Note 1 — Chapter XV · FRENCH AND DUTCH FREETHOUGHT IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

Prof. Strowski, who is concerned to prove that the freethinkers of the period were mostly men-about-town, claims Patin as a Frondeur (De Montaigne à Pascal, p. 215). But Patin’s attitude in this matter was determined by his detestation of Mazarin, whom he regarded as an arch-scoundrel. Naudé’s defence of the Massacre is forensic. ↑