The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 03 (of 12): Dresden Edition—LecturesIngersoll, Robert Green
General
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 03 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Lectures
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
In Voltaire's time the question had finally dwindled down to whether the
five propositions condemned by the Papal Bull were in fact in the works
of Jansenius. The Jansenists proved that the five propositions were not
in his book, because a niece of Pascal had a diseased eye cured by the
application of a thorn from the crown of Christ.
The Bull Unigenitus was launched in 1713, and then all the prisons were
filled with Jansenists. This great question of predestination and free
will, of free moral agency and accountability, and being saved by the
grace of God, and damned for the glory of God, have occupied the mind of
what we call the civilized world for many centuries. All these questions
were argued pro and con through Switzerland; all of them in Holland
for centuries; in Scotland and England and New England, and millions
of people are still busy harmonizing foreordination and free will,
necessity and morality, predestination and accountability.
Louis XIV. having died, the Regent took possession, and then the prisons
were opened. The Regent called for a list of all persons then in the
prisons sent there at the will of the king. He found that, as to many
prisoners, nobody knew any cause why they had been in prison. They had
been forgotten. Many of the prisoners did not know themselves, and
could not guess why they had been arrested. One Italian had been in the
Bastile thirty-three years without ever knowing why. On his arrival in
Paris, thirty-three years before, he was arrested and sent to prison.
He had grown old. He had survived his family and friends. When the rest
were liberated he asked to remain where he was, and lived there the
rest of his life. The old prisoners were pardoned, but in a little while
their places were taken by new ones.
At this time Voltaire was not interested in the great world--knew very
little of religion or of government. He was busy writing poetry, busy
thinking of comedies and tragedies. He was full of life. All his fancies
were winged like moths.
He was charged with having written some cutting epigrams. He was exiled
to Tulle, three hundred miles away. From this place he wrote in the true
vein--"I am at a chateau, a place that would be the most agreeable in
the world if I had not been exiled to it, and where there is nothing
wanting for my perfect happiness except the liberty of leaving. It would
be delicious to remain, if I only were allowed to go."
At last the exile was allowed to return. Again he was arrested; this
time sent to the Bastile, where he remained for nearly a year. While in
prison he changed his name from Francois-Marie Arouet to Voltaire, and
by that name he has since been known.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account