ians. M. Taine, in his _De l'Intelligence_,
turned his acute intellect and ready pen in this direction for a moment,
but not with much success. Perhaps from the literary view the most
important philosophical writer in French for the last half century is M.
Renan, who will find his place more appropriately in the next paragraph.
Between Saint Simon and Comte, if space allowed, notice would have to be
taken of many political writers of the middle of the century, whose
visionary and for the most part communistic views had a considerable but
passing influence, such as Cabet, Fourier, Pierre Leroux, and the
violent and not wholly sane but vigorous Proudhon. Here, however,
nothing but bare mention, and that only for completeness' sake, can be
given to them.

[Sidenote: Theological Writers. Montalembert.]

[Sidenote: Ozanam.]

[Sidenote: Lacordaire.]

[Sidenote: Ernest Renan.]

In theology, as represented in literature, the dominant interest of the
period belongs at first to the continuators of the Liberal-Catholic
school of Lamennais. The greatest of these, beyond all question, was
Charles Forbes de Montalembert, whose mother was a Scotchwoman, and his
father French ambassador in Sweden. He was born in April, 1810, and died
on the 13th of March, 1870. Montalembert was young enough to come under
the influence of Lamennais only indirectly, and at the extreme end of
that writer's orthodox period. His immediate master was rather the
eloquent Abbe Lacordaire. His father was a peer of France, and
Montalembert succeeded early to his position, which gave him an
opportunity of supporting the great contention of the Liberal Catholics
under Louis Philippe, the right to establish schools for themselves.
Being devoted first of all to the defence of ecclesiastical interests by
every legitimate means, and having no anti-Republican prejudices,
Montalembert was able to accept the second Revolution, though not the
Second Empire, and he continued to be one of the most moderate, but
dangerous, opponents of the government of Napoleon III. His chief works,
which have much brilliancy and vigour, are his 'Life of Elizabeth of
Hungary,' his 'Life and Times of St. Anselm,' his _Avenir Politique de
l'Angleterre_, and, most of all, his great work on 'The Monks of the
West from St. Benedict to St. Bernard.' A fellow worker with
Montalembert, though earlier cut off, was Frederic Ozanam, a brilliant
student and lecturer in mediaeval history, who was