134 APPENDIX. 



Knowest thou not yet, man weak and haughty, 

 That the insensible insect, enshrouded under the sod, 



And the imperious eagle that soars to heaven lofty, 

 Re-enter into chaos in the eyes of God! 



When he saw my countenance, heard my scanned 

 declamation, he threw his cue across the billiards, and 

 said : What is that \ Who has written those verses 

 they are admirable! I responded with a studied 

 calmness : Voltaire ! ! No ! he said, that wretch has 

 never written such sublime expressions. He has, Mon- 

 sieur PAbbe ! or Hie, and you are a two legged ass ! 

 But you are not an ass, nor do I lie, and Voltaire is a 

 terrestrial genius. He saw. He had seen more of God 

 in his cabinet than all your theologians have ever seen in 

 the pulpit, or from the pulpit .... I have faith in your 

 frankness, but I cannot believe that a miscreant like 

 him could have had such admiration of God and ex- 

 pressed it in such a noble style. Let us see no 

 more of your expression miscreancy. He had no 

 faith in your nonsenses, and you, have too much in 

 your theologians, in absurdo. If I show you those 

 verses, printed half a century ago, will you believe it ? 

 I did not wait for his answer, but I went for the 

 volume containing the verses. He read them, and some 

 few more. Then looked on the title page of the book 

 to see if there were no tricks, put his hand on his fore- 

 head, tucked up his hair and involuntarily said: 



