80 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN.

The people of Thoulouse were peculiarly fanatical —they regarded Protestants as monsters capable of anycrime: a whisper was raised that Jean Calas had mur-dered his son. A story was quickly fabricated andbelieved. It was alleged that Marc-Antoine was on thepoint of abjuring Protestantism , and that his familyand Lavaisse had murdered him, to prevent him fromputting his design into execution. A thousand otherdetails were swiftly invented for the purpose of addingterror to the scene. The chief magistrate of Thoulouse,named David, excited by these rumours, and payingno. attention to possibility or proof, without even pro-ceeding with legal forms, threw the whole family ofCalas , their Catholic servant, and Lavaisse into prison.In the frenzy of the moment, they turned the supposedvictim into a martyr, and buried him in the church ofSt. Etienne, as if he had already abjured his faith,and died in consequence. One of the religious confra-ternities of the town celebrated his funeral with pomp ;a magnificent catafalque was raised to his honour,on which was placed a skeleton, who was supposed torepresent Marc-Antoine, which was made to move ;it held a pen, with which it was supposed to signthe act of abjuration. The people, excited by theirpriests, were transported with fanaticism : they invokedthe son as a saint ; they demanded the execution of thefather as a murderer.

The details of the trial of the unfortunate man ac-cused of murdering his own son were not less frightfuland unjust: of twelve judges, six acquitted him —it required a plurality of voices for his condemnation.Two judges were terrified into retiring ; others weregained over ; a majority of two was obtained, and theunfortunate Calas broken on the wheel.

The whole circumstances were full of contradictionand absurdity. Calas was sixty-eight years of age,—a kind father and a good man. If he had committedthe murder, the whole of his family must have beenequally guilty, as it was proved that they spent the even-