99,,voltaire3 ,a ,,sketch ,,of ,,his    
,,life ,,and ,,works99                  
,,with ,,selections ,,from ,,his        
,,writings                              
,by                       99,j4 ,m4     
,wheeler  ,g4 ,w4 ,foote499             
,london                                 
#ahia     ,,contents                    
,,introduction     ,,preface     ,,early
 ,,life     ,,hegira ,,to ,,england     
,,examples ,,from ,,england     ,,at    
,,cirey     ,,candide     ,,the         
,,encyclopaedia     ,,last ,,days       
,,his ,,character ,,and ,,services      
,,tributes ,,to ,,voltaire              
,,selections ,,from ,,voltaire',s       
,,works     ,history     ,wars          
,politics     ,the ,population ,question
     ,nature's ,way     ,prayer         
,doubt and ,speculation     ,dr4        
,pangloss and the ,dervish     ,motives 
for ,conduct     ,self-,love     ,go    
,from ,your ,village     ,religious     
,prejudices     ,sacred ,history        
,dupe ,and ,rogue     ,delenda ,est     

,carthago     ,jesus and ,mohammed      
,how ,faiths ,spread     ,superstition  
,the ,bible     ,transubstantiation     
,dreams and ,ghosts     ,mortifying the 
,flesh     ,heaven     ,magic           
,,detached ,,thoughts     ,,introduction
   ,my share in this little book on     
,voltaire is a very minor one4 ,my old  
friend and colleague1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,m4      
,wheeler1 had written the greater part  
of the following pages before he brought
 the enterprise to my attention4 ,i went
 through his copy with him1 and assisted
 him in making some alterations and     
additions4 ,i also read the printer's   
proofs1 and suggested some further      
improvements--if ,i may call them so    
without egotism4 ,this is all ,i have   
done4 ,the credit for all the rest      
belongs to him4 ,my name is placed on   
the title-page for two reasons4 ,the    
first is1 that ,i may now1 as on other  
occasions1 be associated with a dear    
friend and colleague in this tribute to 
,voltaire4 ,the second is1 that whatever

 influence ,i possess may be used in    
helping this volume to the circulation  
it deserves4    ,g4 ,w4 ,,foote4        
,november1 #ahia     ,,preface   ,he    
would be a bold person who should       
attempt to say something entirely new on
 ,voltaire4 ,his life has often been    
written1 and many are the disquisitions 
on his character and influence4 ,this   
little book1 which at the bicentenary of
 his birth ,i offer as a ,freethinker's 
tribute to the memory of the great      
liberator1 has no other pretension than 
that of being a compilation seeking to  
display in brief compass something of   
the man's work and influence4 ,but it   
has its own point of view4 ,it is as a  
,freethinker1 a reformer1 and an apostle
 of reason and universal toleration that
 ,i esteem ,voltaire1 and ,i have       
considered him mainly under this aspect4
 ,for the sketch of the salient points  
of his career ,i am indebted to many    
sources1 including ,condorcet1          
,duvernet1 ,desnoisterres1 ,parton1     

,espinasse1 ,collins1 and ,saintsbury1  
to whom the reader1 desirous of fuller  
information1 is referred4 ,mr4 ,john    
,morley's able work and ,col4 ,hamley's 
sketch may also be recommended4  ,that  
we are this year celebrating the        
bicentenary of ,voltaire's birth should 
remind us of how far our age has        
advanced from his1 and also of how much 
we owe to our predecessors4 ,the spread 
of democracy and the advance of science 
which distinguish our time both owe     
very-much to the brilliant iconoclasts  
of the last century1 of whom ,voltaire  
was the chief4 ,in judging the work of  
the laughing sage of ,france we must    
remember that in his day the feudal laws
 still obtained in ,france1 and a man   
might be clapped in prison for life     
without any trial4 ,the poor were held  
to be born into the world for the       
service of the rich1 and it was their   
duty to be subject to their masters1 not
 only to the good and gentle1 but also  
to the froward4 ,justice was as easily  

bought as jewels4 ,the ,church was      
omnipotent and freethought a crime4 ,if 
,voltaire's influence is no longer what 
it was1 it is because he has altered    
that4 ,we can no longer keenly feel the 
evils against which he contended4 ,his  
work is1 however1 by no means fully     
accomplished4 ,while any remnant of     
superstition1 intolerance1 and          
oppression remains1 his unremitting     
warfare against l'infame should be an   
inspiration to all who are fighting for 
the liberation and progress of humanity4
  ,nov4 #ahid4 ,j4 ,m4 ,,wheeler4       
,,early ,,life   ,two hundred years ago1
 on ,november #bast1 #afjd1 a child     
emerged on the world at ,paris4 ,the    
baptismal register on the following day 
gave the name ,francois ,marie ,arouet1 
and the youth afterwards christened     
himself ,voltaire47#a7 ,the flesh was so
 weakly that the babe was ondovc 7the   
term employed for informal sprinkling   
with water at home71 lest there might be
 no time for the ecclesiastical rite4   

#a4  ,he was a younger son4 ,the name   
,voltaire is1 perhaps1 an     anagram of
 the ,arouet #a4 j4 7le jeune7 the u    
being converted     into r1 and the j   
into r4 ,in like manner1 an old college-
 tutor     of his1 ,pere ,thoulie1      
transformed himself1 by a similar       
anagrammatic process1 into the ,abbe    
,olivet-- omitting the     unnecessary h
 from his original name4 ,this method of
 reforming a     plebeian name into one 
more distinguished-looking seems not to 
have been uncommon in those times1 as   
,jean ,baptiste ,pocquelin     took the 
name of ,moliere1 and ,charles ,secondat
 that of     ,montesquieu4  ,something  
may have been wrong with the performance
 of the sacred ceremony1 since the child
 certainly grew up to think more of the 
world1 the flesh1 and the devil than of 
the other trinity of ,father1 ,son1 and 
,holy ,ghost4 ,his father was a         
respectable attorney1 and his mother    
came of noble family4 ,his godfather and
 early preceptor was the ,abbe de       

,chateauneuf1 who made no pietist of    
him1 but introduced him to his friend1  
the famous ,ninon l',enclos1 the        
antiquated ,aspasia who is said to have 
inspired a passion in the l',abbe       
,gedouin at the age of eighty1 and who  
was sufficiently struck with young      
,voltaire to leave him a legacy of two  
thousand francs1 wherewith to provide   
himself a library4  ,voltaire showed    
when quite a child an unsurpassed       
facility for verse-making4 ,he was      
educated at a ,jesuit college1 and the  
followers of ,jesus have ever since     
reproached him with ,jesuitism4         
,possibly he did imbibe some of their   
policy in the propaganda of his ideas4  
,certainly he saw sufficient of the     
hypocrisy and immorality of religious   
professors to disgust him with the black
 business1 and he said in after-life    
that the ,jesuits had taught him nothing
 worth learning4  ,he learnt a certain  
amount of ,latin and a parcel of        
stupidities4 ,but1 indifferent as this  

education was1 it served to encourage   
his already marked literary tendency4   
,voltaire is said to have told his      
father when he left college1 at the age 
of fifteen1 ,i wish to be a man of      
letters1 and nothing else4 ,that1 ,m4   
,arouet is reported to have replied1 is 
the profession of a man who wishes to be
 a burden to his family and to die of   
starvation4 ,he would have no such      
nonsense4 ,francois must study law2 and 
to ,paris he went with that intent4 ,for
 three years he was supposed to do so1  
but he bestowed more attention on the   
gay society of the ,temple1 to which his
 godfather introduced him1 the most     
amusing fellow in the world1 and which  
was presided over by the ,abbe de       
,chaulieu4 ,the time which he was       
compelled to spend in law studies1 and  
at the desk of a procureur1 was by no   
means lost to his future fortunes1      
whether in the pursuit of fame or       
wealth4 ,during that hated              
apprenticeship he doubtless caught up   

some knowledge of law and business1     
which stood him in good stead in after  
years4 ,he tells us that his father     
thought him lost1 because he mixed with 
good society and wrote verses4 ,for     
these he got sufficient reputation to be
 first exiled to ,tulle1 then to ,sully1
 and finally thrown into the ,bastille  
on suspicion of having written lampoons 
on the government4 ,the current story   
tells how the ,regent1 walking one day  
in the ,palais ,royal1 met ,voltaire1   
and accosted him by offering to bet that
 he would show him what he had never    
seen before4 ,what is that8 asked       
,voltaire4 ,the ,bastille4 ,ah1         
monseigneur6 ,i will take the ,bastille 
as seen4 ,on the next morning1 in ,may1 
#agag1 ,voltaire was arrested in his    
bedroom and lodged in the ,bastille4    
,after nearly a year's imprisonment1    
during which he gave the finishing      
touches to his tragedy of ,o,edipus1 and
 sketched the epic ,henriade1 in which  
he depicts the massacre of ,bartholomew1

 the horrors of religious bigotry1 and  
the triumph of toleration under ,henry  
,,iv41 he was released and conducted to 
the ,regent4 ,while ,voltaire awaited   
audience there was a thunderstorm4      
,things could not go on worse1 he said  
aloud1 if there was a ,regency above4   
,his conductor1 introducing him to the  
,regent1 said1 repeating the remark1 ,i 
bring you a young man whom your         
,highness has just released from the    
,bastille1 and whom you should send back
 again4 ,the ,regent laughed1 and       
promised1 if he behaved well1 to provide
 for him4 ,i thank your ,highness for   
taking charge of my board1 returned     
,voltaire1 but ,i beseech you not to    
trouble yourself any more about my      
lodging4  ,in his first play1 ,o,edipe1 
appeared the celebrated couplet3        
,nos pretres ne sont pas ce qu'un vain  
peuple pense6      ,notre credulite fait
 toute leur science4 7#a7      #a4 ,our 
priests are not what foolish people     
suppose2 all their     science is       

derived from our credulity4  ,these     
lines were afterwards noted by          
,condorcet as the first signal of a war1
 which not even the death of ,voltaire  
could extinguish4 ,it was at this period
 that he first took the name of ,arouet 
de ,voltaire4 ,he produced two more     
tragedies1 ,artemire and ,mariamne2 a   
comedy1 ,the ,babbler2 and prepared his 
world-famous ,henriade4 ,a portrait1    
painted by ,largilliere at about this   
period1 has often been engraved4 ,it    
exhibits a handsome young gentleman1    
full of grace and spirit1 with a smiling
 mouth1 animated eyes1 intellectual     
forehead1 and a fine hand in a fine     
ruffle4     ,,hegira ,,to ,,england     
,the story of how ,voltaire came to     
,england is worth the telling1 as it    
illustrates the condition of things in  
,france in the early part of last       
century4 ,voltaire left ,france for     
,england1 which his acquaintance with   
,lord ,bolingbroke induced him to desire
 to visit4 ,it was his ,hegira1 whence  

he returned a full-fledged ,prophet of  
the ,french4 ,he went a poet1 he        
returned a philosopher4 ,dining at the  
,duke of ,sully's table he presumed to  
differ from the ,chevalier de           
,rohan--,chabot1 a relative of ,cardinal
 ,rohan4 ,the aristocrat asked1 ,who is 
that young fellow who talks so loudly8  
,monsieur le ,chevalier1 replied        
,voltaire1 it is a man who does not bear
 a great name but who knows how to honor
 the name he does bear47#a7 ,it was     
insufferable that the son of a bourgeois
 should thus speak his mind to a ,rohan4
 ,a few days afterwards1 when again     
dining with the ,duke1 he was called out
 by a false message1 and seized and     
caned by ruffians until a voice cried   
,enough4 ,that word was a fresh blow1   
for the young poet recognised the voice 
of the ,chevalier4 ,he returned to the  
,duke and asked him to assist in        
obtaining redress4 ,his grace shrugged  
his shoulders and took no further notice
 of this insult to his guest4 ,voltaire 

never visited the ,duke again1 and1 it  
is said1 erased his ancestor's name from
 the ,henriade4 ,he was equally         
unsuccessful in seeking redress from the
 ,regent4 ,you are a poet1 and you have 
had a good thrashing2 what can be more  
natural8 ,he retired1 to study ,english 
and fencing2 and reappeared with a      
challenge to the ,chevalier1 who        
accepted it1 but informed his relations4
 ,it was against the law for a commoner 
to challenge a nobleman4 ,next morning1 
instead of meeting de ,rohan1 he met    
officers armed with a lettre de cachet  
consigning him to the ,bastille4 ,after 
nearly a month's incarceration he was   
liberated on condition that he left the 
country4 ,having no wish to spend a     
second year in prison1 he had himself   
applied for permission to visit         
,england4 ,voltaire felt keenly the     
indignity to which he had been          
subjected4 ,in a letter of instruction  
written from ,england to his agent he   
says3 ,if my debtors profit by my       

misfortune and absence to refuse        
payment1 you must not trouble to bring  
them to reason3 'tis but a trifle4 ,yet 
a book has been written on ,voltaire's  
avarice4      #a4  ,some of the accounts
 say that ,voltaire said1 ,you1 my lord1
     are the last of your house2 ,i am  
the first of mine4  ,voltaire was       
conducted to ,calais and arrived in     
,england on ,whit-,monday1 #agbf4 ,he   
landed near ,greenwich and witnessed the
 ,fair4 ,all seemed bright4 ,the park   
and river were full of animation4 ,here 
there was no ,bastille1 no fear of the  
persecution of the great or the spies of
 the police4 ,he had excellent          
introductions4 ,bolingbroke he had met  
in exile at ,la ,source in #agba1 and he
 had learnt to regard the illustrious   
,englishman who possessed all the       
learning of his country and all the     
politeness of ours4 ,voltaire1 like     
,pope1 may be said to have been1 at any 
rate for a time1 an eager disciple of   
the exiled ,english statesman4 ,now     

,voltaire was the exile2 ,bolingbroke1  
for a while1 the host1 at ,dawley1 near 
,uxbridge4 ,but he had other ,english   
friends1 notably ,mr4 7afterwards ,sir  
,everard7 ,falkener1 an ,english        
merchant trading in the ,levant1 from   
whose house at ,wandsworth most of his  
letters are dated4 ,for ,sir ,everard1  
,voltaire always retained the warmest   
feelings of friendship1 and forty years 
later returned hospitality to his sons4 
,voltaire spent two years and eight     
months in ,england1 living during part  
of the time in ,maiden ,lane1 ,covent   
,garden1 and during another part at     
,wandsworth4 ,this visit was probably   
the most important event in his life4   
,it was here he lit the torch of        
,freethought with which he fired the    
continent4 ,here he mastered the        
arguments of the ,english deists1       
,bolingbroke1 ,toland1 ,tindal1         
,shaftesbury1 ,chubb1 ,collins1 and     
,woolston1 which he afterwards used with
 such effect4 ,here he saw the benefits 

of parliamentary government4 ,here he   
imbibed the philosophy of ,locke and the
 science of ,newton4 ,indeed it may be  
said there is hardly one of ,voltaire's 
important works but bears traces of his 
visit to our country4 ,yet of this      
momentous epoch of his life the records 
are scanty4 ,when he grew famous every  
letter and anecdote was preserved1 but  
in #agbg ,voltaire was but a young man  
of promise4 ,carlyle1 in the tenth book 
of his ,frederick the ,great1 says3 ,but
 mere inanity and darkness visible reign
 in all his ,biographies over this      
period of his life1 which was above all 
others worth investigating4 ,messrs4 ,j4
 ,c4 ,collins and ,a4 ,ballantyne have  
since done much to elucidate this       
noteworthy period4  ,pope was one of the
 persons ,voltaire desired to see4 ,he  
had already described him as the most   
elegant1 most correct1 and most         
harmonious poet they ever had in        
,england4 ,pope could only speak ,french
 with difficulty1 and ,voltaire could   

not make himself understood4 ,the result
 being unsatisfactory1 ,voltaire did not
 seek further company until he had      
acquired the language4 ,an anecdote in  
,chetworth's ,history of the ,stage     
relates that he was in the habit of     
attending the theatre with the play in  
his hand4 ,by this method he obtained   
more proficiency in the language in a   
week than he could otherwise have       
obtained in a month4 ,madame de ,genlis 
had the audacity to assert that         
,voltaire never knew ,english1 yet it is
 certain he could1 before he was many   
months in this country1 both speak and  
write it with facility4 ,by ,nov4 #af1  
#agbf1 he wrote to ,pope1 after that    
poet's accident while driving near      
,bolingbroke's estate at ,dawley4 ,in   
writing to his friend ,thieriot1 in     
,france1 he sometimes used ,english1 for
 the same reason1 he said1 that ,boileau
 wrote in ,latin--not to be understood  
by too curious people4 ,voltaire is said
 to have once found his knowledge of    

,english of practical use4 ,the ,french 
were unpopular1 and in one of his       
rambles he was menaced by a mob4 ,he    
said3 ,brave ,englishmen1 am ,i not     
already unhappy enough in not having    
been born among you8 ,his eloquence had 
such success that1 according to         
,longchamp and ,wagniere1 the people    
wished to carry him on their shoulders  
to his house4  ,while in this country he
 wrote in ,english a portion of his     
tragedy ,brutus1 inspired by and        
dedicated to ,bolingbroke1  and two     
essays1 one on the ,civil ,wars of      
,france1 and one on ,epic ,poetry4 ,in  
the introduction to the essays he       
expresses his conception of his own     
position as a man of letters in a       
foreign country4 ,as these essays1      
although popular at the time1 are now   
rare1 ,i transcribe a paragraph or two  
from them3  ,the true aim of a relation 
is to instruct men1 not to gratify their
 malice4 ,we should be busied chiefly in
 giving a faithful account of all the   

useful things and extraordinary persons1
 whom to know1 and to imitate1 would be 
a benefit to our country4 ,a traveller  
who writes in that spirit is a merchant 
of a nobler kind1 who imports into his  
native country the arts and virtues of  
other nations4  ,in his ,essay on ,epic 
,poetry ,voltaire shows he had made a   
study of ,milton1 though his criticism  
can scarcely1 be considered an advance  
upon that of ,addison4 ,he displays     
constant admiration for ,tasso1 to whom 
he was perhaps attracted by his         
sufferings at the hands of an ignoble   
nobility4 ,he says3  ,the taste of the  
,english and of the ,french1 though     
averse to any machinery grounded upon   
enchantment1 must forgive1 nay commend1 
that of ,armida1 since it is the source 
of so many beauties4 ,besides1 she is a 
,mahometan1 and the ,christian religion 
allows us to believe that those infidels
 are under the immediate influence of   
the devil4 ,in this essay appears the   
first mention of the story of ,newton   

and the apple tree4  ,voltaire closely  
studied all branches of ,english        
literature4 ,he read ,shakespeare1 and  
admired his genius while censuring his  
irregularity4 ,he was the first to      
introduce him to his countrymen1 though 
he subsequently sought to lessen what he
 considered their exorbitantly high     
opinion4 ,the works of ,dryden1 ,waller1
 ,prior1 ,congreve1 ,wycherley1         
,vanbrugh1 ,rochester and ,addison were 
all devoured1 and he took an especial   
interest in ,butler's witty ,hudibras4  
,he was acquainted with the popular     
sermons of ,archbishop ,tillotson and   
the speculations of ,berkeley4 ,he had  
read the works of ,shaftesbury1 ,tindal1
 ,chubb1 ,garth1 ,mandeville and        
,woolston4  ,voltaire became acquainted 
with most of the celebrities in         
,england4 ,he visited the witty         
,congreve1 who begged his guest to      
consider him not as an author but as a  
gentleman4 ,voltaire answered with      
spirit3 ,if you had the misfortune to be

 merely a gentleman1 ,i should never    
have come to see you4 ,he knew ,james   
,thomson of ,the ,seasons1 and          
discovered in him a great genius and a  
great simplicity4 ,with didactic ,young1
 of the ,night ,thoughts1 who glorified 
,god with his egoism turned heavenward1 
he formed a friendship which remained   
unbroken despite their differences of   
opinion on religion4 ,he pushed among   
his ,english friends the subscription   
list for the ,henriade1 which proved a  
great success--although ,king ,george   
,,ii4 was not fond of boetry--reaching  
three editions in a short period4 ,the  
money thus obtained formed the          
foundation of the fortune which         
,voltaire accumulated1 not by his       
writings1 but by his ability in finance4
 ,at that time1 in ,france1 as our      
author remarked1 to make the smallest   
fortune it was better to say four words 
to the mistress of a king than to write 
a hundred volumes4 ,his sojourn in      
,england may be said to have secured him

 both independence of mind and          
independence of fortune4  ,what pleased 
him most in ,england was liberty of     
discussion4 ,in the year in which he    
came over1 ,elwall was acquitted on a   
charge of blasphemy1 the collected works
 of ,toland were published1 and also    
,collins's ,scheme of ,literal          
,prophecy1 and the ,first ,discourse of 
,woolston on ,miracles4 ,the success of 
this last work1 which boldly applied wit
 and ridicule to the ,gospel narrative1 
struck him with admiration4 ,in the very
 month1 however1 when ,voltaire left    
,england 7,march #agbi7 ,woolston was   
tried and sentenced to a year's         
imprisonment and a fine of ,l#ajj4      
,voltaire volunteered a third of the    
sum1 but the brave prisoner refused to  
give an assurance that he would not     
offend again1 and died in prison in     
#agcc4 ,voltaire always spoke of        
,woolston with the greatest respect4    
,voltaire retained his esteem for       
,england and the ,english to the last4  

,oliver ,goldsmith relates that he was  
in his company one evening when one of  
the party undertook to revile the       
,english language and literature4       
,diderot defended them1 but not         
brilliantly4 ,voltaire listened awhile  
in silence1 which was1 as ,goldsmith    
remarks1 surprising1 for it was one of  
his favorite topics4 ,however1 about    
midnight1 ,voltaire appeared at last    
roused from his reverie4 ,his whole     
frame seemed animated4 ,he began his    
defence with the utmost elegance mixed  
with spirit1 and now and then he let    
fall his finest strokes of raillery upon
 his antagonist2 and his harangue lasted
 until three in the morning4 ,i must    
confess that1 whether from national     
partiality or from the elegant          
sensibility of his manner1 ,i never was 
more charmed1 nor did ,i ever remember  
so absolute a victory as he gained in   
this dispute4  ,voltaire corresponded   
with ,english friends to the latest     
period of his life4 ,among his          

correspondents were ,lord and ,lady     
,bolingbroke1 ,sir ,e4 ,falkener1       
,swift1 ,hume1 ,robertson1 ,horace      
,walpole1 ,george ,colman and ,lord     
,chatham4 ,we find him asking ,falkener 
to send him the ,london ,magazine for   
the past three years4 ,to the same      
friend he wrote from ,potsdam in #ageb1 
hoping that his ,vindication of         
,bolingbroke was translated1 as it would
 annoy the priests1 whom ,i have hated1 
hate1 and shall hate till doomsday4 ,in 
the next year1 writing from ,berlin1 he 
says3 ,i hope to come over myself1 in   
order to print my true works1 and to be 
buried in the land of freedom4 ,i       
require no subscription1 ,i desire no   
benefit4 ,if my works are neatly        
printed1 and cheaply sold1 ,i am        
satisfied4  ,to ,thieriot he said3 ,had 
,i not been obliged to look after my    
affairs in ,france1 depend upon it ,i   
would have spent the rest of my days in 
,london4 ,long afterwards he wrote to   
his friend ,keate3 ,had ,i not fixed the

 seat of my retreat in the free corner  
of ,geneva1 ,i would certainly live in  
the free corner of ,england2 ,i have    
been for thirty years the disciple of   
your ways of thinking4 ,at the age of   
seventy he translated ,shakespeare's    
,julius ,coesar4 ,mr4 ,collins says3    
,the kindness and hospitality which he  
received he never forgot1 and he took   
every opportunity of repaying it4 ,to be
 an ,englishman was always a certain    
passport to his courteous consideration4
 ,he compared the ,english to their own 
beer1 the froth atop1 dregs at bottom1  
but the bulk excellent4 ,when ,martin   
,sherlock visited him at ,ferney in     
#aggf1 he found the old man1 then in his
 eighty-third year1 still full of his   
visit to ,england4 ,his gardens were    
laid out in ,english fashion1 his       
favorite books were the ,english        
classics1 the subject to which he       
persistently directed conversation was  
the ,english nation4  ,the memory of    
,voltaire has been but scurvily treated 

in the land he loved so well4 ,for over 
a century1 calumny and obloquy were     
poured upon him4 ,johnson said of       
,rousseau3 ,i would sooner sign a       
sentence for his transportation than    
that of any felon who has gone from the 
,old ,bailey these many years4 ,boswell3
 ,sir1 do you think him as bad a man as 
,voltaire8 ,johnson3 ,why1 sir1 it is   
difficult to settle the proportion of   
iniquity between them4 ,and this        
represents an opinion which long endured
 among the religious classes4 ,but it is
 at length being recognised that1 with  
all his imperfections1 which were after 
all those of the age in which he lived1 
he devoted his brilliant genius to the  
cause of truth and the progress of      
humanity4 ,he made his exile in ,england
 an occasion for accumulating those     
stores of intelligence with which he so 
successfully combated the prejudices of 
the past and promulgated the principles 
of freedom1 and justified his being     
ranked foremost among the liberators of 

the human mind4     ,,examples ,,from   
,,england   ,several incidents combined 
to direct ,voltaire's attention to      
clericalism as the enemy of progress and
 humanity4 ,soon after his return to    
,france1 the famous actress1 ,adrienne  
,lecouvreur1 for whom he had a high     
esteem1 and who had represented the     
heroines of his plays1 died4 ,the clergy
 of ,paris refused her ,christian burial
 because of her profession1 and her     
corpse was put in a ditch in a          
cattle-field on the banks of the ,seine4
 ,voltaire1 who regarded the theatre as 
one of the most potent instruments of   
culture and civilisation1 at once       
avenged and consecrated her memory in a 
fine ode1 burning with the fire of a    
deep pathos1 in which he takes occasion 
to contrast the treatment in ,england of
 ,mrs4 ,oldfield1 the actress1 who was  
buried in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,mr4     
,lecky says3 ,the man who did more than 
any other to remove the stigma that     
rested upon actors was unquestionably   

,voltaire4 ,there is1 indeed1 something 
singularly noble in the untiring zeal   
with which he directs poetry and        
eloquence1 the keenest wit1 and the     
closest reasoning to the defence of     
those who had so long been friendless   
and despised4  ,when ,voltaire published
 his ,letters on the ,english ,nation   
the copies were seized by the           
,government and the publisher was thrown
 into the ,bastille4 ,the author would  
have again tasted the discomforts of    
that abode if he had not had timely     
warning from his friend ,d',argental1   
and taken refuge in ,lorraine1 and      
afterwards on the ,rhine1 while his book
 was torn to pieces and burned in ,paris
 by the public executioner1 as offensive
 to religion1 good morals1 and respect  
for authority4 ,voltaire had apparently 
good reason to apprehend treatment of   
unusual rigor if he had obeyed the      
summons to give himself up into custody1
 as he took good care not to do4 ,i have
 a mortal aversion to prison1 he wrote  

to ,d',argental4 ,i am ill2 a confined  
air would have killed me1 and ,i should 
probably have been thrust into a        
dungeon4  ,voltaire's ,letters on the   
,english reads at the present day as so 
mild a production that it is hard to    
understand its suppression4 ,yet it was 
a true instinct which detected that the 
work was directed against the principle 
of authority4 ,the introduction of      
,english thought was destined to become 
an explosive element shattering the     
feudalism of ,europe4 ,there were1      
moreover1 some hard hits at the state of
 things in ,france4 ,the ,english       
nation1 says ,voltaire1 is the only one 
which has succeeded in restricting the  
power of kings by resisting it4 ,again3 
,how ,i love the ,english boldness1 how 
,i love men who say what they think6    
,voltaire gives a peculiar reason for   
the non-appreciation by the ,english of 
,moliere's ,tartuffe1 the original of   
,mawworm if not of ,uriah ,heep4 ,he    
says they are not pleased with the      

portrayal of characters they do not     
know4 ,one there hardly knows the name  
of devotee1 but they know well that of  
honest man4 ,one does not see there     
imbeciles who put their souls into      
others' hands1 nor those petty ambitious
 men who establish a despotic sway over 
women formerly wanton and always weak1  
and over men yet more weak and          
contemptible4 ,we fancy ,voltaire must  
have seen society mainly as found among 
the ,freethinkers4 ,could he give so    
favorable a verdict did he visit us now8
 ,the same remark applies to his        
statement that there was no privilege of
 hunting in the grounds of a citizen1   
who1 at the same time1 is not permitted 
to fire a gun in his own field4 ,but    
this1 as well as the more important     
passage that no one is exempted from    
taxation for being a nobleman or priest1
 was probably intended exclusively for  
the benefit of his compatriots4 ,he was1
 however1 not without a little touch of 
ridicule at the incongruities he        

detected in our countrymen4 ,thus he    
notes in one of his letters3 ,they learn
 ,vanini and translate ,lucretius for   
,monsieur le ,dauphin to get by heart1  
and then1 while they deride the         
polytheism of the ancients1 they worship
 the ,congregation of the ,saints4      
,those educated in the current delusion 
that ,voltaire was a mere mocker will be
 surprised to find the temperate way in 
which he speaks of the ,quakers4 ,here1 
where there was such excellent          
opportunity for raillery1 ,voltaire     
shows he had a genuine admiration for   
their simplicity of life1 the courage of
 their convictions1 their freedom from  
priestcraft1 and their distaste for     
warfare4 ,in these ,letters1 as in all  
his writings1 he proves how far he was  
the embodiment of the new era by his    
boldly expressed preference for         
industrial over military pursuits4  ,in 
his remarks on the ,church of ,england1 
,voltaire1 however1 gives an            
unmistakable touch of his quality3 ,one 

cannot have public employment in        
,england or ,ireland1 without being of  
the number of faithful ,anglicans4 ,this
 reason1 which is an excellent proof1   
has converted so many ,nonconformists   
that not a twentieth part of the nation 
is out of the pale of the dominant      
church4  ,after alluding to the holy    
zeal of ministers against dissenters1   
and of the lower ,house of ,convocation1
 who from time to time burnt impious    
books1 that is1 books against           
themselves1 he says3 ,when they learn   
that1 in ,france1 young fellows noted   
only for debauchery and raised to the   
prelacy by female intrigue1 openly      
pursue their amours1 compose love-songs1
 give every day elaborate delicate      
suppers1 then go to implore the         
illumination of the ,holy ,spirit1      
boldly calling themselves the successors
 of the ,apostles--they thank ,god they 
are ,protestants4 ,but they are         
abominable heretics1 to be burnt by all 
the devils1 as ,master ,francois        

,rabelais says2 and that is why ,i do   
not meddle with their affairs4  ,the    
,presbyterians fare little better1 for  
,voltaire relates that1 when ,king      
,charles surrendered to the ,scots1 they
 made that unfortunate monarch undergo  
four sermons a day4 ,to them it is owing
 that only genteel people play cards on 
,sunday3 the rest of the nation go      
either to church1 to the tavern1 or to  
see their mistresses4  ,his admiration  
for ,english philosophy was startling to
 the ,french mind4 ,locke's ,essay      
became his philosophical gospel4 ,for   
thirty years1 he writes in #agfh1 ,i    
have been persecuted by a crowd of      
fanatics because ,i said that ,locke is 
the ,hercules of ,metaphysics1 who has  
fixed the boundaries of the human mind4 
,,at ,,cirey   ,a common admiration for 
,locke and ,newton cemented his         
attachment to the ,marquise du          
,chatelet1 a lady distinguished from    
others of her age by her love of the    
sciences4 ,with her ,voltaire lived for 

over fifteen years at the ,chateau of   
,cirey1 in ,campagne1 far from the      
madding crowd's ignoble strife1 and1 as 
,voltaire phrased it1 nine miles from a 
lemon4 ,voltaire was at the outset forty
 and ,madame twenty-seven1 neither      
handsome nor well-formed1 yet pleasing4 
,she united learning with a zest for    
pleasure1 and with the handsome fortune 
which ,voltaire brought to the          
establishment was enabled to satisfy    
both tastes4 ,life at ,cirey was varied 
by jaunts to ,paris1 ,brussels and      
,sceaux1 at which last place he wrote   
,zadig1 one of his lightest and most    
characteristic burlesque stories4       
,madame du ,chatelet has been much      
laughed at2 but in the days when ladies 
take prizes in mathematics1 that should 
be a thing of the past4 ,hard           
intellectual labor rather than the      
pursuit of pleasure characterised life  
at ,cirey1 or rather its inmates found  
their pleasure in their work4 ,madame   
would be translating ,newton or studying

 ,leibnitz4 ,her mathematical tutor     
worked at physical science in a gallery 
which had been built expressly for him4 
,voltaire would be aiding each in turn1 
or1 ever faithful to his first love the 
drama1 occupied with the writing or     
production of a tragedy or comedy for   
the theatre also attached to the        
premises4 ,his production was as ever   
incessant4 ,at the time of his first    
settlement there1 ,pope's ,essay on ,man
 had been published4 ,it suggested a    
,discourse on ,man1 in which he sought  
not to justify the ways of ,god to man1 
but to make man contented with his lot1 
not vainly inquiring into the why and   
wherefore of things4 ,with ,madame he   
wrote ,elements of the ,newtonian       
,philosophy1 a work highly praised by   
,lord ,brougham1 who says3 ,the power of
 explaining an abstract subject in easy 
and accurate language1 language not in  
any way beneath the dignity of science1 
though quite suited to the comprehension
 of uninformed persons1 is              

unquestionably shown in a manner which  
only makes it a matter of regret that   
the singularly gifted author did not    
carry his torch into all the recesses of
 natural philosophy4 ,the ,french       
,government1 despite the influence of   
aristocratic friends1 refused to print a
 work opposed to the system of          
,descartes1 and the volume had to be    
printed in ,holland4 ,for ,madame1 who  
despised the old almanack histories then
 current1 in place of which ,voltaire   
aimed at producing something more       
profitable to the readers1 he wrote his 
,essay on the ,manners and ,spirit of   
,nations1 in which for the first time in
 modern literature he applied philosophy
 to the teaching of history4 ,he        
dissipated the dull dreams and deceits  
of the monks1 and fixed attention on the
 real condition of things4 ,with        
,voltaire1 the commonest invention which
 improves the human lot is of more      
importance than battles and sieges4 ,he 
gives importance to the physical and    

intellectual improvement of man4        
,brougham remarks that ,voltaire's      
,philosophy of ,history was written as a
 prelude to the ,essay on the ,spirit of
 ,nations1 but the whole work deserves  
that title4 ,buckle classes him with    
,bolingbroke and ,montesquieu1 the      
fathers of modern history1 and all      
sceptics2 and even now1 says ,lecky1 no 
historian can read him without profit4  
,other contributions to history were the
 ,history of ,charles ,,xii41 a         
masterpiece of vivid and vigorous       
narrative1 and ,the ,age of ,louis      
,,xiv4 ,it was here he wrote his too    
famous ,pucelle1 which he afterwards    
described as piggery1 as well as some of
 the most famous of his plays1          
including4 ,ilzire1 ,zuline1 ,l',enfant 
,prodigue1 ,mahomet and ,merope1 the    
best of his tragedies4 ,with that impish
 spirit in which he ever delighted1 he  
induced the ,pope to accept the         
dedication of his play of ,mahomet1 and 
then laughed at his infallible ,holiness

 for being unable to see that the shafts
 supposed to be directed at the impostor
 of ,arabia were really aimed at        
fanaticism in another quarter4  ,to his 
first and last love1 the ,french        
theatre1 ,voltaire contributed nearly   
sixty pieces1 the majority of which are 
tragedies4 ,zaire and ,merope suffice to
 show the excellence he obtained in the 
classic drama4 ,the first-named was     
written in three weeks1 a wonderful tour
 de force4 ,olympic--written in old     
age--occupied but six days1 though in   
this we must agree with the friend who  
told the author that he should not have 
rested on the seventh day4 ,voltaire's  
plays indeed contain occasional fine    
passages1 but they have not the rich    
delineation of character necessary for  
works of the first rank4 ,it has been   
well remarked that in his dramas1 as in 
history1 he sought to portray not so    
much individuals as epochs4 ,in ,mahomet
 his subject is a great fanaticism2 in  
,alzire1 the conquest of ,america2 in   

,brutus1 the formation of the ,roman    
power2 in the ,death of ,coesar1 the    
rise of the empire or the ruin of that  
power4 ,it is noteworthy that1 despite  
his excess of comic talent1 ,voltaire   
preferred to devote his mind to tragedy 
rather than to comedy1 in which one     
might have fancied he would have        
excelled4 ,in truth1 his desire to      
support the dignity of the stage stood  
in the way of his shining in comedy4    
,voltaire also at this period wrote a   
,life of ,moliere1 in which he mingled  
criticism with biography4  ,madame de   
,grafigny1 who visited at ,cirey1 says  
he was so greedy of his time1 so intent 
upon his work1 that it was sometimes    
necessary to tear him from his desk for 
supper4 ,but when at table1 he always   
has something to tell1 very facetious1  
very odd1 very droll1 which would often 
not sound well except in his mouth1 and 
which shows him still as he has painted 
himself for us--      ,toujours un pied 
dans le cercueil1      ,de l'autre      

faisant des gambades47#a7        #a4    
,ever one foot in the grave1      ,and  
gambolling with the other4  ,to be      
seated beside him at supper1 how        
delightful6 she adds4 ,voltaire at      
,cirey was out of harm's way1 and could 
and did devote himself to his natural   
bent in literary work4 ,madame du       
,chatelet was sometimes gey ill to live 
with4 but she preserved him from many   
annoyances and helped him somewhat at   
,court4 ,thanks to the ,duc de          
,richelieu1 his patron and debtor1 he   
was appointed historiographer-royal in  
#agde1 with a salary of two thousand    
livres attached1 and in the following   
year was elected one of the ,forty of   
the ,french ,academy4  ,his life with   
,madame du ,chatelet had shown him the  
possibility of woman being man's        
intellectual companion4 ,with what scorn
 does he make a lady1 who claims equal  
rights in the matter of divorce with her
 husband1 say3  ,my husband replies that
 he is my head and my superior1 that he 

is taller than me by more than an inch1 
that he is hairy as a bear1 and that1   
consequently1 ,i owe him everything and 
that he owes me nothing4 ,this was long 
before woman's rights were thought of4  
,voltaire and ,frederick the ,great4    
,while still at ,cirey1 ,voltaire       
received many a flattering invitation   
from the ,prince ,royal of ,prussia4    
,their correspondence1 in the words of  
,carlyle1 sparkles notably with         
epistolary grace and vivacity1 though   
now mainly interesting as an            
illustration of two memorable characters
 and of their century4 ,voltaire helped 
him with his ,anti-,machiavelli1        
remarking afterwards that had           
,machiavelli had a prince for a pupil1  
the very first thing he would have      
advised him to do would have been so to 
write4 ,frederick was bent on having the
 personal acquaintance and attendance of
 the renowned poet and philosopher4     
,much incense and mutual admiration     
passed1 and at length1 when he ascended 

the throne1 ,voltaire paid him several  
visits4 ,on one occasion it was a       
diplomatic one1 to cement a union       
between ,france and ,prussia4 ,macaulay 
sneers at this childish craving for     
political distinction1 and ,frederick   
remarks that he brought no credentials  
with him4 ,the correspondence and mutual
 admiration continued4 ,carlyle         
characteristically says3 ,admiration    
sincere on both sides1 most so on the   
,prince's1 and extravagantly expressed  
on both sides1 most so on ,voltaire's4  
,in one of his letters1 ,frederick says 
there can be in nature but one ,god and 
one ,voltaire4 ,if ,voltaire was more   
extravagant than this1 at least the     
paint was laid on more delicately4      
,frederick's flattery1 indeed1 was not  
very carefully done4 ,thus1 in writing  
to ,voltaire he says3 ,you are like the 
white elephant for which the ,king of   
,persia and the ,great ,mogul make war2 
and the possession of which forms one of
 their titles4 ,if you come here you    

will see at the head of mine1           
',frederick by the ,grace of ,god1 ,king
 of ,prussia1 ,elector of ,brandenburg1 
,possessor of ,voltaire1 c41 c4' ,but   
the ,marquise du ,chatelet considered   
that no ,king should displace a lady4   
,she loved him2 jamais pour deux she    
says2 and perhaps1 at the bottom of her 
heart1 regretted the reputation which   
must have been ever a rival4 ,at her    
death1 ,frederick renewed his           
invitation1 expressing himself as now   
one of your oldest friends1 and         
,voltaire1 cut loose from his moorings1 
submitted to be tempted to the          
atmosphere of a court which he had      
before found little suited to a lover of
 truth1 justice1 and liberty4  ,the     
first of these visits1 in ,september    
#agdj1 is thus satirically described by 
,voltaire3 ,i was conducted into his    
majesty's apartment1 in which ,i found  
nothing but four bare walls4 ,by the    
light of a wax candle ,i perceived a    
small truckle bed1 two feet and a half  

wide1 in a closet1 upon which lay a     
little man1 wrapped up in a morning gown
 of blue cloth4 ,it was his majesty1 who
 lay sweating and shaking1 beneath a    
beggarly coverlet1 in a violent ague    
fit4 ,i made my bow1 and began my       
acquaintance by feeling his pulse1 as if
 ,i had been his first physician4 ,the  
fit left him1 and he rose1 dressed      
himself1 and sat down to table with     
,algarotti1 ,keizerling1 ,maupertuis1   
the ambassador to the states-general1   
and myself2 where1 at supper1 we treated
 most profoundly on the immortality of  
the soul1 natural liberty1 and the      
,androgynes of ,plato4 ,frederick says1 
in a letter to ,jordan1 dated ,september
 #bdth3 ,i have at length seen          
,voltaire1 whom ,i was so anxious to    
become acquainted with2 but1 alas6 ,i   
saw him when ,i was under the influence 
of my fever1 and when my mind and my    
body were equally languid4 ,now1 with   
persons like him1 one must not be ill2  
on the contrary1 one must be very well1 

and even1 if possible1 in better health 
than usual4 ,he has the eloquence of    
,cicero1 the mildness of ,pliny1 and the
 wisdom of ,agrippa3 he unites1 in a    
word1 all that is desirable of the      
virtues and talents of three of the     
greatest men of antiquity4 ,his         
intellect is always at work2 and every  
drop of ink that falls from his pen1 is 
transformed at once into wit4 ,he       
declaimed to us ,mahomet1 an admirable  
tragedy he has composed1 which          
transported us with delight3 for myself1
 ,i could only admire in silence4  ,the 
intercourse and disruption of the       
friendship between ,voltaire and        
,frederick--the two original men of     
their century1 as ,carlyle calls        
them--has been inimitably told by that  
great writer whose temperament and      
training enabled him to do so much      
justice to the one and so little to the 
other4 ,voltaire must be excused for    
wishing to lead the ,king in the path of
 reason and enlightened toleration to   

peace4 ,but the ,court of ,potsdam was  
in truth no place for him1 and the      
,frenchmen not unnaturally regarded him 
as a deserter4 ,macaulay says3 ,we have 
no hesitation in saying that the poorest
 author of that time in ,london1        
sleeping in a hulk1 dining in a cellar  
with a cravat of paper and a skewer for 
a shirt-pin1 was a happier man than any 
of the literary inmates of ,frederick's 
,court4 ,voltaire's position was sure to
 excite jealousy1 and his scathing wit  
was bound to get him in trouble4 ,he    
could touch up the ,king's ,french      
verses for a consideration1 but could   
not be kept from laughing at his poetry4
 ,i have here a bundle of the ,king's   
dirty linen to bleach1 he said once1    
pointing to the ,,mss4 sent to him for  
correction2 and the bearers of course   
conveyed the sarcasm to his ,majesty4   
,on the other side ,voltaire heard from 
,julien ,offray de la ,mettrie1 author  
of ,man a ,machine1 whom ,voltaire      
called the most frank atheist in        

,europe1 that the ,king had said3 ,i    
still want ,voltaire for another        
year--one sucks the orange before       
throwing away the skin4 ,that           
orange-skin stuck in ,voltaire's throat1
 and when atheist ,la ,mettrie died     
#aath ,november1  #agea1 from eating a  
pie supposed to be of pheasant but in   
reality of eagle and pork1 ,voltaire    
observes3 ,i should have liked to put to
 ,la ,mettrie1 in the article of death1 
fresh inquiries about the orange-skin4  
,that fine soul1 on the point of        
quitting the world1 would not have dared
 to-lie4 ,there is much reason to       
suppose that he spoke the truth4        
,voltaire could neither submit to the   
domination of the ,court coterie nor to 
that of their master4 ,he offended      
,frederick1 not so much by writing as by
 publishing his merciless ridicule of   
,maupertuis1 the ,president of the      
,berlin ,academy of ,sciences--an       
institution suggested by ,voltaire1 who 
had indeed recommended ,maupertuis as   

,president--in his inimitable ,diatribe 
of ,doctor ,akakia1 ,physician to the   
,pope1 which ,macaulay says1 even at    
this time of day1 it is not easy for any
 person who has the least perception of 
the ridiculous to read without laughing 
till he cries4 ,but a public insult to  
the ,president of his ,academy was an   
insult to the ,king1 and the work was   
publicly burnt and ,voltaire placed     
under arrest4 ,but the matter blew over1
 though ,voltaire sent back his cross   
and key of office1 which the ,king      
returned4 ,voltaire wisely tried to rid 
himself of the intolerable constraint1  
and made ill-health the pretext of      
flight1 going first to ,plombieres to   
take the waters4 ,but he could not      
resist sending another shot at poor     
,maupertuis2 and the ,king1 perhaps     
considering he had forfeited claim to   
consideration1 resolved to punish him4  
,at ,frankfort1 nominally a free city   
but really dominated by a ,prussian     
resident1 he was arrested1 together with

 his niece ,madame ,denis1 and detained 
in an inn1 even after he had given up   
his gold key as chamberlain1 his cross  
and ribbon of the ,order of ,merit1 and 
his copy of a privately printed volume  
of the royal rhymester's poetry1 for    
which he was ordered to be arrested4    
,the volume was evidently the most      
important article in such mischievous   
hands1 especially as it was said to     
contain satires on reigning potentates4 
,voltaire had left it at ,leipsic1 and  
had to wait1 guarded by soldiers1 till  
it arrived1 and also till the ,king's   
permission was accorded him to pass on  
to ,france4 ,voltaire relieved his rage 
by composing what he called ,memoirs of 
the ,life of ,m4 de ,voltaire1 in which 
all the king's faults and foibles1 real 
and imaginary1 as well as his literary  
pretensions1 were unsparingly ridiculed4
 ,frederick forgave ,voltaire for having
 been ill-used by him1 and some time    
after took the first step in            
reconciliation by sending him back the  

volume of poems4 ,an amicable           
correspondence was renewed1 though      
probably each felt they were better at a
 distance4 ,voltaire1 even while he kept
 in his desk this libellous ,life which 
perhaps he never1 intended to publish1  
was generous and far-sighted enough to  
seek to make peace between ,prussia and 
,france at a time when ,frederick was at
 the lowest ebb of his fortunes2 while  
,frederick was great enough to permit   
the free circulation of the libel in    
,berlin4 ,morley says3 ,to have really  
contributed in the humblest degree1 for 
instance1 to a peace between ,prussia   
and her enemies1 in #agei1 would have   
been an immeasurably greater performance
 for mankind than any given book which  
,voltaire could have written4 ,and1 what
 is still better worth observing1       
,voltaire's books would not have been   
the powers they were but for this       
constant desire in him to come into the 
closest contact with the practical      
affairs of the world4 ,what sovereign in

 ,europe do you fear the most8 was once 
asked of ,frederick1 who frankly replied
 ,le roi ,voltaire1 for here he knew was
 a potentate whose kingdom had no       
bounds1 and who would transmit his      
influence to posterity4 ,frederick lived
 to pronounce a panegyric upon him      
before the ,berlin ,academy1 in the year
 of his death4 ,the renown of ,voltaire1
 he predicted1 will grow from age to    
age1 transmitting his name to           
immortality4     ,,candide   ,after this
 disastrous termination of court life   
,voltaire determined to try complete    
independence4 ,permission to establish  
himself in ,france being refused1 he    
purchased an estate near ,geneva4 ,his  
residence here brought him into         
correspondence1 at first amicable1 with 
the most famous of her citizens1 ,jean  
,jacques ,rousseau4 ,there was a natural
 incompatibility of temper which        
speedily led to a quarrel4 ,both were   
sensitive1 and ,rousseau could not bear 
even kindly-meant banter4 ,on           

,rousseau's ,social ,contract ,voltaire 
said it so convinced him of the beauty  
of man in a state of nature that1 after 
reading it1 he ran round me room on all 
fours4 ,his reply to ,rousseau's rebuke 
for his pessimist poem on the earthquake
 of ,lisbon was the immortal ,candide1  
and ,rousseau's revenge was to say1     
slightingly1 that he had not read it4   
,when ,rousseau thought fit to include  
,voltaire in the imaginary machinations 
against him1 with which he absurdly     
changed ,hume1 ,voltaire wrote to       
,d',alembert3 ,i have nothing to        
reproach myself with1 save having       
thought and spoken too well of him4     
,voltaire at first seems to have been   
captivated by the doctrine of ,pope's   
,essay on ,man4 ,he1 however1 afterwards
 wrote3 ,those who exclaim that all is  
well are charlatans4 ,shaftesbury1 who  
first made the fable fashionable1 was a 
very unhappy man4 ,i have seen          
,bolingbroke a prey to vexation and     
rage1 and ,pope1 whom he induced to put 

this sorry jest into verse1 was as much 
to be pitied as any man ,i have ever    
known1 misshapen in body1 dissatisfied  
in mind1 always ill1 always a burden to 
himself1 and harassed by a hundred      
enemies to his very last moment4 ,give  
me1 at least1 the names of some happy   
men who will tell me ',all is well4'    
,his optimism got injured during his    
journey through life1 and was completely
 shattered by the earthquake at ,lisbon 
in #agee4 ,on this subject he produced a
 grave poem1 notable for its confession 
of the difficult reconciling the evil of
 the world with the ,beneficence of     
,god8 ,the same subject was dealt with  
in grotesque fashion in ,candide1 one of
 the wisest as well as one of the       
wittiest of works4 ,a philosophy was    
never more triumphantly reasoned and    
ridiculed out of court than is optimism 
in ,candide4 ,incident crowds on        
incident1 argument jostles satire1      
illustration succeeds raillery1 all to  
show the miseries of existence disprove 

this being the best of all possible     
worlds4 ,at one moment we are forced to 
tears at contemplating the atrocities of
 inhumanity2 the next we are forced to  
laugh at its absurdities4 ,prudes may be
 shocked at some incidents4 ,voltaire   
said he was not born to sing the praises
 of saints4 ,he was himself no saint1   
but rather one of those sinners who had 
done the world more good than all its   
saints4 ,but the influence of the work  
is profoundly good4 ,it is purely       
humanitarian1 ,war1 persecution for     
religion1 slavery1 torture1 and all     
forms of cruelty are made hateful by a  
recital of their facts2 and all this is 
done in so charming1 even flippant a    
manner1 that we are laughing all the    
while we are most profoundly moved4     
,schopenhauer and ,hartmann both enjoyed
 life1 while ,voltaire was an invalid   
most of his days2 but they never threw  
into their pessimism the gaiety of      
,candide4 ,and his peculiarity is1 that 
he makes all man's lower instincts      

ridiculous as well as detestable4  ,this
 character appears in all his work1 but1
 as a fantastic tale1 ,candide stands   
alone4 ,it brings out ,voltaire's most  
characteristic qualities3 his keen eye  
for whimsicalities and weaknesses2 his  
abhorrence of cruelty and iniquity in   
high places2 his contempt for shams and 
absence of all veneration for the       
majesty of nonsensical custom4 ,for     
mordant satire it is surpassed by       
,gulliver's ,travels4 ,but it is        
briefer2 the touch is lighter1 and      
instinct not with morose misanthropy1   
but hearty philanthropy4 ,the characters
 are gross caricatures4 ,was there ever 
so preposterous an absurdity as ,dr4    
,pangloss8 ,and the incidents are       
improbable4 ,was ever so luckless a hero
 as ,candide8 ,what a succession of     
misfortunes6 ,candide travels the world 
in search of his lost beloved           
,cunegonde1 meeting war1 the            
,inquisition1 torture1 shipwreck1       
piracy1 and slavery1 with all their     

attendant horrors4 ,even the earthquake 
of ,lisbon is brought in2 yet with      
whimsical pertinacity1 ,pangloss clings 
to his flimsy philosophy4  ,when he     
re-meets ,candide1 who had left his     
tutor as dead1 he thus relates his      
adventures3 ,but1 my dear ,pangloss1 how
 happens it that ,i see you again8 said 
,candide4 ,it is true1 answered         
,pangloss1 you saw me hanged2 ,i ought  
properly to have been burnt2 but1 you   
remember1 it rained in torrents when    
they were going to roast me4 ,the storm 
was so violent they despaired of        
kindling the fire2 so ,i was hanged1    
because they could do no better4 ,a     
surgeon bought my body1 carried it home1
 and dissected me4 ,he made first a     
crucial incision from the navel to the  
neck4 ,one could not have been more     
badly hanged than ,i4 ,the executioner  
of the ,holy ,inquisition was a         
sub-deacon1 and truly burnt people      
capitally1 but1 as for hanging1 he was a
 novice2 the cord was wet1 and not      

slipping properly1 the noose did not    
join--in short1 ,i still continued to   
breathe4 ,the crucial incision made me  
shriek so that my surgeon fell back1    
and1 imagining it was the devil he was  
dissecting1 ran away in mortal fear1    
tumbling downstairs in his fright4 ,his 
wife1 hearing the noise1 flew from the  
next room1 and saw me stretched upon the
 table with my crucial incision4 ,still 
more terrified than her husband1 she ran
 down also1 and fell upon him4 ,when    
they had a little recovered themselves1 
,i heard her say to the surgeon1 ',my   
dear1 how could you think of dissecting 
a heretic8 ,don't you know that the     
devil is always in them8 ,i'll run      
directly to a priest1 to come and       
exorcise the evil spirit4' ,i trembled  
from head to foot at hearing her talk in
 this manner1 and exerted what little   
strength ,i had left to cry out1 ',have 
pity on me6' ,at length1 the ,portuguese
 barber took courage1 sewed up my wound1
 and his wife even nursed me4 ,i was    

upon my legs in about a fortnight4 ,the 
barber got me a place as lacquey to a   
,knight of ,malta1 who was going to     
,venice2 but finding my master had no   
money to pay me my wages1 ,i entered    
into the service of a ,venetian         
merchant1 and went with him to          
,constantinople4 ,one day ,i took the   
fancy to enter a mosque1 where ,i saw no
 one but an old ,iman and a very pretty 
young female devotee1 who was saying her
 prayers4 ,her neck was quite bare1 and 
in her bosom she had a fine nosegay of  
tulips1 roses1 anemones1 ranunculuses1  
hyacinths1 and auriculas4 ,she let fall 
her bouquet4 ,i ran to take it up1 and  
presented it to her with a bow4 ,i was  
so long in replacing it1 that the ,iman 
began to be angry1 and1 perceiving ,i   
was a ,christian1 he cried out for help4
 ,they took me before the ,cadi1 who    
ordered me to receive one hundred       
bastinadoes1 and sent me to the galleys4
 ,we were continually whipt1 and        
received twenty lashes a day1 when the  

concatenation of sublunary events       
brought you on board our galley to      
ransom us from slavery4  ,well1 my dear 
,pangloss1 said ,candide to him1 now you
 have been hanged1 dissected1 whipped1  
and tugging at the oar1 do you continue 
to think that everything in this world  
happens for the best8 ,i have always    
abided by my first opinion1 replied     
,pangloss2 for1 after all1 ,i am a      
philosopher2 it would not become me to  
retract4 ,leibnitz could not be wrong1  
and 'pre-established harmony' is1       
besides1 the finest thing in the world1 
as well as a 'plenum' and the 'materia  
subtilis'4  ,when ,cunegonde is at last 
found1 she is no longer beautiful--but  
sunburnt1 blear-eyed1 haggard1 withered1
 and scrofulous4 ,though ready to fulfil
 his promise1 her brother1 a baron whom 
,candide has rescued from slavery1      
declares that sister of his shall never 
marry a person of less rank than a      
baron4 ,the book is a mass of seeming   
extravagance1 with a deep vein of gold  

beneath4 ,all flows so smoothly1 the    
reader fancies such fantastic nonsense  
could not only be easily written1 but   
easily improved4 ,yet when he notices   
how every sally and absurdity adds to   
the effect1 how every lightest touch    
tells1 he sees that only the most       
consummate wit and genius could thus    
deftly dissect a philosophy of the      
universe for the amusement of the       
multitude4  ,voltaire tried to save     
,england from the judicial murder of    
,admiral ,byng1 who was sacrificed to   
national pride and political faction in 
#ageg1 yet how lightly he touches the   
history in a sentence3 ,dans ce pays ci 
il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un 
amiral pour encourager les autres4 ,the 
pride1 pomp1 and circumstance of        
glorious war had no charms for          
,voltaire4 ,he shows it in its true     
colors as multitudinous murder and      
rapine4 ,religious intolerance and      
hypocrisy1 court domination and         
intrigue1 the evils attendant on idlers1

 soldiers and priests1 are all sketched 
in lightest outline1 and the reader of  
this fantastic story finds he has       
traversed the history of last century1  
seen it at its worst1 and seen1 too1 the
 forces that tended to make it better1  
and is ready to exclaim3 ,would we had  
another ,voltaire now6  ,the philosophy 
of ,candide is that of ,secularism4 ,the
 world as we find it abounds in misery  
and suffering4 ,if any being is         
responsible for it1 his benevolence can 
only be vindicated by limiting his      
power1 or his power credited by limiting
 his goodness4 ,our part is simply to   
make the best of things and improve this
 world here and now4 ,work1 then1       
without disputing2 it is the only way to
 render life supportable4  ,carlyle did 
much to impair the influence of         
,voltaire in ,england4 ,yet what is     
,carlyle's essential doctrine but ,do   
the work nearest hand1 and what is this 
but a translation of the conclusion of  
,candide3 ,il faut cultiver notre       

jardin8  ,those who forget how far more 
true it is that man is an irrational    
animal than that he is a rational one1  
may wonder how ,voltaire1 having in     
,candide sapped the foundations of      
belief in an all-good ,god by a         
portrayal of the evils afflicting       
mankind1 could yet remain a ,theist4    
,the truth seems to be that ,voltaire   
had neither taste nor talents for       
metaphysics4 ,in the ,ignorant          
,philosopher ,voltaire seeks to answer  
,spinoza1 without fully understanding   
his monistic position4 ,he appears to   
have remained a dualist or modern       
,manichean--an opinion which ,james     
,mill considered was the only ,theistic 
view consistent with the facts4 ,writing
 to ,d',alembert on the #aeth of        
,august1 #agfg1 ,voltaire says3 ,give my
 compliments to the ,devil1 for it is he
 who governs the world4 ,it is curious  
that on the day he was writing these    
lines1 one ,napoleon ,bonaparte had just
 entered upon the world4  ,voltaire     

appears to have been satisfied with the 
design argument as proving a deity1     
though he considered speculation as to  
the nature of deity useless4 ,he showed 
the ,positivist spirit in his rejection 
of metaphysical subtleties4 ,when1 he   
writes1 we have well disputed over      
spirit and matter1 we end ever by no    
advance4 ,no philosopher has been able  
to raise by his own efforts the veil    
which nature has spread over the first  
principles of things4 ,again3 ,i do not 
know the quo modo1 true4 ,i prefer to   
stop short rather than to lose myself4  
,also3 ,philosophy consists in stopping 
where physics fail us4 ,i observe the   
effects of nature1 but ,i confess ,i    
know no more than you do about first    
principles4 ,but a deist he ever        
remained4  ,baron de ,gleichen1 who     
visited him in #ageg1 relates that a    
young author1 at his wits' end for the  
means of living1 knocked one day at the 
poet's door1 and to recommend himself   
said3 ,i am an apprentice atheist at    

your service4 ,voltaire replied3 ,i have
 the honor to be a master deist2 but    
though our trades are opposed1 ,i will  
give you some supper to-night and some  
work to-morrow4 ,i wish to avail myself 
of your arms and not of your head4  ,he 
thought both atheism and fanaticism     
inimical to society2 but1 said he1 the  
atheist1 in his error1 preserves reason1
 which cuts his claws1 while those of   
the fanatic are sharpened in the        
incessant madness which afflicts him4   
,voltaire seems to have been at bottom  
agnostic holding on to the narrow ledge 
of theism and afraid to drop4  ,he says3
 ,for myself1 ,i am sure of nothing4 ,i 
believe that there is an intelligence1 a
 creative power1 a ,god4 ,i express an  
opinion to-day2 ,i doubt of it          
to-morrow2 the day after ,i repudiate   
it4 ,all honest philosophers have       
confessed to me1 when they were warmed  
with wine1 that the great ,being has not
 given to them one particle more        
evidence than to me4 ,he believed in the

 immortality of the soul1 yet expresses 
himself dubiously1 saying to ,madame du 
,deffand that he knew a man who believed
 that when a bee died it ceased to hum4 
,that man was himself4  ,on the         
appearance1 however1 in #aggj of the    
,baron d',holbach's ,system of          
,nature--in which he was very           
considerably helped by                  
,diderot--,voltaire took alarm at its   
openly pronounced atheism4 ,the book1 he
 wrote1  has made all the philosophers  
execrable in the eyes of the ,king and  
his court4 ,through this fatal work     
philosophy is lost for ever in the eyes 
of all magistrates and fathers of       
families4 ,he accordingly took in hand  
to combat its atheism1 which he does in 
the article ,dieu in the ,philosophical 
,dictionary1 and in his ,history of     
,jenni 7,johnny71 a lad supposed to be  
led on a course of vice by atheism and  
reclaimed to virtue by the design       
argument4 ,voltaire's real attitude     
seems fairly expressed in his celebrated

 mot3 ,s'il n'y avait pas un dieu1 il   
fraudrait l'inventer--,if there was not 
a ,god it would be necessary to invent  
one1 which1 ,morin remarks1 was exactly 
what had been done4 ,morley says3 ,it   
was not the truth of the theistic belief
 in itself that ,voltaire prized1 but   
its supposed utility as an assistant to 
the police4     ,,the ,,encyclopaedia   
,voltaire was a great stimulator of the 
,french ,encyclopaedia1 a work designed 
to convey to the many the information of
 the few4 ,here again the inspiration   
was ,english4 ,it was the success of the
 ,cyclopcedia of ,arts and ,sciences1   
edited by the ,freethinker ,ephraim     
,chambers1 in #agbh1 which suggested the
 yet more famous work carried out by    
,diderot and ,d',alembert1 with the     
assistance of such men as ,helvetius1   
,buffon1 ,turgot1 and ,condorcet4       
,voltaire took an ardent interest in the
 work1 and contributed many important   
articles4 ,the leading contributors were
 all ,freethinkers1 but they were under 

the necessity of advancing their ideas  
in a tentative way on account of the    
vigilant censorship4 ,voltaire not only 
wrote for the ,encyclopaedia1 but gave  
valuable hints and suggestions to       
,diderot and ,d',alembert1 as well as   
much sound advice4 ,he cautioned them1  
for instance1 against patriotic bias4   
,why1 he asks ,d',alembert1 do you say  
that the sciences are more indebted to  
,france than to any other nation8 ,is it
 to the ,french that we are indebted for
 the quadrant1 the fire-engine1 the     
theory of light1 inoculation1 the       
seed-sower8 ,parbleu6 you are jesting6  
,we have invented only the wheelbarrow4 
,voltaire wrote the section on ,history4
 ,the first page contained a ,voltairean
 definition of sacred history which even
 an ignorant censor could hardly be     
expected to pass4 ,sacred ,history is a 
series of operations1 divine and        
miraculous1 by which it pleased ,god    
formerly to conduct the ,jewish nation1 
and to-day to exercise our faith4 ,the  

iron hand beneath the velvet glove was  
too evident for this to pass the        
censorship4 ,vexatious delay and the    
enforced excision of important articles 
attended the progress of the work4  ,it 
was the attempted suppression of        
l',encyclopcedie which showed ,voltaire 
that the time had come for battle4  ,in 
#ageg a new edict was issued1           
threatening with death any one who      
wrote1 printed1 or sold any work        
attacking religion or the royal         
authority4 ,the same edict assigned the 
penalty of the galleys to whoever       
published writings without legal permit4
 ,within six months advocate ,barbier   
recorded in his diary some terrible     
sentences4 ,la ,marteliere1             
verse-writer1 for printing clandestinely
 ,voltaire's ,pucelle and other such    
works1 received nine years in the       
galleys2 eight printers and binders     
employed in the same printing office1   
the pillory and three years' banishment4
 ,up to the period of the ,revolution   

nothing could be legally printed in     
,france1 and no book could be imported1 
without ,government authorisation4 ,mr4 
,lecky says1 in his ,history of ,england
 in the ,eighteenth ,century3 ,during   
the whole of the reign of ,lewis ,,xv4  
there was scarcely a work of importance 
which was not burnt or suppressed1 while
 the greater number of the writers who  
were at this time the special1 almost   
the only1 glory of ,france were         
imprisoned1 banished1 or fined4         
,voltaire determined to render the      
bigots odious and contemptible1 and     
henceforth waged incessant war1         
continued to the day of his death4 ,in  
satire on one of the bigots he issued   
his ,narrative of the ,sickness1        
,confession1 ,death and ,reappearance of
 the ,jesuit ,berthier1 as rich a       
burlesque as that which ,swift had      
written predicting and describing the   
death of the astrologer ,partridge1 in  
accordance with the prediction4 ,every  
sentence is a hit4 ,a priest of a rival 

order is hastily summoned to confess the
 dying ,jesuit1 who is condemned to     
penance in purgatory for #ccc1ccc years1
 #c months1 #c weeks1 and #c days1 and  
then will only be let out if some       
brother ,jesuit be found humble and good
 enough to be willing to apply all his  
merits to ,father ,berthier4 ,even      
putting his enemy in purgatory1 he only 
condemned the ,jesuit every morning to  
mix the chocolate of a ,jansenist1 read 
aloud at dinner a ,provincial ,letter1  
and employ the rest of the day in       
mending the chemises of the nuns of     
,port ,royal4  ,from ,ferney he poured  
forth a wasp-swarm of such writings     
under all sorts of pen-names1 and dated 
from ,london1 ,amsterdam1 ,berne1 or    
,geneva4 ,he had sufficient stimulus in 
the bigotry1 intolerance1 and atrocious 
iniquities perpetrated in the name of   
religion4  ,voltaire1 moreover1         
determined himself to uphold the work of
 the ,encyclopaedia in more popular     
form4 ,he put forward first his         

,questions upon the ,encyclopaedia1 in  
which he deals with some important      
articles of that work1 with others of   
his own4 ,this was the foundation of the
 most important of all his works1 the   
,philosophical ,dictionary1 which he is 
said to have projected in the days when 
he was with ,frederick at ,berlin4 ,in  
this work he showed how a dictionary    
could be made the most amusing reading  
in the world4 ,under an alphabetical    
arrangement1 he brought together a vast 
variety of sparkling essays on all sorts
 of subjects connected with literature1 
science1 politics and religion4 ,some of
 his headings were mere stalking-horses1
 under cover of which he shot at the    
enemy4 ,some are concerned with matters 
now out of date2 but1 on the whole1 the 
work presents a vivid picture of his    
versatile genius4 ,an abridged edition1 
containing articles of abiding interest1
 would be a service to ,free-thought at 
the present day4  ,here is a slight     
specimen of his style taken from the    

article on ,fanaticism3 ,some one       
spreads a rumor in the world that there 
is a giant in existence #gj feet high4  
,very soon all the doctors discuss the  
questions what color his hair must be1  
what is the size of his thumb1 what the 
dimensions of his nails2 there is       
outcry1 caballing1 fighting2 those who  
maintain that the giant's little finger 
is only an inch and a half in diameter1 
bring those to the stake who affirm that
 the little finger is a foot thick4     
',but1 gentlemen1 does your giant       
exist8' says a bystander1 modestly4     
',what a horrible doubt6' cry all the   
disputants2 'what blasphemy6 what       
absurdity6' ,then they all make a little
 truce to stone the bystander1 and1     
after having assassinated him in due    
form1 in a manner the most edifying1    
they fight among themselves1 as before1 
on the subject of the little finger and 
the nails4  ,l',infame4  ,voltaire had  
other provocations to his attack on the 
bigots1 and as he greatly concerned     

himself with these1 they must be briefly
 mentioned4 ,in #agfa a tragedy of      
mingled judicial bigotry1 ignorance1 and
 cruelty was enacted in ,languedoc4 ,on 
,october #acth of that year1 ,marc      
,antoine1 the son of ,jean ,calas1 a    
respectable ,protestant merchant in     
,toulouse1 a young man of dissolute     
habits1 who had lived the life of a     
scapegrace1 hanged himself in his       
father's shop while the family were     
upstairs4 ,the priestly party got hold  
of the case and turned it into a        
religious crime4 ,the ,huguenot parents 
were charged with murdering their son to
 prevent his turning ,catholic4 ,solemn 
services were held for the repose of the
 soul of ,marc ,antoine1 and his body   
was borne to the grave with more than   
royal pomp1 as that of a martyr to the  
holy cause of religion4 ,in the church  
of the ,white ,penitents a hired        
skeleton was exhibited1 holding in one  
hand a branch of palm1 emblem of        
martyrdom1 and in the other an          

inscription1 in large letters1          
abjuration of heresy4'' ,the populace1  
who were accustomed yearly to celebrate 
with rejoicing the ,massacre of ,st4    
,bartholomew's ,day1 #aegb1 were excited
 against the family4 ,the father1 who   
for sixty years had lived without       
reproach1 was arrested1 with his wife   
and children4 ,the court before whom the
 case was brought1 at first was disposed
 to put the whole family to the torture1
 never doubting that the murder would be
 confessed by one or other of them4 ,but
 they ended by only condemning the      
father to be tortured1 in order to      
extract a confession of guilt before    
being broken on the wheel1 after which  
his body was to be burned and the ashes 
scattered to the winds4 ,he was         
submitted first to the question         
ordinaire4 ,in sight of the rack he was 
asked to reveal his crime4 ,his answer  
was that no crime had been committed4   
,he was stretched on the rack until     
every limb was dislocated and the body  

drawn out several inches beyond4 ,he was
 then subjected to the question         
extraordinaire4 ,this consisted in      
pouring water into his mouth from a     
horn1 while his nose was pinched1 till  
his body was swollen to twice its size1 
and the sufferer endured the anguish of 
a hundred drownings4 ,he submitted      
without flinching to all the            
excruciating agony4 ,finally1 he was    
placed upon a tumbril and carried       
through the howling mob to the place of 
execution4 ,i am innocent4 he muttered  
from time to time4 ,at the scaffold he  
was exhorted to confess by a priest3    
,what6 said he1 you1 too1 believe a     
father can kill his own son6 ,they bound
 him to a wooden cross1 and the         
executioner1 with an iron bar1 broke    
each of his limbs in two places1        
striking eleven blows in all1 and then  
left him for two hours to die4 ,the     
executioner mercifully strangled him at 
last1 before burning the body at the    
stake4 ,to the last he persisted in his 

innocence3 he had no confession to make4
 ,by his unutterable agony he saved the 
lives of his wife and family4 ,two      
daughters were thrown into a convent1   
and the property was confiscated4 ,the  
widow and son escaped1 and were provided
 for by ,voltaire4  ,he spared no time1 
trouble1 or money to arrive at the      
truth1 and that once reached1 he was as 
assiduous in his search for justice4 ,he
 went to work with an energy and        
thoroughness all his own4 ,he interested
 the ,pompadour herself in the case4 ,by
 his own efforts he forced justice to be
 heard4 ,the worst of the worthy sort of
 people1 he said1 is that they are such 
cowards4 ,a man groans over his wrong1  
shuts his lips1 takes his supper1 and   
forgets4 ,voltaire was not of that      
fibre4 ,wrong went as a knife to his    
heart4 ,he suffered with the victim1 and
 might have justly used the words of    
,shelley1 who compared himself unto a   
nerve1 o'er which do creep the else     
unfelt oppressions of the world4        

,voltaire had to fire others with his   
own fervor4 ,he issued pamphlet after   
pamphlet in which the shameful story was
 told with pathetic simplicity4 ,he     
employed the best lawyers he could find 
to vindicate the memory of the murdered 
man4 ,for three years he left no stone  
unturned1 until all that was possible   
was done to right the foul wrong of     
those in authority4 ,during this time no
 smile escaped him of which he did not  
reproach himself as a crime4 ,carlyle   
speaks of this as ,voltaire's noblest   
outburst1 into mere transcendant blaze  
of pity1 virtuous wrath1 and            
determination to bring rescue and help  
against the whole world4  ,he had his   
pamphlets on the ,calas case1 seven in  
number1 translated and published in     
,england and ,germany1 where they       
produced a profound effect4 ,a          
subscription for the ,calas family was  
headed by the young ,queen of ,george   
,,iii4 ,when at length judgment was     
given1 reversing the sentence1 he wrote 

to ,damilaville3 ,my dear brother1 there
 is1 then1 justice upon the earth6      
,there is1 then1 such a thing as        
humanity6 ,men are not all wicked       
rascals1 as they say6 ,it is the day of 
your triumph1 my dear brother2 you have 
served the family better than anyone4   
,it was while the ,calas case was       
pending that ,voltaire composed his     
noble ,treatise on ,toleration1 a work  
which1 besides its great effect in      
,europe1 caused ,catherine ,,ii4 to     
promise1 if not to grant1 universal     
religious toleration throughout the vast
 empire she governed4  ,this ,calas case
 was scarce ended when another1 almost  
as bad an exhibition of intolerance1    
occurred4 ,sirven1 a respectable        
,protestant land surveyor1 had a        
,catholic housekeeper1 who1 with the    
assent of the ,bishop of ,castres1      
spirited away his daughter for the good 
of her soul1 and placed her in a        
convent1 with a view to her conversion4 
,she returned to her parents in a state 

of insanity1 her body covered with the  
marks of the whip4 ,she never recovered 
from the cruelties she had endured at   
the convent4 ,one day1 when her father  
was absent on his professional duties1  
she threw herself into a well1 at the   
bottom of which she was found drowned4  
,it was obvious to the authorities that 
the parents had murdered their child    
because she wished to become a ,roman   
,catholic4 ,they most wisely did not    
appear1 and were sentenced to be hanged 
when they could be caught4 ,in their    
flight the married daughter gave        
premature birth to a child1 and ,madame 
,sirven died in despair4  ,it took      
,voltaire eight years to get this       
abominable sentence reversed1 and to    
turn wrong into right4 ,he was now      
between seventy and eighty years of age1
 yet he threw himself into the cause of 
the ,sirvens with the zeal and energy   
which has vindicated ,calas2 appealing  
to ,paris and ,europe1 issuing          
pamphlets1 feeing lawyers1 and raising a

 handsome subscription for the family4  
,another case was that of the ,chevalier
 de la ,barre4 ,in #agff a crucifix was 
injured--perhaps wantonly1 perhaps by   
accident4 ,the ,bishop of ,amiens called
 for vengeance4 ,two young officers were
 accused2 one escaped1 and obtained by  
,voltaire's request a commission in the 
,prussian service4 ,the other1 ,la      
,barre1 was tortured to confess1 and    
then condemned to have his tongue cut   
out1 his hand cut off1 and to be burned 
alive4 ,voltaire1 seventy years old1    
devoted himself with untiring energy to 
save him4 ,failing in that1 he wrote one
 of his little pamphlets1 a simple1     
graphic ,narrative of the ,death of     
,chevalier de la ,barre1 which stirred  
every humane heart in ,france4 ,for     
twelve years this infidel vindicated the
 memory of the murdered man and exposed 
his oppressors4 ,one of the authorities 
concerned in this judicial atrocity     
threatened ,voltaire with vengeance for 
holding them up to the execration of    

,europe4 ,voltaire replied by a ,chinese
 anecdote4 ,i forbid you1 said a        
tyrannical emperor to the               
historiographer1 to speak a word more of
 me4 ,the mandarin began to write4 ,what
 are you doing now8 asked the emperor4  
,i am writing down the order that your  
majesty has just given me4 ,voltaire had
 sought to save ,admiral ,byng4 ,he     
contended in a similar case at home4    
,count ,lally had failed to save ,india 
from the ,english1 had been taken       
prisoner1 but allowed to go to ,paris to
 clear his name from charges made       
against him4 ,the ,french people1       
infuriate at the loss of their          
possession1 demanded a victim1 and      
,lally1 after a process tainted with    
every kind of illegality1 was condemned 
to death on the vague charge of abuse of
 authority4 ,the murdered man's son1    
known in the ,revolution as ,lally      
,tollendal1 was joined by ,voltaire in  
the honorable work of procuring revision
 of the proceedings1 and one of the last

 crowning triumphs of ,voltaire's days  
was the news brought to him on his dying
 bed that his long effort had availed4  
,ecrasez ,l'infame4  ,these are samples 
of what was occuring when ,voltaire was 
exhorting his friends to crush the      
infamous--a phrase which gave rise to   
much misunderstanding1 and which priests
 have even alleged was applied to       
,jesus1 their idol4 ,a sufficient       
disproof1 if any were needed1 is that   
,voltaire treats l'infame as feminine4  
,si vous pouvez ecraser l'infame1       
ecrasez-la1 et aimez-moi4 ,that         
oft-repeated phrase was directed at no  
person4 ,nor was it1 as some            
,protestants have alleged1 directed only
 at ,roman ,catholicism4 ,as ,voltaire  
saw and said1 fanatic ,papists and      
fanatic ,calvanism are tarred with one  
brush4 ,l'infame was ,christian         
superstition claiming supernatural      
authority and enforcing its claim1 as it
 has ever sought to do1 by pains and    
penalties4 ,he meant by it the whole    

spirit of exclusiveness1 intolerance1   
and bigotry1 persecuting and privileged 
orthodoxy1 which he saw-as the outcome  
of the divine faith4 ,practically1 as   
,d4 ,f4 ,strauss justly remarked1 when  
,voltaire writes to ,d',alembert that he
 wishes to see the ',infame' reduced in 
,france to the same condition in which  
she finds herself in ,england1 and when 
,frederick writes to ,voltaire that     
philosophers flourished amongst the     
,greeks and ,romans1 because their      
religion had no dogmas--'99mais les     
dogmes de notre infame gatent tout'--it 
is clear we must understand by the      
',infame1' whose destruction was the    
watchword of the ,voltairian circle1 the
 ,christian ,church1 without distinction
 of communions1 ,catholic or            
,protestant4  ,the ,catholic ,joseph de 
,maistre shrieks3 ,with a fury without  
example1 this insolent blasphemer       
declared himself the personal enemy of  
the ,savior of men1 dared from the      
depths of his nothingness to give him a 

name of ridicule1 and that adorable law 
which the ,man-,god brought to earth he 
called 'l'infame4' ,this is a judgment  
worthy of a bigot1 who dares not look   
into the reason why his creed is        
detested4 ,let us try and understand    
this insolent blasphemer to-day4        
,voltaire looked deep into the heart of 
the atrocities that wrung his every     
nerve with anguish4 ,they were not new3 
only the humanity and courage that      
assailed them were new4 ,they were the  
natural outcome of what had been        
,christian teaching4 ,it was not simply 
that1 as a matter of fact1 priests and  
theologians were the opponents of every 
kind of rational progress1 but their    
intolerance was the logical result of   
their creed4 ,these atrocities could not
 have been perpetrated had not priests  
and magistrates had behind them a       
credulous and fanatical populace1 whose 
minds were suborned from childhood to   
believing that they had themselves the  
one and divine faith1 and that all      

heretics were enemies of ,god4 ,he saw  
that to destroy the intolerance he must 
sap the superstition from which it      
sprang4 ,he saw that the core of the    
,christian superstition lay in          
,bibliolatry1 and that while ,christians
 believed they had an exclusive and     
infallibly divine revelation1 they would
 deem all opposition to their own       
beliefs a sin1 meriting punishment4 ,mr4
 ,morley says1 with truth3 ,if we find  
ourselves walking amid a generation of  
cruel1 unjust1 and darkened spirits1 we 
may be assured that it is their beliefs 
on what they deem highest that have made
 them so4 ,there is no counting with    
certainty on the justice of men who are 
capable of fashioning and worshipping an
 unjust divinity2 nor on their humanity1
 so long as they incorporate inhuman    
motives in their most sacred dogma2 nor 
on their reasonableness1 while they     
rigorously decline to accept reason as a
 test of truth4  ,voltaire warred on    
,christian superstition because he      

keenly felt its evils4 ,he saw that     
intolerance naturally flowed from the   
exclusive and dogmatic claims which     
alone differentiated it from other      
faiths4 ,its inducements to right-doing 
he found to be essentially ignoble1     
appealing either to brutal fear of      
punishment or base expectation of       
reward1 and in each case alike          
mercenary4 ,he saw that terrorism       
engendered brutality1 that a savage will
 think nothing of slaughtering hundreds 
to appease his angry ,god4 ,he saw that 
it had been a fine religion for priests 
and monks--those caterpillars of the    
commonwealth1 living on the fat of the  
land while pretending to hold the keys  
of heaven1 a race of parasites on the   
people1 who toil not neither do they    
spin1 and whose direct interest lay in  
fostering their dupes ignorance and     
credulity4 ,the ,christian tree was     
judged1 as its founder said it should   
be1 by its fruits4 ,men do not gather   
grapes from thorns1 or figs from        

thistles4 ,he saw ,christianity as      
,tacitus described it--a maleficent     
superstition4 ,it was a upas tree1 to be
 cut down2 and hence he reiterated his  
terrible ,delenda est ,carthago1        
,ecrasez l',infame--,destroy the        
monster4  ,he wrote to ,d',alembert from
 ,ferney3 ,for forty years ,i have      
endured the outrages of bigots and      
scoundrels4 ,i have found there is      
nothing to gain by moderation1 and that 
it is a deception4 ,i must wage war     
openly and die nobly1 'on a crowd of    
bigots slaughtered at my feet4' ,his war
 was relentless and unremitting4 ,he    
assailed l',infame with every weapon    
which learning1 wit1 industry1 and      
indignation could supply4  ,frederick   
wrote to him from the midst of his own  
wars3 ,your zeal burns against the      
,jesuits and superstitions4 ,you do well
 to combat error1 but do you credit that
 the world will change8 ,the human mind 
is weak4 ,three-fourths of mankind are  
formed to be the slaves of the absurdest

 fanaticism4 ,the fear of the devil and 
hell is fascinating to them1 and they   
detest the sage who wishes to enlighten 
them4 ,i look in vain among them for the
 image of ,god1 of which the theologians
 assure us they carry the imprint4      
,madame du ,deffand wrote in a similar  
strain4 ,she assured him that every     
person of sense thought as he did2 why  
then continue8 ,no remonstrance moved   
him4 ,he had enlisted for the war1 and  
might have said with ,luther3 ,hier     
stehe ich2 ich kann nicht anders4  ,much
 nonsense has been written about        
,voltaire's employment of ridicule      
against religious beliefs4 ,i am        
reminded of ,bishop ,south's remark to a
 dull brother bishop1 who reproved him  
for sprinkling his sermon with          
witticisms4 ,now1 my lord1 do you really
 mean to say that1 if ,god had given you
 any wit1 you would not have used it8   
,voltaire ridiculed what he esteemed    
ridiculous4 ,but there is nothing more  
galling to superstitionists than to find

 that others find food for mirth in     
their absurdities4  ,you mock at sacred 
things1 said the ,jesuits to ,pascal    
when he exposed their casuistry4        
,doubtless the priests of ,baal said the
 same when ,elijah asked them whether   
their ,god was asleep1 or peradventure  
on a journey4 ,the artifice of          
inculcating a solemn and reverential    
manner of treating absurdities is the   
perennial recipe for sanctifying and    
perpetuating superstition4 ,priests of  
all persuasions1 says ,oliver           
,goldsmith1 are enemies to ridicule1    
because they know it to be a formidable 
antagonist to fanaticism1 and they      
preach up gravity to conceal their own  
shallowness of imposture4 ,approach the 
mysteries of the faith with reverence   
and you concede half the battle4        
,christian missionaries do not thus     
treat the fetishism and sorcery of      
heathen lands4 ,to overcome it they must
 expose its absurdities4 ,ridicule has  
been a weapon in the hands of all the   

great liberators1 ,luther1 ,erasmus1    
,rabelais1 ,bruno1 ,swift1 but none used
 it more effectively than ,voltaire4    
,buckle well says2 ,he used ridicule1   
not as the test of truth1 but as the    
scourge of folly4 ,and he adds3 ,his    
irony1 his wit1 his pungent and telling 
sarcasms produce more effect than the   
gravest arguments could have done2 and  
there can be no doubt he was fully      
justified in using those great resources
 with which nature had endowed him1     
since by their aid he advanced the      
interests of truth1 and relieved men    
from some of their most inveterate      
prejudices4 ,victor ,hugo puts the case 
in poetic fashion when he declares that 
,voltaire was irony incarnate for the   
salvation of mankind4 ,ridicule is not  
argument6 ,well1 it is a pointed form of
 polemic1 the argumentum ad absurdum4   
,mustapha1 said ,voltaire1 does not     
believe1 but he believes that he        
believes4 ,to shame him out of          
hypocrisy1 there is nothing better than 

laughter2 and if a true believer1       
laughter will best free him from terror 
of his bogey devil and no less bogey    
god4 ,ridicule can hurt no reality4 ,you
 cannot make fun of the multiplication  
table4 ,the fun begins when the         
theologians assert that three times one 
are one4 ,shaftesbury1 who maintained   
that ridicule was a test of truth1      
remarked with justice1 'tis the         
persecuting spirit that has raised the  
bantering one4 ,ridicule is the natural 
retort to those who seek not to convert 
but to convict and punish4 ,ridicule    
comes like a stream of sunlight to      
dissipate the fogs of preconceived      
prejudice4 ,a laugh1 if no argument1 is 
a splendid preparative4 ,often1 in      
,voltaire1 ridicule takes an            
argumentative form4 ,thus1 alluding to a
 ,monsieur ,esprit's book on the        
,falsity of ,human ,virtues1 he says3   
,that great genius1 ,mons4 ,esprit1     
tells us that neither ,cato1 ,aristotle1
 ,marcus ,aurelius1 nor ,epictetus were 

good men1 and a good reason why1 good   
men are only found among ,christians4   
,again1 among the ,christians1          
,catholics alone are virtuous1 and of   
the ,catholics1 the ,jesuits1 enemies of
 the ,oratorians1 must be excepted4     
,therefore1 there is scarce any virtue  
on earth1 except among the enemies of   
the ,jesuits4  ,all his characteristic  
scorn and ridicule come out when dealing
 with the fetish book of his            
adversaries4 ,the ,philosophical        
,dictionary is full of wit upon biblical
 subjects4 ,i content myself with an    
excerpt from the less known ,sermon of  
,fifty3 ,if ,moses changed the waters   
into blood1 the sages of ,pharoah did   
the same4 ,he made frogs come upon the  
land2 this also they were able to do4   
,but when lice were concerned1 they were
 vanquished2 in the matter of lice1 the 
,jews knew more and could do more than  
the other nations4  ,finally1 ,adonai   
caused every first-born in ,egypt to    
die1 in order that his people might be  

at their ease4 ,for his people the sea  
is cloven in twain2 and we must confess 
it is the least that could be done on   
this occasion4 ,all the other marvels   
are of the same stamp4 ,the ,jews wander
 in the desert4 ,some husbands complain 
of their wives4 ,immediately water is   
found1 which makes every woman who has  
been faithless to her husband swell and 
burst4 ,in the desert the ,jews have    
neither bread nor dough1 but quails and 
manna are rained upon them4 ,their      
clothes are preserved unworn for forty  
years2 as the children grow1 their      
clothes grow with them4 ,samson1 because
 he had not undergone the operation of  
shaving1 defeats a thousand ,philistines
 with the jaw-bone of an ass4 ,he ties  
together three hundred foxes1 which1 as 
a matter of course1 come quite readily  
to his hand4  ,there is scarcely a page 
in which tales of this sort are not     
found4 ,the ghost of ,samuel appears1   
summoned by the voice of a witch4 ,the  
shadow of a dial--as if miserable       

creatures like the ,jews had dials--goes
 back ten degrees at the prayer of      
,hezekiah1 who1 with great judgment1    
asks for this sign4 ,god gives him the  
choice of making the hour advance or    
recede1 and the learned ,hezekiah thinks
 that it is not difficult to make the   
shadow advance1 but very difficult to   
make it recede4 ,elijah mounts to heaven
 in a chariot of fire2 children sing in 
a hot and raging furnace4 ,i should     
never stop if ,i entered into the detail
 of all the monstrous extravagances with
 which this book swarms4 ,never was     
common sense outraged so vehemently and 
indecently4 ,noticing the comparison in 
the ,song of ,solomon1 ,her nose is like
 the tower of ,damascus1 etc41 he says3 
,this1 ,i own1 is not in the style of   
the ,eclogues of the author of the      
,a,eneid2 but all have not a like style1
 and a ,jew is not obliged to write like
 ,virgil4  ,this1 it may be objected1 is
 caricature and not criticism4 ,but all 
that ,voltaire sought was that his blows

 should tell4 ,he did not expect to be  
taken au pied du lettre4 ,some of his   
biblical criticism is faulty1 but it is 
hard for the reader to recover from the 
tone of banter and contempt with which  
he treats the sacred book4 ,when the    
idol is shattered1 it is not much use   
saying its mouth was not quite so big   
and ugly as it was represented to be4   
,priests have never yet been troubled by
 dull criticism4 ,they left ,tindal and 
,chubb alone2 but when ,woolston1 ,annet
 and ,paine added liveliness to their   
infidelity1 they loudly called for the  
police4  ,leslie ,stephen well says3    
,men have venerated this or that        
grotesque monstrosity because they have 
always approached it with half-shut eyes
 and grovelling on their faces in the   
dust3 a single hearty laugh will        
encourage them to stand erect and to    
learn the latest of lessons--that of    
seeing what lies before them4 ,and if   
your holy religion does really depend   
upon preserving the credit of ,jonah's  

whale1 upon justifying all the          
atrocities of the ,jews1 and believing  
that a census was punished by a plague1 
ridicule is not only an effective but an
 appropriate mode of argument4          
,voltaire is often sneered at as a mere 
destructive4 ,the charge is not true1   
and1 even if it were1 he would none the 
less deserve the admiration of posterity
 for his destructive work4 ,it is as    
necessary for the gardener to clear away
 the rubbish and keep down the weeds as 
to sow and water4 ,mr4 ,morley justly   
observes3 ,he had imagination enough and
 intelligence enough to perceive that   
they are the most pestilent of all the  
enemies of mankind1 the sombre hierarchs
 of misology1 who take away the keys of 
knowledge1 thrusting truth down to the  
second place1 and discrowning sovereign 
reason to be the serving drudge of      
superstition or social usuage4          
,voltaire was the arch iconoclast of his
 age1 a mere destructive1 if you will4  
,buckie truly remarks3 ,all great       

reforms have consisted1 not in making   
something new1 but in unmaking something
 old4 ,w4 ,j4 ,fox eloquently said3 ,the
 destruction of tyranny is political    
freedom4 ,the destruction of bigotry is 
spiritual and mental emancipation4      
,positive and negative are mere forms4  
,creation and destruction1 as we call   
them1 are just one and the same work1   
the work which man has to do--the       
extraction of good from evil4  ,much has
 been made of the pseudonymous character
 of his attacks on ,christianity1 and of
 the subterfuges and fibs with which he 
sought to evade responsibility4 ,one    
might as well complain of ironclads     
wearing armor in warfare4  ,it was the  
necessity of his position4 ,he wanted to
 do his work1 not to become a martyr1   
leaving it to unknown hands4 ,it should 
be remembered that ,voltaire had        
sometimes to bribe publishers to bring  
out his writings2 and1 in such          
circumstances1 the pseudonymity is      
surely open to no suspicion of baseness4

 ,his poem on ,natural ,religion was    
condemned to the flames by the decree of
 the ,parliament of ,paris1 #bcrd       
,january1 #agei4 ,his ,important        
,examination of the ,scriptures1 which  
he falsely attributed to ,lord          
,bolingbroke1 was condemned with five   
other of his pieces by a decree of the  
,court of ,rome1 #bith ,november1 #agga4
 ,could the author have been caught1 he 
would have had a good chance1 if not of 
sharing the fate of his book1 at least  
of permanent lodgment in the ,bastille1 
of which he had already sufficient      
taste4 ,he knew that although           
,bolingbroke had no hand in its         
composition he largely shared its ideas1
 and he obtained at once publicity and  
security by attributing it to the dead  
friend who1 ,morley says1 was the direct
 progenitor of ,voltaire's opinions in  
religion4 ,if he stuck at no subterfuge 
to achieve his work1 his lies injured no
 one4 ,one of the funniest was the      
signing one of his heterodox            

publications as the ,archbishop of      
,canterbury1 a lie which may remind us  
of the drunken ,sheridan announcing     
himself as ,william ,wilberforce4       
,voltaire had been ,bastilled twice1 and
 verily believed that another taste     
would end his days4 ,i am1 he said1 a   
friend of truth1 but no friend at all to
 martyrdom4 ,shelter behind any ambush  
was necessary in such guerilla warfare  
as his4 ,over fifty of his works were   
condemned1 and placed upon the ,index4  
,voltaire used no fewer than one hundred
 and thirty different pen-names1 which  
have enabled bibliographers to display  
their erudition47#a7 ,but for this      
underground method1 he might have been  
laid by the heels instead of living to  
old age1 with the satisfaction of seeing
 the world becoming a little more humane
 and tolerant through his efforts4 ,in  
such warfare the only test is success1  
and the fact remains that ,voltaire's   
blows told4 ,he cleared the course for  
modern science1 and it is not for those 

who benefit by his labors to sneer      
because he did not become a martyr in   
the struggle4      #a4 ,special mention 
should be made of the ,bibliographie    
,voltairienne of ,m4 ,l4 ,querard1 and  
,voltaire3 ,bibliographie de     ses    
,o,euvres1 in four volumes1 by ,m4 ,g4  
,bengesco1 #ahhb- #ahij4  ,condorcet    
says3 ,his zeal against a religion which
 he regarded as the cause of the        
fanaticism which has desolated ,europe  
since its birth1 of the superstition    
which had burst about it1 and as the    
source of the mischief which the enemies
 of human nature still continued to do1 
seemed to double his activity and his   
forces4 ',i am tired1' he said one day1 
'of hearing it repeated that twelve men 
were enough to establish ,christianity4 
,i want to show them that one will be   
enough to destroy it4' ,what one man    
could do he did4 ,but it took not twelve
 legendary apostles1 but the labor of   
countless thousands of men1 through many
 ages1 to build up the great complex of 

,christianity1 and it will need the     
labors of as many to destroy it4        
,voltaire himself came to see this1 and 
wrote1 in the year before his death1 ,i 
now perceive that we must still wait    
three or four hundred years4 ,one day it
 cannot but be that good men will win   
their cause2 but before that glorious   
day arrives1 how many disgusts have we  
to undergo1 how many dark persecutions1 
without reckoning the ,la ,barres of    
whom they will make an auto de fe from  
time to time4  ,john ,morley remarks3   
,the meaner partisans of an orthodoxy1  
which can only make wholly sure of      
itself by injustice to adversaries1 has 
always loved to paint the ,voltairean   
school in the characters of demons1     
enjoying their work of destruction with 
a sportive and impish delight4 ,they may
 have rejoiced in their strength so long
 as they cherished the illusion that    
those who first kindled the torch should
 also complete the long course and bear 
the lamp to the goal4 ,when the gravity 

of the enterprise showed itself before  
them1 they remained alert with all      
courage1 but they ceased to fancy that  
courage necessarily makes men happy4    
,the mantle of philosophy was rent in a 
hundred places1 and bitter winds entered
 at a hundred holes2 but they only drew 
it the more closely around them4  ,it   
may remain an inspiration to others1 as 
it assuredly is a proof of the          
temperance and moderation of his own    
life1 that much of ,voltaire's best work
 was done after he had reached his      
sixtieth year4 ,candide1 his            
masterpiece1 was written at the age of  
sixty-four4 ,four years later he        
produced his ,sermon of the ,fifty1 and 
he was sixty-nine when he published his 
epoch-making ,treatise upon ,toleration1
 and ,saul1 the wittiest of his         
burlesque dramas4 ,at the age of seventy
 he issued his most important work1 the 
,philosophical ,dictionary1 and his     
burlesque upon existing superstitions1  
which he entitled ,pot-,pourri4 ,this   

was1 indeed1 the period of his greatest 
literary activity against l',infame4    
,his ,questions on the ,miracles1 his   
,examination of ,lord ,bolingbroke1 the 
,questions of ,zapata1 the ,dinner of   
,count de ,boulainvilliers 7the charming
 resume of ,voltaire's religious        
opinions1 which had the honor to be     
burnt by the hand of the hangman71 the  
,canonisation of ,st4 ,cucufin1 the     
romance of the ,princess of ,babylon1   
the ,a4 ,b4 and ,c41 the collection of  
,ancient ,gospels1 and his ,god and     
,men1 all being issued while he was     
between seventy and seventy-five4 ,it   
was at this time he edited the ,recueil 
,necessaire avec l',evangile de la      
,raison1 a collection of anti-,christian
 tracts dated ,leipsic and ,london1 but 
printed at ,amsterdam4 ,he was eighty   
when he put forth his ,white ,bull 7one 
of the funniest of his pieces1 which was
 translated by ,jeremy ,bentham71 and   
his ridiculous skit on ,bababec and the 
,fakirs2 eighty-two when he wrote ,the  

,bible ,explained and ,a ,christian     
against ,six ,jews2 and eighty-three    
when he published his ,history of the   
,establishment of ,christianity4  ,it   
was thus in the last twenty years of his
 long life that ,voltaire did his best  
work for the destruction of prejudice   
and the spread of enlightenment4 ,at the
 same time he maintained a large        
correspondence1 both with the principal 
sovereigns of ,europe1 whom he urged in 
the direction of tolerance1 and with the
 leading writers1 whom he wished to     
combine in a great and systematic       
attempt to sap the creed he believed to 
be at the root of superstition and      
intolerance4  ,it is in his lengthy and 
varied correspondence with intimates1   
extending over sixty years1 that        
,voltaire most truly reveals himself4   
,he is therein his own minute           
biographer1 revealing not only his      
actions1 but their actuation4 ,we see   
him therein not merely the prince of    
persifleurs1 but the serious sensitive  

thinker1 keenly alive to friendship1    
love1 and work for the higher interests 
of humanity4 ,his letters are among the 
most varied1 interesting1 and delightful
 of any left by a great man of letters4 
,like all his other productions1 they   
display the fertility of his genius4    
,over ten thousand separate letters are 
catalogued by ,bengesco4 ,their very    
extent prevents their being widely read1
 but they reveal the perennial          
brightness of his mind1 his delight in  
work1 his love of literature and        
liberty1 his constant gaiety and        
goodness of heart1 with here and there  
only a flash of indignation and         
contempt4 ,they are imbued with the     
spirit of friendship1 abound in         
anecdotes and pleasantries1 mingled with
 a passionate earnestness for the       
interest of mankind4 ,constantly we find
 him endeavoring to elevate the literary
 class1 to raise the drama1 continually 
seeking to encourage talent1 to relieve 
suffering1 and to defend the oppressed4 

,,last ,,days   ,with the authorities at
 ,geneva ,voltaire had got into dispute1
 owing to his attempt to establish a    
private theatre in the territory still  
dominated by the ghost of ,calvin4      
,moreover1 he was continually reminding 
them of ,servetus4 ,when ,d',alembert's 
article on ,geneva appeared the citizens
 were enraged1 and ,voltaire thought    
proper to also purchase an estate near  
,lausanne1 in the ,vaud ,canton1 which  
was somewhat less austere in theatrical 
matters4 ,here ,gibbon was also residing
 at the time4  ,stupid stories have been
 told of ,gibbon's attempts to see      
,voltaire1 and of their mutual laughter 
at each other's ugliness4 ,voltaire is  
said to have refused himself to the     
young ,englishman1 which is very        
unlikely1 and that he replied3 ,you are 
like the ,christian ,god3 he permits one
 to eat and drink1 but will never show  
himself4 ,it is said that he got        
,voltaire's mare let loose on purpose to
 see the old man chase after him4       

,voltaire sent a servant to charge him  
twelve sous for seeing the great beast1 
whereupon he gave twenty-four1 with the 
remark1 that will pay for a second      
visit4 ,gibbon himself1 speaking of the 
winter of #ageg-eh1 which he spent in   
the neighborhood of ,lausanne1 says3 ,my
 desire of beholding ,voltaire1 whom ,i 
then rated above his real magnitude1 was
 easily gratified4 ,he received me with 
civility as an ,english youth1 but ,i   
cannot boast of any peculiar notice or  
distinction4 ,the highest gratification 
which ,i derived from ,voltaire's       
residence at ,lausanne was the uncommon 
circumstance of hearing a great poet    
declaim his own productions on the      
stage4 ,he had formed a company of      
gentlemen and ladies1 some of whom were 
not destitute of talents4 ,my ardor1    
which soon became conspicuous1 seldom   
failed of procuring me a ticket4444 ,the
 wit and philosophy of ,voltaire1 his   
table and theatre1 refined in a visible 
degree the manners of ,lausanne2 and1   

however addicted to study1 ,i enjoyed my
 share of the amusements of society4    
,this taste for directing theatrical    
representations was shared1 perhaps we  
might say followed1 by his great ,german
 admirer ,goethe4 ,it was ,voltaire's   
relaxation4 ,one of his most particular 
friends was the great actor ,le ,kain4  
,the drama was with him an instrument of
 education4 ,he believed it to be a     
means both of softening and refining    
manners1 and also of dispersing         
intolerance and superstition4  ,voltaire
 soon afterwards purchased a third      
estate at ,ferney1 just a little over   
the ,french border1 and here1           
eventually1 he lived en grande seigneur1
 and was known as the patriarch of      
,ferney4 ,a philosopher1 he said1 with  
hounds at his heels1 like a fox should  
never trust to one hole4 ,accordingly1  
he had within easy distance the choice  
of three distinct governments wherein to
 find a place of refuge1 for1 as        
,carlyle remarks1 he had to keep his    

eyes open and always have covert within 
reach1 under pain of being torn to      
pieces1 while he went about in the      
flesh1 or rather in the bones1 poor lean
 being4 ,he now had wealth1             
independence1 and an assurance of       
safety1 and had come to that time of    
life when most men who are able think   
they may fairly retire from their       
labors4 ,but now was the time when he1  
casting aside all other pleasures and   
ambitions1 threw himself with unflagging
 energy and unsurpassed industry into   
the great task of his life4 ,it was from
 ,ferney he issued all the remarkable   
works of his later years4  ,at ,ferney1 
the old church obstructing his view of  
the ,alps1 he built a new one1 and got  
into trouble for doing so4 ,he had      
inscribed on it1 ,deo erexit ,voltaire1 
#agfa1 a phrase which betrayed rather   
patronage than devotion4  ,it is1 he    
remarked1 the only church dedicated to  
,god alone2 all the others are dedicated
 to saints4 ,for my part1 ,i would      

rather worship the master than the      
valets4 ,on another occasion1 he said3  
,yes1 ,i adore ,god2 but not monsieur   
his son1 and madame his mother4 ,it was 
observed of the inscription that he had 
only a single word between himself and  
,god4 ,from the wall of his church he   
also built a tomb for himself4 ,the     
wicked will say that ,i am neither      
inside nor outside1 he remarked4 ,of the
 church he remarked3 ,the wicked will   
say1 no doubt1 that ,i am building this 
church in order to throw down the one   
which conceals a beautiful prospect1 and
 to have a grand avenue2 but ,i let the 
impious talk1 and go on working out my  
salvation4 ,if the wicked made the      
remarks predicted1 they doubtless spoke 
the truth4 ,it was even reported that   
,voltaire personally superintended the  
removal of the old ruinous one1 saying1 
,take away that gibbet when pointing to 
the crucifix4 ,the cure of ,moens1 the  
parish adjoining ,ferney1 cited         
,voltaire before the ecclesiastical     

official of ,gex as guilty of impiety   
and sacrilege1 and ,wagniere1           
,voltaire's secretary1 says3 ,those     
gentlemen indulged the confident hope   
that ,m4 de ,voltaire would be burned1  
or at least hanged1 for the greater     
glory of ,god and the edification of the
 faithful4 ,this they said publicly4    
,voltaire was enabled to strike terror  
to his persecutor by producing a royal  
ordinance of #afbg forbidding a cure to 
serve either as prosecutor or judge in  
such cases4 ,the church remains1 but the
 celebrated inscription was effaced     
during the ,restoration of the          
,monarchy4  ,ferney became an asylum for
 the oppressed both from ,france and    
,switzerland4 ,many of these ,voltaire  
located in and about his chateau1 but1  
as their number increased1 he built nice
 stone houses1 and1 in a little time1   
the miserable hamlet which before his   
arrival had been a wilderness1 became a 
prosperous colony of twelve hundred     
individuals and a veritable free ,state4

 ,there were both ,protestants and      
,catholics among them1 but such was the 
unanimity in which they lived under his 
protection1 that we are told no one     
could conceive that different religions 
existed among them4 ,among this colony  
he established the manufacture of       
weaving and of watches1 by means of     
which his people presently became       
wealthy2 the ,empress ,catherine ,,ii41 
even when engaged in her ,turkish       
campaigns1 paying her bon ami ,voltaire 
the compliment of assisting the ,ferney 
colony by an order for watches to the   
value of some thousand roubles4 ,he     
pushed the work of his colonists into   
repute throughout the world1 and was    
justified in saying to the ,duke of     
,richelieu1 ,give me a fair chance1 and 
,i am the man to build a city4  ,though 
everywhere maligned as an infidel and a 
scoffer1 his life was one long act of   
benevolence4 ,the watches of ,ferney    
became known as those of ,geneva4       
,fifteen years ago1 said a visitor1     

there were barely at ,ferney three or   
four cottages and forty inhabitants2 now
 it is astonishing to see a numerous and
 civilised colony1 a theatre1 and more  
than a hundred pretty houses4 ,his      
charities1 says ,general ,hamley1 were  
munificent4 ,when the ,order of ,jesuits
 was suppressed he took one of the body1
 ,father ,adam1 into his house1 and made
 him his almoner1 a post which was far  
from being a sinecure4 ,hearing that    
,mademoiselle ,corneille1 the grandniece
 of the poet1 was in poverty1 ,voltaire1
 in the most delicate manner1 invited   
her to his house1 treated her as a      
relation1 and gave her an education     
suitable to her descent4 ,it is1 he     
said1 the duty of an old soldier to be  
useful to the daughter of his general4  
,that she might not feel under personal 
obligation1 he devoted to her dowry the 
profits of his ,commentaries on         
,corneille4  ,a description is given of 
him in his last days at ,ferney1 seated 
under a vine1 on the occasion of a fete1

 and receiving the congratulations and  
complimentary gifts of his tenantry and 
neighbors1 when a young lady1 whom he   
had adopted1 brought him in a basket a  
pair of white doves with pink beaks1 as 
her offering4 ,he afterwards entertained
 about #bjj guests at a splendid repast1
 followed by illuminations1 songs1 and  
dances1 and was himself so carried away 
in an access of gaiety as to throw his  
hat into the air4 ,but his merriment    
ended in a tempest of wrath2 for        
learning1 in the course of the evening1 
that the two doves which had figured so 
prettily in the fete had been killed for
 the table1 his indignation at the      
stolid cruelty which could shed the     
blood of the creatures they had all just
 admired and caressed1 knew no bounds4  
,diderot1 who shares with ,voltaire the 
glory of being the intellectual landmark
 of last century1 and who equalled him  
as an artist and excelled him as a      
philosopher1 only met ,voltaire a little
 before his death4 ,the fame of         

,voltaire's wealth had kept him from    
,ferney4 ,speaking of ,voltaire in old  
age1 ,diderot says3 ,he is like one of  
those old haunted castles1 which are    
falling into ruins in every part2 but   
you easily perceive that it is inhabited
 by some ancient magician4 ,diderot was 
the better critic1 and controverted the 
patriarch as to the merits of           
,shakespeare1 whom he compared to the   
statue of ,saint ,christopher at ,notre 
,dame--unshapely and rude2 but3 such a  
colossus that ordinary petty men could  
pass between his legs without touching  
him4  ,late in life1 ,voltaire adopted  
,reine ,philiberte de ,vericourt1 a     
young girl of noble but poor family1    
whom he had rescued from a convent life1
 installed in his own house1 and married
 to the ,marquis de ,villette4 ,her pet 
name was ,belle et ,bonne1 and no one   
had more to do with the happiness of the
 last years of ,voltaire than she4 ,she 
watched by the dying ,voltaire's        
bedside1 and ,lady ,morgan thus records 

her report3 ,to his last moment         
everything he said and did breathed the 
benevolence and goodness of his         
character4 ,all announced in him        
tranquility1 peace1 resignation2 except 
a little moment of ill-humor which he   
showed to the cure of ,st4 ,sulpice when
 he begged him to withdraw1 and said1   
',let me die in peace4'  ,voltaire      
himself wrote to ,mme4 du ,deffand3     
,they say sometimes of a man1 ',he died 
like a dog'2 but1 truly1 a dog is very  
happy to die without all the ceremony   
with which they persecute the last      
moments of our lives4 ,if they had a    
little charity for us1 they would let us
 die without saying anything about it4  
,the worst is that we are then          
surrounded by hypocrites1 who worry us  
to make us think as they do not in the  
least think2 or else by imbeciles1 who  
desire us to be as stupid as they are4  
,all this is very disgusting4 ,the only 
pleasure of life at ,geneva is that     
people can die there as they like2 many 

worthy persons summon no priest at all4 
,people kill themselves if they please1 
without any one objecting2 or they await
 the last moment1 and no one troubles   
them about it4  ,under suffering1 age1  
and impending death1 ,voltaire's        
bearing1 as ,carlyle acknowledges1 one  
must say is rather beautiful4 ,voltaire 
had all his life enjoyed bad health4 ,he
 had always a feeble constitution1 and  
was a confirmed invalid for the greater 
part of his life1 suffering from bladder
 disorder1 and a variety of other       
diseases that would have soon finished  
an ordinary man4 ,we may say he was     
sustained by his work1 which was ever   
gay1 even when most pessimistic4 ,my    
eyes are as red as a drunkard's1 he     
writes1 and ,i have not the honor to be 
one4 ,his wit lasted in old age4 ,a     
visitor to ,ferney1 hearing him praise  
,haller enthusiastically1 told him that 
,haller did not do him equal justice4   
,ah1 said ,voltaire1 lightly1 perhaps we
 are both mistaken4 ,to ,bailly1 the    

astronomer1 he wrote1 at the age of     
eighty-one3 ,a hundred thanks for the   
book of medicine which you sent me1     
together with your own ,history of      
,ancient ,astronomy1 when ,i was very   
unwell4 ,i have not opened the first4   
,the second ,i have read and feel much  
better4 ,he kept himself at work with   
coffee4 ,his interest was ever in his   
work4 ,at the very last1 the new        
dictionary he had proposed to the       
,academy was on his mind2 it was not    
proceeding as rapidly as his            
indefatigable spirit desired4 ,j'ai fait
 un pen de bien2 c'est mon meilleur     
ouvrage--,i have done a little good2    
that is my best work1 was one of his    
latest utterances4  ,his physicians gave
 their opinion that he might have lived 
even longer than he did had he not been 
lured to ,paris by his niece            
7unprepossessing ,madame ,denis7 to     
superintend the production of his last  
tragedy ,irene4 ,asked at the barrier if
 there was anything contraband in the   

carriage1 he replied1 ,only myself4 ,on 
entering ,paris he received a shock in  
the news that his friend ,le ,kain1 the 
actor1 had been buried the day before4  
,he was visited by ,benjamin ,franklin1 
who brought his grandson1 whom they     
desired to kneel for the patriarch's    
blessing4 ,pronouncing in ,english the  
words1 ,god1 ,liberty1                  
,toleration--this1 said ,voltaire1 is   
the most suitable benediction for the   
grandson of ,franklin4 ,poems1 addresses
 and deputations came thick upon him1   
and his hotel was thronged with visitors
 of rank and eminence4 ,the popular     
voice hailed the aged patriarch1        
especially as the defender of ,calas1   
the apostle of universal toleration2 and
 this title was more gratifying to him  
than any other4  ,in one house where    
,voltaire called on his last visit to   
,paris1 the mistress reproached him for 
the obstinacy with which1 in extreme old
 age 7over eighty-three71 he continued  
to assail the ,church and its beliefs4  

,be moderate and generous1 said she1    
after the victory4 ,what can you fear   
now from such adversaries8 ,the fanatics
 are prostrate 7a terre74 ,they can no  
longer injure4 ,their reign is over4    
,voltaire replied3 ,you are in error1   
madame2 it is a fire that is covered but
 not extinguished4 ,those fanatics1     
those ,tartuffes1 are mad dogs4 ,they   
are muzzled1 but they have not lost     
their teeth4 ,it is true they bite no   
more2 but on the first opportunity1 if  
their teeth are not drawn1 you will see 
if they will not bite4 ,all that one man
 could do was done by ,voltaire4 ,more  
than any other1 he helped to muzzle the 
mad dog of religious intolerance1       
lassoing it dexterously with his        
finespun silken thread1 since replaced  
by a stronger cord4 ,but the beast even 
yet is not dead2 its teeth are not all  
drawn4 ,give it a chance and it will    
still bite4 ,what we have to thank      
,voltaire for is1 that he has left works
 which1 as he himself said1 are scissors

 and files to file the teeth and pare   
the talons of the monsters4  ,voltaire  
was1 as he said1 stifled in roses4 ,he  
sat up at night perfecting ,irene1 and  
his unwearied activity induced him at   
his great age to begin a ,dictionary    
upon a novel plan which he prevailed    
upon the ,french ,academy to take up4   
,at the performance of his tragedy he   
was crowned with laurel in his box1 amid
 the plaudits of the audience4 ,to keep 
himself up under the excitement1 he     
exceeded even his usual excess of       
coffee4 ,these labors and dissipation   
brought on spitting of blood1 and       
sleeplessness1 to obviate which he took 
opium4 ,condorcet says the servant      
mistook one of the doses1 which threw   
him into a state of lethargy1 from which
 he never recovered4 ,he lingered for   
some time1 but at length expired on the 
#cjth of ,may1 #aggh1 in his            
eighty-fourth year4  ,of course lying   
tales of dying horrors were floated1 and
 disbelieved in by all who knew him4 ,he

 wished to rest in his own churchyard1  
and let the abbe ,gaultier and the cure 
de ,st4 ,sulpice squabble as to who     
should have1 the honor of his           
conversion4 ,his secretary1 being alone 
with him1 begged him to state what his  
view continued to be when he believed   
himself dying2 and received this written
 declaration3 ,i die adoring ,god1      
loving my friends1 not hating my        
enemies1 detesting superstition--,je    
meurs eti adorant dieu1 en aimant mes   
amis1 en ne baissant pas mes ennemis1 de
 testant superstition4 ,this dying      
declaration may be seen at the          
,bibliotheque ,nationale1 ,paris 7,fr4  
#aa1dfj71 written1 signed and dated by  
him in a still firm hand1 ,february1    
#aggh4  ,into the stories told of       
,voltaire's dying moments and many      
similar legends1 my colleague1 ,mr4 ,g4 
,w4 ,foote1 has fully entered in his    
,infidel ,deathbeds4 ,he quotes the     
following extract from a letter by ,dr4 
,burard1 who1 as assistant physician1   

was constantly about ,voltaire in his   
last moments3  ,i feel happy in being   
able1 while paying homage to truth1 to  
destroy the effect of the lying stories 
which have been told respecting the last
 moments of ,mons4 de ,voltaire4 ,i was1
 by office1 one of those who were       
appointed to watch the whole progress of
 his illness1 with ,,mm4 ,tron-chin1    
,lorry1 and ,try1 his medical           
attendants4 ,i never left him for an    
instant during his last moments1 and ,i 
can certify that we invariably observed 
in him the same strength of character1  
though his disease was necessarily      
attended with horrible pain4 7,here     
follow the details of his case47 ,we    
positively forbade him to speak1 in     
order to prevent the increase of a      
spitting of blood1 with which he was    
attacked2 still he continued to         
communicate with us by means of little  
cards1 on which he wrote his questions2 
we replied to him verbally1 and if he   
was not satisfied1 he always made his   

observations to us in writing4 ,he      
therefore retained his faculties up to  
the last moment1 and the fooleries which
 have been attributed to him are        
deserving of the greatest contempt4 ,it 
could not even be said that such or such
 person had related any circnmstance of 
his death1 as being witness to it2 for  
at the last1 admission to his chamber   
was forbidden to any person4 ,those who 
came to obtain intelligence respecting  
the patient1 waited in the saloon1 and  
other apartments at hand4 ,the          
proposition1 therefore1 which has been  
put in the mouth of ,marshal ,richelieu 
is as unfounded as the rest4  ,paris1   
,april #crd1 #ahai4  7,signed7 ,burard4 
,the actual facts are thus told by ,mr4 
,parton3 ,ten minutes before he breathed
 his last he roused from his slumber1   
took the hand of his valet1 pressed it1 
and said to him3 ',adieu1 my dear       
,morand2 ,i am dying4' ,these were his  
last words4  ,d',alembert1 in a letter  
to ,frederick1 written after ,voltaire's

 death1 thus recorded the impression    
made on him by the dying man4 ,having   
described the stupefying effects of the 
opium which left his head clear only for
 brief intervals1 ,d',alembert1 who saw 
him during one of them1 proceeds3 ,he   
recognised me and even spoke to me some 
friendly words4 ,but the moment after he
 fell back into his state of stupor1 for
 he was almost always dying4 ,he awoke  
only to complain and to say 'he had come
 to ,paris to die4' ,throughout his     
illness1 ,d',alembert adds1 he          
exhibited1 to the extent which his      
condition permitted1 much tranquility of
 mind1 although he seemed to regret     
life4 ,i saw him again the day before   
his death1 and to some friendly words of
 mine he replied1 pressing my hand1     
',you are my consolation4'  ,it is      
certain the heads of the ,french ,church
 did not consider that ,voltaire had    
made a death-bed conversion1 for they   
refused his body burial in consecrated  
ground4 ,they had anathematised him when

 alive and proscribed him when dead4 ,he
 had prepared a tomb for himself under  
the sky1 where he had grown old and done
 good1 but he was cheated out of his    
rights1 and it was decided that he who  
built the church had no right to have   
his bones bleach in the cemetery4       
,letters were sent to the ,bishop of    
,annecy1 in whose diocese ,ferney was1  
enjoining him to prohibit the cure      
thereof from giving ,voltaire's remains 
,christian burial in his own churchyard4
 ,voltaire's nephew1 the abbe ,mignot1  
held a ruined abbey at ,scillieres1 in  
,champagne1 a hundred miles or so from  
,paris2 and here the body was secretly  
hurried off and interred4 ,on the very  
day of interment the ,bishop of the     
diocese wrote to the ,prior forbidding  
the burial4 ,there was even some talk of
 having the body exhumed1 and the clergy
 clamored for the expulsion of the      
,prior4 ,grimm relates that the players 
were forbidden to act ,m4 de ,voltaire's
 pieces till further orders1 the editors

 of the public papers to speak of his   
death in any terms1 either favorable or 
unfavorable1 and the preceptors of the  
colleges to suffer any of their scholars
 to learn his verses4  ,in #agia1 by a  
decree of the ,national ,assembly and   
amid the acclamation of the people1 his 
body was brought and placed in the      
,pantheon1 where it rested beside that  
of ,rousseau4 ,at the ,restoration in   
#ahad some bigoted ,royalist stole away 
the bones1 which were thrown into a hole
 with lime poured on them4  ,in person  
,voltaire was always slim1 with the long
 head which1 ,carlyle says1 is the best 
sign of intelligence4 ,his thinness is  
commemorated by the poor but well-known 
epigram attributed to ,young1 and       
identifying him at once with ,satan1    
,death1 and ,sin4 ,in old age he became 
a mere skeleton1 with eyes of great     
brilliancy peering beneath his wig4 ,he 
was sober and temperate save in coffee1 
which he drank as inveterately as       
,johnson did tea4 ,conversation and     

literature were1 as with ,johnson1 the  
gods of his idolatry4     ,,his         
,,character ,,and ,,services            
,bolingbroke finely said of             
,marlborough3 ,he was so great a man    
that ,i forget his errors4 ,one can as  
justly say the same of ,voltaire4 ,i    
have scant sympathy with those who1     
dealing with great men1 seek every      
opportunity of bringing them down to the
 common level4 ,voltaire was by no means
 a faultless character4 ,he was far     
indeed from being an immaculate hero3 he
 had the failings of his age and of his 
training4 ,but they form no essential   
part of his work4 ,how much has been    
made of the coarseness and immorality of
 ,luther by men like ,father ,anderdon6 
,all men have the defects of their      
qualities4 ,condorcet1 in his ,life of  
,voltaire1 has placed on record this    
just criticism3 ,the happy qualities of 
,voltaire were often obscured and       
distorted by a natural mobility1        
aggravated by the habit of writing      

tragedies4 ,he passed in a moment from  
anger to sympathetic emotion2 from      
indignation to pleasantry4 ,his         
passions1 naturally violent1 sometimes  
transported him too far2 and his        
excessive mobility deprived him of the  
advantages ordinarily attached to       
passionate tempers--firmness in         
conduct--courage which no terrors can   
withhold from action1 and which no      
dangers1 anticipated beforehand1 can    
shake by their actual presence4         
,voltaire has often been seen to expose 
himself rashly to the storm--seldom to  
meet it with fortitude4 ,these          
alternations of audacity and weakness   
have often afflicted his friends1 and   
prepared unworthy triumphs for his      
envenomed enemies4  ,he was too ready to
 lash the curs who barked at his heels1 
thereby stimulating them to further     
noise4 ,scandalous ex-,jesuit           
,desfontaines1 ,l',ane de ,mirepoix1    
,thersites ,freron and the rest1 would  
be forgotten had he not condescended to 

apply the whip4 ,voltaire was always    
something of a spoilt child1            
over-sensitive to every reproach4 ,his  
petulance impelled him to absurd        
displays of weakness and frenzy1 which  
he was the first to regret4 ,he was     
generous even to his enemies when they  
were in trouble4 ,the weaknesses of     
,voltaire were1 like his smile1 on the  
surface1 but there was a great human    
heart beating beneath4  ,the            
restlessness of ,voltaire has been      
contrasted with the repose of ,goethe1  
and ,gallic fury with calm ,teutonic    
strength4 ,but which of the two men did 
most for humanity8 ,voltaire might have 
been as calm as ,goethe had he been     
indifferent to everything but his own   
culture and comfort4 ,no6 he loved the  
fight4 ,when the battle of freedom      
raged1 there was he in the thick of it1 
considering not his reputation1 but what
 he could do to crush the infamous4 ,an 
enemy said of him3 ,he is the first man 
in the world at writing down what other 

people have thought4 ,mr4 ,morley justly
 considers this high and sufficient     
praise4  ,the life of a writer was      
defined by ,pope as a warfare upon      
earth4 ,never was this truer than in the
 case of ,voltaire1 who himself said3   
,la vie a'un homme de lettres est un    
combat perpetuel et on meurt les armes a
 la main4 ,he was ever in the midst of  
the fight1 and usually alone and        
surrounded by enemies4 ,and his         
unfailing resources not merely kept them
 at bay1 but compelled their surrender  
of an immense territory4 ,his was a life
 of creation and contest4 ,in the war   
against despotism and ,christianity he  
achieved a new kingship of public       
opinion1 and proved that the pen was    
indeed mightier than the sword4  ,heine 
said3 ,we should forgive our            
enemies--but not until they are hung4   
,voltaire forgave his when he had       
gibbeted them in his writings4 ,people  
who find it difficult to understand his 
bitterness against ,l',infame should    

remember the revolting cruelty of which 
religious bigotry was still capable in  
his day4 ,the ,revocation of the ,edict 
of ,nantes1 the prolonged horrors of the
 ,thirty ,years' ,war1 and the ,massacre
 of ,st4 ,bartholomew vibrated still4   
,condorcet wrote3 ,the blood of many    
millions of men1 massacred in the name  
of ,god1 still steams up to heaven      
around us4 ,the earth on which we tread 
is everywhere covered with the bones of 
the victims of barbarous intolerance4   
,his rhetoric expressed the feeling of a
 generation who knew by experience the  
evils of religious bigotry and          
fanaticism4  ,it is as a champion of    
,freethought that ,voltaire deserves    
chiefly to be remembered4 ,in that      
capacity ,i can only find words of      
praise4 ,complaints of his flippancy1   
his persiflage1 his ridicule1 his       
scurrility1 his etc41 came1 and still   
come1 from the enemy1 and show that his 
blows told and tell4 ,if he did not     
crush the infamous he at least crippled 

it4 ,no doubt1 under different          
circumstances1  ,voltaire would have    
fought differently4 ,but he would never 
have thought of treating atrocities     
without indignation1 or absurdities     
without ridicule4 ,gravity is a part of 
the game of imposture1 and there is     
nothing the hypocrites and humbugs      
resent so much as having their solemn   
pretensions laughed at4 4  ,he knew the 
subtle power of ridicule4 ,it was the   
most effective weapon1 not only for the 
time and the nation in which he wrote1  
but for our time also4 ,his blows were  
all dealt with grace and agility2 his   
pills were sugar-coated4 ,grimm well    
said of him3 ,he makes arrows of every  
kind of wood1 brilliant and rapid in    
their flight1 but with a keen1 unerring 
point4 ,under his sparkling pen1        
erudition ceases to be ponderous and    
becomes full of life4 ,if he cannot     
sweep the grand chords of the lyre1 he  
can j strike on golden medals his       
favorite maxims1 and is j irreproachable

 in the lighter order of poetry4 ,but1  
,i contend1 there was a fundamental     
earnestness in his character2 he was the
 apostle of plain every-day common sense
 and good feeling4  ,voltaire is judged 
by the character which distinguishes him
 from other writers1 his light touch and
 superficial raillery4 ,because he is   
par excellence a persifleur1 he is set  
down as merely a persifleur4 ,never was 
there a greater mistake4 ,it is         
forgotten that he did not write witty   
tales and squibs only2 that he made     
,france acquainted with the philosophy  
of ,locke and the science of ,newton2   
that he wrote the ,age of ,louis ,,xiv41
 the ,history of the ,parliament of     
,paris1 and the ,essay on ,manners      
7which revived the historic method71 and
 that he wrote more than twenty         
tragedies which transformed the ,french 
theatre4 ,voltaire was no mere mocker3  
his manner was that of a persifleur1 but
 his matter was as solid as that of any 
theologian4  ,m4 ,louis de ,brouckere1  

of the ,university of ,brussels1 justly 
claims for ,voltaire a double share in  
the formation of modern culture and the 
development of modern science4 ,he      
contributed to it directly by his       
personal works1 and indirectly by       
antagonising the forces retarding       
knowledge and creating an intellectual  
environment eminently favorable to the  
formation of synthetic knowledge1 and a 
new public opinion common to the        
intellectual elite of ,europe4          
,voltaire knew how to marshal against   
reigning prejudices and errors all the  
resources of vast learning and an       
incomparable wit2 but no one more       
clearly than he saw that the doctrines  
he destroyed must be replaced by others1
 that humanity cannot get along without 
a body of common beliefs2 and he        
contributed more than any one else to   
the elaboration of the new intellectual 
code by uniting and harmonising the     
efforts of special savants and isolated 
thinkers1 by giving them a clear        

consciousness that what they aimed at   
was the same thing and common to them   
all4  ,he never slackened his efforts to
 appease the quarrels which broke out in
 the camp of the philosophers1 to group 
all his spiritual brothers in one       
compact bundle1 capable of joint action1
 to unite them in a laic church which   
could be utilised to oppose existing    
churches4 ,the words ,i here italicise  
were underlined by him2 they are found  
on every page of his correspondence1 and
 he loses no opportunity to reiterate   
them and explain their meaning          
precisely4  ,if the publication of the  
,encyclopoedia was the work of ,diderot1
 the union of the group of men who      
rendered that publication possible was1 
in great measure1 the work of ,voltaire4
 ,if ,condorcet wrote just before his   
death his immortal ,sketch1 ,voltaire   
took a preponderating part in the       
creation of the intellectual atmosphere 
in which ,condorcet lived and could     
develop his genius4  ,voltaire was      

assuredly not so coarse as ,luther1 nor 
even as his contemporary ,warburton4 ,he
 carried lighter guns than ,luther1 but 
was more alert and equally persistent4  
,his war against superstition and       
intolerance was life-long4 ,luther smote
 powerful blows at the church with a    
bludgeon2 ,voltaire made delicate passes
 with a rapier4 ,catholics often declaim
 against the coarseness of the          
monk-trained ,protestant champion4 ,they
 also protest against the trickery of   
the ,jesuit-trained ,freethinker4 ,it is
 sufficient to say ,luther could not    
have done his work had he not been      
coarse4 ,nor could ,voltaire have done  
his had he not been a tricksy spirit4   
,judged by his work1 he was one of the  
best of men1 because he did most good to
 his fellows1 and because in his heart  
was the most burning love of truth1 of  
justice and toleration4 ,in the words of
 ,lecky1 he did more to destroy the     
greatest of human curses than any other 
of the sons of men4 ,his numerous       

volumes are the fruit and exposition of 
a spirit of encyclopaedic curiosity4 ,he
 assimilated all the thought and        
learning of his time1 and brought to    
bear on it a wit and common sense that  
was all his own4  ,voltaire is never so 
passionately in earnest as when he      
speaks against cruelty and oppression4  
,every sentence quivers with humanity4  
,he denounces war as no moralist for    
hire in a pulpit has ever done1 as a    
scourge of the poor1 the weak1 and the  
helpless1 to whom he is ever tender4    
,whenever he sees tyranny or injustice1 
he attacks it4 ,he wrote against torture
 when its employment was an established 
principle of law4 ,he denounced duelling
 when that form of murder was the chief 
feature of the code of honor4 ,he waged 
warfare upon war when1 it was considered
 man's highest glory4  ,his attacks on  
the judicial iniquity of torture--so    
often callously employed on those       
supposed instruments of ,satan1 heretics
 and witches--were incessant1 and it was

 owing to his influence that the        
practice was abolished in ,france by    
,turgot1 his friend1 as it had been in  
,prussia by ,frederick1 and in ,russia  
by ,catherine1 his disciples4 ,he       
advocated the abolition of mutilation1  
and all forms of cruelty in punishment4 
,he satirised the folly of punishing    
murder and robbery by the same capital  
penalty1 and thus making assassination  
the interest of the thief2 the barbarity
 of confiscating the property of        
children for the crime of the father2   
and the intricacies and consequent      
injustice of legal methods4 ,he sought  
to abolish the sale of offices1 to      
equalise taxation1 and to restrict the  
power of priests to prescribe degrading 
penances and excessive abstinences4 ,he 
wrote with fervor against the remnants  
of serfdom1 and defended the rights of  
the serfs in the ,jura against their    
monastic oppressors4 ,mr4 ,lecky says3  
,his keen and luminous intellect judged 
with admirable precision most of the    

popular delusions of his time4 ,he      
exposed with great force the common     
error which confounds all wealth with   
the precious metals4 ,he wrote against  
sumptuary laws4 ,he refuted ,rousseau's 
doctrine of the evil of all luxury4     
,voltaire's work went deeper than       
political reform4 ,he dealt with ideas1 
not institutions4 ,in a little treatise 
called the ,voyage of ,reason1 which he 
wrote as late as #aggd1 he enumerates   
with exultation the triumphs of reforms 
which he himself had witnessed4 ,he had 
previously written1 in #agfd3           
,everything ,i see scatters the seeds of
 a revolution which will indubitably    
arrive1 and which ,i shall not have the 
happiness to witness4 ,buckle notes that
 the further he advanced in years1 the  
more pungent were his sarcasms against  
ministers1 the more violent were his    
invectives against despotism2 and it was
 said of him in the early days of the   
,revolution1 when it was sanguine but   
not yet sanguinary1 ,he did not see what

 has been done1 but he did all that we  
see4  ,he teaches no mystery1 but the   
open secret of ,secularism--il faut     
cultiver notre jardin 7we must cultivate
 our garden74 ,life1 he said1 is thickly
 sown with thorns4 ,i know no other     
remedy than to pass rapidly over them4  
,the longer we dwell on our misfortunes 
the greater is their power to harm us4  
,economy1 he declared1 is the source of 
liberality1 and this maxim he reduced to
 practice4 ,he ridiculed all pretences2 
those of the physician as well as of the
 metaphysician4 ,what have you          
undertaken8 he said1 smiling1 to a young
 man1 who answered that he was studying 
medicine4 ,why1 to convey drugs of which
 you know little into a body of which   
you know less6 ,regimen1 said he1 is    
better than physic4 ,everyone should be 
his own physician4 ,eat with moderation 
what you know by experience agrees with 
your constitution4 ,nothing is good for 
the body but what we can digest4 ,what  
medicine can procure digestion8         

,exercise4 ,what recruit strength8      
,sleep4 ,what alleviate incurable evils8
 ,patience4  ,the tone of ,voltaire is  
not fervid or heroic1 like1 for         
instance1 that of ,carlyle2 but he      
worked1 as ,carlyle did not1 for a great
 cause4 ,he felt for suffering outside  
himself4 ,without mysticism or          
fanaticism1 aiming at no remote or      
impracticable ideal1 he ever insisted on
 meeting the problems of life with      
practical good sense1 toleration1 and   
humanity4 ,he sought always for clear   
ideas1 tangible results1 and as ,mr4    
,lecky says1 labored steadily within the
 limits of his ideals and of his        
sympathies1 to make the world wiser1    
happier1 and better place than he found 
it4  ,voltaire wrote3 ,my motto is1     
',straight to the fact1' and this was a 
characteristic which equally marked him 
and ,frederick4 ,he had a horror of     
phrases4 ,your fine phrases1 said one to
 him4 ,my fine phrases6 ,learn that ,i  
never made one in my life4 ,his style is

 indeed marked by restraint and         
simplicity of diction4 ,he wrote to     
,d',alembert3 ,you will never succeed in
 delivering men from error by means of  
metaphysics4 ,you must prove the truth  
by facts4 ,as an instance of his apt    
mingling of fact with reason and        
ridicule1 take his treatment of the     
doctrine of the ,resurrection in the    
,philosophical ,dictionary4 ,a ,breton  
soldier goes to ,canada4 ,he finds by   
chance he falls short of food4 ,he is   
forced to eat an ,iroquois he has killed
 over-night4 ,this ,iroquois had        
nourished himself on ,jesuits during two
 or three months1 a great part of his   
body has become ,jesuit4 ,so there is   
the body of this soldier composed of    
,iroquois1 ,jesuit1 and whatever he had 
eaten before4 ,how will each resume     
precisely what belonged to him8         
,magnify his failings as you may1 you   
cannot obliterate his one transcendent  
merit1 his humanity ever responsive to  
every claim of suffering or wrong4 ,he  

stood for the rights of conscience1 for 
the dignity of human reason1 for the    
gospel of ,freethought4  ,voltaire may  
not be placed with the great inspiring  
teachers of mankind4 ,but it must be    
acknowledged that1 as ,mr4 ,george      
,saintsbury1 no mean critic1 says3 ,in  
literary craftsmanship1 at once         
versatile and accomplished1 he has no   
superior and scarcely a rival4  ,he     
declared that he loved the whole of the 
nine ,muses1 and that the doors of the  
soul should be open to all sciences and 
all sentiments4 ,he employed every      
species of composition--poetry1 prose1  
tragedy1 comedy1 history1 dialogue1     
epistle1 essay or epigram--as it suited 
his purpose1 and he excelled in all4    
,argument or raillery came alike4 ,he   
made reason amusing1 and none like him  
could ridicule the ridiculous4 ,his     
charm as a writer has been the occasion 
of the obloquy attached to his name by  
bigots4 ,they can never forgive that he 
forced people to smile at their         

superstition4  ,much1 of course1 of     
,voltaire's multitudinous work was      
directed to immediate ends1 and but for 
his grace of style would be of little   
present interest4 ,but after all        
winnowings by the ever-swaying fan of   
time much is left of enduring value4    
,the name of ,voltaire will ever be a   
mighty one in literature3 a glorious    
example of what a man may achieve who is
 strong in his love of humanity4        
,,tributes ,,to ,,voltaire   ,as a      
contrast to the views of ,dr4 ,johnson  
and ,de ,maistre1 which for generations 
represented the current opinion of      
,protestants and ,catholics1 ,i bring   
together a few independent testimonies4 
,as time goes on his admirers increase  
in volume1 while his detractors now are 
mainly those who have an interest in or 
secret sympathy with the abuses he      
destroyed4 ,and first1 ,i will give the 
testimony of ,goldsmith who had met him4
 ,it was written while ,voltaire was    
alive1 but when a false report of his   

death had been received in ,england4    
,should you look for the character of   
,voltaire among the journalists and     
illiterate writers of the age1 you will 
find him there characterised as a       
monster1 with a head turned to wisdom1  
and a heart inclining to vice--the      
powers of his mind and the baseness of  
his principles forming a detestable     
contrast4 ,but seek for his character   
among writers like himself1 and you will
 find him very differently described4   
,you perceive him1 in their accounts1   
possessed of good nature1 humanity1     
greatness of soul1 fortitude1 and almost
 every virtue3 in this description those
 who might be supposed best acquainted  
with his character are unanimous4 ,the  
royal ,prussian1 ,d',argens1 ,diderot1  
,d',alembert1 and ,fontenelle conspire  
in drawing the picture1 in describing   
the friend of man1 and the patron of    
every rising genius4  ,lord ,byron's    
lines on ,voltaire and ,gibbon 7,childe 
,harold1 iii41 #aje-ajg7 are well known4

 ,he says3      ,they were gigantic     
minds1 and their steep aim     ,was1    
,titan-like1 on daring doubts to pile   
,thoughts which should call down        
thunder1 and the flame     ,of ,heaven  
again assail'd1 if ,heaven the while    
,on man and man's research could deign  
do more than smile4      ,the one was   
fire and fickleness1 a child     ,most  
mutable in wishes1 but in mind     ,a   
wit as various1--gay1 grave1 sage1 or   
wild1--     ,historian1 bard1           
philosopher1 combined2     ,he          
multiplied himself among mankind1       
,the ,proteus of their talents3     ,but
 his own     ,breathed most in          
ridicule1--which1 as the wind1     ,blew
 where it listed1 laying all things     
prone1--     ,now to o'erthrow a fool1  
and now to shake a throne4      ,the    
other1 deep and slow1 exhausting        
thought1     ,and having wisdom with    
each studious year1     ,in meditation  
dwelt1 with learning wrought1     ,and  
shaped his weapon with an edge severe1  

,sapping a solemn creed with solemn     
sneer2     ,the lord of iron1--that     
master-spell1     ,which stung his foes 
to wrath1 which grew from fear1     ,and
 doom'd him to the zealot's ready ,hell1
     ,which answers to all doubts so    
eloquently well4  ,warton1 the learned  
critic and author of a ,history of      
,poetry 7,dissertation ,i47 remarked3   
,voltaire1 a writer of much deeper      
research than is imagined1 and the first
 who has displayed the literature and   
customs of the dark ages with any degree
 of penetration and comprehension4      
,robertson1 the historian1 similarly    
observed that1 had ,voltaire only given 
his authorities1 many of his readers who
 only consider him as an entertaining   
and lively writer would have found that 
he is a learned and well informed       
historian4  ,lord ,holland wrote1 in his
 account of the ,life and ,writings of  
,lope de ,vega3 ,till ,voltaire appeared
 there was no nation more ignorant of   
its neighbors' literature than the      

,french4 ,he first exposed and then     
corrected this neglect in his           
countrymen4 ,there is no writer to whom 
the authors of other nations1 especially
 of ,england1 are so indebted for the   
extension of their fame in ,france1 and1
 through ,france1 in ,europe4 ,there is 
no critic who has employed more time1   
wit1 ingenuity1 and diligence in        
promoting the literary intercourse      
between country and country1 and in     
celebrating in one language the triumphs
 of another4 ,his enemies would fain    
persuade us that such exuberance of wit 
implies a want of information2 but they 
only succeed in showing that a want of  
wit by no means implies an exuberance of
 information4  ,goethe said3 ,voltaire  
will ever be regarded as the greatest   
name in literature in modern times1 and 
perhaps even in all ages1 as the most   
astonishing creation of nature1 in which
 she united1 in one frail human         
organisation1 all the varieties of      
talent1 all the glories of genius1 all  

the potencies of thought4 ,if you wish  
depth1 genius1 imagination1 taste1      
reason1 sensibility1 philosophy1        
elevation1 originality1 nature1         
intellect1 fancy1 rectitude1 facility1  
flexibility1 precision1 art1 abundance1 
variety1 fertility1 warmth1 magic1      
charm1 grace1 force1 an eagle sweep of  
vision1 vast understanding1 instruction 
rich1 tone excellent1 urbanity1 suavity1
 delicacy1 correctness1 purity1         
cleanness1 eloquence1 harmony1          
brilliancy1 rapidity1 gaiety1 pathos1   
sublimity and universality--perfection  
indeed--behold ,voltaire4  ,lord        
,brougham1 in his ,lives of ,men of     
,letters and ,science who flourished in 
the time of ,george ,,iii41 devotes a   
considerable section to ,voltaire4      
,after censuring the manner in which he 
devoted himself to crying down the      
sacred things of his country1 he        
continues3 ,but1 though it would be     
exceedingly wrong to pass over this     
great and prevailing fault without      

severe reprobation1 it would be equally 
unjust1 nay1 ungrateful1 ever to forget 
the immense obligations under which     
,voltaire has laid mankind by his       
writings1 the pleasure derived from his 
fancy and his wit1 the amusement which  
his singular and original humor bestows1
 even the copious instruction with which
 his historical works are pregnant1 and 
the vast improvement in the manner of   
writing history which we owe to him4    
,yet1 great as these services are--among
 the greatest that can be rendered by a 
man of letters--they are really of far  
inferior value to the benefits which    
have resulted from his long and arduous 
struggle against oppression1 especially 
against tyranny in the worst form which 
it can assume1 the persecution of       
opinion1 the infraction of the sacred   
right to exercise the reason upon all   
subjects1 unfettered by prejudice1      
uncontrolled by authority1 whether of   
great names or of temporal power4       
,macaulay1 in his ,essay on ,frederick  

the ,great1 observes3 ,in truth1 of all 
the intellectual weapons which have ever
 been wielded by man1 the most terrible 
was the mockery of ,voltaire4 ,bigots   
and tyrants1 who had never been moved by
 the wailing and cursing of millions1   
turned pale at his name4  ,carlyle1 in  
his depreciatory essay1 acknowledged3   
,perhaps there is no writer1 not a mere 
compiler1 but writing from his own      
invention or elaboration1 who has left  
so many volumes behind him2 and if to   
the merely arithmetical we add a        
critical estimate1 the singularity is   
still greater2 for these volumes are not
 written without an appearance of due   
care and preparation2 perhaps there is  
not one altogether feeble and confused  
treatise1 nay1 one feeble and confused  
sentence to be found in them4 ,and at   
the end he admits3 ,he gave the         
death-stab to modern ,superstition6     
,that horrid incubus1 which dwelt in    
darkness1 shunning the light1 is passing
 away2 with all its racks and poison    

chalices1 and foul sleeping-draughts1 is
 passing away without return4 ,it was a 
most weighty service4  ,one of the      
strangest of tributes to ,voltaire is   
that from ,ruskin1 the disciple of      
,carlyle4 ,in his ,fors ,clavigera 7vol4
 viii41 p4 #gf7 he says3 ,there are few 
stronger adversaries to ,st4 ,george    
than ,voltaire4 ,but my scholars are    
welcome to read as much of ,voltaire as 
they like4 ,his voice is mighty among   
the ages4  ,dr4 ,d4 ,f4 ,strauss wrote3 
,voltaire's historical significance has 
been illustrated by the observation of  
,goethe that1 as in families whose      
existence has been of long duration1    
,nature sometimes at length produces an 
individual who sums up in himself the   
collective qualities of all his         
ancestors1 so it happens also with      
nations1 whose collective merits 7and   
demerits7 sometimes appear epitomised in
 one individual person4 ,thus in ,louis 
,,xiv4 stood forth the highest figure of
 a ,french monarch4 ,thus1 in ,voltaire1

 the highest conceivable and congenial  
representative of ,french authorship4   
,we may extend the observation farther1 
if1 instead of the ,french nation only1 
we take into view the whole ,european   
generation on which ,voltaire's         
influence was exercised4 ,from this     
point of view we may call ,voltaire     
emphatically the representative writer  
of the eighteenth century1 as ,goethe   
called him1 in the highest sense1 the   
representative writer of ,france4       
,victor ,hugo1 in the magnificent       
oration which he pronounced on the      
centenary of ,voltaire's death1 said3   
,voltaire waged the splendid kind of    
warfare1 the war of one alone against   
all--that is to say1 the grand warfare2 
the war of thought against matter2 the  
war of reason against prejudice2 the war
 of the just against the unjust2 the war
 of the oppressed against the oppressor2
 the war of goodness2 the war of        
kindness4 ,he had the tenderness of a   
woman and the wrath of a hero4 ,he was a

 great mind and an immense heart4 ,he   
conquered the old code and the old      
dogma4 ,he conquered the feudal lord1   
the ,gothic judge1 the ,roman priest4   
,he raised the populace to the dignity  
of people4 ,he taught1 pacified1 and    
civilised4 ,he fought for ,sirven and   
,montbailly1 as for ,calas and ,la      
,barre4 ,he accepted all the menaces1   
all the persecutions1 calumny1 and      
exile4 ,he was indefatigable and        
immovable4 ,he conquered violence by a  
smile1 despotism by sarcasm1            
infallibility by irony1 obstinacy by    
perseverance1 ignorance by truth4       
,buckle1 in his ,history of             
,civilisation 7vol4 ii41 p4 #cjd7 says3 
,it would be impossible to relate all   
the original remarks of ,voltaire1      
which1 when he made them1 were attacked 
as dangerous paradoxes1 and are now     
valued as sober truths4 ,he was the     
first historian who recommended         
universal freedom of trade2 and although
 he expresses himself with great        

caution1 still1 the mere announcement of
 the idea is a popular history forms an 
epoch in the progress of the ,french    
mind4 ,he is the originator of that     
important distinction between the       
increase of population and the increase 
of food1 to which political economy has 
been greatly indebted1 a principle      
adopted several years later by          
,townsend1 and then used by ,malthus as 
the basis of his celebrated work4 ,he   
has1 moreover1 the merit of being the   
first who dispelled the childish        
admiration with which the ,middle ,ages 
had been hitherto regarded4 ,in his     
works the ,middle ,ages are for the     
first time represented as what they     
really were--a period of ignorance1     
ferocity1 and licentiousness2 a period  
when injuries were unredressed1 crime   
unpunished1 and superstition unrebuked4 
,again 7page #cjh73 ,no one reasoned    
more closely than ,voltaire when        
reasoning suited his purpose4 ,but he   
had to deal with men impervious to      

argument2 men whose inordinate reverence
 for antiquity had only left them two   
ideas1 namely1 that everything old is   
right1 and that everything new is wrong4
 ,to argue against these opinions would 
be idle indeed2 the only other resource 
was to make them ridiculous1 and weaken 
their influence by holding up their     
authors to contempt4 ,this was one of   
the tasks ,voltaire set himself to      
perform2 and he did it well4 ,he        
therefore used ridicule1 not as the test
 of truth1 but as the scourge of folly4 
,and with such effect was the punishment
 administered that not only did the     
pedants and theologians of his own time 
wince under the lash1 but even their    
successors feel their ears tingle when  
they read his biting words2 and they    
revenge themselves by reviling the      
memory of the great writer whose works  
are as a thorn in their side1 and whose 
very name they hold in undisguised      
abhorrence4  ,mr4 ,lecky1 in his        
,history of ,rationalism in ,europe     

7vol4 ii41 p4 #ff7 says3 ,voltaire was  
at all times the unflinching opponent of
 persecution4 ,no matter how powerful   
was the persecutor1 no matter how       
insignificant was the victim1 the same  
scathing eloquence was launched against 
the crime1 and the indignation of       
,europe was soon concentrated upon the  
oppressor4 ,the fearful storm of sarcasm
 and invective that avenged the murder  
of ,calas1 the magnificent dream in the 
,philosophical ,dictionary reviewing the
 history of persecution from the        
slaughtered ,canaanites to the latest   
victim who had perished at the stake1   
the indelible stigma branded upon the   
persecutors of every age and of every   
creed1 all attested the intense and     
passionate earnestness with which       
,voltaire addressed himself to his task4
 ,on other subjects a jest or a caprice 
could often turn him aside4 ,when       
attacking intolerance he employed1      
indeed1 every weapon2 but he employed   
them all with the concentrated energy of

 a profound conviction4 ,his success was
 equal to his zeal2 the spirit of       
intolerance sank blasted beneath his    
genius4 ,wherever his influence passed1 
the arm of the inquisitor was palsied1  
the chain of the captive riven1 the     
prison door flung open4 ,beneath his    
withering irony1 persecution appeared   
not only criminal but loathsome1 and    
since his time it has ever shrunk from  
observation and masked its features     
under other names4 ,he died1 leaving a  
reputation that is indeed far from      
spotless1 but having done more to       
destroy the greatest of human curses    
than any other of the sons of men4  ,mr4
 ,lecky1 in his ,history of ,england in 
the ,eighteenth ,century 7v41 #cab71    
observes3 ,no previous writer can       
compare with him in the wideness and    
justness of his conceptions of history1 
and even now no historian can read      
without profit his essays on the        
subject4 ,no one before had so strongly 
urged that history should not be treated

 as a collection of pictures or         
anecdotes relating to courts or battles1
 but should be made a record and        
explanation of the true development of  
nations1 of the causes of their growth  
and decay1 of their characteristic      
virtues and vices1 of the changes that  
pass over their laws1 customs1 opinions1
 social and economical conditions1 and  
over the relative importance and        
well-being of their different classes444
 7p4 #cae74 ,untiring industry1 an      
extraordinary variety of interests and  
aptitudes1 a judgment at once sound1    
moderate1 and independent1 a rare power 
of seizing in every subject the         
essential argument or facts1 a          
disposition to take no old opinions on  
trust and to leave no new opinions      
unexamined1 combined in him with the    
most extraordinary literary talent4     
,never1 perhaps1 was there an intellect 
at once so luminous1 versatile1 and     
flexible1 which produced so much1 which 
could deal with such a vast range of    

difficult subjects without being ever   
obscure1 tangled1 or dull4  ,colonel    
,hamley wrote3 ,but after the winnowings
 of generations1 a wide and deep repute 
still remains to him2 nor will any      
diminution which it may have suffered be
 without compensation1 for1 with the    
fading of old prejudices1 and with      
better knowledge1 his name will be      
regarded with increased liking and      
respect4 ,yet it must not be supposed   
that he is here held up as a pattern    
man4 ,he was1 indeed1 an infinitely     
better one than the religious bigots of 
that time4 ,he believed1 with far better
 effect on his practice than they could 
boast1 in a ,supreme ,ruler4 ,he was the
 untiring and eloquent advocate at the  
bar of the universe of the rights of    
humanity4  ,mr4 ,swinburne has well     
expressed this characteristic4          
,voltaire's great work1 he says1 was to 
have done more than any other man on    
record to make the instinct of cruelty  
not only detestable1 but ludicrous2 and 

so to accomplish what the holiest and   
the wisest of saints and philosophers   
had failed to achieve3 to attack the    
most hideous and pernicious of human    
vices with a more effective weapon than 
preaching and denunciation3 to make     
tyrants and torturers look not merely   
horrible and hateful1 but pitiful and   
ridiculous4  ,edgar ,quinet1 in his     
lectures on the ,church1 says3 ,i watch 
for forty years the reign of one man who
 is himself the spiritual direction1 not
 of his country1 but of his age4 ,from  
the corner of his chamber he governs the
 realm of mind4 ,everyday intellects are
 regulated by his2 one word written by  
his hand traverses ,europe4 ,princes    
love and kings fear him4 ,nations repeat
 the words that fall from his pen4 ,who 
exercises this incredible power which   
has nowhere been seen since the ,middle 
,ages8 ,is he another ,gregory ,,vii8   
,is he a ,pope8 ,no--,voltaire4  ,and   
,lamartine1 in similar strain1 remarks3 
,if we judge of men by what they have   

done1 then ,voltaire is incontestibly   
the greatest writer of modern ,europe4  
,no one has caused1 through the powerful
 influence of his genius alone and the  
perseverance of his will1 so great a    
commotion in the minds of men4 ,his pen 
aroused a sleeping world1 and shook a   
far mightier empire than that of        
,charlemagne1 the ,european empire of a 
theocracy4 ,his genius was not force1   
but light4 ,heaven had destined him not 
to destroy1 but to illuminate2 and      
wherever he trod1 light followed him1   
for ,reason--which is light--had        
destined him to be1 first her poet1 then
 her apostle1 and lastly her idol4  ,mr4
 ,alexander ,a4 ,knox1 writing in the   
,nineteenth ,century 7,october #ahhb71  
says3 ,that the man's aspirations were  
in the main noble and honorable to      
humanity1 ,i am sure4 ,i am equally so  
that few men have exercised so great an 
influence upon their fellow             
creatures4444 ,the wonderful old man6   
,when he was past eighty years of age he

 set to work1 like another ,jeremy      
,bentham1 to abolish the admission of   
hearsay evidence into ,french legal     
proceedings4 ,but his great work was    
that by his wit and irony he broke down 
the principle of authority which had    
been so foully abused in ,france4 ,would
 the most strictly religious man wish to
 see religion as it was in ,france in   
the eighteenth century8 ,would the      
greatest stickler for authority wish to 
find a country governed as ,france was  
governed in the days of ,voltaire8  ,du 
,bois-,reymond1 the eminent ,german     
scientist1 remarks3 ,voltaire is so     
little to us at present because the     
things he fought for1 'toleration1      
spiritual freedom1 human dignity1       
justice1' have become1 as it were1 the  
air we breathe1 and do not think of     
except when we are deprived of it4      
,col4 ,r4 ,g4 ,ingersoll1 in his fine   
,oration on ,voltaire1 observes3        
,voltaire was perfectly equipped for his
 work4 ,a perfect master of the ,french 

language1 knowing all its moods1 tenses1
 and declinations--in fact and in       
feeling playing upon it as skilfully as 
,paganini on his violin1 finding        
expression for every thought and fancy1 
writing on the most serious subjects    
with the gaiety of a harlequin1 plucking
 jests from the mouth of death1 graceful
 as the waving of willows1 dealing in   
double meanings that covered the asp    
with flowers and flattery1 master of    
satire and compliment1 mingling them    
often in the same line1 always          
interested himself1 therefore           
interesting others1 handling thoughts1  
questions1 subjects as a juggler does   
balls1 keeping them in the air with     
perfect ease1 dressing old words in new 
meanings1 charming1 grotesque1 pathetic1
 mingling mirth with tears1 wit and     
wisdom1 and sometimes wickedness1 logic 
and laughter4 ,with a woman's instinct1 
knowing the sensitive nerves--just where
 to touch--hating arrogance of place1   
the stupidity1 of the solemn1 snatching 

masks from priest and king1 knowing the 
springs of action and ambition's ends1  
perfectly familiar with the great world1
 the intimate of kings and their        
favorites1 sympathising with the        
oppressed and imprisoned1 with the      
unfortunate and poor1 hating tyranny1   
despising superstition1 and loving      
liberty with all his heart4 ,such was   
,voltaire1 writing ,o,edipus at         
seventeen1 ,irene at eighty-three1 and  
crowding between these two tragedies the
 accomplishment of a thousand lives4    
,the ,right ,hon4 ,john ,morley         
testifies3 ,voltaire was the very eye of
 modern illumination4 ,it was he who    
conveyed to his generation in a         
multitude of forms the consciousness at 
once of the power and the rights of     
human intelligence4 ,another might well 
have said of him what he magnanimously  
said of his famous contemporary1        
,montesquieu1 that humanity had lost its
 title-deeds1 and he had recovered them4
 ,the four-score volumes which he wrote 

are the monument1 as they were the      
instrument1 of a new renascence4 ,they  
are the fruit and representation of a   
spirit of encyclopaedic curiosity and   
productiveness4 ,hardly a page of all   
these countless leaves is common form4  
,hardly a sentence is there which did   
not come forth alive from ,voltaire's   
own mind1 or which was said because some
 one else had said it before4 ,voltaire 
was a stupendous power1 not only because
 his expression was incomparably lucid1 
or even because his sight was           
exquisitely keen and clear1 but because 
he saw many new things1 after which the 
spirits of others were unconsciously    
groping and dumbly yearning4 ,nor was   
this all4 ,voltaire was ever in the     
front and centre of the fight4 ,his life
 was not a mere chapter in a history of 
literature4 ,he never counted truth a   
treasure to be discreetly hidden in a   
napkin4 ,he made it a perpetual war cry1
 and emblazoned it on a banner that was 
many a time rent1 but was never out of  

the field4 ,we may fitly conclude with  
,browning's incisive lines in ,the ,two 
,poets of ,croisie3--      ,ay1         
sharpest1 shrewdest steel that ever     
stabbed      ,to death ,imposture       
through the armour joints4              
,,selections ,,from ,,voltaire',s       
,,works     ,history   ,the world is    
old1 but history is of                  
yesterday4--,melanges ,historiques4  ,if
 you would put to profit the present    
time1 one must not spend his life in    
propagating ancient fables4--,ibid4  ,a 
mature man who has serious business does
 not repeat the tales of his            
nurse4--,ibid4  ,search through all     
nations and you will not find one whose 
history does not begin with stories     
worthy of the ,four ,sons of ,aymon and 
of ,robert the ,devil4--,politique et   
,legislation4  ,ancient histories are   
enigmas proposed by antiquity to        
posterity1 which understands them       
not--,dict4 ,phil4 7,art4 ,histoire74   
,a real fact is of more value than a    

hundred antitheses4--,melanges          
,historiques4  ,i have a droll idea4 ,it
 is that only people who have written   
tragedies can throw interest into our   
dry and barbarous history4 ,there is    
necessary in a history1 as in a drama1  
exposition1 knotty plot1 and denouement1
 with agreeable episode4--,corr4 gen4   
#agdj4  ,they have made but the history 
of the kings1 not that of the nation4   
,it seems that during fourteen hundred  
years there were only kings1 ministers1 
and generals among the ,gauls4 ,but our 
morals1 our laws1 our customs1 our      
intelligence--are these then            
nothing8--,corr41 #agdj4  ,is fraud     
sanctified by being                     
antiquated8--,sottisier4  ,i have ever  
esteemed it charlatanry to paint1 other 
than by facts1 public men with whom we  
have had no connection4--,corr4 gen41   
#ageb4  ,if one surveys the history of  
the world1 one finds weaknesses         
punished1 but great crimes fortunate1   
and the world is a vast scene of        

brigandages abandoned to                
fortune4--,essai sur les ,moeurs1 c4    
#aia4  ,since the ancient ,romans1 ,i   
have known no nation enriched by        
victories4--,contant d' ,orville1 i4    
#ccg4  ,to buy peace from an enemy is to
 furnish him with the sinews of         
war4--,ibid1 p4 #ccd4  ,the grand art of
 surprising1 killing1 and robbing is a  
heroism of the highest                  
antiquity4--,dial4 #bd4  ,murderers are 
punished1 unless they kill in grand     
company to the sound of trumpets2 that  
is the rule4--,dict4 ,phil4 7,art4      
,droit74  ,we formerly made war in order
 to eat2 but in the long run1 all the   
admirable institutions                  
degenerate4--,dial4 #bd4  ,it suffices  
often that a mad ,minister of ,state    
shall have bitten another ,minister for 
the rabies to be communicated in a few  
months to five hundred thousand         
men4--,ibid4  ,in this world there 7are7
 only offensive wars2 defensive ones are
 only resistance to armed               

robbers4--,ibid4  ,twenty volumes in    
folio never yet made a revolution4 ,it  
is the portable little shilling books   
that are to be feared4 ,if the ,gospel  
cost twelve hundred sesterces1 the      
,christian religion would never have    
been established4--,correspondence with 
,d#a ,alembert1 #agfe4     ,wars   ,c43 
,what1 you do not admit there are just  
wars8  ,a43 ,i have never known any of  
the kind2 to me it appears contradictory
 and impossible4  ,c43 ,what6 when the  
,pope ,alexander ,,vi4 and his infamous 
son ,borgia pillaged the ,roman ,states1
 strangled and poisoned the lords of the
 land1 while according them indulgences3
 was it not permissible to arm against  
these monsters8  ,a43 ,do you not see   
that it was these monsters who made war8
 ,those who defended themselves from    
aggression but sustained it4 ,there are 
constantly only offensive wars in this  
world2 the defensive is nothing but     
resistance to armed robbers4  ,c43 ,you 
mock us4 ,two princes dispute an        

heritage1 their right is litigious1     
their reasons equally plausible2 it is  
necessary then that war should decide1  
and this war is just on both sides4     
,a43 ,it is you who mock4 ,it is        
physically impossible that both are     
right1 and it is absurd and barbarous   
that the people should perish because   
one of these two princes has reasoned   
badly4 ,let them fight together in a    
closed field if they wish1 but that an  
entire people should be sacrificed to   
their interests1 there is the           
horror4--l' ,a4,b4,c4     ,politics     
,they have discovered in their fine     
politics the art of causing those to die
 of hunger who1 by cultivating the      
earth1 give the means of life to        
others4--,sottisier4  ,society has been 
too long like a game of cards1 where the
 rogues cheat the dupes1 while sensible 
people dare not warn the losers that    
they are deceived4--,questions sur les  
,miracles4  ,they have only inculcated  
belief in absurdities to men in order to

 subdue them4--,ibid4  ,the most        
tolerable of all governments is         
doubtless the republican1 since that    
approaches the nearest towards natural  
equality4--,idees ,republicaines4  ,a   
,republican is ever more attached to his
 country than a subject to his1 for the 
same reason that one loves better his   
own possessions than those of a         
master4--,pensees sur le ,gouvernement4 
,give too much power to anybody and be  
sure they will abuse it4 ,were the monks
 of ,la ,trappe spread throughout the   
world1 let them confess princesses1     
educate youth1 preach and write1 and in 
about ten years they would be similar to
 the ,jesuits1 and it would be necessary
 to repress them4--,mel4 ,balance       
,egale4  ,what are politics beyond the  
art of lying a propos8--,contant        
,d',orville4  ,reasons of ,state is a   
phrase invented to serve as excuse for  
tyrants4--,commentaire sur le traite des
 ,delits4  ,the best government is that 
where there are the fewest useless      

men4--,dial4 #d4  ,man is born free4    
,the best government is that which most 
preserves to each mortal this gift of   
nature4--,histoire de ,russie4  ,to be  
free1 to have only equals1 is the true  
life1 the natural life of man2 all other
 is an unworthy artifice1 a poor comedy1
 where one plays the role of master1 the
 other of slave1 this one a parasite1   
and that other a pander4--,dial4 #bd4   
,why is liberty so rare8 ,because it is 
the best possession4--,dict4 ,phil4     
7,venise74  ,those who say that all men 
are equal1 say truth if they mean that  
men have an equal right to liberty1 to  
the property of their own goods1 and the
 protection of the laws4 ,they are much 
deceived if they think that men should  
be equal in their employments1 since    
they are not so by their                
faculties4--,essai sur les ,moeurs1 i4  
,despotism is the punishment of the bad 
conduct of men4 ,if a community is      
mastered by one man or by several1 it is
 plainly because it has not the courage 

and ability necessary for               
self-government4--,idees                
,republic-aines1 #agfe4  ,i do not give 
myself up to my fellow-citizens without 
reserve4 ,i do not give them the power  
to kill or to rob me by plurality of    
votes4 ,i submit to help them1 and to be
 aided1 to do justice1 and to receive   
it4 ,no other agreement4--,notes on     
,rousseau's ,social ,contract     ,the  
,population ,question   ,the ,man of    
,forty ,crowns3 ,i have heard much talk 
of population4 ,were we to take it into 
our heads to beget double the number of 
children we now do2 were our country    
doubly peopled1 so that we had forty    
millions of inhabitants instead of      
twenty1 what would happen8  ,the        
,geometrician3 ,each would have1 instead
 of forty1 but twenty crowns to live    
upon2 or the land would have to produce 
the double of what it now does2 or there
 would be the double of the nation's    
industry1 or of gain from foreign       
countries2 or one half of the nation    

sent to ,america2 or the one half of the
 nation should eat the other4--,the ,man
 of ,forty ,crowns4     ,nature's ,way  
,nature cares very little for           
individuals4 ,there are other insects   
which do not live above one day1 but of 
which the species is perpetual4 ,nature 
resembles those great princes who reckon
 as nothing the loss of four hundred    
thousand men1 so they but accomplish    
their august designs4-- ,the ,man of    
,forty ,crowns4     ,prayer   ,when the 
man of forty crowns saw himself the     
father of a son1 he began to think      
himself a man of some weight in the     
state2 he hoped to furnish1 at least1   
ten subjects to the king1 who should all
 prove useful4 ,he made the best baskets
 in the world1 and his wife was an      
excellent sempstress4 ,she was born in  
the neighborhood of a rich abbey of a   
hundred thousand livres a year4 ,her    
husband asked me1 one day1 why those    
gentlemen1 who were so few in number1   
had swallowed so many of the forty crown

 lots8 ,are they more useful to their   
country than ,i am8--,no1 dear          
neighbor4--,do they1 like me1 contribute
 at least to the population of it8--,no1
 not to appearance1 at least4--,do they 
cultivate the land8 ,do they defend the 
state when it is attacked8--,no1 they   
pray to ,god for us4--,well1 then1 ,i   
will pray to ,god for them1 and let us  
go snacks4--,the ,man of ,forty ,crowns4
     ,doubt and ,speculation   ,the ,man
 of ,forty ,crowns3 ,i have sometimes a 
great mind to laugh at all ,i have been 
told4  ,the ,geometrician3 ,and a very  
good mind it is4 ,i advise you to doubt 
of everything1 except that the three    
angles of a triangle are equal to two   
right ones1 and that triangles which    
have the same bases and height are equal
 to one another2 or like propositions1  
as1 for example1 that two and two make  
four4  ,the ,man of ,forty ,crowns3     
,yes2 ,i hold it very wise to doubt2 but
 ,i am curious since ,i have made my    
fortune and have leisure4 ,i could wish1

 when my will moves my arm or my leg1 to
 discover the spring1 for surely there  
is one1 by which my will moves them4 ,i 
wonder sometimes why ,i can lift or     
lower my eyes1 yet cannot move my ears4 
,i think--and ,i wish ,i could know a   
little how--,i mean1--there1 to have my 
thought palpable to me1 to touch it1 as 
it were4 ,that would surely be very     
curious4 ,i want to find out whether ,i 
think from myself1 or whether it is ,god
 that gives me my ideas2 whether my soul
 came into my body at six weeks1 or at  
one day old2 how it lodged itself in my 
brain2 whether ,i think much when in a  
profound sleep1 or in a lethargy4 ,i    
torture my brains to know how one body  
impels another4 ,my sensations are no   
less a wonder to me2 ,i find something  
divine in them1 and especially in       
pleasure4 ,i have striven sometimes to  
imagine a new sense1 but could never    
arrive at it4 ,geometricians know all   
these things2 kindly be so good as to   
teach me4  ,the ,geometrician3 ,alas6   

,we are as ignorant as you4 ,apply to   
the ,sorbonne4     ,dr4 ,pangloss and   
the ,dervish   ,in the neighborhood     
lived a very famous dervish1 who was    
deemed the best philosopher in ,turkey2 
him they went to consult4 ,pangloss was 
spokesman and addressed him thus3--     
,master1 we come to beg you to tell us  
why so strange an animal as man has been
 formed8  ,why do you trouble your head 
about it8 said the dervish2 is it any   
business of yours8  ,but1 reverend      
father1 said ,candide1 there is a       
horrible amount of evil on the earth4   
,what signifies it1 says the dervish1   
whether there is evil or good8 ,when    
,his ,highness sends a ship to ,egypt   
does he trouble whether the rats aboard 
are comfortable or not8  ,what is to be 
done1 then8 says ,pangloss4  ,be silent1
 answers the dervish4  ,i flattered     
myself1 replied ,pangloss1 to have      
reasoned a little with you on causes and
 effects1 the best of possible worlds1  
the origin of evil1 the nature of the   

soul1 and on pre-established harmony4   
,at these words the dervish shut the    
door in their faces4--,candide4         
,motives for ,conduct   ,countess3      
,apropos1 ,i have forgotten to ask your 
opinion upon a matter which ,i read     
yesterday in a story by these good      
,mohammedans1 which much struck me4     
,hassan1 son of ,ali1 being bathing1 one
 of his slaves threw over him by        
accident some boiling water4 ,his       
servants wished to impale the culprit4  
,hassan1 instead1 gave him twenty pieces
 of gold4 ,there is1 said he1 a degree  
of glory in ,paradise for those who     
repay services1 a greater one for those 
who forgive evil1 and a still greater   
one for those who recompense involuntary
 evil4 ,what think you of his action and
 his speech8  ,the ,count3 ,i recognise 
there my good ,moslems of the first     
ages4  ,abbe3 ,and ,i1 my good          
,christians4  ,m4 ,freret3 ,and ,i am   
sorry that the scalded ,hassan1 son of  
,ali1 should have given twenty pieces of

 gold in order to have glory in         
,paradise4 ,i do not like interested    
fine actions4 ,i should have wished that
 ,hassan had been sufficiently virtuous 
and humane to have consoled the despair 
of the slave without even dreaming of   
being placed in the third rank in       
,paradise4--,le ,diner du ,comte de     
,boulainvilliers4     ,self-,love       
,self-love and all its off-shoots are as
 necessary to man as the blood which    
flows in his veins4 ,those who would    
take away his passions because they are 
dangerous resemble those who would      
deplete a man of all his blood lest he  
should fall into apoplexy4--,traite de  
,metaphysique4     ,go ,from ,your      
,village   ,a stupid said3 ,i must think
 like my bonze 7priest71 for all my     
village agrees with him4 ,go from your  
village1 poor man1 and you will find ten
 thousand others who have each their    
bonze1 and who all think differently4   
,religious ,prejudices   ,if your nurse 
has told you that ,ceres presides over  

corn1 or that ,vishnu or ,sakyamuni     
became men several times1 or that ,odin 
awaits you in his hall towards ,jutland1
 or that ,mohammed or some other        
travelled to ,heaven2 if1 moreover1 your
 preceptor deepens in your brain what   
the nurse1 has engraved1 you will hold  
it all your life4 ,should your judgment 
rise against these prejudices1 your     
neighbors1 above all your female        
neighbors1 will cry out at the impiety  
and frighten you4 ,your dervish1 fearing
 the diminution of his revenue1 may     
accuse you before the ,cadi1 and this   
,cadi impale you if he can1 since he    
desires to rule over fools1 believing   
fools obey better than others2 and this 
will endure till your neighbors1 and the
 dervish1 and the ,cadi begin to        
understand that folly is good for       
nothing and that persecution is         
abominable4--,dictionnaire              
,philosophique4     ,sacred ,history    
,i abandon to the declaimer ,bossuet the
 politics of the ,kings of ,judah and   

,samaria1 who only understood           
assassination1 beginning with their     
,king ,david 7who took to the trade of  
brigand to make himself king1 and       
assassinated ,uriah when he was his     
master72 and to wise ,solomon1 who began
 by assassinating ,adonijah1 his own    
brother1 at the foot of the altar4 ,i am
 tired of the absurd pedantry which     
consecrates the history of such a people
 to the instruction of                  
children4--l',a4,b4,c4     ,dupe ,and   
,rogue   ,are there theologians of good 
faith8 ,yes1 as there have been men who 
believed themselves sorcerers4--,le     
,diner du ,comte de ,boulainvilliers4   
,enthusiasm begins1 roguery ends4 ,it is
 with religion as with gambling4 ,one   
begins by being dupe1 one ends by being 
rogue4--,le ,diner du ,comte de         
,boulainvilliers4  ,every country has   
its bonzes4 ,but ,i recognise that there
 are as many of them deceived as        
deceivers4 ,the majority are those      
blinded by enthusiasm in their youth1   

and who never recover sight2 there are  
others who have preserved one eye1 and  
see all squintingly4 ,these are the     
stupid charlatans4--,entre deux         
,chinois4     ,delenda ,est ,carthago   
,theology must absolutely be destroyed1 
just as judicial astrology1 magic1 the  
divining rod1 and the ,star ,chamber    
have been destroyed4--l',a4,b4,c4       
,jesus and ,mohammed   ,l',abbe3 ,how   
could ,christianity have established    
itself so high if it had nothing but    
fanaticism and fraud at its base8  ,le  
,comte3 ,and how did ,mohammedanism     
establish itself4 ,mohammed at least    
could write and fight1 and ,jesus knew  
neither writing nor self-defence4       
,mohammed had the courage of ,alexander1
 with the mind of ,numa2 and your       
,jesus1 sweat1 blood1 and water4        
,mohammedanism has never changed1 while 
you have changed your religion twenty   
times4 ,there is more difference between
 it1 as it is to-day1 from what it was  
in the first ages1 than there is between

 your customs and those of ,king        
,dagobert4--,le ,diner du ,comte de     
,boulainvilliers4     ,how ,faiths      
,spread   ,but how do you think1 then1  
that my religion became established8    
,like all the rest4 ,a man of strong    
imagination made himself followed by    
some persons of weak imagination4 ,the  
flock increased2 fanaticism commences1  
fraud achieves4 ,a powerful man comes2  
he sees a crowd1 ready bridled and with 
a bit in its teeth2 he mounts and leads 
it4--,dial1 et entr4 ph41 ,dialogue #ai4
     ,superstition   ,the superstitious 
man is to the knave what the slave is to
 the tyrant2 nay1 further1 the          
superstitious man is governed by the    
fanatic1 and becomes one4--,dict4 ,phil4
 7,art4 ,superstition74     ,the ,bible 
,if there are many difficulties we      
cannot solve1 mysteries we cannot       
comprehend1 adventures which we cannot  
credit1 prodigies which display the     
credulity of the human mind1 and        
contradictions which it is impossible to

 reconcile1 it is in order to exercise  
our faith and to-humiliate our          
reason4--,dict4 ,phil4 7,art4           
,contradictions74                       
,transubstantiation   ,julius ,,ii4     
makes and eats ,god2 but with armor on  
his back and helmet on his head he wades
 in blood and carnage4 ,leo ,x4 holds   
,god in his body1 his mistresses in his 
arms1 and the money extorted by the sale
 of indulgences in his coffers1 and     
those of his sister4--,dict4 ,phil4     
7,art4 ,eucharist74     ,dreams and     
,ghosts   ,have you not found1 like me1 
that they are the origin of the opinion 
so generally diffused throughout        
antiquity touching spectres and manes8  
,a man deeply afflicted at the death of 
his wife1 or his son1 sees them in his  
sleep2 they have the same               
characteristics2 he speaks to them1 they
 reply2 they have certainly appeared to 
him4 ,other men have had similar dreams4
 ,it is impossible1 then1 to doubt that 
the dead return2 but it is certain at   

the same time that these dead--whether  
buried or reduced to ashes1 or lost at  
sea--could not reappear in their bodies4
 ,it is1 then1 their soul that has been 
seen4 ,this soul must be extended1      
light1 impalpable1 since in speaking    
with it we cannot embrace it4 ,effugit  
imago per levibus vetitis 7,virgil74 ,it
 is moulded1 designed upon the body     
which it habited1 since it perfectly    
resembles it4 ,it is given the name of  
shade or manes1 and from all this a     
confused idea remains in the head1 which
 perpetuates itself all the better      
because nobody understands it4--,dict4  
,phil4 7,art4 ,somnambulists and ,dreams
 74     ,mortifying the ,flesh   ,had   
vanity never any share in the public    
mortifications which attended the eyes  
of the multitude8 ,i scourge myself1 but
 'tis to expiate your faults2 ,i go     
stark naked1 but 'tis to reproach the   
luxury of your garments2 ,i feed on     
herbs and snails to correct your vice of
 gluttony2 ,i put an iron ring on my    

body to make you blush at your lewdness4
 ,reverence me as a man cherished by the
 gods1 who can draw down their favors on
 you4 ,when accustomed to reverence1 it 
will not be hard to obey me2 ,i become  
your master in the name of the gods2 and
 if you transgress my will in the least 
particular1 ,i will have you impaled to 
appease the wrath of heaven4 ,if the    
first fakirs did not use these words1   
they probably had them engraven at the  
bottom of their hearts4--,dict4 ,phil4  
7,art4 ,austerities74     ,heaven       
,kon43 ,what is meant by the heaven and 
the earth3 mount up to heaven1 be worthy
 of heaven8  ,cu ,su43 ',tis but        
stupidity1 there is no heaven2 each     
planet is surrounded by its atmosphere1 
and rolls in space around its sun4 ,each
 sun is the centre of several planets   
which travel continually around it4     
,there is no up nor down1 ascension nor 
descent4 ,you perceive that if the      
inhabitants of the moon said that some  
one ascended to the earth1 that one must

 render himself worthy of earth1 he     
would talk nonsense4 ,we do so likewise 
when we say we must be worthy of heaven2
 it is as if we said we must be worthy  
of air1 worthy of the constellation of  
the ,dragon1 worthy of                  
space4--,catechisme chinois4     ,magic 
,all the fathers of the ,church1 without
 exception1 believed in the power of    
magic4 ,the ,church always condemned    
magic1 but she always believed it2 she  
excommunicated sorcerers1 not as deluded
 madmen1 but as men who really had      
intercourse with devils4--,dict4 ,phil4 
7,art4 ,superstition74     ,,detached   
,,thoughts   ,there are vices which it  
is better to ignore than to punish4     
,one should not pronounce a word in     
public which an honest woman cannot     
repeat4  ,i know no great men but those 
who have rendered great services to     
humanity4  ,honor has ever achieved     
greater things than interest4           
,occupation and work are the only       
resources against misfortune4  ,my maxim

 is to fulfil all my duties to-day1     
because ,i am not sure of living        
to-morrow4  ,most men die before having 
lived4  ,it is necessary to combat      
nature and fortune till the last moment1
 and to never despair till one is dead4 
,work without disputing2 it is the only 
way to render life supportable4         
,passions are the winds that swell the  
sails of the ship4 ,it is true1 they    
sometimes sink her1 but without them she
 could not sail at all4 ,the bile makes 
us sick and choleric2 but without the   
bile we could not live4 ,everything in  
this world is dangerous1 and yet        
everything in it is necessary4  ,we     
should introduce into our existence all 
imaginable modes1 and open every door of
 the minds to all kinds of knowledge1   
and all sorts of feelings4 ,so long as  
it does not all go in pell-mell1 there  
is room enough for all4  ,it is the part
 of a man like you ,vauvenargues to have
 preferences1 but no exclusions4  ,the  
unwise value every word in an author of 

repute4  ,opinion governs the world1 and
 philosophers in the long run govern    
opinion4  ,we enjoin mankind to conquer 
their passions4 ,make the experiment of 
only depriving a man1 in the habit of   
taking it1 of his pinch of snuff4  ,do  
we not nearly all resemble the aged     
,general of ninety years1 who1 seeing   
some young fellows larking with the     
girls1 said to them angrily3 ,gentlemen1
 is that the example which ,i give you8 
,passions are diseases4 ,to cure a man  
of a criminal intention1 we should give 
him not counsel1 but a dose of physic4  
,women are like windmills1 fixed while  
they revolve4  ,i fear lest marriage may
 not rather be one of the seven deadly  
sins than one of the seven sacraments4  
,divorce is probably of about the same  
date as marriage4  ,i believe1 however1 
that marriage is several weeks the      
elder4  ,war is an epitome of all       
wickedness4  ,the race of preachers     
inveigh against little vices1 and pass  
over great ones in silence4 ,they never 

sermonise against war4  ,what strange   
rage possesses some people to insist on 
our all being miserable8 ,they are like 
a quack1 who would fain have us believe 
we are ill1 in order to sell us his     
pills4 ,keep thy drugs1 my friend1 and  
leave me my health4  ,can one change    
their character8 ,yes1 if one changes   
their body4  ,men are fools1 but        
ecclesiastics are their leaders4  ,i do 
not believe even eye-witnesses when they
 tell me things opposed to common sense4
  ,the fanatics begin with humility and 
kindness1 and have all ended with pride 
and carnage4  ,the ,pope is an idol1    
whose hands are tied and whose feet are 
kissed4  ,what an immense book might be 
composed on all the things once         
believed1 of which it is necessary to   
doubt4  ,that which can be explained in 
many ways does not merit being explained
 in any4  ,theology is in religion what 
poison is among food4  ,theology has    
only served to upset brains1 and        
sometimes ,states4  ,that which is an   

eternal subject of dispute is an eternal
 inutility4  ,to pray is to flatter     
oneself that one will change entire     
nature with words4  ,names of sects2    
names of error4 ,truth has no sect4  ,no
 man is called an ,euclidian4  ,henry   
,,iv41 after his victories1 his         
abjuration1 and his coronation1 caused a
 cross to be erected in ,rome1 with the 
following inscription3 ,in hoc signa    
vincis4 ,the wood of the cross was the  
carriage of a cannon4  ,a revolution has
 been accomplished in the human mind    
which nothing again can ever arrest4    
,it is never by metaphysics that you    
will succeed in delivering men from     
error2 you must prove the truth by      
facts4  ,if fortune brings to pass one  
of a hundred events predicted by        
roguery1 all the others are forgotten1  
and that one remains as a pledge of the 
favor of ,god1 and as the proof of a    
prodigy4  ,every one is born with a nose
 and five fingers1 and no one is born   
with a knowledge of ,god4 ,this may be  

deplorable or not1 but it is certainly  
the human condition4  ,if ,god made us  
in his own image1 we have well returned 
him the compliment4  ,nature preserves  
the species1 and cares but very little  
for individuals4  ,to fast1 to pray1 a  
priest's virtue2 to succor1 virtue of a 
citizen4  ,when ,bellerophon1 mounted on
 ,pegasus1 wished to ascend to heaven to
 discover the secrets of the gods1 a fly
 stung ,pegasus1 and he was thrown4     
,why do you receive so many fools in    
your order8 was said to a ,jesuit4 ,we  
need saints4  ,rousseau ,j4 ,b4 having  
shown his antagonist ,voltaire his ,ode 
to ,posterity1 the latter said3 ,my     
friend1 here is a letter which will     
never reach its address4  ,if a tulip   
could speak1 and said1 ,my vegetation   
and ,i are two distinct beings1         
evidently joined together1 would you not
 mock at the tulip8  ,why all these     
pleasantries on religion8 ,they are     
never made on morality4  ,a fanatic of  
good faith1 always a dangerous kind of  

man4  ,the consolation of life is to say
 out what one thinks4                   
----