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ignorant, intolerant man, hearing of the desecration,applied to the king of France for a lettre de cachetagainst Voltaire . His request was not listened to ; butthe imagination of Voltaire was set on fire by theintelligence; nor can we wonder, considering that hehad entered the Bastille, as a prisoner, three differenttimes. He burnt a vast quantity of papers; he dis-missed every guest; and remained alone with his secre-tary and father Adam, an ex-Jesuit , who resided withhim. At first he thought it would be necessary to fly;but soon his restless fancy suggested another mode ofdefending himself. The bishop, carrying on the war,forbade any of his inferior clergy to confess, absolve,or administer the communion to the seigneur of Ferney.Considering his avowed and contemptuous disbelief inChristianity, it had been more dignified in Voltaire toabstain from participating in its mysteries; but hehad not the most remote idea of the meaning anduses of dignity. His impetuosity, his love of theridiculous, his determination to vanquish and crush hisenemies, by whatever 'means, were paramount to anyloftier sentiment of calm disdain. He said, “Weshall see whether the bishop or I win the day.” Ac-cordingly, he feigned illness, took to his bed, and insistedon receiving religious consolations as a dying man.The priest of the parish refused to comply for a lengthof time; and Voltaire , to gain his point, signed a paperdeclaratory of his respect for the Catholic religion.The whole scene was indecorous, — insulting to thepriest, and unworthy of the poet. He gained his pointat last, and frightened the curate so much that he fell illand died; while his conduct in the church, his angryexpostulations with the clergy, and his confession offaith became the wonder and gossip of Paris .
It is more pleasing to contemplate the good deeds ofthis versatile and extraordinary man, whose activityastonished his contemporaries*, and, considering hisinfirmities and age, seem almost superhuman. The
* Lettres de Madame du Detfand & Horace Walpole , vol. ii.
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