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

preface, title page, copyright, dedication

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 revolutionary 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' illuminatingwork treats a major chapter in the history 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. This page intentionally left blank Editions SR / 12 This page intentionally left blank 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, 1926The 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 - 18thcentury. 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 manuscriptsuppliedin 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 mechanical—without the prior writtenpermission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography Collective, 379 Adelaide Street West, Suite Ml, 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 Jack and for Reford and Natalie This page intentionally left blank ...