Behind these confused impressions it is possible to discover a number of more consistent ideas whose simplicity at least on the surface has captivated certain minds.the Languedoc high school where I served my first term as a teacher my good headmaster issued a warning in a voice befitting a captain of education. “Here with the nineteenth century there is little danger but when you touch on the religious wars you must take great care! ” In truth whoever lacks the strength while seated at his desk to rid his mind of the virus of the present may readily permit its poison to infiltrate even a commentary on the Iliad or the Ramayana.