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moral! and pious characters, were injured and calumni-ated;: and this because they did not belong to the reigningparty in the church. What wonder, then, that Vol-taire and his friends were led to despise men who madetheir religion the pretence for indulging their worstpassicons, and were even induced to think ill of thesysteim of which they proclaimed themselves the solefittinfg supports. Let Christians he real disciples of theGosptel, and men like Voltaire will neither have thepoweir nor the will to injure the religion they profess.

W'e have no space for elaborate criticism of Voltaire ’sworkss. We have alluded to many in the progress ofthis biography. His “ Historical Essay on the Mannersand Spirit of Nations,” in spite of its mistakes in factsand errors of opinion, is a monument of vast genius.His “‘Age of Louis XIV .” is a beautiful work, though weare mot sure that his mode of dividing the subject is thebest. Many long chapters, devoted to the narration of■wars, unmixed by the detail of individual passions orpubliic struggles, which are thrown into separate portionsof thie work, break and weaken the interest.

Hits plays have not the loftiness of Corneille, nor thesoft tenderness of Racine; hut many of them possessmucht passion and power. His poetic faculties, such asthey were, decayed soonest; his latter tragedies areweak and poor compositions. As a didactic poet, heranks: low ; as an epic, he is not considered in thesedays to take any rank at all ; as a burlesque, grossnessand indelicacy occasion his verses to be read only bythose whose praise is not worth having; as a critic, hewas unfair and uncourteous, always ready to make ridi-cule stand for argument, and not unwilling to advancewhat was false, when the truth did not sufficiently sup-port him. Thus he could translate a speech of Fal-staff, declaring that it was meant to he tragic, becauseit occurred in a tragedy. His lighter productions areamong his best, and, though sullied by his peculiardefects, are full of genius. The great characteristic ofVoltaire is, that he scarcely ever penned a line that is