proceeds to inquire into the moral effects of the changes in the
physical environment back to which if possible the history of antiquity
must be traced. Man's defeat in his struggle with the elements made
him religious, _hinc prima mali labes_. "Son premier pas fut un faux
pas, sa premiere maxime fut une erreur" (p. 4 sq). But it was not his
fault nor has time repaired the evil moral effects of that early
catastrophe. "Les grandes revolutions physiques de notre globe sont
les veritables epoques de l'histoire des nations " (p. 9). Hence have
arisen the various psychological states through which mankind has passed.
Contemporary savages are still in the primitive state--Boulanger
properly emphasizes the relation of anthropology to history--"On apercoit
qu'il y a une nouvelle maniere de voir et d'ecrire l'histoire des hommes"
(p. 12) and with a vast store of anthropological and folklorist learning
he writes it so that his assailant, Fabry d'Autrey, in his _Antiquite
justifiee_ (Paris, 1766) is obliged to say with truth, "Ce n'est point
ici un tissus de mensonges grossiers, de sophismes rebattus et bouffons,
appliques d'un air meprisant aux objets les plus interessants pour
l'humanite. C'est une enterprise serieuse et reflechie" (p. 11).

In 1767 Holbach published his first original work, a few copies of
which had been printed in Nancy in 1761. This work was _Le Christianisme
devoile ou Examen des principes et des effets de la religion Chretienne_.
Par feu M. Boulanger. Londres (Amsterdam), 1767. There were several
other editions the same year, one printed at John Wilkes' private press
in Westminster. It was reprinted in later collections of Boulanger's
works, and went through several English and Spanish editions. The form
of the title and the attribution of the work to Boulanger were designed
to set persecution on the wrong track. There has been some discussion
as to its authorship. Voltaire and Laharpe attributed it to Damilaville,
at whose book shop it was said to have been sold, but M. Barbier has