sword and famine for the reformed doctrines with the spirit of Rochelle, or for the Catholic doctrines with the spirit of Paris. Neither sect in England formed a League.

Neither sect extorted a recantation from the sovereign. Neither sect could obtain from an adverse sovereign even a toleration.

同类推荐
  • 归戒要集

    归戒要集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 客座偶谈

    客座偶谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 明实录宣宗实录

    明实录宣宗实录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 圣八千颂般若波罗蜜多一百八名真实圆义陀罗尼经

    圣八千颂般若波罗蜜多一百八名真实圆义陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 王制

    王制

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 橘录

    橘录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 网游之剑指巅峰

    网游之剑指巅峰

    视游戏如命的少年,在这个游戏的世界中,充满着杀戮、背叛,征途险境重重,美女如云却又漂浮不定,嗜血拼杀,剑指巅峰,一路争锋,最后的王者至尊,谁能拥之。
  • 非典型庶女

    非典型庶女

    谁说庶女就要心比天高命比纸薄?谁说庶女就要跟嫡母嫡姐妹作对?十余年来,土著庶女宋仪,看似样貌平平,假装狗腿上进。坚决拥护嫡母领导,坚决遵从姨娘指挥,夹紧尾巴不出挑不惹事!一觉睡醒,宋仪发现自己竟被人穿了小两年,当年费心讨好的人,全跟她撕了:嫡母横眉,嫡姐怒目,表哥冷笑,姨娘叹息……【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 希望之光

    希望之光

    一部治愈系女性小说,讲述单身妈妈瑞秋和年幼的儿子安博如何逃离家暴,在爱尔兰东南部乡间开始他们的新生活的故事。他们会在这里遇到什么样的人和事?他们能成功摆脱那个危险之徒吗?历经种种,爱和希望的光芒可以再度为他们点亮吗?……
  • 天平天国御制千字诏

    天平天国御制千字诏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 这个宿主有点狂

    这个宿主有点狂

    她也想成为人。直到有一天,一个声音对她说:“你想成为人类吗?拥有自己的身体““你是什么东西?”无敌号有一瞬间的无语:“我是无敌号,来自更高文明的穿越系统,只要你能完成任务,就能拥有自己的身体”初酒终于感应到了它的位置,飞了过去。“啊!”无敌号大叫:“你能看到我?”初酒围着它转了一圈,戏谑的说到:“为什么不能?”无敌号有些惊恐:“不可能的主人说这是低等世界,这个世界的低等生物是不可能发现我的!”初酒看着自己面前瑟瑟发抖的小光点有些:“我能看到你,因为我一直都不是这个世界的低等生物。”无敌号努力让自己不在发抖:“那你愿意和我绑定吗?”初酒没有出声,而是直接画出了一个阵法,光幕闪过,契约成立了。“啊啊啊!你干了什么?”初酒在无敌号的系统空间悠闲的转了转:“没干什么,签了个契约而已,说吧,我要怎么才能拥有身体”无敌号看着在自己空间里到处乱了逛的初酒,呆呆的问:“这是什么契约?为什么我看不见你的资料?”无敌号有点想哭,早知道低等世界有这么厉害的灵智,就让呆萌号来了,他为什么要傻兮兮的争取来“主仆契约而已,我是主你是仆”……从此初酒踏上了,为了拥有身体而努力的路上
  • 神奇的地理景观

    神奇的地理景观

    本书主要讲述了一个时代的诞生,那就是宇航时代。该书一步一步告诉小读者们,人类是怎样开发宇宙的、又是怎样进入宇宙的?读者关心的很多重要问题在这里都有一个充分的讲述。书中既有科学原理的生动讲解,又综合运用图片、图标等具象形式加以表现,从而使读者直观、迅速、深刻地理解了作者所要传达的知识和理念。
  • 凰医帝临七神

    凰医帝临七神

    (原名《焚尽七神:狂傲女帝》)前世,她贵为巅峰女帝,一夕之间局势逆转,沦为废材之质。魂灵双修,医毒无双,血脉觉醒,一御万兽。天现异象,凰命之女,自此归来,天下乱之。这一次,所有欺她辱她之人必杀之!他自上界而来,怀有目的,却因她动摇内心深处坚定的道义。“你曾说,你向仰我,你想像我一样,步入光明,是我对不起你,又让你重新回到黑暗。”“你都不在了,你让我一个人,怎么像向仰你?!”爱与不爱,从来都是我们自己的事,与他人无关。带走了所有的光明与信仰。
  • 流离的萤火爱情

    流离的萤火爱情

    抬头看到的就是他那双孤傲的眼睛,散发着无数的寒气,让人不寒而栗,那张脸简直无懈可击,与哥哥相比似乎更胜一筹,但是他满脸的高傲和不屑,瞬间拒人于千里之外。那个冰山男依旧惜字如金,没有表情,我开始有些怀疑,老哥是不是认错人啦?呼呼,不理他们啦,走咯“答应我一个要求!”说得这么爽快?是早有预谋吗?可是不应该,总不至于他是策划者吧“要求?行,但是你不可以说…”委屈啊,莫名其妙地要答应冰山男一个要求。“不管如何,你都要信我!”那是你对我的乞求吗?一次次的错过,一次次的误会,他们之间是否经得起时间的考验?可爱善良的韩雪柔能够等到幸福钟声响起吗?面对昔日的男友、今时的未婚夫,她该如何抉择?求收藏,求推荐,求订阅,嘻嘻,我会再接再厉的~~~推荐——http://m.pgsk.com/a/450433/《邪魅总裁:女人,乖乖躺着!》推荐新作温馨治愈系列:听说,爱情回来过。http://m.pgsk.com/a/702512/
  • 我的徒儿是女娲

    我的徒儿是女娲

    意外成了女娲娘娘的师父,被拉入一个万界大佬齐聚的聊天群,于是,我的无敌(软饭)人生从此开始,斗气?魔法?武魂?仙术?诸天万道,我万法皆通,天宫?地府?斗气大陆?斗罗大陆?诸天万界,任我遨游,元始天尊?太上老君?唐斗罗?萧斗帝?诸天大佬敬我如神明,谁不服,不跟你多废话,我让我徒儿收拾你!PS:新书【西游:从高老庄开始苟到无敌】新鲜出炉,仙侠情景喜剧,可移步一观!