Note 805 — Chapter V
Reading edition
On this decline of the French clergy, see Villemain, XVIIIe Siècle, vol. iii. pp. 178, 179; Cousin, Hist. de la Philos. IIe série, vol. i. p. 301. Tocqueville (Règne de Louis XV, vol. i. pp. 35–38, 365) says, ‘le clergé prêchait une morale qu'il compromettait par sa conduite;’ a noticeable remark, when made by an opponent of the sceptical philosophy, like the elder M. Tocqueville. Among this profligate crew, Massillon stood alone; he being the last French bishop who was remarkable for virtue as well as for ability.