Man of Spain: Francis Suarez by Joseph H.

Fichter
Review by: Moorhouse F. X. Millar
The American Historical Review, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Apr., 1942), pp. 583-584
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1840005 .
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 Fichter:Man of Spain: Francis Suarez 583

is the basis of proprietaryrightin land. Since sovereigntyderivesfrom

nature,it mustincludethatamountof authority necessaryto createand
maintaina state.Law thenbecomesessentially command, althoughit must
stillconform withius. Parlement mightcautionwithregardto ius,butthe
decisionrestedwith the sovereign. Bodin recognizedsome limitation in
honoringcontracts, in privateproperty,and in certainfundamental laws,
butlaterwriters, combininghislegislative
sovereigntywiththeirowndivine
rightofkings-moreprecisely thedivinerightofHenryofNavarretoreign
by claimof blood royal-produceda monarchupon whosewill theonly
reinwas ethicalconsideration.
Thisessaypresents a carefulifsomewhat repetitive
analysisofthetheoret-
ical approachto absolutism.That thecoursewas dictatedbycrisesis plain
fromBodinhimself, whoseidealin 1566,through possibleCalvinist
leanings,
requiredmorerestraint upon the kingthanafterSt. Bartholomew, when
fearforcedBodinto conform.
ConnecticutCollege. BEATRICEREYNOLDS.

Man of Spain: FrancisSuarez.By JOSEPH H. FICHTER.(New York: Mac-

millanCompany.1940. Pp. 349.$2.50.)
THISis thefirstfull-length picturein EnglishofFrancisSuarez,theman
and the Jesuit;Mr. Fichtermanagesto present, withmuchinsight,the
sourcesof his hero'sgreatness of character.Recognizedin his own lifetime
as outstanding amongstJesuittheologians and philosophers, Suarez here
appearsas stampedwitha spiritof simplicity and Christian humility. As a
thinkerhe is madeto standout againstthebackground of earlierSpanish
history,
in whichhis ancestors playedno smallpartas fighting men.As an
effective
controversialisthe tiltedwithJamesI on thesubjectoftheLutheran
and Anglicandoctrine ofthedivinerightofkingsand in favorofthedemo-
craticfoundation of all justgovernment, onlyto find,however, thefrustra-
tionof anysuchtheory in theeffectsof theSpanishArmadaand thefalse
crusadingspiritofPhilipII.
For therest,Mr.Fichterroundsoutthepicturewithdigressions on such
incidentalmatters as Suarez'sparticipation in theformulation of theratio
studioruumand theten-year-long controversyde auxiliisbetween theDomin-
icansand theJesuits. He is presented as forthright,especiallywhendealing
with superiorswhom he deeplyrespected, of judiciousindependence of
thoughtin all mattersnot settledin authoritatively definedfaith,and of
greatpatiencein thefaceofthesmalland sometimes meanbutever-nagging
oppositionand criticism of somebothinsideand outsideof hisown order.
Suarez was primarily, however, a teacherand a prolific authorof com-
prehensivetreatises,
philosophical and theological.It was theintrinsicworth
of hisphilosophicalworkson metaphysics andon thephilosophy ofthestate
and ofthepropernatureand functions oflaw and government thataccounts

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584 Reviews of Books

mainlyforhisnow forgotten yetactuallytremendous influence

uponseven-
teenthcentury thought.In thisconnection EdmundBurkewas hisgreatest
disciple.And to manyit stillappearsthat,butforSuarez'sdevelopment of
constitutional
principles
and histheory ofthecorporate moralpersonality
of
thestate(whichJamesWilsonwouldseemtohavetakenoverin hisopinion
in thecaseof Chisholmv. Georgia),we shouldneverhavehad ourpresent
"moreperfect union"of federated states.
Althoughthislifeof Suarezas "The Man of Spain"fallsconsiderably
shortof whatSuarezhimself deserves,Mr.Fichteris tobe congratulated
on
havingtakena firststeptowarda revivalof interest in Suarez'srightful
placein thetraditionof sounddemocratic principles.
FordhamUniversity. MOORHOUSE F. X. MILLAR.

Voltaireand Madame du Chatelet:An Essay on the IntellectualActivityat

Cirey.By IRA 0. WADE. [Princet6nPublicationsin RomanceLanguages.]
(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress. 194I. PP. Xii,24I. $3.00.)
THE late J. M. Robertson,in his Short History of Free-Thought,re-
markedthatthe historyof Frenchdeism had neverbeen adequatelytreated.
ProfessorWade's contributions, bothin thisworkand in ClandestineOrgan-
ization and Diffusionof PhilosophicIdeas in France from 1700 to 1750,
thatmustbe overcomebeforethathistorycan
illustratethe many difficulties
be written.A rigid censorshipleft in its wake a welter of subterfuge,
pseudonymousand anonymous treatisesand irregular "publications" in
manuscriptcopy. Painstaking,cautious,and modest scholarlymonographs
such as thisby Mr. Wade are necessarybeforehistoricalgeneralizationswill
have any appreciablevalidity.
The firstchapterrevealsthatin the intellectualcollaborationsof Voltaire
with his -bluestockingmistress,Mme. du Chatelet,duringthe yearsI733-49,
the latter'srole was much more importantthan has been hithertoadmitted.
To be sure, Voltairewrotehis poems,his plays,and his shortstoriesunder
his own impulsion.Mme. du Chatelet'scriticismsmay well have influenced
to some extentthe generalnatureof the importanthistoricalwritingsof the
period,yetthe Histoir-ede CharlesXII had alreadymarkedan epoch in the
art of history.The collaborationwas especiallyintimatein metaphysics,
ethics,physics,and criticaldeism. With the aid of unpublishedmanuscript
materialsMr. Wade has shown thatVoltaire'sTrait de metaphysique was
probablyonly a mutilatedcopy of a much largerwork to which both con-
tributed.A Leningrad manuscriptproves that Mme. du Chatelet, with
Voltaire'shelp, translatedMandeville'sFable of the Bees and thatboth,ac-
ceptingin generalthe Englishauthor'shard-boiledprinciples,insisted,never-
theless,on maintainingagainst him a universal and natural moral law.
Mme. du Chateletalso translatedand commentedupon Newton's Principles
with more penetrationthan Voltairehad been able to show.

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