ceeded in suppressing all who sought liberty, either political
or religious, and because of its prominence in affairs, it was the
first institution to feel the storm of the revolution. The church in
France was attacked fully forty years before the king and the nobility
were arraigned by the enraged populace.

_Influence of the Philosophers_.--There appeared in France in the reign
of Louis XV what was known as "the new literature," in contrast with
the classic literature of the previous reign. The king and the church
combined fought this new literature, because it had a tendency to
endanger absolutism. It was made by such brilliant men as Helvetius,
Montesquieu, Voltaire, Condillac, and Rousseau. Perhaps the writings
of these men had more to do with the precipitation of the revolution
than the arbitrary assumptions of royalty, the wretchedness of the
people, the supercilious abuses of the nobility, and the corruption of
the church.

Without presenting the various philosophies of these writers, it may be
said that they attacked the systems of government, religion, and
philosophy prevailing in France, and each succeeding writer more boldly
proclaimed the evils of the day. Condillac finally convinced the
people that they owed their evil conditions to the institutions of
church and state under which they lived, and showed that, if they
desired a change, all it was necessary to do was to sweep those
institutions away. Other philosophers speculated on the best means of
improving the government. Presenting ideal forms of {404} government
and advocating principles not altogether certain in practice, they made
it seem, through these speculative theories, that a perfect government
is possible.

Of the great writers of France prior to the revolution who had a
tremendous power in hastening the downfall of the royal regime, three
stand out more prominently than others, namely, Voltaire, Montesquieu,
and Rousseau. Voltaire, keen critic and satirist, attacked the evils
of society, the maladministration of courts and government, the
dogmatism of the church, and aided and defended the victims of the
system. He was a student of Shakespeare, Locke, and Newton, and of
English government. He was highly critical but not constructive.
Montesquieu, more philosophical, in his _Spirit of the Laws_ pointed
out the cause of evils, expounded the nature of governments, and upheld
English liberty as worthy the consideration of France. Ro