^7 JJ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS UNIVERSITY EXTENSION SYLLABUS THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN EUROPE H. MORSE STEPHENS BERKELEY: THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OCTOBER, 1905 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS UNIVERSITY EXTENSION SYLLABUS OF A Course of Twelve Lectures ON THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN EUROPE BY H. MORSE STEPHENS . ;i' ''''HV'i BERKELEY: THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OCTOBER, 1905 LIST OF LECTURES. ^^ x 1 . — The Period and the Characteristics of the Enlightened Despotism in Europe during the Eighteenth Century; Administrative Reform ; the Despots and their Ministers. 2.— Frederick the Great of Prussia; Efforts for Material Prosperity. 3. — Catherine of Russia; Codification and Legal Reform. 4. — Joseph of Austria; Toleration in Religion. 5. — The Despots and their Ministers in Southern Europe; the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, Tanucci in Naples, Charles III of Spain, Pombal in Portugal. 6.— The Despots and their Ministers in Northern Europe; Gustavus III of Sweden, Struensee and Bernstorff in Denmark, the Margrave Charles Frederick of Baden. 7. — Voltaire, the Champion of Humanitarianism. 8.— The Campaign against Serfdom and Infringements of Personal Liberty . 9.— The Physiocrats ; Attempts to Abolish Restrictions on the Freedom of Industry and Trade; Turgot. 10.— Efforts k^ Aid the Affliqtfeci; ^Improvement in the Treatment of the Insane, the Deaf-Mu'tfes ^nd the Blind ; Hospital Reform. 1 1 . — Efforts to Aid the Unfortunate ; Prison Reform ; the Problem of Mendicancy; Count Rumford in Bavaria. 12.— Development of Education; Organization of Charity; the Transition from Medieval to Modern Society. THE ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN EUROPE. LECTURE ONE. The Period and Characteristics of the Enlightened Despotism in Europe during the Eighteenth Century; Administrative Reform; the Despots and their Ministers. The change of attitude of modem historians with re- gard to the history of the eighteenth century in Europe; abandonment of the idea that the French Revolution inaug- urated modern civilization ; recognition of the fact that the French Revolution marked the culmination of a period and not the beginning of a new era. The reforms of the eighteenth century, which mark the transition from medieval to modern civilization, were the work of enlightened but despotic rulers, or of enlight- ened ministers, sustained by despotic rulers ; Napoleon Bonaparte the last of the enlightened despots. The term ''enlightened despotism" first used by Ger- man writers in the middle of the nineteenth century; the German words Aufgekldrte Despotismus translated into French as despotisme eclaire and later into English as en- lightened despotism. Application of the word despotism; the belief of the eighteenth century that rulers knew what was good for the. people better than the people themselves; the thorough belief in the arbitrary government of a wise and good man as more conducive to the prosperity and happiness of a people than self-government; the belief of the despots in 416J59 their mission ; the ideals of paternal government ; tender or contemptuous attitude of rulers towards their subjects. The declaration of Louis XIV of France ''I am the State" typical of the latter part of the seventeenth cen- tury; the declaration of Frederick the Great of Prussia ' ' I am the First Servant of the State ' ' typical of the eight- eenth century. The characteristics of the despotism of the eigliteenth century which entitled it to be called enlightened ; the belief -in -expert and sympathetic administration, the efforts made to promote material prosperity, the abolition of medi- eval shackles on freedom of labor and trade, the assertion of individual liberty, the simplification of law and legal procedure, the advancement of the theory of religious toler- ation, and the recognition of the duty of the State to aid the afflicted and the unfortunate and to develop popular education. The enlightened despots could only carry out their re- forms through a well organized system of administration; the rise of the expert administrator; disappearance of the power of the European aristocracy ; administrative reforms ; growth of admin istrative effi ciency ; in this respect Napo- leon was the last and greatest of the enlightened adminis- trators. The period of the enlightened despotism was contem- porary with the American Revolution, but the two sets of ideas had no relation to each other; the form of the English government prevented the establishment of des- potism in Great Britain; in France, where the ideas of enlightenment were most successfully formulated, the weak- ness of the despot prevented their being carried into effect ; the most thorough-going reforms were effected in the more backward states of Europe, in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Spain and Portugal. The dates of the principal enlightened despots show the European character of the movement for reform ; Fred- erick the Great, King of Prussia (king 1740-1786, but engaged in war to 1763) ; Catherine, Empress of Russia (1762-1796) ; the Emperor Joseph (Emperor, 1765-1790, but ruler of the Austrian dominions, 1780-1790) ; Charles III, King of Spain (1759-1788) ; Gustavus III, King of Sweden (1771-1792) ; the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany (1765-1790) ; the Margrave Charles Frederick of Baden (1771-1811). In some countries the work of reform was carried on by enlightened ministers ; the most important of these were : the Marquis of Pombal in Portugal (1750-1777) ; Bernardo Tanucci in Naples (1734-1776) ; Du Tillot in Parma (1749- 1771) ; Struensee (1770-1772) and Andrew Bernstorff (1772-1780, 1784-1795) in Denmark; Turgot in France (1774r-1776). The result of a study 6f the period of the enlightened despotism brings out the fact that the social, economic and humanitarian reforms of the eighteenth century were the work of enlightened rulers, who had no sympathy with the idea of popular government; these things were accom- plished in France in conjunction with the new idea of the sovereignty of the people, but, though the reforms lasted, the idea of popular sovereignty went down under the stress of defending the national existence and made way for the enlightened despotism of the Emperor Napoleon. BOOKS EECOMMENDED. There are no books in English devoted to the enlightened despotism in Europe. LECTURE TWO. Frederick the Great of Prussia; Efforts for Material Prosperity. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, was the most important of the enlightened despots of the eighteenth cen- tury; the fame he acquired as a soldier during the first half of his reign caused him to be taken as a model by other rulers during the second half of his reign. Frederick the Great (born January 24, 1712) succeeded his father as King of Prussia (May 31, 1740) ; his unhappy life as Crown Prince ; his training and character ; his stud- ies; his literary and philosophic tastes; his genius as a general and a military organizer ; the first half of his reign taken up with war and diplomacy; T^ar_ofjtlLe .Austrian _Succession (1740-48). ; ^even^. Jeers' War (1756-1763); the period of reform (1763-86). The internal administration of Frederick: his measures for restoring prosperity ; paternal government ; Frederick 's attitude towards agriculture, manufactures and commerce; his attempt to improve farming; distribution of seeds and introduction of the potato ; his encouragement of colonists ; establishment of ' 4and-banks " ; Frederick regarded the material prosperity of the people as the chief aim of his administration. Frederick 's conception of monarchy : his understanding of the ' ' Auf geklarte Despotismus " ; he held that his abso- lutism could be justified only by earnest work for the good of the people. The administrative machinery created by Frederick the Great: following his father's example, he confided the administration to a bureaucracy composed of men of the middle class and dependent entirely upon himself; com- parison between the French and the Prussian bureaucra- cies: the former hindered, while the latter promoted, gen- eral prosperity at the close of the eighteenth century, be- cause Prussia was more backward in civilization than France. Frederick the Great's attitude towards his nobility: he employed nobles in the army rather than in the civil service, and formed them into a military caste. , Frederick the Great and serfdom: he maintained the authority of the nobles upon their estates as part of the compensation for excluding them from political power and as an inducement to them to continue their services in the army ; but he endeavored to abolish or reduce the harshness of serfdom on the royal domains. Frederick the Great considered as a typical enlight- ened despot of the eighteenth century: (1) his great public works, as the making of canals and roads, the draining of marshes and the improvement of Berlin; (2) his endeavors to simplify and codify the system of laws in the Codex Fredericiana, the work of the Chancellor Cocceji; (3) he discouraged all idea of local or municipal self-government ; (4) he insisted upon absolute toleration of religious wor- ship while ready to pose as the protector of Protestantism ; (5) he established a system of compulsory primary edu- cation. Frederick the Great differed from the other enlightened despots in his neglect of national higher education and in his refusal to adopt the new economic ideas in collecting his revenue. The efforts of Frederick the Great for the promotion of the material prosperity of his subjects were imitated by the other enlightened rulers ; in the undertaking of great public works Catherine, Joseph and Charles III of Spain were particularly zealous; they were great road makers and bridge builders ; they all encouraged agriculture ; influ- ence of the Physiocrats in this development. BOOKS EECOMMENDED. The books in English on Frederick the Great, such as Carlyle ''History of Frederick the Great," are almost entirely devoted to his military career, but most of them give a little space to his peace reforms. The great literature in German upon this subject has not yei been transmuted into English. LECTURE THREE. Catherine of Russia ; Codification and Legal Reform. The Empress Catherine of Russia as an enlightened despot; the particular difficulty of her position; the back- wardness of the Russian people; the absence of educated men for the work of administration; the absence of a middle class; her situation as a foreigner and as respon- sible for the murder of her husband; the advantages of her position ; the acceptance of the autocratic idea by the Russian people. The personality of Catherine the Great ; born a princess of Anhalt-Zerbst (1729) ; her marriage to the Grand Duke Peter (1745) ; her life at the court of her husband's aunt, the Empress Elizabeth; accession of her husband as the Tsar Peter III (January 5, 1762) ; overthrow of Peter III (July 9, 1762) and his murder (July 17). The character of Catherine the Great; her court; her habits ; her despotism ; her enlightenment ; vigor of her in- tellect ; immorality of her life. Catherine the Great 's administration of the Russian Em- pire: she followed the ideas of Peter the Great in ruling through a bureaucratic system entirely dependent upon the will of the ruler and consisting chiefly of foreigners, but she preserved the attachment of the Russian people by meeting the national wishes for territorial expansion. Catherine summoned an assembly from all parts and all classes of the Empire to draw up a code of laws (1766-68), but Russia was not sufficiently advanced in civilization for such a benefit. Catherine the Great 's administration of the Russian Em- pire; division into forty-four governments, in the place of the eight of Peter the Great; subdivision into districts; the assemblies of the nobility; liberal treatment of the cities, which were given municipal independence ; forma- tion of courts of justice for the nobles, the bourgeois and the free peasants in eacli district and government, with final appeal to the Senate; resumption of the lands and serfs of the Church, the profits from which, after payment of the monks, were used for educational and charitable purposes ; general religious tolerance shown even to Muham- madans and Jesuits. Catherine's great public works: she made canals and improved agriculture and means of communication; she encouraged commerce and manufactures ; her commercial treaties with England and France; establishment of Ger- man colonies; foundation of new cities. Catherine and the intellectual development of Russia : I she founded the Russian Academy (1783) and encouraged foreigners to visit and describe her country ; like Frederick the Great, she kept in touch with the intellectual move- ment of Western Europe ; her friendship with Diderot and correspondence with Grimm. Attitude of Catherine towards serfdom : she endeavored to regulate but not abolish itf she forbade the public sale of serfs or the separation of families; the case of Daria Soltikov. Catherine's method of government: she kept the direc- tion of affairs in her own hands ; her diligence and insight ; her attitude towards her ministers and her lovers. Catherine and her court : she made use of her discarded lovers in the management of affairs; the importance of the Orlovs (1762-72), and of Potemkin (1774-76); her wisdom in selecting her lovers from among the Russians and not from foreigners. Catherine's zeal in carrying out the plans of Peter the Great and in fulfilling the ambitions of the Russian people in foreign politics kept the Russians, and even the mem- bers of the Old Russian party, faithful to her in spite of her being a German and of her maintenance of Western ideas; her adherence to Russian ideals necessary for the maintenance of her power. 10 The attempt of Catherine the Great to make a code of laws for Russia and to improve judicial procedure typical of the eighteenth century. Many projects of legal and judicial reform: promulga- tion of codes of law, in which work Frederick the Great of Prussia, the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, Maximi- lian Joseph of Bavaria, and Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony, were especially distinguished; reforms in judi- cial administration by the abolition of torture and the introduction of more humane methods of punishment; im- provement in this respect was shown in the work of all the enlightened despots, owing chiefly to the influence of Vol- taire and Beccaria; effect of the publication of Beccaria's Dei deMtti e della pene (1764), Montesquieu's Esprit des lois (1748), and Filangieri's Scienza della legislazione (1780). BOOKS KECOMMENDED. The various books on Catherine in English are more occupied with her strange personality and her wars for the expansion of Eussia than with her reforms, but something can be gleaned from such works as Eambaud, "History of Eussia," and Morfill, ''Story of Eussia," and from the lively works of Waliszewski, "The'Eomance of an Empress" and ''Around a Throne." LECTURE FOUR. Joseph of Austria; Toleration in Religion. The enlightened despotism in the Austrian dominions; the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa (1740-1780) ; her character; her conservatism in administration; her piety; her genuine sympathy with her people ; her court ; her hus- band, the Emperor Francis I; her sons and daughters; her widowhood (1765) ; the restraint she exercised over her son Joseph during the last fifteen years of her life. On the death of the Emperor Francis I (August 18, 1765) his eldest son, Joseph II, was elected Emperor, while 11 his second son, the Archduke Leopold, succeeded him as Grand Duke of Tuscany. Character and training of Joseph II : for fifteen years he held the position of Emperor without being ruler of the Austrian dominions ; difficulties of this position ; his endeavors to make the power of the Emperor more of a reality; his interference in foreign affairs; his admiration for Frederick the Great followed by a still greater admira- tion for the Tsaritsa Catherine. Death of Maria Theresa (November 29, 1780) and acces- sion of Joseph II to the Austrian dominions. The Emperor Joseph II in many ways the most, typical of the enlightened despots ; his personality ; his ardent de- sire to improve the condition of his people ; the three vices which led to the failure of his schemes for reform : ( 1 ) his desire to do everything for the people and not by the people; (2) his wish to weld the Austrian dominions into a homogeneous realm like France, or an administrative entity like Prussia and Russia; (3) the rapidity with which he forced his reforms on the people without any prepa- ration. Joseph II 's national reforms : his attempts to unify and centralize the administration ; he made German the official language in the home dominions of the House of Hapsburg; he endeavored to destroy all local franchises and to estab- lish the same system throughout his dominions ; his efforts for administrative and judicial unity and regularity; he divided his dominions into thirteen governments, subdi- vided into circles; in each government he established a court of justice with two chambers, one for the nobility and one for the bourgeoisie; in each circle there was ap- pointed an official to execute justice and protect the peasants. Joseph II 's religious reform^; he issued an edict of toleration, permitting freedom of thought and worship (1781) ; the visit of Pope Pius VI to Vienna (1782) ; Jo- 12 seph II suppressed numerous convents and religious orders, and endeavored to reform the administration of the Church ; he freed the Jews from their disabilities and per- mitted them to enter the army; he endeavored to make education secular and to take it out of the hands of the Church. Joseph II 's attack upon infringements of personal lib- erty: he abolished serfdom in Bohemia (1781), in Carin- thia, Carniola and the Breisgau (1782), and in Hungary (August 22, 1785), and inaugurated a system for removing feudal burdens and forced labor; he abolished all guilds and corporations interfering with freedom of labor. Joseph II 's efforts to improve the intellectual condition of his people : he established a system of primary education and freed the press from the censorship (1781). Joseph II 's encouragement of public works and im- provement of means of communication. Joseph II 's encouragement of trade and commerce : his endeavors to obtain from the Dutch the freedom of the River Scheldt. Joseph II 's fiscal reforms: his endeavors to introduce the physiocratic principles of taxation. The result of Joseph II 's reforms was to rouse discon- tent and even rebellion throughout his dominions ; the Hun- garian magnates were disgusted at his freeing the serfs and all the Magyars at his attempts at Germanization ; the Czechs in Bohemia were apprehensive that his reforms would crush them further; the Tyrolese were in a ferment at his measures against the Church, and the Belgians were forced into open rebellion, both by his interference with their local government and by his measures against the Catholic Church. The failure of Joseph and its significance ; death of the Emperor Joseph (February 20, 1790). The decrees of religious toleration and abolishing serf- dom were the most conspicuous acts of the reign of Joseph ; 13 in both these steps he followed the trend of public opinion^ which was most strongly expressed by Voltaire. Extension of ideas of religious toleration in Europe, embracing not only the different forms of Christianity, but also Judaism: the Emperor Joseph II, and Bernstorff in Denmark, specifically abolished the disabilities of the Jews; Frederick the Great showed himself tolerant to all varieties of Christians ; but the most famous declarations of toleration, permitting both liberty of thought and liberty of worship, were issued by Cathe^rine II in her instruction for the making of a new code (1766), which even per- mitted the Muhammadans to build mosques, and by Joseph II in his Edict of Toleration (October 13, 1781). Deliberate steps taken to diminish the wealth and power of the Church in Roman Catholic states: illustrated by the combined attack upon the Jesuits, and by the suppres- sion of the Inquisition in Parma (1768), in Lombardy (1775), in Tuscany (1782), in Sicily (1782), and its modi- fication in Portugal (1769), and by the measures taken for reducing the number of bishops and monks, by the Em- peror Joseph II, the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, Tanucci, and the Elector Charles Theodore of Bavaria, BOOKS EECOMMENDED. There is very little in English upon the Emperor Joseph, but reference may be made to J. F. Bright, ' * Joseph II, ' ' to Coxe, ' ' His- tory of the House of Austria," and to the essay by E. A. Freeman in his ''Historical Essays.'' 14 LECTURE FIVE. The Despots and their Ministers in Southern Europe the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, Tanucci in Naples, Charles III of Spain, Pombal in Portugal. Italy in the eighteenth century; the opportunities for enlightened despotism; the various states of Italy; absence of national spirit ; the curious paradox of the enlightened government of two of Maria Theresa's sons in Italy, of the Archduke Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and of the Archduke Ferdinand, Governor-General of Lombardy, and of the dismissal of enlightened ministers through the influence of two of Maria Theresa's daughters, Maria Caro- lina, Queen of Naples and Sicily, and Maria Amelia, Duch- ess of Parma; the absence of enlightenment in the two great Italian Republics, Venice and Genoa; efforts of Pope Pius VI to improve conditions in the States of the Church ; the government of Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia (1773-1796). The administration of the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany, second son of Maria Theresa (1765-90) ; his re- forms; his code of laws; he reduced the number of bish- oprics and monasteries ; he improved the material condition , of Tuscany; his administrative reforms; his judicial re- forms; he adopted the economic ideas of the Physiocrats and abolished all restrictions on industry and commerce; his patronage of higher education; he founded the pros perity of Leghorn ; he disbanded his army ; the Grand Duke Leopold the most enlightened of the benevolent despots. The reign of Don Philip, Duke of Parma (1749-65) ; the administration of Du Tillot, Marquis of Felino (b. 1711, d. 1774) ; his reforms; his patronage of higher education; his action against the monasteries; his encouragement of manufactures; the reign of Don Ferdinand (1765-1802) ; 15 Du Tillot's scheme of marrying him to the heiress of Mo- dena foiled; Du Tillot's struggle with the Papacy and suj)- pression of the Jesuits; he abolished the Inquisition and reorganized the University of Parma (1768) ; Don Ferdi- nand married Maria Amelia, daughter of Maria Theresn (1769) ; dismissal of Du Tillot by the influence of the Duchess (1771) ; greatness of Du Tillot; ^'a great minister of a little state." The Two Sicilies : the government of Don Carlos, after- wards Charles III of Spain (1735-59) ; the administration of Tanucci (b. 1698, d. 1783), one of the most enlightened ministers of his time ; he abolished feudalism in Naples ; his attempt to reform the laws; his encouragement of art and education ; his action against the power of the Church ; Charles on his accession to the throne of Spain gave Naples and Sicily to his third son, Ferdinand IV (1751-1825) : during the minority of the young king, Tanucci remained in power; he continued his reforms; he cooperated in the suppression of the Jesuits and occupied Benevento and Ponte Corvo (1769) ; his struggle with the Papacy and suppression of useless bishoprics; as a result of his mar- riage (1768) with Maria Carolina, daughter of Maria The- resa, the king dismissed Tanucci (1776) ; supremacy of the Queen; backwardness of the island of Sicily; its ''Parlia- ment"; failure of the attempted reforms of Domenico Ca- racciolo (1781). Spain in the eighteenth century: poverty and exhaus- tion, material and intellectual, of the country; character of the government of the Bourbon kings of Spain ; the royal revenue derived from the Spanish colonies in America; their misgovernment ; attempts made to maintain a strong navy; abandonment of commerce. The reign of Charles III, formerly King of Naples and Sicily (1759-88) : Charles III one of the enlightened des- pots; his efforts to improve the condition of Spain; his difficulties; excellence of his ministers; administrative re- 16 forms of Squillacci (1759-66) ; their unpopularity; forced from office by a riot at Madrid; Aranda (b. 1718, d. 1799) and the expulsion of the Jesuits; his internal administra- tion (1766-73) ; its spirit of progress carried on by Florida Blanca (1773-92) ; their belief in autocracy and central- ization ; O 'Reilly reformed the army and rebuilt the navy ; Campomanes established a national system of education, and with Jovellanos reformed the judicial system and intro- duced the ideas of the political economists; Cabarrus founded the Bank of St. Charles (1782), and established a national system of credit; revival of commerce after throwing open trade with America to all Spanish ports; reform of the currency; encouragement of public works and improvement of agriculture; endeavor of Olavide to restore prosperity in Andalusia; his overthrow by the In- quisition (1776) ; death of Charles III (December 14, 1788). The reign of Joseph, King of Portugal (1750-77) ; the earthquake at Lisbon (November 1, 1755) ; the administra- tion of Pombal (b. 1699, d. 1782), one of the enlightened ministers of the eighteenth century; his internal policy and reforms ; his belief in autocracy ; Pombal took the lead in the suppression of the Society of Jesus; he abolished slavery in Portugal (May 25, 1773), but maintained negro slavery in Brazil; he reformed the administration and the judicial system; he encouraged trade and manufactures; he promoted higher education, founded more than 800 schools, and reorganized the University of Coimbra; dis- missal of Pombal (1777). BOOKS EECOMMENDED. Some account of the reforms of the Grand Duke Leopold can be found in H. E. Napier, ''Florentine History/' of the reforms of Tanucei in Colletta, "History of Naples," translated into English by Horner, of the reforms of Charles III in Coxe, "Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon," and in M. A. S. Hume, "Spain, Its Greatness and Decay," and of the reforms in Portugal in Morse Stephens, ' ' Story of Portugal ' ' and in J. Smith, ' ' Memoirs of the Marquis of Pombal." 17 LECTURE SIX. The Despots and their Ministers in Northern Europe ; Gustavus III of Sweden, Struensee and Bernstorff in Denmark, the Margrave Charles Frederick of Baden. The enlightened despotism in northern Europe and in Germany, outside of the Prussian and Austrian dominions. The reign of Gustavus III of Sweden (1771-92) ; his character and education; his travels; his attachment to France; his adoption of the theory of enlightened des- potism; supported by Vergennes, the French ambassador to Sweden, by a coup d'etat (August 19, 1772) he destroyed the power of the Senate and assumed all executive au- thority, leaving the control of taxation to the Estates; his internal policy; sweeping reforms; he abolished torture, encouraged commerce, improved the administration and suppressed the censorship of the press ; his difficulties with the Estates; his autocratic actions. The foreign policy of Gustavus III; he joined the Armed Neutrality (1780) ; to win national support he at- tacked Russia (1788) ; misbehavior of the Swedish army in Finland; the malcontents led by the king's brother, Charles, Duke of Sudermania; Sweden attacked by Den- mark (1788) ; coup d'etat of 1789 (February 20) ; Gus- tavus declared a new fundamental law of Sweden, that 'Hhe King shall administer the affairs of State as he thinks best"; assassination of Gustavus III (1792). Claims of Gustavus III to be considered a typical en- lightened despot of the 18th century. Reign of Christian VII, King of Denmark (1766-1808) : Struensee (b. 1737) made chief minister (1770) ; his char- acter; his philosophical ideas and use of his power; he represented the German, philosophical and sweeping re- form party; he suppressed the censorship of the press, 18 abolished the Council of State, reorganized the army, estab- lished religious toleration, simplified the collection of the revenue, encouraged education and reformed the law and the judicial administration; Struensee accused of being too intimate with the Queen, Caroline Matilda, sister of George III of England ; a conspiracy formed against him ; he was arrested (January 17, 1772) and executed (April 28, 1772). Andrew Bernstorff (b. 1735, d. 1797), chief minister; in foreign affairs he maintained the English alliance; in internal affairs he carried out gradual reforms; insanity of the King; the Queen Dowager forced Bernstorff to re- sign (1780), and called Guldberg to office; Denmark joined the Armed Neutrality (1780) ; the Crown Prince Frederick seized the government (1784) and recalled Bernstorff to office; the reforms of Bernstorff; he prohib- ited the negro slave trade and (June 20, 1788) finally abol- ished serfdom in Denmark ; the Jews allowed the rights of citizens; by an arrangement with Russia, Denmark at- tacked Sweden in 1788, but peace was made the same year by the intervention of the Triple Alliance. Imitation of the splendor and despotism of Louis XIV almost universal among German princes during the first half of the 18th century; followed during the second half by a general adherence to the ideas of enlightened despot- ism; influence of Frederick the Great in bringing about this change. The most remarkable enlightened despot in Germany was Charles Frederick (b. 1728, d. 1811), Margrave of Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach ; his writings on political economy and attempt to put physiocratic ideas into practice ; he abolished serfdom (July 23, 1783) and established a scheme of primary education; among other princes simi- larly enlightened may be noted Maximilian Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, a great law reformer and codifier, and Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine and Elector of Bavaria, who suppressed many convents, and, with the help of Count 19 Eumford (b. 1753, d. 1814), promoted reforms, but who showed intolerance to Protestants; Frederick Augustus, Elector of Saxony ; Clement Wenceslas of Saxony, Elector- Archbishop of Treves, and the Archduke Maximilian, Elector-Archbishop of Cologne, who were both tolerant rulers ; Franz Ludwig von Erthal, Bishop of Bamberg and Wurtzburg; and Fiirstenberg, who administered the bish- opric of Miinster for many years. Although government in the larger states of Germany was administered on enlightened principles towards the close of the 18th century, the government of the smaller principalities was generally oppressive. BOOKS EECOMMENDED. For the reforms in Sweden see E. N. Bain, ' ' Gustavus III and his Contemporaries ; ' ' there is no book in English devoted to the Danish reforms of the eighteenth century, but the Struensee episode is dis- cussed in Wraxall, ''Life and Times of Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark ; ' ' though somewhat old fashioned, reference may be made for the reforms in Germany to the translation of Schlosser, ''His- tory of the Eighteenth Century," and something may be gathered from the opening pages of J. E. Seeley, ' ' Life and Times of Stein. ' '• LECTURE SEVEN. Voltaire, the Champion of Humanitarianism. The development of the spirit of humanitarianism in the eighteenth century; contrast between the duty of serv- ing humanity from the impulse of religion. and from the instincts of brotherhood. The humanitarian trend of the literature and the philosophy of the eighteenth century; the growth of edu- cated public opinion; the European character of public opinion; the influence of the great French writers. Voltaire, the champion of humanitarianism ; his opposi- tion to revealed religion; the character of his scepticism; 20 the reality of his love for humanity ; his courage in fighting for the rights of the individual and for religious tolerance. Frangois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (born February 20, 1694, died May 30, 1778) ; his family, education and early life; his imprisonment in the Bastille (1717-1718) ; his first dramas and his "Henriade"; his visit to England (1726- 1729). The fame of Voltaire ; his correspondence with the great figures of the eighteenth century, notably with Frederick the Great and Pope Benedict XIV; his residence at the Court of Prussia (1749-1753) ; his latter years at Ferney; his final visit to Paris (1778) and death (May 30, 1778). The fame of Voltaire as a man of letters has obscured his glory as a champion of humanity; his attacks on serf- dom, aroused by the existence of the only serfs in France, on the lands of the Abbey of St. Claude in the Jura; his zeal for religious toleration shown in the part he took with regard to the cases of Calas and Labarre; his ardent sup- port of Beccaria's denunciation of cruel punishments; his attacks upon legal absurdities ; his constant appeal to com- mon sense. Voltaire's attitude upon politics; he did not so much care about forms of government as he did about the duties of governors; his friendship with kings and ministers; attitude of Frederick, Catherine and Joseph with regard to Voltaire. Voltaire's opposition to the more extreme ideas of the Physiocrats ; his ' ' The Man with the Forty Crowns. ' ' Although Voltaire was the most brilliant and effective champion of humanitarianism, there were other writers, both in France and Italy, who advocated the same views; the Encyclopaedists ; Diderot ; Beccaria ; Verri ; the Mar- quis de Mirabeau. Contrast between Voltaire and Eousseau; the practical sense of Voltaire contrasted with the hysterical senti- mentality of Rousseau ; contrast between their views on 21 government; the services of Rousseau to the cause of edu- cation. The curious fact that the great French writers for whose applause and criticism the enlightened despots and their ministers looked were unable to influence their own government. Public opinion in the eighteenth century; its effective- ness; its international character; rapid spread of enlight- ened and humanitarian ideas; the freemasons and the in- fluence of freemasonry. BOOKS EECOMMENDED. The best known book in English on Voltaire is John Morley, ''Life of Voltaire/' which however deals more with Voltaire as a philosopher than as the champion of humanity. There are other lives by James Parton and E. B. Hamley. But the best way to under- stand Voltaire is to read his own works and for the illustration of this lecture especially his correspondence with the sovereigns of Europe. There is a brilliant study in French of Voltaire as a Euro- pean force by Arsene Houssaye, entitled ''Le Eoi Voltaire." LECTURE EIGHT. The Campaign against Serfdom and Infringements of Personal Liberty. The character of serfdom in Europe in the eighteenth century; it was a relic of the economic conditions of me- dieval civilization; and its conditions differed greatly not only in different countries but in different parts of the same country; even where serfdom itself had ceased to exist feudal conditions remained which made the lot of the farmer or agricultural laborer very little better than that of a serf. Distinction to be drawn between chattel slavery and serfdom. 22 Serfdom was an incident of medieval agriculture and left traces even where agricultural conditions had ceased to exist. By the eighteenth century serfdom had entirely dis- appeared from England, the Protestant Netherlands and Sweden, while in Latin countries, like France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, the personal disabilities of serfdom had ceased to exist but traces of it remained in the form of restrictions upon agriculture. Serfdom was at its worst in Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Denmark, but even in these countries there were varying degrees. Where serfdom flourished most the serf could not marry without the leave of his lord, could not leave his village or his farm, could not change his occupation, and had to work himself and to force his children to work with- out pay in the lord's service as laborers or domestic servants. This was the normal condition in the countries in which serfdom flourished ; in the Latin countries these restrictions on personal liberty did not exist, but the free peasant had to cultivate his land according to the traditions of feudal- ism, had to grind his grain at the lord's mill, had to leave his land at the mercy of the lord's game and had to perform certain tasks at the load's command. Two steps can be observed in the reforms in this direc- tion, the one to free the serf from the degrading conditions of his life and the other to make him owner of his farm. Voltaire the great opponent of serfdom. The Emperor Joseph and serfdom; his decrees of abolition in Bohemia (1781), in Carinthia, Camiola and the Breisgau (1782) and in Hungary (1785) ; his attempt to accompany the abolition of serfdom with the grant of the lands on which they worked to the former serfs. Frederick the Great and serfdom ; the abolition of serf- dom in the royal demesne; refusal to permit serfdom in 23 the new colonies ; attempt to modify serfdom on the estates of the nobles ; abolition of serfdom in Silesia and Pomerania (1763). The Empress Catherine and serfdom; her reforms affected rather the individual cases which came under her observation than the general body of the serfs. The abolition of serfdom in Denmark by Andrew Bernstorff (1788). Serfdom in Germany; the abolition of serfdom in Baden by the Margrave Charles Frederick (1783) ; its modification in other small states, notably in Brunswick by the Duke Charles William Ferdinand. In the Latin countries where there was no serfdom many medieval restrictions on agriculture were removed, notably by Tanuccci in Naples and Charles III in Spain. Closely connected with the abolition of serfdom was the movement against negro slavery; Pombal abolished negro chattel slavery in Portugal (1773), but maintained it in Brazil; as the century advanced there developed an anti-slavery spirit, which was essentially Christian and Quaker in England and the American Colonies, and human- itarian in France ; foundation of the Anti-Slavery Associa- tion in England (1783) and of the Societe des Amis des Noirs in France (1788). The movement against the negro slave trade and the horrors of ''the middle passage" ; the slave trade prohibited by the Danish government (1784), but not abolished by the English government until 1806. The whole movement against slavery and serfdom indi- cated the growth of greater respect for the liberty of the individual. BOOKS EECOMMENDED. The most accessible books on this topic are Ingrain, "History of Slavery'' and Clarkson, ''History of the Eise, Progress and Aboli- tion of the Slave Trade.'' In French Voltaire's writings on the serfs on the Abbey of St. Claude and Condorcet's "Eeflections on Negro Slavery" are the most characteristic essays. 24 LECTURE NINE. The Physiocrats; Attempts to Abolish Restrictions on the Freedom of Industry and Trade ; Turgot. The school of political economists known as the Physio- crats ; their fundamental ideas ; the first single-taxers ; their attitude with regard to agriculture; the outcome of their single-tax views was opposition to all restraint on freedom of trade. Although the ideas of the Physiocrats rallied a large group of thinkers for freedom of trade, the movement for freedom of labor developed independently of economic theory and was associated with the general assertion of the liberty of the individual. The shackles on freedom of labor in the eighteenth cen- tury came directly from the medieval organization of labor; continued existence of the guilds, which had done good service in the Middle Ages; disappearance of the guilds in the countries in which industry had greatly de- veloped, as in England and the Protestant Netherlands; continuance of the guilds elsewhere. The shackles on trade due to the monopolistic organiza- tion of trading companies. Services rendered by the Physiocrats in concentrating attention upon the evils of restrictions on labor, manufac- tures and commerce. The chief Physiocrats; Quesnay (1694-1774) ; Vincent de Gournay (1721-1759) ; the Marquis de Mirabeau (1715- 1789) ; Mercier de la Riviere (1720-1793) ; Dupont de Nemours (1739-1817) ; Adam Smith (1723-1790) was not a Physiocrat, but had intended to dedicate his famous book "The Wealth of Nations," which was published in 1776, to Quesnay. The attitude of the Physiocrats with regard to govern- ment ; most of them believed in despotism and considered 25 that their ideas could best be put into effect by enlightened rulers. The attitude of the Physiocrats with regard to taxation was generally approved, but only Charles Frederick of Baden tried to put them into effect; Joseph and Leopold adopted their ideas with regard to the abolition of restric- tions on labor and trade but could not go further; Fred- erick the Great was absolutely opposed to the new ideas of political economy and Voltaire poured contempt on the extreme single-tax ideas of Quesnay. The attempt of Turgot in the first eighteen months of the reign of Louis XVI to put the Physiocratic ideas into force in France ; his failure. The reforms of Turgot (b. 1727, d. 1781) : his previous career and economic ideas ; his attempts to reform the finan- cial administration; opposition to his schemes; he estab- lished internal free trade in grain (September 13, 1774), and attacked all restrictions on freedom of labor and free- dom of trade; his decrees replacing the corvee, or forced labor on the roads, by a tax and abolishing guilds passed in spite of the opposition of the Parlement of Paris (March 12, 1776) ; his desire to overthrow the relics of feudalism and to improve agriculture ; the work of Malesherbes (1775- 76); his plan of national education; dismissal of Turgot (May 13, 1776). Some of the enlightened despots were themselves dis- tinguished members of the Physiocratic school like Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden, and the Grand Duke Leo- pold of Tuscany, while the Emperor Joseph II in Austria, Gustavus III in Sweden, Pombal in Portugal, Campomanes and Jovellanos in Spain, and the Bemstorffs in Denmark, were partisans of the new school of political economy. BOOKS EECOMMENDED. There is an excellent little book by H. Higgs, ' ' The Physiocrats, ' ' which can be recommended for the study of this school of political economists, and mention should be made of W. E; Stephens, ''Life 26 and Times of Turgot. " Turgot's little book ''Eeflections on the Formation and Distribution of Eiches" has been translated into English, 1898. LECTURE TEN. Efforts to Aid the Afflicted; Improvement in the Treatment of the Insane, the Deaf-Mutes and the Blind; Hospital Reform. The humanitarian movement of the eighteenth century ; tendency for the State to undertake what had hitherto been regarded as the duty of the Church in caring for the afflicted; connection between scepticism in religion and the recognition of the fraternal duties of humanity; the humanitarian writings of the eighteenth century; their effect upon the enlightened rulers and their ministers. Reform in the treatment of the insane; the medieval attitude towards the insane and the idiotic; insanity and idiocy regarded as punishment inflicted by heaven; the treatment of those afflicted based upon the idea of driving out the devil by force or upon treatment by prayer. The more rational treatment of the insane as diseased subjects arose in the eighteenth century after the destruc- tion of the idea of demoniacal possession ; the work of Vol- taire in combating the medieval theory ; decree of the Parle- ment of Paris declaring that insane persons were to be con- sidered as diseased (1768). The first steps taken by physicians in this direction; publication by Dr. Beattie of a treatise on madness in 1758 ; his lectures on mental diseases; improved conditions at St. Luke's hospital in London over the old practices at Bedlam. Absence of lunatic asylums or special hospitals for the insane; the insane and idiots were confined either in prisons, or in the general hospitals, or in monasteries; the abuses prevalent in private mad houses. 27 Direct interest of the enlightened despots; foundation by the Emperor Joseph of the " Narrenthurm " or '' Fool's Tower" in Vienna, the first building exclusively devoted to the insane in Central Europe, in 1784; interest taken by the Empress Catherine ; foundation of a hospital, with a special section for lunatics, in 1777 ; establishment of a special building for lunatics in Moscow. Parallel development of improved treatment for the in- sane in England and France; interest excited by the in- sanity of George III; protests against the barbarity with which lunatics were treated in England; the establishment of the York Ketreat by Dr. William Tuke in 1792 ; separa- tion of lunatics from the sick in Paris; the regulations of Dr. Colombier (1785) ; the work of Dr. Pinel (1745- 1826) ; publication of his treatise on mental alienation (1791) ; his introduction of kind treatment of the insane at the Bicetre (1793) and the Salpetriere (1795) ; the re- forms of Tuke and Pinel independent of each other. Influence of Pinel in Germany; the work of Dr. Hein- roth, a Saxon physician ; leadership of Saxony in the re- formed treatment of the insane in Germany; Heinroth's lectures at the University of Leipzig; establishment of <;urative asylums at Neu Ruppen (1801) and Sonnenstein (1806). The distinction between lunatics and idiots first clearly made by Dr. Esquirol (1772-1840) ; the treatment of idiots in the village of Gheel, near Antwerp. Recognition of the duty of the State to care for those partially afflicted and deprived of the rights of humanity, such as the deaf-mutes and the blind. Early attempts to relieve the helplessness of deaf- mutes ; interest taken in deaf -mutism ; the establishment of private schools for wealthy patients by Amman in Amster- dam, by Pereira in Paris and by Heinicke at Leipzig; the work of the Abbe de I'Epee who established a school for