James Vernon Bartlet

“ His criticism had the singular advantage of being in some sort foreign, without the disadvantage which attaches in French eyes to all criticism of things French written in a foreign language. As theologian he gave a fresh impulse to Protestant theology, especially in French-speaking lands, but also in England and elsewhere. Lord Acton classed him with Rothe. He built all on conscience, as that wherein man stands in direct personal relation with God as moral sovereign, and the seat of a moral individuality which nothing can rightly infringe. ”

“ Hence he advocated complete freedom of religious belief, and to this end the formal separation of church and state (Mémoire en faveur de la liberté des cultes (1826) , Essai sur la conscience (1829) , Essai sur la manifestation des convictions religieuses (1842) . Accordingly, when in 1845 the civil power in the canton of Vaud interfered with the church’s autonomy, he led a secession which took the name of L’Église libre. ”