Produced by David Widger. *VOLTAIRE: A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORKS* _WITH SELECTIONS FROM HIS WRITINGS_ _By_ *J. M. Wheeler & G. W. Foote.* _London_ _1891_ CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PREFACE EARLY LIFE HEGIRA TO ENGLAND EXAMPLES FROM ENGLAND AT CIREY “CANDIDE” THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA 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 Dr. 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 one. My old friend and colleague, Mr. J. M. Wheeler, had written the greater part of the following pages before he brought the enterprise to my attention. I went through his copy with him, and assisted him in making some alterations and additions. I also read the printer’s proofs, and suggested some further improvements—if I may call them so without egotism. This is all I have done. The credit for all the rest belongs to him. My name is placed on the title-page for two reasons. The first is, that I may now, as on other occasions, be associated with a dear friend and colleague in this tribute to Voltaire. The second is, that whatever influence I possess may be used in helping this volume to the circulation it deserves. G. W. FOOTE. November, 1891 PREFACE He would be a bold person who should attempt to say something entirely new on Voltaire. His life has often been written, and many are the disquisitions on his character and influence. This little book, which at the bicentenary of his birth I offer as a Freethinker’s tribute to the memory of the great liberator, has no other pretension than that of being a compilation seeking to display in brief compass something of the man’s work and influence. But it has its own point of view. It is as a Freethinker, a reformer, and an apostle of reason and universal toleration that I esteem Voltaire, and I have considered him mainly under this aspect. For the sketch of the salient points of his career I am indebted to many sources, including Condorcet, Duvernet, Desnoisterres, Parton, Espinasse, Collins, and Saintsbury, to whom the reader, desirous of fuller information, is referred. Mr. John Morley’s able work and Col. Hamley’s sketch may also be recommended.