But in the third book he feels obliged to allow,
in the face of the contrary dogma held, as he says, by "not a
few most eminent men piously solicitous for the authority of the
sacred text," that the Hebrew punctuation was, after all, not of
Divine inspiration, but a late invention of the rabbis.
France, also, was held to all appearance in complete
subjection to the orthodox idea up to the end of the century.
In 1697 appeared at Paris perhaps the most learned of all the
books written to prove Hebrew the original tongue and source of
all others. The Gallican Church was then at the height of its
power. Bossuet as bishop, as thinker, and as adviser of Louis
XIV, had crushed all opposition to orthodoxy. The Edict of Nantes
had been revoked, and the Huguenots, so far as they could escape,
were scattered throughout the world, destined to repay France
with interest a thousandfold during the next two centuries. The
bones of the Jansenists at Port Royal were dug up and scattered.
Louis XIV stood guard over the piety of his people.
Pages:
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057