THE HESPERIAN STUDENT.
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thcso mou who lubor for tlio nice, mid whoso fullh aud
works movo mountains of nntlqimlcil ignorance, aro more
blamed for the noiso and disturbance of their blasting,
for the rough and irregular fractures in old beliefs, for
the ragged clearings littered with remnants of ancient
fancy, than thoy are praised for preparing materials for
coming thousands to chango into forms of beauty and
utility. It is hard to rcnllzo that an unsightly hollow is
more nearly prepared for a magnificent castle than is a
beautiful lawn or grassy hillock. No longer than two
Utile centuries ago that darkness which is just before the
dawning tho concentrated blackness of tho Dark Ages
hung heavily over Europe; all departments and all
nations felt it and all were waiting with bated, anxious
breath foi somcthing-thcy know not what-sotnethinguew
and strange which all felt to bo impending over humans
ity. Ohurch and State wore doing their poor best to regu
late tho affairs of mind were struggling on tho eido of
conservatism against the renaissance of reason a new
birth which they felt Instinctively would in its time of
maturity be the cause of their destruction. Yet not tho
less did they continue to store thoir magazines with ex
plosives and inflammables, forgetting that a single spark
from the torch of an incendiary might shake society to
its foundation; yes, in blind infatuation they even made
fire their plaything and put torches in tho hands of chil
dren. Now that tho appointed time was como tho
man could not be lacking many a man was ready for the
mission, butnone could prophecy who would have the
strength for its completion. What work was there for
tho coming man ? Tho Bourbon government had sinned
away its day of grace, nnd the church wos living on tho
blood of the innocent; literature was glaring, in its me
diocrity, with only the few flashes of real illumination
left by Racine aud Corneillo; true poetry hardly existed
in Prance, and history was u mere enumeration of the
deeds of kings aud a diary of court scandals. War alone
made history aud few were tho happy nations who had
no history. Science consisted in twisting texts of Script
ure into form praiseworthy only for their ingenuity and
tho lew facts of nature which forced themselves into
siht wero outlawed and under ban. Farmers and arti-
zans were only a couple of ciphers which increased a
h'ltidred-fold tho worth of tho upper classes. Judicial
torture-was not only allowed but was resorted to in tho
most trivial cases, aud confession on the rack was tho
most conclusive of testimony. Pascal's philosophy was
. one of the necessary adornments of polite society ; his
morbid speculations mixed with his brilliant mathemat
ics aud flashes of true philosophy excluded all other in
vestigators Jiom tho field, and Newton's theories were con
sidercd rank heresy. Ami Francis Arouet do Voltahs, at
the age when most of the French youths were sowing
wild'Oats with u liberal hand, took up tho gauntlet of so
ciety; tho son of a Paris notary, with his keen rapier of
irresislablo satire aud his dagger ol brilliant wit, prepar
ed to defend mankind fiom its brute nature. Wielding
ill departments of literature with the baud of a master he
forced upon theFieneh theater half drama, half opera,
with Us stately versification and decorous dialogue,
something of nature. Ho originated for Franco, the
modern history by which wo know something of tho peo
ple tho real nation, and first among authors of note rais
ed his voice forpeacotmoug nations. A faithful student la
science he introduced Newton to the unwilling French
mind, and, while many of his ideas of naturo wero crude,
ho opened his mind for tho best light then existing.
All departments of literature felt hisquickeningtouch,
and ho lent his strength to all; yet Voltaire never swerv
ed for a moment from his Eclf-assumed task of crushing
tho monster who bad fed on tho happiness of Franco for
so many centuries. In tragedy and story, history, pam
phlet aud letter is seen and hoard ono mighty pica for
freedom of thought for an opening of tho dams that
held back human reason, while the flood was yet under
control that flood which later burst through all barriers
and fell with destroying forco on tho next generation.
Well might tho prophet ask "Can ye not see tho signs
of tho times?" But eyes aud ears of magnate aud pro
late wore closed with wealth, with pride, with slothful
ness and ihe stroke of the avenging furies could not bo
averted. Ono dark remnant of primeval savagery indeed
felt the blow of tho sage of Fernoy who had saved so
many persecuted from its terrors, aud torture was stride
en from judicial mothods but tho greatest result of his la.
bor ho lived not to sec. Not tho less however did the migh
ty revolution, irreslstablo with tho pent up momentum of
ages of tyranny, and hastened by his hand, purify a
mighty nation and give a new impulse to the progress of
truth, and though tho tears of thousands wore forced to
How, they moistened the dry roots of liberty's tree and a
now growth followed. What shall wo say to the enemies
of this great man to those who havo a microscope for
faults and stained glass for virtues? What havo wo to
do with tho failings of great men of past ages only their
good deeds affect us and wo may well cover all others
witli a mantle of charity. Why cannot man rejoice in
what good has como down to him from tho past, instead
of complaining that there is no more? And what aro the
crimes of Voltaire that, under a system of socioty radi
ally different from ours, ho lived In a radically different
manner; that, being only human, ho was not always per
fectly consistent, aud that, whou over seventy years of
ago aud witli tho most prodigious reputation ever on
joyed by man during his lifetime, he did not retain his
full vigor to tho last; that with a morbid dread of disrc
spect to ills remains, ho made somo concessions, which
lie know would dccelvo no ono, to his life-Iong enemy;
and finally, that ho was a destroyer only and constructed
nothing. Thcro aro times when destruction is reconstruc
ion wo do not complain of tho physician if ho only de
stroys tho disease but oven granting.thls, did he not do
a work that none other could have accomplished?
Though it may not bojis grand a work to tear away a
ruin as to construct a palaco it is quite as ueccssary and
may bo as dlillcult. Ninoty-two volumes attest the energy
with which ho labored at his task, and none can say that
it was not done well. Wnilo wo ndnm somo flaws In the
Jewel, we must remember that, even with tho Haws, it is
much more valuable than tho common pebble without
them.
Who wus tho man, who with tho blazo of thu 10th cen.
ury'a civilization concentrated upon him, niado of hiin
Bolf a common body snntchor in removing from thoir rest
tug place in Paris and casting into a public Hold tho re
mains of this mau idolized by tho French people? Who
but tho king cf that great nation, lit representative of tho
houso of .bourbon, who recognize no power save that of
bruto strength. But well perhaps that tho ashes of the
man exiled for his Immunity and his struggle against