ABSTRACT

The centre of the stage was occupied by the statue of Voltaire and round it in a half-circle stood the performers in their costumes with palms and garlands in their hands ; the guards of Irene were mingled with the French sentinels, and spectators from the lobbies and foyer occupied the wings. To the educated classes generally Voltaire was the greatest author and intelligence in Europe; to the party of reform, he was the prophet of a new, regenerated France; to the philosophes he was the triumphant crusher of the infame, to the people he was the saviour of the Calas. The reason for Voltaire’s temporizing with the Church was not dread of hell-fire but a legitimate desire to protect his remains from the indignity of being cast into the public sewer—the usual fate of those who differed from the Church. The news of Voltaire’s death caused universal interest and regret throughout Europe.