Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-10-23

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 9781527608405

Excerpt from Critical and Historical Essays, Contributed to the Edinburgh Review, Vol. 3 of 3 William was an infant when the civil war broke out; and, while he was still in his rudiments, a Presbyterian hierarchy and a republican government were established on the ruins of the ancient church and throne.01d Mr. Wycherley was attached to the royal cause, and was not disposed to intrust the education of his heir to the solemn Puritans who now ruled the universities and public schools. Accordine the young gentleman was sent at dilceu to France. He resided some time in the neighbourhood of the Duke of Montausier, l chief of one of the noblest families of Touraine. The Duke's wife, a daughter of the house of Rambouillet, was a finished specimen of those talents and ac complishments for which her race was celebrated. The young foreigner was introduced to the splendid circle which surrounded the duchess, and there he appears to have learned some good and some evil. In a few years he returned to his country a fine gentleman and a Papist. His conversion, it may safely be afirmed, was the effect not of any strong impression on his understanding, or feelings, but partly of intercourse with agreeable society in which the Church of Rome was the fashion, and partly of that aversion to Calvinistic austerities which was then almost universal among young Englishmen of parts spirit, and which, at one time, seemed likely to make one half of them Catholics, and the other half Atheists. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.